Digimon 1. Prologue: Individuality

Hey, there. I'm DC Zero. I haven't written a lot, and with good reason - the first time I wrote fanfiction it sucked mightily. I think I've gotten better since then, though. Maybe - I'll let you decide if I'm any good or not.

This is a story that's been kicking around my hard drive for around four years now. I'm finally going to start putting it up so I can push myself to get it finished. My intent is to post a chapter a week - let's see how well I remember to do that.

Quick summary of the story (yes, it's vague, but I don't want to give away too much of the good stuff yet):

Five humans, each with their own odd traits, living fairly normal lives. Five digimon, each a seasoned war hero, their most cherished ability stripped from them. None of them knew what to expect when they finally met, and none of them were prepared for what happened when they did. But none of that matters now...all that matters is that they represent the final hope against a formidable foe, and that within their actions lies the fate of two worlds that can no longer remain isolated.

**Important Disclaimers**

[DISCLAIMER #1]

The following story is based off of the concept of Digimon, which is not owned by myself or anyone associated with me. I do not now, and will not at any time, make claim of ownership of the concept of Digimon, nor any official Digimon character or associated object, nor any other copyrighted work referenced within this story. I do make claim of ownership of all novel characters and scenarios, and request that they not be used without my express permission.

[DISCLAIMER #2]

The following story involves fictional characters in a fictional setting. Any similarity to any real or fictional person or place is entirely coincidental.

[DISCLAIMER #3]

This story contains the following, which may not be suitable for all audiences:

-Textual depictions of violent acts, which may at times be quite graphic

-Mild to moderate offensive language

-Some adult themes

For these reasons, this story has been given, at the Author's discretion, a rating of T. If you are not of a proper age to read this story or are offended by any of the content within, it is your duty to avoid or to stop reading it. I have no capacity to control your actions and therefore cannot be responsible for any offense you take to this story.

All right, procedural stuff is out of the way. Let's get this thing on the road. Here's a little bit of an appetizer before moving into the bulk of the story. Unlike this instance, I'm gonna try to keep the pre-chapter chat short most of the time - most of my notes will be at the end. That generally means if you're looking for a response to a review or something, it'll be at the bottom.

Okay, on with it!

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

**Prologue: Individuality**

Reyn Kessilik always liked fire.

Actually, "liked" was an understatement. He was fascinated by it. Even he wasn't sure why, but the dancing of the flames, the heat they gave off, all of it enraptured him.

His enthusiasm wasn't shared by his parents. That might have been because they worried that the fascination was unhealthy. Or maybe it was the fact that their house had burned down a dozen years ago. Compounded with the fact that Reyn had been trapped in the blaze. His parents had tried to get him out, but failed when the floor under their feet had given way, sending them to the floor below and leaving the crib, lit from falling embers, on its own.

Anyone who had seen the crib would have been sure Reyn would die. He suffered not even a single burn. Doctors called it a miracle; every square inch of cloth in the crib was ablaze when Reyn was finally rescued by a daring firefighter, and by all rights he should have been incinerated.

His parents thought the fire would traumatize Reyn. It seemed to do the opposite. He had slept through the fire, but somehow could visualize every aspect of it in the house. He talked about it with reverence, with awe.

Reyn had not been in a blaze that large since. He focused on smaller-scale pyro-phenomena. He was quite aware of the destructive ability of fire, and he was always careful.

He had never been burned. He did find this odd; he could remember dozens of times when he probably should have been. But his skin remained unmarred by any flame, or indeed any source of heat, even the sun. Perhaps this only added to his attraction. He would leave welding torches on just to watch them burn, or to cut through metal with the hot flame. If he got a hold of a matchbook, he would delight in lighting the matches, one by one, over an extended period of time, savoring the magnificent flames. Bonfires, fireworks, torches, candles, whether larger or smaller, they all pulled him in, like a moth to light, to the majesty, the energy, the sheer _power_ of fire.

He didn't care that his behavior was unusual. Some with the same interest might not recognize that others don't share it, but Reyn was well aware of it. For that reason, he was quiet about his fascination, unless asked. They might not understand. But they wouldn't have to. After all, it was _his_ fascination.

(--------------------)

It had taken Iris Conover a long time to understand why her parents told her to stay away from electrical outlets. It wasn't until fifth grade that she saw a video in class about electricity, and how it could damage a person's body. She was amazed to learn this. After all, she had been shocked numerous times, and yet it hadn't been painful; in fact, she found it pleasant. And she had never been harmed by it, not even a bit.

Electricity appealed to her. Would that one asked her about it, she could regale you with all sorts of facts about electricity and electrical appliances. Her knowledge of electricity and circuitry was unsurpassed among those her age, and many who were older than her. Some people called her obsessed, but they were jealous, and she knew it.

She liked to watch electricians work with downed power lines. She knew that that was the job for her, the kind of work that she would be perfect for. The electricians she talked to seemed to be nervous around downed lines; she wouldn't be. After all, they'd never hurt her before. If not that, there was always repair work. She would be a whiz, always successful with repairing electrical problems.

She didn't know what it was about electricity that was so interesting to her. She didn't bother wondering about it, though, because she wouldn't be able to find the answer like that. Besides, it wasn't important to know why. Did anyone wonder why Mozart was such a good musician? Of course not. Why should they?

(--------------------)

The tornado whirled and twisted, sending debris flying everywhere. With winds powerful enough to tear houses from their foundations, it was a deadly force of nature. Skylar Jascalt sat in a chair, watching it. It wasn't going to harm him; it was only a television program.

He had seen tornadoes in real life. Having lived in the Midwestern United States for several years, he had had ample opportunity for exposure. Everyone there had; it was called Tornado Alley for a reason, and that reason wasn't because it was an actual alley.

He tried to imagine what it would be like to be within a tornado. To feel the cyclone surround him, be buffeted by winds that could be upwards of 200 MPH, feel it lift and carry him to some distant area. He wasn't expecting Oz, just another place on Earth.

The closest Skylar had been to that kind of experience was a wind tunnel his father had taken him to once. He recalled standing inside, being pushed by the strong wind, though only a quarter the speed of a good tornado. He remembered clicking off the restraints provided, standing freely into the gale, feeling the pressure but not being knocked over. His father had scolded him, but later admitted that he was impressed by Skylar's courage and how he had stayed upright the entire time.

Countless books about wind, atmosphere, and the like lined the shelves of his room. He had been into it for as long as he could remember. It wasn't a passion shared by many people, certainly not anyone he knew, but others were still impressed at the breadth of his learning, not to mention how he could make it sound simple enough that anyone could understand it.

The program ended. Skylar popped in a video tape of footage he had recorded on his own of a tornado near his old house a few years ago. He sat and watched, and again wondered what it would be like to experience it from the angle he dreamed about.

(--------------------)

There are few rooms as messy as the one people would walk into if they walked into his room. However, that wasn't the only unique aspect about the mess; its contents were something to behold, as well: tools, parts for repair, bits of this and that metal, hydraulics and pneumatics, chips, and dozens of other bits and pieces.

Machines were of great interest to Isaac Wherrels, and he was already quite sound at repairing them. However, he had greater aspirations than just ordinary machines.

Robots. Perhaps your standard remote-controlled bot, maybe one that moved more independently, created for specific tasks. Any kind of robot caught Isaac's attention. He had, in fact, built several himself, some for display, some for the sake of building them, and even a few that he had used in those robot battle competitions.

He had built a couple for testing, as well; testing different schematics he was trying out, hoping that me might be able to integrate them into his dream designs. He hoped to build robots with fluid motion, robots that moved like any organic animal. That was a difficult task, and he was still a ways away from achieving that goal, though perhaps closer than many others.

However, this wasn't quite yet up to his ultimate goal. His ultimate goal, the one that he dreamt about all the time, was to build a robot that could think for itself, have free will, decide between right and wrong. He wanted to build a robot that was sentient. This robot would incorporate all his best work into it, including the fluid-motion systems he was working on.

His ultimate goal would require heavy knowledge of computer programming, another thing Isaac was good at, though he didn't think he was quite good enough for the task he was working towards. However, he wasn't going to rush it. He had plenty of time to build robots, test systems, go over programs. Rushing led to sub-par performance; that was another thing he knew about robots. The ones that were given time and care performed best.

Perhaps the same could be said about humans.

(--------------------)

While his parents were in bed, sound asleep, Derek Katran was out walking the streets. Sometimes he would stay out an hour, sometimes it would be all night.

It was his time.

It had begun when he was very young. Most babies have trouble sleeping at night; however, it never got better for Derek. He refused to sleep at night, but was always tired at mid-afternoon. When his parents tried to get him on a regular schedule, he managed to adapt, but always seemed cranky. Soon, he began to revert back to a late afternoon schedule, getting up earlier and earlier. His parents became distracted, and soon, they gave up trying to control their son's sleeping schedule, though they maintained their eternal disapproval.

He loved to take walks during the night. He especially loved the dark places where no streetlights shined, where he could be alone with his thoughts, bothered by nothing. He could spend hours watching the stars above, and the darkness around the stars.

He was a loner. This was partly by nature, partly by choice, and partly because not many people were out at night, and those who were were generally doing a job that required them to be. So he didn't socialize much. Almost all his social contact was at school. He rarely extended friendships farther than that; for one thing, he was always sleeping after school, and they were always sleeping before.

No one ever bothered him as he walked. Those who thought he was a target soon learned otherwise; the night was _his_ realm, and those that dared cross him would be punished by it. Malevolent figures never targeted him, knowing that success would elude them; in fact, perhaps his closest connections were to those same criminals, though he would never allow himself to follow in their footsteps.

The streets were quiet. He liked quiet. Darkness and quiet went together well. As he walked, his thoughts wandered, as usual.

It was his time.

(--------------------)

Five humans, all with certain peculiarities. Each with their own interests and dreams.

On the matter of dreams, all five had very odd recurring ones. They dreamed an odd world with fantastic creatures, dreams so vivid they felt almost real. They didn't happen every night, but still quite often.

They were friends, perhaps because of their similarities, maybe more because of their differences. Some friendships were close; others were not quite so much. But their knowledge and tolerance of each others' peculiarities brought them together.

They had no way of knowing that they were about to be pulled into an experience beyond that which they had ever imagined.

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

Bleah. I'm not entirely enamored of this prologue, but I felt I had to give some kind of introduction to the critical characters. The writing's kinda overblown in this, but it won't stay that way, I promise.

Also, I often see fanfiction writers begging for or demanding reviews and such. I'm not gonna do that. Of course, I'm not going to turn down reviews, but neither am I going to hinge my next chapter on hitting some arbitrary number. So review if you feel like it. Be honest with me - what am I doing right, what am I doing wrong, and so forth. I appreciate the feedback, and I promise I won't get snippy unless you're clearly just being a pill. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 1: Broken Barriers

It'll usually be a week in between chapters, but I didn't want to just leave you all with procedural stuff and a tiny introduction for a whole week. So without further ado, Chapter 1. I hope you like it!

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

**Chapter 1: Broken Barriers**

It was abnormally quiet.

Gallantmon could only shudder at the abyssal silence. Not because of what it was, but because of what it represented. On an ordinary day, dozens if not hundreds of soldiers would be wandering around, chatting with each other, having impromptu training sessions in the halls, whatever it was, they were active, and it was comforting. Not today. No more than a couple individuals dared wander the halls, and they remained silent as death as they moved.

Losing did that to you.

Especially a loss as they had just faced. It hadn't been enough that they had been caught off-guard. No, it had to be their best and brightest that were the targets. Two hundred strong, they had been the pride of Libertius, the ones that would lead the rest to victory. Not even ten of them had returned. A devastating blow of this magnitude had never been laid upon them before, and he couldn't blame the rest for their dismal affect. Perhaps they numbered more, but they had never measured up to the Elite Guard - did they even stand a chance anymore?

Gallantmon's mind screamed out for answers. This wasn't where he belonged. He couldn't be in charge now - not so suddenly, not after such a tragedy. He didn't have the faintest idea what to do, how to rebuild. All he could imagine was an endless sea of trouble and danger, and he had been thrown out there without a life preserver. There was nothing for him unless there came a miracle, and fast.

It came - but not in a way he would have expected in a thousand lifetimes.

(--------------------)

"Commander!"

Gallantmon was jarred out of his reverie. One of the compound guards was running towards him. "Commander! We've got friendlies at the gates! They're survivors of the ambush! It's the best of the best!"

"Bring them in immediately!" Such news couldn't have come at a better time. The best of the best was far from enough, but maybe it would be a start. The compound guard ran back to his post; scant minutes later, three of them returned, bearing in the battered survivors.

"Oy, no need for the escort service," said a small red lizardish digimon. "We've made it this far, we can make it inside."

"Gallantmon! You're back up and about! You've recovered!" a blue dragon piped up excitedly.

"It's good to see you, too," Gallantmon said heavily. "You've no idea how much we need you now! What took you so long to return? Were you captured?"

"Would that we had been!" a mechanical creature said bitterly. "It would probably be better for us if we had been!"

"I...how the hell can you say something like that?"

"We'll explain everything to you," the red lizard stated tiredly. "But I can promise you, you're not gonna like it."

"Are you sure you don't want a rest first?" one of the guards asked. The entire group of five looked plenty disheveled, but none of them embraced the idea.

"We don't really have time for that," said a yellow bird. "We have to talk with you, Gallantmon. It's really serious."

"Indeed...our contemptuous adversaries have descended to a novel nadir in the realm of treachery," stated a verbose black canid.

"You're going to have to explain to me what you're talking about," Gallantmon said with a shake of his head. "Come, let's go to the command office."

(--------------------)

"So, I'm in charge because of the injuries to Commander Dynasmon and Commander Crusadermon," Gallantmon finished his explanation. "All because I wasn't healthy enough to take part in that horrible battle. I would much rather have been on the front lines...maybe I could have done something."

"And maybe you would have left Libertius without a leader," returned the red lizard, known as Salmandmon. He was small, about 38 inches in height, and built compactly, with shorter legs and arms and a larger torso; though small, he cut an athletic figure that most could only dream about. Red-orange scales covered his entire body, and deeper red ridges ran down his spine from his neck to his tail. "It's better that someone with leadership experience took charge, even if you weren't ready for it. So...most of the Elite Guard was killed or captured, and everyone else is freaking out because of it. Great. Just what we need right now. Who the hell is even in charge of that outfit anymore? Craniummon ate it months ago!"

"I wish I knew, but we haven't gotten any information about that. And what about you?" the royal knight asked. "You haven't explained yet what happened to you and why it took you so long to get back."

"Ah, that's a sad story in itself." This speaker was the yellow bird, Shockavimon. She was an avian digimon with yellow feathers, about the same build as Salmandmon but six inches shorter, with wings that doubled as arms. "The reason it took us so long to get back was because we had to travel like _this_ the whole way."

"They got us good, Gallantmon," complained Breezedramon. This was the blue-scaled dragon digimon; he was smaller than Shockavimon, and had short arms and legs on a body with an oversized tail and wings. Unlike the others, he did not look very physically adept at all. "They deformulized us. It was cabastrocotic."

Gallantmon could only blink. "Um...what?"

Salmandmon sighed. "Breezedramon, one of these days you're gonna have to learn how to talk in a way that makes some goddamned sense."

"There exists upon us an impediment that issues defiance upon our transformationary abilities," explained Blackcanismon, the largest of the group. At around Salmandmon's height at his shoulder and built very similarly to a German Shepherd, he was quite imposing even as a Rookie-level digimon. "The preventative measures imposed unwillingly upon us are no doubt retaliatory, given our superlative standing in our resistance organization."

"And you're no better," snapped the fifth digimon. Datacarnomon looked like a carnosaurian of some kind, 35 inches tall, and completely mechanized. Despite being a robot, he was shaped very similar to a nonmechanical being, his body smooth and rounded instead of blocky like many robots. "Do I have to explain everything around here? Look, boss, here's how it went down. We were dealing with the ambush, and I was at least kicking some ass. Then, I felt something sucking all the energy out of me, and I devolved! And when I tried to get back into a decent battle form, I saw _this_!" Datacarnomon slammed his left hand on the desk. Emblazoned on it was an odd white symbol, two straight lines across and three down, the one on the end being kinked near the bottom (A/N: Think the pi symbol superimposed on a plus sign.). "I've never seen it before, but we've all got it stuck on us like some parasite or something!" The others showed their left hands or other forelimbs to illustrate this point.

"But what is it?"

"Heck if I know! All I know is that it's like a brand that tells us that we can't change forms anymore! And it bites!"

"Damn...I thought..." Gallantmon stopped short, but Salmandmon finished for him, rather bitterly: "That perhaps Libertius' troubles were over if we were here, right?"

"Sorry..."

"Don't blame yourself, Gallantmon," Shockavimon reassured him. "It wasn't your fault that we ended up like this."

"...Yes, I suppose you're right. And I suppose it's miraculous enough that you even managed to get out, given the kind of battle I heard it was."

"It was really nerve-wracking for a while," admitted Datacarnomon, "but we made it, thanks to our fearless leader Sal, and, well, a little bit of 'special guidance.' Nothing like some voices in your head to tell you when the bad guys are about to crush you."

Shockavimon scowled at Datacarnomon. "They're not voices, metalhead. They're feelings. You make it sound like we're nuts or something."

"Maybe we are? How many other people do you know get these kinds of mental twinges? Especially since it's only when we're stressed that they really stand out?"

"Guys, we're drifting," Salmandmon said with a stressed tone in his voice.

"Right, right, like it's a huge deal right now. C'mon, Sal, what are we supposed to do now? We've got no Elite Guard, and the normal forces won't be able to handle the strongest of Emperius' forces. Our commanders are half-dead, and won't be fighting for some time, if at all. And we know Emperius isn't focusing just on us now, but also the humans after that unbelievable Declaration of Purification nonsense...and given the state we're all in right now, I'm honestly struggling to find a reason to not hand in my resignation this instant."

"Resignation?!" Gallantmon was aghast; to hear a longtime warrior talk like that was beyond his belief. "Datacarnomon, please! You can't go, you're among the last of our inspiration! We'll find some way to deal with this-"

"Sorry, Commander, but I don't think there's a way to deal with this," Breezedramon interrupted. "We can't fight like this. We don't even know how they sealified us, or if we can even deseal ourselves. I hate the idea of quitting, but for us to even think of going back out there...well, it's suicidal!"

"Gah, you two!" Shockavimon squawked. "Listen to you whine like the world's already ended! You think we can just quit now, when it's getting even more intense? Besides, I can already think of one thing we might be able to do!"

"Really?" asked Datacarnomon, sounding surprised. "We can't fight, we can't scout, we can't lead, we can barely play janitor. What's your big plan?"

"I've been thinking about this since the Declaration of Purification. As much as I hated to think about it, there was always the possibility that Libertius might suffer a blow strong enough to prevent them from standing up to Emperius. They'd have all the time in the world to launch an attack on the humans, and they'd almost certainly get in an ambush. But we do have a way of warning the humans of what's coming!"

"Absolutely not!" Gallantmon shouted, knowing exactly what Shockavimon was suggesting. "Are you insane? We can't bring you back, we can't communicate with you, and there's no telling how the humans will react to your presence! I'd be blindly throwing you into a situation which we have absolutely no control over! It would be nothing short of murder! Not to mention the order to keep the worlds isolated from each other!"

"To hell with the order!" Salmandmon snapped back. "You think Emperius gives a damn about the order? They think they're above everything! Some measly order from our leaders isn't going to keep them from doing squat! Chances are they've been developing their own transfer device for ages! Shockavimon's right, we can't just quit now! As long as I'm still alive and kicking, I'll fight against Emperius in any way I can! Look, we have the option of going to warn the humans of the imminent danger they're in, who better to do so than a bunch of handicapped Rookies who can't do anything more in this world?"

"But what if you get in serious trouble? We couldn't send you any backup!"

"We would be compelled to grapple with the unfortunate scenario," replied Blackcanismon gravely. "The situation at this precise moment renders us unable to confront any adversary in this world. If we can perhaps be utilized in the world of organic beings, the situation would improve exponentially. In the most transparent terms, we are expendable."

"Now listen here-" started Gallantmon angrily, but before he could launch into a tirade about how everyone was useful in their own way, Salmandmon put up a hand.

"Regardless of how Blackcanismon put it, he's got a point. We've said it enough: we can't do anything more over here. In the human world, we have a chance to provide some help...if not by fighting, then at least maybe by warning them of the danger. Maybe they can find a way to save themselves, or at the very least, get us back into fighting condition."

"Yeah, I agree with Sal and B.C.," chimed in Breezedramon. "The humans are supposed to be pretty crafty. But unless they know about the threat beforehand, they won't have a chance to prepare for the assault. We can make sure they know, and give them some peperatativeness to boot!"

"Eh...I guess it would be worth a shot," Datacarnomon finished, rounding off the group agreement. "We have to find someone who will listen to us. It might take some time, and it might be dangerous, but if we succeeded, it would be well worth it, and if we didn't...well, you guys aren't really any worse off in the long run."

Gallantmon gave up. "Ugh...I guess I can tell you aren't gonna be moved, and I can't really come up with anything to make you. And I suppose, even if I tried to stop you, you'd find a way around it anyway..." The looks in their faces were all he needed to confirm that. "Very well, let's get this in motion."

(--------------------)

It was a small, dark, isolated room that housed the Transworld Transfer Matrix. Gallantmon turned the key in the lock, opened the door, and gazed upon the simple machine, which was nothing more grand than a pedestal with a set of controls on one side and a Rift Creator on the other. His already considerable misgivings compounded as he recalled the situation which caused the TTM to be locked up in the first place.

The TTM had been made for the purpose of transporting digimon to the organic world. The digimon had discovered the existence of this parallel world some time back - no one was sure exactly when it was discovered. They knew of the humans, as well, though what was known about them was limited and somewhat speculative. At one time there had been talks of an alliance between digimon and humans, the main driving force behind the construction of the TTM. But the digital world's leaders became paranoid about the idea; they feared that one side might attack the other, resulting in a chaotic war that would claim more lives than they were willing to sacrifice. The rise of Emperius was the death blow to the project; the TTM, only half-finished, was locked away upon the decree of isolation of the worlds.

The machine was functional, to a point. The final product was supposed to be able to make a complete connection between the worlds, allowing free travel back and forth. In its current condition, however, the TTM only had the ability to send, not receive. As Gallantmon began powering up the device, he felt it was foolish to have just locked it away before completing it. Perhaps, if it was fully functional, he would have been somewhat reassured; instead, he was sending five Rookie digimon who lacked the ability to increase their power into a strange and unfamiliar world, without even the slightest possibility of support. His earlier comments about it being nothing short of murder were still very much with him. And yet, if there was a chance that they could be of some use...

The subjects of the transfer were, if possible, even more emotionally charged. They felt determination, that they would work as hard as possible to complete their mission; excitement, at the prospect of being the first visitors to a parallel world; fear, at being alone in their weaker states. Perhaps the humans could find a way to break the seals upon them, so they could fight once more for their cause, or maybe they could offer direct support, helping them into their battle. It was still only a distant hope, but they clung to it, believing truly that their lives, and the lives of countless others, depended on it.

"We're all powered up. I'm opening the gate now." Gallantmon held his breath as he pulled the lever. Energy coalesced in the center of the room, taking a form that expanded into something that looked like the mouth of a wormhole. That was the Rift.

"Well...I guess it's now or never..." muttered Salmandmon, sounding nervous and hesitant. This did not bolster the confidence of the other digimon going through; Salmandmon was known for being exceptionally brave, and if he balked, that was a sure sign that their undertaking was more serious than ever.

Gallantmon seized upon this last opportunity. "If you're having second thoughts, I can power down-"

"No! No second thoughts!" barked Salmandmon with a vigorous shake of his head. "Here goes nothing!" Steeling himself, he sprinted for the Rift, putting as much speed in as he could muster to keep himself from backing off. The others followed suit, leaving their unease and trepidation behind as the leapt into the Rift. A bright flash obliterated their consciousnesses as they broke the plane of the Rift, and were absorbed into it. A moment later, it dissipated into the air, as though it had never existed.

Gallantmon heaved a sigh and leaned back against the wall. "I can't believe I just did that...forgive me, Commanders..."

(--------------------)

Spring was not Derek's favorite time of year. He loved long night strolls, and the waning period of darkness only served to cut short his prime time. Even the fact that the nights were far warmer than in the winter didn't serve to completely make up for this fact, though he couldn't argue that it helped.

The air felt...different to him, somehow. Derek was very adept at sensing anything out of the ordinary at night, and his senses were telling him now that something wasn't normal. Being a curious person, he naturally was drawn to whatever was causing this strangeness; he let it guide his body tonight, hoping to come across whatever was charging the air.

He was outside the city, near a park he enjoyed frequenting, mainly because it offered many secluded places to hide out and enjoy the night. He might have gone through it if a gut instinct had told him that it would be a very bad idea.

He was probably the first person in Braun to spot the anomaly.

There was no question about it to him; it was definitely above the park. A formless distortion in the air, a wavy motion that could not be accounted for. It seemed as dark as the night sky, and yet at the same time had an indescribable brightness to it, which made it stand out clearly against its ebony backdrop.

Derek had stopped, staring at the thing in the sky. He had never seen anything like it, not in almost fourteen years' worth of memories that he could recall, not once in the thousands of night walks he had taken. He didn't end up having much time to be enthralled, however, as a sudden bright flare of light radiated from the wavy epicenter of the anomaly, forcing him to avert his gaze or go blind. Thus, he did not see the circular opening in the space above, nor did he witness the emergence of the figures from that point...

(--------------------)

On a regular night, Reyn would have been in bed by this time, even though it was Friday. However, this was a special case; his brother, Wallace, had decided to go see a movie with his current girlfriend (Ileene, which Reyn considered a horrid bastardization of the spelling of a decent name - but his brother went through girlfriends like most people go through trash bags, so he didn't think he'd have to put up with it for long), and they chose a late showing of a movie Reyn had been dying to see since he'd first heard about the hype. Knowing that he wouldn't get many chances to see the movie, he had asked to tag along.

They were just on their way out of the movie theater. Reyn had the vague sense of being cheated. The movie wasn't nearly as good as he had expected it to be, a rather annoying letdown. He would have discussed this with Wallace, but he was fairly certain that he and Ileene had spent the whole movie making out. Lost in his own thoughts, he collided with a person in front of him.

"Sorry," he uttered hurriedly, not wanting to cause any trouble, but he noticed that the man hadn't even acknowledged the contact. He just continued to stare into the sky, an expression of utter fascination statued on his face.

"Holy...have you ever seen anything like that, Renny?" Ilene gasped, pointing to the sky.

Reyn fumed silently as he looked up - _Goddamn, I hate it when she calls me that_ - but lost focus on that completely as he saw what everyone else was seeing. "Whoa...no, I've never seen anything even remotely like that," he responded, awed. "What is it?"

He never got his answer, as a bright flare seared the sky, bathing the world in bright white light. A panicked woman careened into Reyn knocking him to the ground; by the time he gathered himself, the light show had ended, and people were beginning to recover, seemingly surprised to still be alive.

"Jesus..." Wallace uttered, still shocked by what had occurred. "For a second there, I thought that was it for us."

Reyn rolled his eyes, thinking Wallace a bit over-dramatic in his analysis. All the same, though, it was something he had never imagined he would see in his entire life, and he had the vague thrill that it was going to lead to something big. His only wonder was what that something might be.

(--------------------)

Whenever Skylar picked up a brand new book, he found it almost impossible to put down. On a night where he would have to sleep well for school the next day, he usually was able to pry himself away from his reading, but this was a Friday night, and without that impetus, he would keep at it for quite some time. The subject tonight was wind currents.

The one thing that could distract him was the wind picking up suddenly outside his window. On a calm night with no previous gusting, this was abnormal, and it got his attention. He looked up from his book out the open window, and gasped. The anomaly in the sky was clearly visible through the window from where he was sitting.

He had little chance to observe it, as the light pierced the sky and penetrated into his room, forcing him to cover his eyes quickly. As it died down, he looked back, but whatever was out there had disappeared.

"...What in the world just happened out there?"

The book was all but forgotten now. Skylar slowly walked to the window and opened it. The wind had died down, the light had faded, and whatever had been out there was gone. He shut the window and made his way into his bed, knowing that he would be tirelessly at work the next day, intent on finding out what on Earth that strange weather phenomenon could have been. All he knew at the moment was that it was unlike any weather pattern he had ever come across in his life.

(--------------------)

Isaac rarely went to sleep before the rest of his family. One could often find him awake at the early hours of the morning, working with some aspect of robotics that he had been testing for however long. It was delicate work, and any disturbance would draw his ire. The one that was coming would be spared ire only because of confusion.

The flash ripped through the window, permeating throughout the room with almost tangible luminescence. For all the good they did, the closed blinds might as well have not been there. His work momentarily forgotten, Isaac vacated his room and tore down the stairs, where his parents were. "What the hell just happened?"

"Isaac, language!" his mother, Lilith, snapped.

"Sorry, sorry! What was that?"

"I have absolutely no clue!" his father, Alphonse, said while looking for any sign outside the window. "It came out of nowhere...I've never seen anything that bright before. What on earth could have made a light that powerful?"

"Could it have been a bomb?" asked Lilith fearfully.

Alphonse shook his head. "I don't think so, dear. A bomb would have to make some loud explosion, and we didn't hear anything."

"It might have been an EMP..." This horrible thought sent Isaac racing back up to his room to check on his robots. All of them were in working condition; his computer was all right, as well. Relief washed over him; an EMP would have wiped out everything in his room more likely than not. He had a crude EMP guard he had experimented with, but he wasn't even sure it worked.

He decided to turn in for the night. His nerves had been frayed by the event, and he wasn't sure he could concentrate after that.

(--------------------)

Iris woke with a start. She had just been brought out of a deep sleep, and she was a bit disoriented because of it.

The recurring dream had made another appearance that night. She was used to the sight of the strange creatures by this time, so that didn't bother her. She was aware that something was wrong, however. She didn't understand anything they were talking about; in her waking state, the words blended together, and she couldn't make sense of them. She could tell that there was a lot of concern among the creatures, and this made her feel bad. She wished she could help them, but that was silly; it was only a dream. The last thing she recalled was a swirling opening of some kind, a bright flash, and then nothing.

As she was struggling to make sense of this, a bright flash of light illuminated her room. She tried to scream in terror, but it came out as more of a squeak. She knew it wasn't anything like lightning, but she didn't know much else.

She sat in her bed, shivering as the light died away. It wasn't more than a few seconds before she heard the knock at her door. "Iris? Are you all right?"

"Fine, Dad..." she replied timidly. She wasn't fine at all; few would be after waking up from a deep sleep only to be jarred by something like what had just happened.

Her father, Emil, opened the door slowly and looked inside. "Are you sure? You don't look good."

"Just...woke up from a nightmare," she lied. "What was...what was that light thing?"

"I'm not sure, sweetheart, but it's done now," Emil reassured her. "Don't worry about it, I doubt it will happen again."

"All right." Iris rolled over into her bed as her father closed the door. She wondered about the end of the dream she'd had and the burst of light that had shocked her. She couldn't shake the odd feeling of how similar they had been...

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

I hate descriptions. I'll admit, I am a visual thinker, and translating my mental image into words has always been challenging for me. I'll keep trying to improve, but I urge you to fill in details in your own mental image at your leisure if you find my descriptions inadequate.


	3. Chapter 2: Drawn Together

Just in case I inadvertently offended anyone in that last chapter, I have nothing against the name Ileene or any variation thereof. The opinions of the characters do not necessarily represent the opinions of the author.

All right, on with Chapter 2!

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

**Chapter 2: Drawn Together**

Every member of that digimon team was prepared to face major shocks when they arrived in the organic world. It was a world they had never been to before, populated by creatures that were nothing like digimon, and who knew how they would react to their presence. It was not going to be life as usual, and they thought they had all braced themselves for the possibilities and difficulties that would arise during their mission.

Unfortunately, they did not consider the possibility that the rift would spit them out 200 feet in the air.

The group cascaded to the ground, or most of them did; Breezedramon thought fast (an uncommon occurrence for him) and spread his wings, slowing his descent as he circled around in the air. The rest had no such luck, as they hit hard, the trees only slightly slowing the fall. It was quite lucky for them that the ground underneath was grass rather than pavement, or their mission might have been over before it began.

Datacarnomon, whose metal body somewhat dulled negative sensations (though he had pain sensors, so not entirely) and was quicker to recover than his friends' fleshy forms, was the first to push himself back up to his feet. "Yikes...what a way to make an entrance. Why do they have to make those things so far from the ground?"

Breezedramon rustled through the trees, safely landing on his feet. "Sucks to be all you guys. Hope you didn't knock any screws loose, Data."

"No...but my pain sensors are in rapid-fire mode. They'll die down in a bit, though. Where's everyone else?"

"Ouch...I'm present," reported Shockavimon, picking herself up as well. "Though maybe not entirely accounted for."

"Don't worry, I'll be accounted for you," replied Breezedramon cheerfully. Shockavimon didn't say anything, mainly because she didn't want to go through the work of trying to understand that. "Any sign of Sal or B.C.?"

"Um..." Shockavimon was quiet for a moment. That quiet revealed soft moans of pain from nearby. Shockavimon went to explore, and found Salmandmon on the ground, whimpering. "Sal? Hey, are you okay?"

"F-fine," stammered Salmandmon, not looking at Shockavimon, his hands clutching at his inner leg.

"You're a lousy liar, Sal! Here, let me see...Ah!" Shockavimon gasped and recoiled from the sight of the wound, a long gash that stretched from his groin all the way down to his ankle. Even with both hands, Salmandmon couldn't completely hide it. "That's really serious, Sal! We need to get that treated right away!"

"I'm FINE!" Salmandmon argued, trying to stand. Pain roared through his leg, and he sat back down, knowing that he wouldn't be able to put weight on it. "Dammit, that's painful...I just need a crutch of some sort."

"You're bleeding! Your leg is like a sieve!"

"Let's just slap some leaves on it or something, okay? It's not like we have many options right now."

"Found B.C.!" reported Breezedramon. "Looks like he's sleeping off the transfer!" He was standing over the unconscious canine digimon, checking to see if he was injured. "Should I rousate him?"

"Uh...yeah, but only if that means wake him up," said Datacarnomon. "We'll need him to try to carry Sal. We can't stay here...I'm sure the humans noticed something, and they're bound to check it out."

"Gotcha." Breezedramon shook Blackcanismon, waking him up after a minute. "Hey, there we go. Welcome back to the world of conscites! How're ya feeling?"

"Ugh...I am possessed of a sensation moderately akin to that of a Trailmon repeatedly colliding with my cranium..." groaned Blackcanismon.

"Yeahyeah, that sucks. Hey, we need your help. Sal can't walk." He pointed to Salmandmon, who was being tended to by Shockavimon. The two were trying to stop the bleeding by pressing leaves on the wound, with marginal success. "Looks like he hurt himself pretty bad."

"How fortuitous," Blackcanismon sighed. "Unconsciousness bore slight advantage in my preference."

(--------------------)

It was a rough night for all the digimon. Salmandmon's leg continued to torture him; the bleeding had stopped for the most part - he was fortunate that no major vessels had been hit - but the pain seemed to only get worse, and that kept him from sleep. Blackcanismon also couldn't sleep, the pounding in his head not letting up one bit. The uninjured three took turns standing guard so the others could rest, but they too suffered restlessness problems because of their nervousness. As morning rolled around, none of them could claim to have gotten much sleep, and it showed on their faces. Despite this, they all acted like they were ready for the day.

"I think it would be a good idea to scout around," suggested Datacarnomon; being robotic in nature, he was the least affected by the lack of sleep. "Just staying here the whole time won't help anything. We have to get to know the area around us, and find out if there's anyone around who won't freak out on sight so we can try to get our warnings across. If I walk around a bit, I can get an internal map started."

"Sounds good to me," Shockavimon agreed with a yawn. "But all of you had better be careful! We don't know what the humans are gonna think of us, so we'd better stay hidden!"

Blackcanismon nodded. "Cautiousness is imperative. Avoid the local populace as much as possible. Initialize conversation only out of absolute necessity. In the unfortunate scenario that your revelation is inevitable, remove yourself from the situation in such a way that the lowest number of individuals is aware of your presence."

"Some of us need to learn how to speak concisely," cracked Datacarnomon. "Sal, are you sure you're all right staying here by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, Data," Salmandmon reassured his friend yet again. The hastily-covered wound hadn't healed well, but the blood had coagulated enough to keep the wound from continuing to bleed. It was still excruciatingly painful for him to walk, but he felt he could do enough to get away. "If I walk around too much, I'm gonna tear this leg open again. Until we figure out a better fix, I'm gonna have to stay in one spot. I'll be bored, but it's better than being dead."

Shockavimon, Breezedramon, and Blackcanismon dispersed quickly as they settled this. Datacarnomon hung back for a moment, then leaned in close to Salmandmon. "Hey, Sal, 500 creds says Breezedramon'll be caught first."

"Nice to know that even in a situation of such importance, you're still willing to bet on your friends' screw-ups," replied Salmandmon, rolling his eyes.

"C'mon..."

"Fine, you're on. Now go, before I decide to smack you." Datacarnomon smirked and vacated, leaving Salmandmon alone with his thoughts.

(--------------------)

It was Saturday, and Saturday meant no school. This Saturday was especially nice, because it was the start of a longer weekend for Reyn, as there was a teacher workshop day that Monday. Yet, he was still up earlier than normal. His mind remained agitated by what he had seen yesterday, and he had resolved to ask Skylar about it. He wondered if perhaps it was a weather effect.

As he entered the kitchen, he found that he was the last one up. Seated around the table were Wallace and Reyn's younger siblings, Cayden and Alisin. His mother, Minerva, was at the sink, washing up. Only his father, Treylor, was absent.

"Dad's at work on a Saturday morning?" Reyn commented as he noticed this. Both his parents worked at the hospital, but his father generally worked afternoon shifts; his mother alternated between afternoon and late-night.

"He wanted to see if there were any injuries reported from whatever that light was last night," answered Minerva. "I was curious, too, but no need for both of us in there unscheduled."

"Right...man, I'll bet the whole city is talking about that thing. It was crazy."

"Too bad it didn't happen on a day you had school, bud," Wallace said. "Maybe people would have been so busy discussing it that you wouldn't have had to learn anything."

"Oh, no, I like learning," replied Reyn with the sly grin of someone about to take a shot at another. "You see, I happen to have something called 'future prospects,' which mean if I learn enough I might not end up still living with my parents when I'm 21."

"Cram it," snarled Wallace as Cayden snorted into his cereal. "I'll move out once I've got a steady job."

"Yeah, sure. I'll believe that once I believe you'll get a job that you won't get fired from in two months. Or a girlfriend who won't dump you in one."

"Boys, let's not fight at the table," interrupted Minerva. Reyn surveyed his brother with satisfaction as Wallace shot him death glares.

"Hey, Mom, I'm going over to Skylar's for a while. I think that thing last night might have been a weather event, and if anyone would know, he would."

"All right, have fun." Reyn dashed out at this go-ahead, already thinking about what Skylar might have to say on the subject. The two had met only two years ago, shortly after Skylar had moved to Braun. The friendship had formed very quickly, the two of them clicking on some subconscious level. Reyn was impressed by Skylar's intelligence, and perhaps more so by his modesty. That modesty had earned Skylar a lot of friends in school, a direct contrast to Isaac, whose brash manner and seeming lack of humility made him intolerable to many, Reyn somehow not included.

Reyn knocked on the door and was let in by Corrine Jascalt, Skylar's mother, a heavyset woman who looked rather elderly for her age. "Oh, hello, Reyn. Skylar's upstairs in his room, if you're looking for him."

"Thanks." Reyn made his way up the stairs and entered the first door on the right. Skylar sat at his computer, a look of stern resolve etched to his face, laced with no shortage of frustration. That look told enough of a story for Reyn's sake. "You should really get out more."

Skylar barely looked away from the screen; he was more than used to Reyn's friendly jabs by now. "You're one to talk. You're more of a lounge lizard than I am."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one who looks like he's anemic. Maybe if you exercised you'd gain some weight and actually have some meat to justify that massive altitude." Reyn was familiar with looking up to Skylar, both for his intellect and his six-inch height advantage. "And maybe you'll get some color in your hair and look less like my grandfather."

"I'll have you know that white hair is considered very handsome in some cultures."

"Maybe someday you'll visit one of them and be made their king."

Skylar snorted a laugh. "Like you're any better, Mr. Firehead. Red-haired people were thought to be witches in some other cultures."

"A pity they never tried to burn me at the stake, then. I daresay I'd have given a few people heart attacks. Let me guess, you already tried to find a weather event that was like that anomaly last night, but you haven't turned up anything."

"You're dead on. All my books haven't shown anything even slightly resembling that thing. Even the Internet's no good - they've got the latest news articles on the subject, and of course some wild speculation, but no concrete explanations anywhere. I tried a few random searches, but picked up squat."

"That's too bad...I was hoping it was weather-related, so you could explain it to me."

"Well, I guess that would be the logical conclusion to draw. But with this lack of supporting information, I guess maybe we aren't on the right track." Skylar sighed and twisted in his chair to face Reyn. "You have any ideas?"

"Nah, my specialty is fire and heat, neither of which I get from that thing. All I know is what I saw, which is probably the same thing you saw." Reyn quickly described his view of it to confirm this.

"Yeah, that's what I got out of it, all right. It doesn't look like it's a weather system of any kind...not many I know of that produces sustained flashes of light."

"So, we're stumped, huh?"

"Pretty much, unless we want to venture out into the sci-fi explanations." Skylar smirked lightly as if amused by the idea. "The realm of the answerless, but I suppose that applies here."

"You thinking anything in particular?"

"It's pretty far out. We did see what looked like waves in the sky, standing out pretty significantly. If we're going to get rather radical, it looked something like how I would imagine a distortion in space would look."

"Distortion in space, huh? And what would a distortion in space bring? Maybe a wormhole or something like that?"

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "That might be a bit _too_ radical. I've heard theories that wormholes can exist at a subatomic level - I think they meant a _very_ subatomic level - but not at the size of that distortion."

Reyn considered this for a moment. "Well, to completely disregard science for a moment, maybe aliens found a way to enlarge a wormhole and used it to connect their planet and ours."

"I have my doubts, but...well..." Skylar shrugged. "I would love to rule out the paranormal, but I can't find a solid scientific explanation for this. If only we had more information, maybe we'd have some clue as to how to proceed, but for now, it's just a mystery."

"Guess we'll just have to wait for the experts, huh?"

"Sounds like it, unless you have anything else to offer."

"Well, another look-through might not hurt." Reyn pulled a chair over towards the computer. "If nothing else, it's fun to speculate."

(--------------------)

Iris was walking down the sidewalk, enjoying the bright, sunny day, when she happened to spy a familiar tall, black-haired young man hanging out outside a familiar house. She always found it a bit odd to see Derek outdoors during the day; she was well-versed to his habits, and while he didn't spend every possible moment inside during the daylight hours, he was definitely more likely to be in than out.

She walked on over to him and poked him in the back. "Good morning, Derek! So, how's the illness?"

Derek snorted and turned, looking down at Iris. "Nothing good about the morning, especially not this one."

"Oh, don't be like that."

"Don't even start. The only reason I'm out here at this point is because Isaac asked me to be."

"So that's who's house it is." Iris glanced over the house again; she hadn't been there enough to recognize it very well. "And what would Isaac be asking you?"

"Well, he called this morning, wanted to ask if I'd seen anything unusual last night. And I made the damn fool mistake of telling him that I did."

"Ah, so that's it. Well, then, I'll just have to stick around and listen while you tell him, so I can get an idea of what it was."

Derek made an irritated sound. "Doesn't _anyone_ keep their windows open nowadays?"

"Hey, I was asleep," Iris replied indignantly. "I only woke up a few seconds before it actually happened, and I had just been in a dream, so I was a bit muddled." She looked around furtively, and then lowered her voice unnecessarily. "It was one of _those_ dreams again."

Upon mention of this, Derek's somewhat hostile mood seemed to vanish. "You mean the one with our creatures?"

"Bingo." Iris and Derek often referred to the creatures of their dream as theirs, though it wasn't for the reason that they felt they owned them. It was simply their way of indicating their shared recurring dreams. They often talked about them together, wondering why they started and what they might have meant (though that point was often littered with Freudian jokes of varying degrees of bad taste). What especially interested them what how the events in some of the dreams seemed to be the same, but from different vantage points. They were especially aware of the creatures that were in both of their dreams, hence the 'our' designation.

"It was really weird this time...the strangest part was at the end, there was this big bright light...and then when I woke up, well..." Iris seemed rather distant as she said this, which somewhat unnerved Derek.

"Hey, are you all right, Iris?"

Iris came back to life and giggled. "Oh, how sweet, you're worried about me!"

Derek frowned. "You make it sound like I never care about anyone."

Iris gave a huge false smile. "You know I'm just teasing."

"You always sound serious when you're teasing," Derek teased back.

Derek and Iris had been friends all their lives, the result of a close connection between the two families. Iris' father, Emil, and Derek's father, Elliot, had been college roommates, and ended up both going into government work. They were both employed at a federal building situated in Braun, which was locally-run but under shared jurisdiction. Elliot and Emil remained good friends, and this closeness extended to the rest of the families, and especially Iris and Derek. Their mutual respect of each others' differences served to greatly strengthen their friendship. Others often looked down on Derek's habits with suspicion or derision, but Iris never did, and Derek, though he was a loner for the most part, was deeply grateful to have someone that close to him. In turn, he was very supportive of Iris' interest in electricity, and got very defensive when anyone commented negatively on that. A long running rumor throughout their peers at school was that the two were in love with each other. Both denied these rumors, saying they hadn't considered the thought. They were being honest...for the most part.

A sudden sound from the direction of the house drew the attention of both of them. They turned to see a very large youth coming their direction, jogging down the steps and nearly tripping and falling. "Derek! Just the guy I wanted to see!" he shouted as he regained his footing and rushed up to them. "Oh, Iris! I wasn't expecting you! Sorry, I don't have any wiring to do."

"Nice to see you too, smart-ass," the girl replied coolly.

"Yeah, it's good to finally get into contact," added Derek icily, "seeing as you told me to meet you...oh, fifteen minutes ago, now. You'd think a person as concerned with precision as _you_ were would have learned how to be punctual by now."

"Hey, I'm working on it, all right?"

"Sure you are. Let's not drag this ordeal out longer than we have to." Derek went into a description of the scene he had witnessed the previous night. The two audience members remained silent during this, not wanting to rile Derek to the point where he'd decide to just screw it and leave. They knew he was capable of that.

"Wow...that's really something!" exclaimed Isaac, rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist. "Now I'm really mad that I missed it!"

"Maybe if you kept your window open now and then, you'd see a bit more," Derek said with obvious asperity.

"Yeah, well, I don't get as much out of the night sky as you do, bub."

"Do you have any ideas about what that thing might be, Mr. Machine Freak?" Iris jumped in before Derek could answer back again.

"Oh, plenty of ideas. Nothing testable, though. Sounds to me like a distortion in space, maybe a wormhole or something. That would be so cool! Maybe aliens came through it!"

"How lovely," Derek said acidly. "Now we get to sit through yet another session of rambling speculation and flights of fancy. Can't you come up with something more reasonable?"

"You're starting to sound like Skylar," Isaac responded coolly. "But hey, that's fine. If you have other ideas, I'd be perfectly happy to hear them and then tell you why you're wrong."

"No, I don't have other ideas! But at least I'm not making random guesses pulled out of an Isaac Asimov collection!"

Iris decided to make her exit at this moment, rather than witness yet another spat between Isaac and Derek. Neither of them noticed her leave, which she considered fortunate; she didn't like to take sides, especially when there was really nothing to support either argument.

With nothing better to do at the moment, she resigned herself to heading back to her house. As she made her way however, a sudden chill passed over her, and she could have sworn she had seen something out of the corner of her eye. She tried to put it out of her mind as she continued, but it continued to hang with her.

(--------------------)

Not even that much time had passed, yet Salmandmon was already beginning to feel like exsanguination was better than boredom. He hated being unable to go anywhere, even though he knew that walking around to much would aggravate his injury. He had intended to stay until someone came back, and remained true to this resolution for almost a good hour, passing time by watching the few humans who passed by close enough that he could catch sight of them (and thankfully not close enough to catch sight of _him_), and wondering about the bet Datacarnomon had egged him into.

He wasn't even fully aware of it when he started moving. It was as if an unconscious force was drawing him somewhere, ordering him to follow its direction. He relented and followed his instincts, making sure to stay well out of sight of the humans. He wasn't even sure of where he was going, and feared that he would be caught at any moment. And yet, by some amazing fortune, he went undiscovered all the way to his destination.

Which was, as it turned out, a large brick house.

Salmandmon stared at the house from a line of hedges in the back yard near a somewhat dense line of trees separating the brick house from its neighbor. He couldn't shake the powerful sense of _déjà vu_ he was getting as he did. _That's weird...I know I've seen this place before...but I can't have, it's not possible._

He had a sudden urge to enter. He knew it was a very bad idea, but even as he thought this, he started out. He knew that he couldn't enter through any door; his eyes wandered to a window in the upper story. _No way, I couldn't climb that...it's hard enough walking on this leg, I'd kill myself trying this..._ But he attempted it anyway, not really sure why he did, but not caring too much at the moment.

_What is it about this place?_ he thought perplexedly as he pulled himself up the wall, his hands and feet clinging to the sides with little effort. He winced every time his injured leg landed, reminding himself to be extra careful with it. It did little good in the end. As he neared his destination, he felt his injured leg slip its grip, and desperately jammed it into the wall. Pain thundered through his leg, and as he looked down, he saw the blood once again flowing freely, dripping down his leg and off his foot onto the ground below.

Fighting his way through the pain, he pulled himself up to the window. A screen barred the way, but it was no match for his claws and was easily torn open. All that remained was the window itself, which was closed but not locked. He dug into the wood at the bottom and forced it open, then flung himself inside. He hoped that no one had spotted him, but presumed by the lack of commotion nearby that he had remained fairly safe.

He had to jump from the sill to the ground, no mean feat on one foot. He had expected to bang to the ground loudly, but instead just landed with a soft thud. The floor was carpeted, enough of a rarity in the digital world that it confused him for a moment. Too late, he realized that the blood from his leg would stain the carpeting. _So much for staying unnoticed..._ he thought grimly.

The sense of familiarity continued to grow. He was sure now he'd seen this room somewhere. He was just having trouble pinpointing where. He looked around at the room he had just entered, trying to place it. It had all the conveniences of a modern-day bedroom - a bed, a desk, a dresser, a computer, a television, a stereo, and others. And then there were the not-so-normal features: a jar of matchbooks on the dresser, at least a few dozen candles all over the room, several torches leaning against the walls (which were marred with the occasional scorch mark), and a stand in one corner of the room with a sinister-looking contraption that he couldn't have even begun to identify, and felt rather like he didn't want to.

But it was that contraption that stirred up the memory he needed. The recognition hit him out of nowhere: _Wait, this is one of those places I've dreamed about! But...that's impossible, how could this place actually exist, and in the human world of all places?_

He had little time to dwell on this, as a sound from outside the room drew his attention. It sounded like someone ascending a flight of stairs. _Oh, no! They might have heard me!_ Salmandmon thought in a slight panic. _Okay, just stay cool...gotta get out of here! I think I can climb up that desk and get out the window I came in, but I've gotta hurry!_

He hobbled over to the desk near the window. Pushing mainly with his uninjured leg, he managed to pull his body about halfway up the desk, and swung his injured leg up to the sill, hoping to get enough of a grip to get himself up. His luck ended there; a pain like none he'd felt before tore through the injured leg, and the resulting distraction caused him to lose his grip on the desk. His head rapped against the side of the desk as he went down, causing him to black out before he hit the ground.

(--------------------)

Reyn hadn't been in any hurry to get home after meeting with Skylar, at least not at first. But what was supposed to have been a leisurely walk soon changed as he neared his house; he found himself picking up speed, not even really aware of the fact at first and not understanding why once he did happen to notice it. By the time he reached the block his house was on, he was running at top speed, drawn by an inexplicable force back home.

He forced himself to calm down as he got inside, realizing that he'd look completely crazy if he burst in in such excitement and there was nothing going on. His father was at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. He looked rather tired, a consequence of his early morning, but smiled cheerfully as Reyn got in. "Hey, bud. How's it going?"

"It's going fine," Reyn replied, still a bit on edge after his run. He'd calmed down a bit, but he still felt a strange sense of something that he couldn't quite pinpoint. "Did...anything happen here while I was gone?"

Treylor gave his son a perplexed look. "No...why? Did you hear something?"

"Uh...well, no...it's just...ah, never mind. Guess it's just my imagination." Reyn shrugged and pretended to dismiss the idea, not wanting to bother his father after what must have been a trying day for him. He went over to the cupboards and dug around for something to eat, trying to shake the peculiar feelings with no success. "What's the news from the hospital?"

"No injuries directly associated with whatever that thing was, at least that we could see. Lots of panic attacks, though, and they told me that there was a sudden rush of minor injuries associated with collisions, trampling, and so forth."

"Heh, we are a city of kittens, aren't we?" Reyn chuckled. "One little thing out of place and we all go berserk. It's enough to make someone-" A thump from upstairs stopped him in mid-sentence. "What was that?"

"No clue," his father replied as Minerva called upstairs from another room: "Cayden! Be gentle up there!"

"Ah, man, that had better not have come from my room..." Reyn muttered in annoyance. He didn't like Cayden and Alisin being in his room while he wasn't there, as they had the tendency to be careless at times. "I'm gonna go see if Cayden's doing something he shouldn't."

"Don't take punishment into your own hands," his father warned as Reyn started up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." he grumbled back, already wondering what he was going to do if Cayden had knocked over his thermite reaction chamber. "I swear, he's never careful in there..." he mumbled to himself.

He heard a loud bang as he reached the top of the stairs, the sound clearly emanating from his room. "Oh, for the love of..." Reyn fumed as he rushed to his door and tore it open, prepared to tell Cayden off for banging around and possibly breaking something...and stopped short at the sight of his floor. A somewhat large red reptilian creature was laying on the carpet.

"What in the hell?"

The feeling of familiarity was almost instantaneous; somehow, he was sure he'd seen the creature somewhere before. Cautiously, he approached the creature. As he neared, he suddenly caught sight of the red stains on the carpet around where the creature was. With mixed curiosity and dread, he knelt over the creature and examined it, and found the long wound on its leg and one on its head, almost blending in to its skin.

"Oh, holy crap...MOM! DAD! You gotta come up here right now!"

(--------------------)

_I must be absolutely mad..._

Shockavimon knew she was supposed to stay out of sight. She knew she was supposed to be as far from potential contact as possible. And yet, she had been following a certain human female for almost ten minutes. It was strange, but she had a good reason: a memory-like dream of a rather slight human girl with long, light brown hair, exactly like the one she was observing now.

_Absolutely mad. From thunderbird to cuckoo-clock._

She had tried telling herself that it couldn't be possible, that some human from her dreams couldn't actually walking around near where she was, but she knew the truth and couldn't truly deny it to herself. And this was enough to get her to want to talk.

She watched, following carefully so as to avoid premature discovery. She wanted to make sure there were no other humans around before she made the first attempt to talk with her target; it would reduce the chance that the human would be taken seriously if she ran away screaming. It took some time, but she got her chance. Calling from a tree, she simply said "Hello?"

Success. The girl had stopped suddenly, appearing mystified. She looked around, appearing nervous but also curious. "Uh...did someone just say something?"

Shockavimon looked around quickly, and decided it was safe to continue to talk. "Do we...know each other?" As soon as she asked it, she mentally slapped herself for asking such a stupid question; the human wouldn't know, she couldn't see Shockavimon. _This whole affair must be making me stupid as well as mad._

She responded much as Shockavimon expected. "Do we what? I don't know, I can't really see you. Who are you? Where are you?"

"I'm, uh, hiding." _Oh, hell, I sound like a complete fool now. I might have to show myself just to save myself the embarrassment of having to continue this conversation._

"Hiding? Where would you be hiding? Or why? And why would you tell me?"

"Because..." Shockavimon's mind searched for a plausible excuse, but she couldn't come up with a believable one. So she went with the truth. "Because I don't want to scare you?"

The human was clearly hopelessly confused by Shockavimon's responses, she could tell. She hoped that the girl wouldn't just forget it and run away, and thankfully she didn't, though her next words betrayed an obvious wariness. "Why would I be scared of you? Should I be? Why don't you come out?"

"Um...I don't want to come out here. Is there anywhere that isn't so...open?"

Shockavimon was sure that that would drive the human away, but somehow, the human still seemed more interested that scared. "Well, I'll just go around this building, and I can meet you there." She did exactly that, walking quickly around the house; Shockavimon noticed her hand go to her pocket, and wondered if she wasn't preparing to defend herself from an attacker. _Maybe this isn't such a good idea..._ But regardless, she jumped to a tree closer to the girl, then flapped down to the ground to meet her.

The two stood face to face for a moment, neither one saying anything. Shockavimon finally managed to stammer out "H-hi..."

She saw a look of dawning comprehension on the human's face. "You...you're the creature from my dreams!"

(--------------------)

Breezedramon floated lazily over the city, high enough up to be unrecognizable to the humans below. _Man, if Data could get a view like this, he'd have a map done in no time!_ he thought eagerly as he glided, almost lost in his elation of flight.

He hadn't paid much attention to where we was drifting, and by the time he recognized the pull, he was almost to where he was getting the feeling from. _Huh...I feel like there's something calling to me over there...well, if it is, then I'd better check it out!_ He started flying over to the area that was drawing him. The object of his interest was a moderate-sized white house, which Breezedramon could swear he'd seen before.

There was a small outcropping of the roof between the first and second floors near the porch. Breezedramon landed softly on it, near a window. He took a quick glance through the window and into the room. There was a human in there, and Breezedramon felt a jolt as he recognized him. _Hey! I've been dreaming about that guy!_

In his surprise, he almost lost his footing on the ledge. With alarm, he pulled himself up to the side of the house, hitting it with a loud thud. "Son of a bitch!" he groaned, knowing he'd been heard.

(--------------------)

Skylar had been dealing with mounting irritation all day long. His inability to find anything concrete to explain the strange occurrence the previous night was bugging him to no end, his little brother had been in and out of his room with the kind of annoying tenacity that only a little brother could have, and to compound all that, he had a strange feeling that was disrupting his concentration. Nothing he did could help his focus, and he was about to have a fit.

The sudden thump against his wall shook him, enough to nearly make him fall out of his chair. "Holy...what the hell was that?" he said aloud, realizing that the thump came from outside. He wanted to check out what it was, but stopped when he realize that it might be someone who wanted to hurt him. Throwing caution to the wind, he asked out loud, "Is someone out there?"

He heard a soft voice whisper "Crap!" outside the window. No question, there was someone out there. Skylar decided to face him head-on, no longer afraid. He dashed to the window and opened it, raised the screen, and looked out in the direction of the sound. The sight nearly caused him to fall out. "What in blazes?"

"Er...Uh..." Breezedramon was rendered wordless by the sudden extrusion.

"You...I know you..." said Skylar slowly. "But...how...when did...where did you..." As Skylar's mind regained function after the sudden shock of seeing a dragon outside his window, he suddenly made the two-and-two connection.

Breezedramon, sensing an opening, ventured, "Er...can I maybe possibly please come in? I don't want others to catch sight of me and go all apepperitic."

The garbled word seemed to draw Skylar back into reality. "Go all what? Wait, yeah, come in first before I try to make sense of that." Despite the unusualness of the situation, he felt no sense of danger; somehow he was certain the creature wasn't going to hurt him.

(--------------------)

Salmandmon gradually returned from his unintended slumber with a killer headache and blurry vision. Dimly, he realized that there was some figure above him, a hand extended over his head. No thought registered, it was simply his basal functions taking over, and they interpreted the sight as one thing: _Danger._

He let out a weak jet of fire from his mouth. It was the best he could manage in his condition. The human simply let it hit him, then put his hand on Salmandmon's mouth, holding it closed. "Easy, easy...you're not in any danger here."

"Reyn!" gasped a voice from somewhere Salmandmon couldn't see.

"Relax, Mom, I can handle it." The human that Salmandmon guessed was 'Reyn' looked back down at him, slowly releasing his jaws. "Hey, welcome back. You feeling any better?"

"Ugh...who the...who are you? Where am I?" groaned Salmandmon. He heard a number of gasps, again from nearby but not where he could see. Reyn, however, seemed unsurprised.

"You're inside my house," replied Reyn quietly. "You know, the one you so daringly infiltrated just a short while ago. I'm shocked that you even managed that in your state. Fortunately, you're looking a bit better now."

"Huh?" Salmandmon raised his head enough to see the rest of his body. It was then he realized he had a numbness throughout his leg. "What...what's up with my leg? Why can't I feel anything?"

"Calm down, little guy," said another voice. A man now entered Salmandmon's field of vision. "It was just a local anesthetic. It should wear off after a while."

"Anewhat?" Salmandmon pushed himself to a sitting position, allowing him to view the entire room. He could see, in addition to Reyn and the man, an older female human and two younger humans, a boy and a girl. The woman looked nervous, but the kids looked curious and interested.

"Anesthetic. Something to dull feeling in an area of the body to remove feeling."

"Oh...a paralyzer," said Salmandmon, making a connection.

The man frowned. "Not quite...well, I suppose it's close enough for jazz. Technically, not every anesthetic causes nerve interruption - some are muscle relaxants."

"But I was out cold. Why did you need to give me a paralyzer?"

"I didn't want to wake you up while I was stitching your leg closed."

Salmandmon blinked twice, certain he had misheard that. "What was that again?"

"Stitching...closing your leg wound up." The man pointed to the black matter over the leg wound, which had stopped gushing blood.

Salmandmon was having a hard time getting around this. "Wait, wait a sec...you closed up my leg...by sewing it up?"

"I guess they don't do a lot of stitching where you're from," the man chuckled. "Trust me, it's effective, and we can take them out painlessly when your leg's better...though I'm kind of surprised you haven't already burned them off, given your astronomical body temperature."

"...Well, they call me Salmandmon for a reason." The lizard gave up on making sense of this, and decided to count his blessings that they hadn't tried to kill him on the spot. He tried to stand up, only to be gently pushed back down by Reyn. "You should stay down...it'll help you heal if you rest for a while."

"Mmh...fine." Salmandmon felt an odd sense of familiarity when he looked at Reyn, a sense of...something. He was still too muddled to fully understand what it was. Eventually he shook his head, and winced, bringing his right hand up to his head, and realized there were bandages up there. "Ouch...so that's what I did to myself."

"Reyn's right, you should rest." The woman seemed to have overcome her nervousness and came close to Salmandmon. "I have no idea what you are or where you came from, or why you came here in the first place, but whatever the case, it was lucky that you ended up in a house with two doctors."

"Oh...yeah, er, sorry about that," Salmandmon apologized. "I don't know what came over me...I knew it was a bad idea, but..."

"Don't worry about it," the woman said tenderly. "Right now, it's important that you just rest. Reyn, why don't you take him upstairs? I don't want to impose on you, but..."

"Oh, you're not imposing," replied Reyn quickly. "That's what I was gonna do anyway." He bent over Salmandmon and grabbed him bodily. "Oof, you're not as light as I thought you'd be...hey, let me know if I'm hurting you in any way."

"No, you're fine..." Salmandmon squirmed a bit to try to help Reyn carry him. He couldn't see where they were going, but he could see the two younger kids trailing behind them, still obviously very curious about him. He heard the woman call them back down. "Cayden! Alisin! Don't bother the poor thing! He needs to rest!" The children turned back to complain, and soon they were out of Salmandmon's field of vision as they reached the top of the stairs.

It took little time for Salmandmon to notice that the room they were in was the one he had originally entered. Somehow, he wasn't as surprised by that as he thought he would be. Reyn put Salmandmon on the bed, leaning the lizard's back against the wall. "There ya go...feeling any better?"

"A little..." Salmandmon replied, remembering his first foray into the room. "Sorry...about the blood on the carpet..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, I've stained that thing more times than I care to remember. It needs to be replaced, anyway." Reyn sat on the bed and looked at Salmandmon. "You know me, don't you? I saw you looking at me earlier..."

"Well...uh...I..." Salmandmon stammered, not quite sure how to explain himself.

"You don't have to be nervous. I know you, as well. I've been dreaming about you for...well, years, now."

"You have?" Salmandmon gasped. "That's how I know you, too! But...how can that be?"

"Hell, I have no idea. I'm still trying to get over the fact that you're real. I suppose that thing in the sky last night...that was you, wasn't it?"

"Er...yeah..." Salmandmon didn't want to tell Reyn about the others. Though, somehow, he felt more comfortable around him than he thought he would. "You're not gonna make me a pet or anything, are you?"

"What? No!" Reyn sounded offended at the idea. "I couldn't do that! You're not just some animal we picked up off the streets!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Salmandmon replied, abashed. "Damn, I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I guess I'm just a bit paranoid..."

Reyn took a couple breaths to calm himself down. "No, it's okay, I overreacted a bit. I should have guessed that you were still kind of nervous; even if we're kinda familiar with each other, we're really still strangers. In any case, you should just rest now."

"Yeah, okay..." Salmandmon worried about what the others would think when they saw that he was gone from their hiding spot. He decided to try to forget about that; he'd get into contact with them later. "Yeah, I guess a rest would be good. Damn leg..."

"I have to know...how did you even walk on that thing?"

"Ah...it was better before I tried climbing the walls of your house. Hurt it again just before getting to your window...and probably again when trying to get out." Salmandmon chuckled mirthlessly as reviewed his first day in the human world. _Injured three separate times, discovered before 24 hours is out...oh, yeah, this mission is gonna be a total disaster._

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really. Um...I hate to ask, but...well, I'm kinda bored. You got anything to do in here?"

"Uh..." Reyn looked around the room for a moment, trying to figure what a lizard would like to do. "Probably...but I don't know if any of it would interest you. What do you do when you're not climbing the walls of strange houses and almost killing yourself?"

Salmandmon grinned for real this time. _I like this kid. He's a snarker even when he's nice._ "Well, mainly I work out."

Reyn raised his eyebrow. "Not much I can do about that. Even if you could move around, I don't have anything like that in here."

Salmandmon chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I'm pretty good at improvising. But that doesn't help me when I've got doctor's orders to do nothing."

"Yeah. Uh, let's see..." Reyn scanned across the room again, hoping for a long shot. His eyes migrated over to the television, and inspiration struck. "Hey, you play video games?"

A wide grin spread across Salmandmon's face. "Hell no...I _own_ people at video games."

Reyn looked back at Salmandmon with a bit of surprise; the sudden assertiveness kind of surprised him. "Well, in that case, I'll just have to test _that_ claim. You're on, buddy!"

"Get ready to be demolished!" Despite the auspicious start, Salmandmon couldn't help but feel that things were starting to look up. _If all humans are as nice as these ones, this might not be so hard after all..._

(--------------------)

Despite continually telling himself that he was there to make a map and nothing more, Datacarnomon had eventually succumbed to the same indescribable feelings that his comrades had. However, he proceeded with far more caution than those who had been discovered before him.

The internal map he had composed was only partially complete, but it was enough for his sensors to tell him where the life forms were. Being new to the organic world, his sensors were not sensitive enough to determine any specifics of the life-forms aside from size, so to be extra safe, he avoided anything he was aware of.

Soon, he found the location that was attracting him, a moderately-sized green-sided house bordered very closely by other houses. He came in through the back yard, scanning the area both visually and with his sensors for any people who might disturb him. He did not locate any, and thus proceeded further.

His fortune was good. The house was empty.

Using this to his advantage, Datacarnomon pried open one of the windows on the first floor, the only one he saw that was not protected by a screen of some kind. He slid in quietly, closing the window behind him so as to make it seem like no one had gotten in. His metal feet thudded loudly against the floor, something that he would have a hard time avoiding; he was once again very glad no one was in the house.

He looked around, trying to get his bearings. Something in this house was drawing him closer. He just didn't know what. Patiently, he walked through the rooms, getting a good diagram of the first floor, and noticing where he felt the closest to his goal. He almost didn't need to make a map of this place; he felt like he knew it by heart, which was strange. He determined eventually that whatever he was seeking was upstairs.

The carpeting on the stairs provided a good cushion, making his footfalls far less noticeable. He reached the top and looked at the door straight in front of the flight he had climbed. He was certain that was where it was. Carefully, he reached up and opened the door.

What he saw inside amazed him. Strewn all over the room were mechanical parts, both for external and internal use. Shelves were decked with partially or fully complete machines of various kinds and complexities. The walls were peppered with papers of many sizes, some being instructions, others being blueprints, and still others sketches that resembled crude schematics for different machines.

Despite the sense of familiarity, he couldn't help but be in awe. _This is impressive...did just one human do all this?_ he wondered. Looking around, the handwriting on much of the paperwork did seem to be the same, or similar enough. Treading carefully to keep from stepping on the scattered parts, Datacarnomon walked along the walls, reading what was written and looking at the building guides.

He turned the corner, getting a look at some of the tools that had been obscured by the bed near the corner. _There's a welding torch in here..._ he noted, that thought rather unnerving him for some reason. He then noticed a larger paper up over the tools by the bed. To get a better look, he pulled himself up onto the bed and looked square at it. He gasped and nearly fell backwards.

"Holy crap...that's me!"

It was a bit of a crude drawing, and was marked all over with notes and such, mainly what would be needed to construct it. But the likeness was nothing short of incredible, matching nearly perfectly in size and proportionate dimensions. He received another jolt as he noticed a date up in the corner. _Over eight years ago!_ he realized in amazement. _We haven't even known about the human world for eight years!_

Something was up, and Datacarnomon knew it. As he looked around once more, he began to discern why this place felt so familiar to him. _This is that place that I keep dreaming about...no wonder I felt like I knew the house already. But...hm...if I've been dreaming about this...maybe I should stick around. I want to meet this human. Something tells me there's more here than meets the eye._

The best hiding spot he could find was underneath the bed. He crawled under, glad that respiration wasn't a function he had to put up with considering all the dust gathered there, and waited for any sign of activity.

(--------------------)

Derek walked downstairs and passed by his parents on his way out the door that night. He wanted to ask his dad about how they were dealing with the anomaly. Of course, he knew even that simple question would ignite a sharp response, and he wasn't disappointed.

"Why are you interested in what I do all of a sudden?" asked Elliot gruffly. "Never seemed to care before."

Their relationship was like that. Derek and his parents didn't get along well. It has always been worse with his father than his mother, Myra; she didn't like his habits but accepted them as part of Derek's personality, while Elliot had spent too much time trying to change him. They occasionally had serious fallings-out that never really got resolved, leading to continued tension between them.

"It's more to do with the thing in the sky than anything you do."

"Hmph." Elliot took a moment, then decided the question was safe to answer. "They're playing cautious right now. Didn't find anything at the site except for some unsettled dirt, so they're leaving it alone for the time being. We don't know what it's all about, so until something comes up, there isn't much we can do."

"'Kay." Derek took this information in and left the house. Neither parent tried to stop him, long since having decided that it wasn't worth the trouble.

He took the familiar route to the park where the strange occurrence had been the night before. On some nights he'd walk for hours on end without a rest, but tonight he didn't feel like that. He was strangely drawn to the park for some reason; not that he didn't like going there, because he did, but because he felt more like he needed to than wanted to.

As Derek had expected from what his father had told him, the park was deserted, like normal. Derek walked off into the trees and took a familiar position, laying down on the ground and looking up at the stars from a small clearing in the tree ceiling. He couldn't see the whole sky, but this area was the most relaxing he'd ever been in, so he didn't mind terribly.

"Ah...this is nice," he said quietly to himself. "So much more settled than the calamity of daytime...so quiet...it's just so much..._louder_ during the day..."

"Indeed...the illumination of daylight hours seem to amplify sonorous emissions. The preponderance of said emissions tends to alleviate the effects to ordinary observers, as destructive interference contributes to that illusory effect."

"You said it..." mumbled Derek. Then his eyes snapped open. "Wait a sec...who said that?"

"'Twas I who proffered that admission." To Derek's surprise, a large black canine walked out of the bushes and in front of him. Derek sat up and rubbed his eyes, certain he was hallucinating; it was the creature that he had been dreaming about for so many years. Instantly, many questions leapt into his head, the first one he asked being:

"Uh...are you real?"

"I am quite grounded in reality, yes."

"Who..." Derek paused, deciding to rephrase. "Rather, what are you?"

"My given appellation is Blackcanismon. Should you find necessity in the condensation of such, Black is the preferable reference, although there are those who identify me as B.C."

Derek blinked. "Okay...I'm Derek. It's, uh, nice to meet you, I guess, but jeez...never heard someone use so many words to say something so simple."

"Innumerable individuals have made that observation. As to the classification of organism I tend towards, the technical nomenclature is digital monster, conveniently curtailed to digimon. Are those satisfactory rejoinders to your inquiries?"

"I guess so..." Derek replied, but a host of other questions arose from those answers. "What's a digital monster?"

"The technical nomenclature assigned to denizens of the digital world."

"The digital world? And what's that?"

"The digital world is a parallel of this organic terrestria. There exist connections between the two that are not completely understood. However, it has been ascertained that the dichotomy between such allows for interparallel expeditions."

"And so...you're here, then. Why?" Derek was having a lot of trouble keeping up with the canine. Not only was the entire concept new to him, he had trouble figuring out what the hell it was trying to say.

"A mission of utmost importance, which is unfortunately classified to the populace. I do hope this is not an unsatisfactory answer to your query."

"It is, but I guess I can't really argue with that...my dad's always talking about secrecy and stuff, so I'm used to not getting straight answers. I think I'd lose you just by trying to follow you, anyway. But if that was the case, why'd you walk up to me anyway?"

"I had an...indescribable inspiration. An attraction that was unconscious. It wrenched me from my intended direction, and I terminated my journey here." Blackcanismon regarded Derek carefully. "Upon closer reflection...there is a remarkable familiarity about you."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I've been dreaming about you for years. Kind of strange...seeing one of your dreams actually come to life." Derek waited a moment, and when Blackcanismon didn't seem to be responding, pressed on. "So...what were you doing originally? I don't mean your mission, but you said you had an...'intended direction' or something like that."

"Ah, yes...well, I had returned to my originating area because I desired a rendezvous with my comrades."

"Wha-there are MORE of you guys here?!"

"Indeed..." Blackcanismon's calm expression suddenly became tinged with concern. "But it appears that they had deserted their position. And such behavior is definite cause for consternation, as one of those colleagues suffered grave injuries which should have proved sufficient to force him to remain stationary for an extended length of time."

"Um...okay. So, you were going to go look for them?"

"Indeed, but the endeavor is perilous. There is a preponderance of humans in near vicinities, and exploration into denser populations would considerably heighten the probability of my untimely discovery. Should a malevolent being intersect with my course, the consequences could be devastating to our cause."

Derek thought for a moment. "Yeah, you're right, and there's more, too. You're similar to the dogs of our world. And there are people whose jobs are to pick up stray animals and bring them to the pound. Animals that aren't claimed are...well..."

Derek didn't finish, but Blackcanismon's expression was enough to indicate he'd gotten the hint. "Oh, my...that would be a catastrophic impediment to our objectives. Surely there exists a multitude of potential protective measures I may avail myself of?"

"Well, there are a couple ways to keep you out of harm's way. Probably the best would be taking advantage of your appearance...you look like a dog, so you'll be mistaken for a dog. If you're taken in by a family, then, you shouldn't have any problem with Animal Control. But that would entail...well, there are a few features you may not like..."

"You have already captured my intrigue. Enlighten me."

"Well...okay, see, the dogs here are...well, of the nonsentient variety. Humans keep them as pets...they've done it for thousands of years. If you were to play the role of one of those dogs, you could hide in plain sight. The problem is, you'd have to be subject to the laws that we have here, which means restraints and such."

"Restraints? Undesirable, certainly..." Blackcanismon thought deeply for a while. "And yet...if the security of my existence is bolstered, it may serve to play the charade. Attempting to constantly conceal my presence has a greater probability of critical failure...am I not erroneous in conceiving that you would assume the role of 'owner?'"

"If you don't have a problem with that. Otherwise I can get someone else."

"You would be best. I feel...a trustworthiness about you. I could not pinpoint exactly my emotions in this regard, but my comfortability around you is radically expanded. My singular concern is the status of my compatriots, but perhaps that will be alleviated in the immediate future."

"All right, then." Derek smiled; he felt much more comfortable around Blackcanismon, as well. "I hope you don't mind a lot of night walks."

Blackcanismon beamed. "Oh, I quite relish them."

(--------------------)

Isaac was sick of the gathering before it began. The rest of his family was enjoying the party, but Isaac didn't know anyone there, and he found most of them annoying. His older sister, Ashley, had insisted upon his presence, even though his parents gave him the choice of skipping it.

"You gotta go, little bro. You never just get out and party."

"I don't like parties. You know that."

"Yeah, well, it's high time you started liking them. Gotta practice for college, you know."

And so he relented. But not for long; after spending an hour there, Isaac got the grace from his parents to ditch the party and head home. He wasted no time, jogging most of the way home in order to energize himself. He had worked up a nice sweat by the time he reached his house.

He didn't notice anything unusual as he entered the house and went upstairs. Not that he was looking for anything, anyway. He went into his room and flopped down on the bed. "Phew...thought I'd never get out of there..." He sat up and looked at the schematic of the robot he kept dreaming about. "That's right, I wanted to work on the hydraulics..."

He hopped off his bed and started working on his most recent project; perfecting a hydraulics system for smooth movement of joints. He wanted his robot to move as much like a real creature as it could, and that started with flexible, fast-responding joints. He got very involved in the work, so much so that it took him a minute to realize that someone was trying to get his attention.

"Huh? Is there someone here?"

"About time you noticed. I've been hissing at you for a while now."

"What the...are you under my bed?" Isaac was very confused now, as no one he knew could fit under his bed. "Who are you?"

"Be prepared for a shock." Before Isaac could ask what that meant, the source of the voice emerged from under the bed. Isaac watched numbly as the robot stood up and brushed himself off. "Man, don't you ever clean down there?"

"I...buh...what...when...how did..." Isaac shook his head and coughed. "You're...you're that robot...that keeps appearing in my dreams..."

"Nice connection." The robot looked up at the schematic of it on the wall. "I see you've been inspired by that. That's a pretty nice blueprint, though I have to say, it's seriously lacking in the armaments department."

"That's because I haven't figured out weapons systems yet," Isaac replied almost automatically, then did a double-take. _Wait a sec, did a robot just give me criticism on the plans I had to build it? Oh, dear, I think my head's about to explode..._

"Ah, well, I'm sure you'll get that eventually, with all the stuff you've already gotten."

Isaac was beginning to regain his composure; talking about robots with a robot seemed to help for some reason. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, are you from the future?"

Datacarnomon laughed. "No, I'm not from the future. I am from a different world, though."

"A robot from another world?" Isaac seemed more elated than aghast.

"Sort of. To be perfectly accurate, I'm a robot digimon...er, digital monster."

"Digital monster? Never heard of 'em."

"I'm not surprised. We haven't coexisted on the same world before. Our world is directly connected to yours, but we've been isolated for our entire shared history."

"So, if you're isolated from us, then how..." Isaac stopped as he realized he already knew the answer. "That thing last night! You came through by that!"

"Ooh, you're a quick study," said Datacarnomon approvingly. "I like that."

"I'm...glad you approve?" replied Isaac uncertainly. "Anyway, why did you come in here, and hide under my bed?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I was just drawn here." Datacarnomon thought for a few seconds. "Hey...I know this is kind of an odd question, but do you think I could crash here tonight? My processor's been going almost non-stop for the past few days, and it could really do with a rest, but I don't trust the outdoors of strange places."

"Um...well..." Isaac hesitated a moment, then a thought occurred to him. "I guess, if you can return the favor...by maybe helping me out with these hydraulics?"

Datacarnomon smiled and nodded. "We have much to discuss."

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

Phew, long chapter here. But I didn't want to skimp on the set-up, so there's plenty of it. Sorry about the lack of action, but that'll be picking up more in the coming chapters. And I promise I'll touch on how they all got together so quickly, too, and let you decide whether it was originally planned or a last-second cop-out. (Hint: it was originally planned)

That's all for this week. See you for Chapter 3!


	4. Chapter 3: Synthesis

Quick note that will be relevant for this and many future chapters: if the digimon referenced is one from the canon, my descriptions will be pretty vague. But you can find pictures of most of them on Wikimon, which I used as a reference for this and other fics that I am currently in the process of writing. If Wikimon falls through, a quick Google Image search usually does it. Please remember that if it's from the canon in any way I don't own it.

All right, enough of my yapping. Onward!

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

**Chapter 3: Synthesis**

Reyn had never believed in the impossible. In his mind, there was always the tiniest fraction of a chance that anything could happen; even the most improbable outcomes had the barest possibility of becoming real.

But a creature from his dreams happening to show up unconscious and bleeding in his bedroom...that just didn't happen. The chances of a mundane course of events were radically larger than such an improbable occurrence happening to him. He'd half-expected to wake up several times and find out it was all just a dream, like the last who-knew-how-many years he'd been having the dreams. It never turned out that way, however; Salmandmon appeared to be as grounded in reality as he.

The two had bonded over some rousing and violent video games, each one trying his best to outdo the other. Though the lizard had sounded confident, Reyn was still impressed with how quickly he'd managed to pick up the controls, and he found himself having to work to keep up. Despite the atmosphere, though, he seemed more than friendly, and Reyn felt a remarkable closeness between the two of them by the time they decided to turn in.

He'd quickly gotten a grasp of another aspect of Salmandmon's personality when he'd woken up that morning. The reptile had beaten him up by quite a while, and was hard at work doing careful push-ups as Reyn awoke. Despite his misgivings, Reyn could do nothing to convince Salmandmon that he was better served resting his whole body, rather than just the injured areas. The only thing that finally caused him to stop was the announcement of breakfast, after which he expressed his surprise to Reyn that the rest of the boy's family was so comfortable with him (with the unfortunate exception of Wallace, who rather loudly indicated that he was "creeped out by the thing" and "wanted to be around it as little as possible").

Despite their growing connections, Salmandmon remained mostly tight-lipped about the reason he'd come to their world in the first place. He wouldn't tell Reyn why, but his demeanor whenever the subject was broached gave Reyn the impression that he didn't want him involved. Having some aversion to a lot of excitement, he didn't really mind all that much, but his curiosity remained with him in spite of this. Salmandmon did offer up enough information to let him know his intended goals for the visit, and Reyn promised to help in whatever manner he could, which was the primary reason why he found himself in front of Skylar's door yet again that morning.

"Oh, good morning, Reyn!" Corrine greeted him in her usual jovial manner. "More wild and crazy theories about that thing in the sky?"

Reyn smiled widely, more to hide his nervousness than anything. "Yep! We've got a couple weird ideas, but nothing solid so far."

"Ah, you two, always hard at work. Well, I'm sure you know the drill by now, so come on in, dear." Corrine left Reyn at the door to do something or other. Reyn made sure she was out of sight, then quickly motioned out the door. A moment later, Salmandmon popped (or, more accurately, limped) in and made himself as invisible as possible, no mean feat given his coloration. Reyn led him to the stairs, and they managed to sneak up undetected.

"Yo, Skylar," Reyn said quickly as he opened the door, clearly startling the boy at the computer. "I've got someone here who can explain what the hell?" His train of thought was derailed when he caught sight of a very strange creature laying on the end of Skylar's bed, what looked like some sort of blue dragon.

"Ah! It's...it's not what it..." Skylar tried to start explaining, but he too stopped short as he caught sight of Salmandmon. He blinked and stared, not quite believing his eyes. "What...in the world...is going on?"

"Well, isn't this a coincidence," Salmandmon mused. "I wondered where he'd end up."

"Hey, you act like you thought I'd get discovered!" Breezedramon complained from the bed.

Skylar seemed to come back into reality. "Well...it seems that we both ended up in the same situation."

"Yeah, I guess," Reyn said absently, still staring at the dragon. "Who's this stranger?"

"His name's Breezedramon," Salmandmon answered before Skylar was given the chance. "He came through with me. Damn, I think I lost 500 credits."

"What? Hey! You DID think I'd get caught!" Breezedramon jumped up, looking angrily at Salmandmon.

"Hey, Data's idea, not mine. You know he's the gambler."

"Keep it down, you two," Skylar warned. "I'd rather not have another close call if I can help it, I've got enough stress in my life as it is."

"Little brother troubles?" Reyn guessed.

"You know it." Skylar let out an exasperated sigh. "I had a real time of it this morning. You know how Benny just waltzes into my room like it's his own, and this is just the morning I don't want him to do it...well, clearly, Murphy's Law was in full effect. It was all I could do to convince him that Breezedramon was a stuffed animal that I'd been keeping in my closet for years, and then I had to convince him that I didn't want him to touch it because he had a small tear in his side and I didn't want it getting worse. It was a real pain in the ass."

"I don't see why it was necessitarated to do that," Breezedramon said in a befuddled tone. "He was a nice kid."

"Yeah, with a mouth that runs a mile a minute. You want to stay hidden, he's the last person you want to know about you."

"I can understand that," Reyn agreed. Benjamin Jascalt was Skylar's youngest brother, five years old, peppy, and in his experience couldn't keep a secret for the life of him. "If he knows what you are, it's gonna be all over town within two days. All you can do is try to keep him in the dark as long as possible."

"This is a lucky coincidence," Salmandmon commented with a shake of his head. "What are the chances of both of us ending up with both of you?"

"I'm not sure it's entirely a coincidence..." Skylar mumbled, seemingly lost in thought. "Reyn, is this the guy who was in your dreams?"

"No question...you?"

Skylar nodded. "It's as I started to suspect...we've had recurring dreams for...well, years now. It's one of the things that really brought us together. And now the creatures we see in our dreams suddenly show up at our houses...somehow, I'm getting the feeling that this isn't the coincidence it appears to be."

"Wait, you think this isn't crimincidentival?" Breezedramon asked.

Skylar stared at Breezedramon. "Wha?"

"I think he means coincidental," Salmandmon explained. "I don't speak great Breezedramon, but hanging around with a guy for so many years, you get kind of an idea of how he malfunctions."

"Oh, like you're perfect," Breezedramon said, sounding irked.

"Maybe not perfect, but better than you." Salmandmon turned his attention back to Skylar as Breezedramon scoffed and rolled his eyes. "So, Skylar guy, you don't think this was a coincidence?"

"I don't. I mean, it would be one thing if we hadn't had any clue at all who you guys were, but that wasn't the case...we both dreamed about you guys before we met up. And Breezedramon said he felt like he was kind of pulled to me, almost."

"Yeah, I felt kind of the same thing," Salmandmon added.

"Hm. That's pretty significant, too. It wasn't just that you ended up here...you actively sought us out, even if you didn't realize it at the time. It sounds oddly like something I read in a fiction book once-"

"What, you mean you actually read for pleasure sometimes?" Reyn interrupted with a wide grin.

"Everything I read is for pleasure," Skylar responded with mock affront.

Reyn just rolled his eyes. "Nerd."

"And don't you forget it. Anyway, the focal guy had some sort of psychic magnetism, an internal force that guided him to other people in danger. Of course, the guy in the book saw dead people, so obviously there's a few differences. But I think the same principle might apply here...you two were drawn to us, and I think we were kind of drawn to you as well...I know I was really distracted when I was trying to search for stuff just before Breezedramon bashed himself against the house."

"Bashed himself?" Salmandmon snickered. "What, did you crash?"

"I was standing on the ledge and slipped!" Breezedramon protested. "I didn't bash myself against anything, I just hit the side kind of hard when I tried to get my footing!"

"I felt something unusual, too!" Reyn remembered suddenly. "Like I needed to get back to my house really quickly, like something important was there! Do you think I was being tuned into Salmandmon's presence?"

Skylar nodded. "I don't doubt it...I think we've all felt that psychic draw."

"So, if that's the case, how did we get psychodally magnetified?" asked Breezedramon.

"I couldn't even begin to hypothesize about that...but it's possible that it's related to the dreams we've been having. We wouldn't have felt the draw quite as strong when we were in our own separate worlds, but it must have affected us in some manner, even back there." Skylar paused. "Did I just lose you there, Reyn?"

"What, the other worlds thing? Nah, Salmandmon explained that to me while he was recovering, I'm in the know."

"Recovering?" Breezedramon perked up, and took another good look at Salmandmon. His face scrunched up when he saw the lizard's leg. "Ah, Sal, don't tell me you dissunderated your leg again!"

"Uh...I think I'm supposed to answer yes to that," Salmandmon responded uncertainly, not quite sure what Breezedramon meant to say there. "Thankfully, Reyn's parents were there to help me. I'm really grateful to them." He pointed down to the stitches. "These guys are really ingenious."

"Looks barbaric to me," Breezedramon replied, giving the stitches a strange look.

"Maybe, but they work wonders. A lot better than trying to wrap it up, anyway. I'm still limping a bit, but they say I recover so quickly that I should be back in tip top shape in a few days."

"So, your parents know about him, huh?" Skylar asked Reyn.

"Well, when you find a large, bleeding lizard-thing in your room, and both your parents are doctors, the natural course of action is to let them handle it."

"Makes sense to me." Skylar sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at Salmandmon and Breezedramon. "So, I'm curious...if there's two of you here there could easily be more. How many of you came through that gate?"

"Five of us altogether," Salmandmon replied. "And we should really try to get into contact with them...they're probably worried to death about me, cause I was injured and all...are you okay, Skylar guy?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking..." Skylar opened his eyes and looked up at Reyn once again. "Reyn, how much did I ever tell you about those dreams I had?"

"Uh, enough to know that they were similar to mine. Why?"

"Well, it's a curious thing...I've seen Breezedramon every single time I've dreamed in that manner. But, honestly, when I saw Salmandmon walk in...I'm almost sure I saw him at least a few times in dreams as well."

"What? Seriously?" Reyn took a good long look at Breezedramon. "Whoa...you know, now that I think about it...I think I saw Breezedramon, too! I didn't remember at first, but yeah, I'm sure I saw him a few times!"

"No way," Salmandmon commented, impressed. "What, were you tapping into our minds or something? Wait a second..." Suddenly, a glimmer of recognition came into his eyes. "You guys...do you remember ever...well, coaching us or something? Ever recall thinking anything that was related to us being in danger or anything?"

"Uh...probably..." Reyn answered, rubbing his head. "I don't know that I can recall a specific instance-"

"I can," Skylar jumped in. "I remember at least a few episodes where I was practically frantic." He looked at Breezedramon with slight amusement. "You got into trouble a lot, didn't you?"

"H-hey!"

"So, that's it..." Salmandmon said quietly, feeling almost overwhelmed by awe. "I think you guys really were tapping into our minds! I think you actually influenced us when we were fighting...I remember a lot of times where I felt like some unseen force was guiding us, helping us out or something. I think I owe you a lot, Reyn...if it wasn't for you, who knows how many times I might have died?"

"Once, I presume."

Salmandmon made a face halfway between annoyance and amusement. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, you know, I think Sky probably helped me out, too," Breezedramon added. "And hey! If those guys did, than the others..."

"Yeah," Skylar finished, knowing exactly where Breezedramon was going. "The guys you came with...I'm almost certain they're the other ones I saw fairly often in my dreams. And with you guys here, it should be easy to confirm whether I'm right or not. Let's see...I remember a large bird-like creature, possibly yellow. I think it was electric in nature?"

"Yeah! That's Shockavimon!" Breezedramon shouted with glee.

"Shh! There are still other people in the house, remember! Um, let's see...I also remember a dog of some sort. Definitely black fur."

"Blackcanismon..." Salmandmon responded quietly. "That's incredible."

"And...um...damn. I know there was another one, but I'm having trouble recalling it. It's not coming to me for some reason."

"I think I know," Reyn volunteered. "I seem to remember some sort of robotic dinosaur-type thing."

Salmandmon nodded excitedly. "That's Datacarnomon! Yeah, all three of then came with us!"

"And if I'm not entirely mistaken," Skylar continued, "those other three digimon creatures...they had the same kind of unseen guidance thing that you two did, correct?"

"Yeah! We would talk about it all the time!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "Do you think they're under their own sort of psiatic magmatizicim?"

"I'm certain of it. Which means there are other people out there who they're being drawn to. All we can do is wonder who they are."

"I think I might already know who one of them is," Reyn said suddenly. "That robot dinosaur...Isaac had plans on his wall for a robot dinosaur that he wanted to build, said he was inspired by something he dreamt about. Maybe I'm just misremembering, but I think those plans were remarkably similar to that robot dinosaur, that Datacarnomon or whatever you called him."

Skylar's expression took an immediate downturn. "Oh, Christ...Isaac might be one of them? Talk abut your buzz kills..."

"Oh, come on, Skylar, can't you just forgive and forget? That was almost two years ago now..."

"I'll forgive and forget when he actually apologizes for what he did," Skylar replied stiffly. "Until then, forget it."

"Who's Isaac?" asked Salmandmon.

"One of our-well, my friends," Reyn answered. "Skylar's...well, they're not the best of friends, to put it mildly. But yeah, if that drawing was what I think it might be, it could very well be. Maybe we should ask him."

"I'm sure he'll come right out and tell us," Skylar replied sarcastically. "He'd have no reason to keep it from us, considering that he has absolutely no clue we know anything about it."

"Yeah, yeah. I think I'm starting to get why you had trouble on that one. Anything helpful to offer?"

Breezedramon looked at Salmandmon curiously. "He's kinda mean. No wonder you two hit it off."

Salmandmon just grinned fiercely back. "And that's just a taste of it. He's great."

"Come to think of it..." Skylar closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. "You know, I seem to recall once hearing Iris and Derek talking about some recurring dreams they were having...they're other friends of ours," he added for the benefit of the digimon. "I don't know the context, so it might not be related...but you know Iris is funny about electricity, and Derek's a night owl. That's an awful lot of coincidences, I think."

"Now that would be something," Reyn mumbled. "All of us ending up in the same place with the same connection to this incident?"

"Maybe you all had your own psychical magnetizude!" suggested Breezedramon. "Something drew all you guys to want to come to wherever we are!"

"I don't think that's the case, Breezedramon," Skylar answered with a shake of his head. "For starters, if that was the case, you'd think we'd all share the same bonds of friendship, but we don't. You've already seen how I feel about Isaac...and Derek's really kind of distant from all of us except Iris, not unfriendly but not really close. Sure, he'll get together with us at times, but he always looks like he thinks he's out of place."

"Yeah, and we didn't all just come here because we wanted to," contributed Reyn. "I know Isaac was born in Braun, and has lived here all his life. Derek and Iris, if I remember right, both came here when they were babies, because their dads got assigned to the local branch of some federal government agency here. None of them even had the ability to make that decision. As for us...well, my family moved here about...oh, it must be three and a half years ago now. I never felt any special attachment to this city over our other options...I guess I was kind of indifferent about the whole thing after being shifting around for the umpteenth time."

"Much different here," Skylar added. "I came only around two years ago, and I can tell you, I absolutely hated the idea. There is almost nothing interesting about the weather in the East. I would have preferred to stay in Tornado Alley...that's the Midwestern area of this country," he explained to the digimon without prompt. "Or at least maybe to the West...I hear that some strange weather patterns manifest over there."

"So...you're saying it's just chance?" Salmandmon ventured. "Don't get me wrong, I know anything can happen and all that, but still, that sounds way unlikely."

"Doesn't mean it isn't possible."

"I don't think there's much use in wondering why," Reyn said, moving on to another matter. "We can worry about the psychic magnetism thing later. Right now, I was thinking we could try to help you guys get done with whatever you're trying to do. Won't be as easy if you won't tell us what's going on..."

"It's really something we shouldn't get you guys involved in," Salmandmon said quickly. "It's not that I don't trust you, but...well, if it gets out before we can talk to the right people, we might cause some serious hysteria, and worse, people might get the wrong idea about why we're here. They might think we're here to cause it instead of warn you about it."

"Jeez...it's that bad?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We want to warn people, but we don't want to freak them out."

"Well, if that's the case, then I guess we can't do much to help you out," sighed Skylar.

"You've done plenty already. You've given us shelter and assistance when we needed it. It's hard to ask for more."

"Hey, you've given us a lot, too," Skylar said. "We've got the knowledge of a whole other world existing parallel to ours, to say nothing of another type of people. That's the opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm glad I had it."

"So, Sal, what are our plans?" asked Breezedramon.

Salmandmon replied with a shrug. "Who knows? We kind of have to get together and discuss it. At least we're probably all safe for a little while; if what these guys say is true, the others are probably hidden with the humans that have been helping them. I think we should just rest up for a couple days while we get our bearings. Of course, I don't want to impose..."

"Hey, you're not imposing, Salmandmon. We're happy to have you. And I'm sure Skylar's happy to keep Breezedramon around a while as well, right?"

Skylar nodded. "Of course. I'd love to learn a little more about your world, if nothing else."

Salmandmon smiled in relief. "Thanks, Reyn. I really appreciate it...it'll be so much better if I'm traveling in good health."

"Yeah, you rest up, Sal!" Breezedramon said bouncily. "Then we won't have to worry about you anymore! Well, any more than normal."

Salmandmon rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk, goofball."

"Hey, who's the only one who landed safely after we came through?"

"Pipe down, there," Skylar warned. "You're getting too loud again." He looked back up at Reyn. "Looks like we're mixed up in a pretty fine mess, huh? Makes our speculation yesterday seem almost ridiculously plausible by comparison."

Reyn nodded. "And who knows where it's gonna go from here."

(--------------------)

After two other failed attempts, Reyn finally got a hold of one of the friends they thought might have been contacted by digimon. And he confirmed that it was true: Iris had made contact. They made plans to meet up at a secluded point in the city, not easy as they lived in two different areas. They finally settled on a nature area near the school they both attended. The nature area was part of a pet project of the city designed to appease environmental activists who had protested about the urbanization of the area; spanning a couple city blocks in size, it was one of several, and it appeared to be enough to keep protests at bay. Still, it was little more than a park that was overgrown, and some considered it a waste of space. Now, however, Reyn was very thankful that it was there.

It hadn't been easy getting there. Reyn had no idea how to hide Salmandmon, who was too large to easily fit inside anything he could carry. In the end, they had to wing it; Salmandmon stayed out of sight, passing through yards and bushes whenever it was possible. By some miracle, they made it to the nature area apparently undetected. Iris and Shockavimon were there waiting, and one look told Reyn that the bird was definitely one from his dreams.

Shockavimon wasted no time ragging on Salmandmon for breaking his word. "I seem to remember someone saying that they wouldn't go wandering off anywhere in the condition he was in. What, did you start feeling suicidal or something?"

Salmandmon just smirked. "_I_ seem to remember someone saying that we couldn't let the humans learn of our presence."

"I guess neither of us are great at keeping our words."

"Well, there were extenuating circumstances. How long did you last?"

"Hoo, boy...just under an hour."

"Ha! Data owes me 500 creds. Breezedramon made it over an hour."

Shockavimon narrowed her eyes at Salmandmon. "You two are gambling at a time like this? Is nothing sacred?"

"He browbeat me into it, get on his case. Hey, you up for some catch?" Salmandmon was holding a baseball in his hand. "It's a strange practice ball, but I think it'll do."

"Catch? That's kind of simple for a guy like you, don't you think?"

"Hey, I'm recovering from a major injury. Ya gotta start somewhere."

"Maybe you should start by resting. Really, why don't you just take a load off for a little while? It would help your recovery."

"I can't let myself get out of shape, Shockavimon. It's bad enough that I can't power myself up by evolution, I don't want to lose what fitness I have by getting too lax. I already spent most of yesterday lazing around, I don't want to lose more time."

Reyn and Iris sat against the trees and watched the digimon play around with the baseball. "Look at them..." Iris said quietly. "Talking, goofing around, acting like everything's perfectly normal for them. They're in a completely unfamiliar world, trying to deal with an important secret mission, desperate to avoid getting caught by the wrong people when they can't even tell who the wrong people are...and they're so calm, so comfortable."

"Yeah, well, what about us?" Reyn remarked. "We're confronted by creatures from another world, that happen to think and speak like we do, and have strange powers, and oh yeah, we just happen to have been dreaming about them for pretty much our entire lives. I'd say we're taking this a lot better than I would expect anyone to."

"I guess that is kinda weird...but I dunno. There's this feeling I get when I'm around Shockavimon...I don't know how to describe it, but it's like...like I know her and am comfortable around her. Like we were meant to meet up or something...like all this is natural. Maybe she feels the same way, I don't know. Even if she does, it's gotta be more stressful for her, and for the rest of them."

"Well, something tells me they're used to conflict by now. I remember in a lot of those dreams, they were fighting some pretty nasty guys. And, well, look at Salmandmon. The way he's built, the way he acts, seems pretty soldier-ish to me. I'll bet he doesn't rattle easily."

"Maybe. I don't know that I could do something like that."

"Like what? Being a warrior?"

"Yeah. It sounds like too much for me. I'd lose it after a while. I don't know that I could handle hurting a lot of people, even if they were enemies."

"You don't? Hm..." Reyn closed his eyes and was quiet for a few seconds. "I think I could. It would be tough, yeah, but I think if you get into the right mindset, it starts getting easier. You know?"

"Not really." Iris suddenly shivered violently. "Brrr! Did you feel that, Reyn? It just got really cold?"

"Yeah, I did. Jeez, I know it's April, but it's been pretty warm so far today. That's weird."

He wasn't the only one who noticed. "Man! Does it always drop 30 degrees at this time of day in this world?" complained Salmandmon. "I'm shaking my scales off over here!"

Iris shuddered, and all of a sudden it felt like more that just a reaction to the cold. "Reyn...this bothers me. I think we should leave."

"What? Over a little cold front?"

"It's not that...well, not just that...I think that-AAAAAHH!"

The other three snapped to attention at Iris' scream. She was pointing to something coming at them through the trees, something that looked like a large snowman, if someone made a snowman that looked vaguely like a teddy bear.

"Goddamn!" Reyn shouted in alarm. "What in blazes is that? A living snowman?"

"That's no snowman!" Salmandmon's voice had taken on a fierce edge. "That's Frigimon! And he doesn't look very friendly!"

"Frigimon?" Reyn repeated. "He's one of you guys?"

"He's a digimon," Shockavimon informed him, "but he's definitely not on our side!"

"You guys have to get out of here!" ordered Salmandmon. "We'll try to take care of this guy!"

"I think not!" Frigimon spoke menacingly and coldly (as one might expect). "I'm not letting these trophies get away from me! And no pushover Rookies are going to stand in my way!"

Reyn's eyes opened wide. "Whoa, wait a second! Trophies? You can't mean us?"

"The hell we won't!" shouted Salmandmon. "Burner Breath!" Salmandmon opened his mouth, and a jet of fire burst out of it. Frigimon wisely dodged the attack and countered with one of its own. "Subzero Ice Punch!" It lunged forward with a punch at Salmandmon. He managed to roll out of the way, and the attack hit the ground, freezing a few square feet of it into ice.

"Feather Bolt!" Shockavimon sent an electrical charge out at Frigimon, the attack hitting home. Instead of backing off, Frigimon only seemed to get more riled. "Pest! Get out of my way!" it snapped as it whacked Shockavimon away from it and into a tree. She recoiled off of the trunk and hit the ground, stunned.

"Ah! Shockavimon!" Iris cried in alarm.

"Run, you two!" Salmandmon yelled again. "Burner Breath!" He tried his attack again, but Frigimon was too aware for him, and evaded once more. "What are you waiting for? This guy's out for blood!"

"We can't just leave you behind!" argued Reyn. "There's no way you can handle that guy by yourself! You're going to reopen your wound again!" Frigimon was advancing on Salmandmon, who was backing away, racking his brain to try to find a way to win. Iris was next to Shockavimon, trying to rouse the fallen bird.

"You thought you could interfere with the Purification?" taunted Frigimon. "It is our destiny! You cannot stop it! Subzero Ice Punch!" Salmandmon had been waiting for this, and took his chance, again jumping out of harm's way and attacking at the same time. "Burner Breath!" The fire made contact this time, but only briefly, not enough to cause serious damage. Frigimon lashed out, kicking Salmandmon in the chest, throwing him back.

"Ouch..." Salmandmon winced as he stood, clutching his stomach. "Man, that really smarts..." He was slow in noticing Frigimon's following attack, and by the time he realized the danger, it was already coming down on him. "Subzero Ice Punch!"

Salmandmon felt something grab him from behind and pull him out of danger. He fell backwards onto Reyn. "I thought I told you to get out of here! This guy's not after us, he's after you!"

"I don't care! You're not going into this alone!" Reyn shouted back. "I'm gonna help you somehow! I don't know how, but I'll do whatever I can!"

"Agh, Reyn, you-" Salmandmon didn't finish as an odd feeling suddenly came over him. Caught off-guard, he wasn't sure what was going on; he thought Frigimon might have connected with an attack, but it wasn't cold - in fact, it was oddly warm. _What the hell is going on?_ he wondered, noting that Reyn's expression had also turned to bewilderment. _What is-_

A surge of power flowed between the two, cutting off their thoughts. They felt a powerful connection between them as their thoughts began to dissociate. Neither one was totally aware of what was happening to them.

Iris and Frigimon, conversely, were very aware of the event. The air suddenly became very warm, and they saw Reyn and Salmandmon become enveloped in a bright red glow, obscuring their features. Their forms began to meld together, fusing and reshaping into a completely different body. The red glow faded, revealing a roughly humanoid reptilian creature, six and a half feet tall, lean and muscular. It gazed upon Frigimon with determination, a fire burning in its eyes.

"You...think tricks like this will make me scared of you? Not a chance!" But as Frigimon said this, an obvious tremor in its voice and a distinct change in demeanor showed that it most certainly was afraid. It had never seen a digimon like this before.

"Sounds to me like you're already running scared, Frigimon," the reptilian said coolly. "Though I don't suppose there's any point in telling you to chill out."

"Y-you think this is a joke?"

"Oh, trust me, I'm taking this _very seriously_. And I can hardly blame you for being nervous," he taunted as he stepped towards the snowman, "since, as I'm a being of flame, you don't stand a chance against me!"

"W-We'll see about th-that!" Frigimon stammered. "Subzero Ice Punch!" It tried its icy strike once more. The creature steeled itself and crossed his arms in front of his body. "Heat Field!"

A high-thermal-energy barrier formed around the creature, turning the air around him a shade of red-orange. Frigimon's attack connected with this area, and it howled in pain as its hand completely melted off. It stumbled backward, staring wide-eyed at the creature.

"Shame about your hand, Frigimon! Let's let the rest of you join it!" The creature dispersed the Heat Field and became enveloped in a fiery aura. "Take this!" It suddenly leapt at Frigimon, far faster than it expected, and lashed out, delivering a plethora of punches and kicks to the body of the snowman. Frigimon was faltering fast, the heat causing it to melt down.

"Time for the grand finale!" The reptilian jumped back and drew his fist back, channeling the energy around him. "Pyre Rush!" He thrust his arm forward, releasing a powerful blaze of fire directly at Frigimon. It gave a loud, pained cry before it finally was destroyed, its data scattering into the air and disappearing.

Iris sat on the ground, disbelieving. She couldn't process what had just happened. _It's absurd. That thing...that can't be Reyn or Salmandmon. That's just crazy._

"Iris."

She blinked. The creature had spoken to her, its voice deep and strong, but with a soft quality at the moment. "Are you all right? Is Shockavimon all right?"

"Y...yes, I'm fine..." Iris managed to say. "Who...are you Reyn? Are you..."

"Yes, and no..." The creature closed its eyes and lowered its head slightly. "I am both of them. I am Burnreptimon."

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

Finally, we're starting to really hit the meat of this thing! And first actual battle, too. I'm always a little uncertain about my battle scenes - either I'm not sure they're long enough to be interesting, or I'm worried that I did too much padding and not enough action. They're better than they used to be, but still, if you choose to leave feedback, let me know what you think about the battles in particular. It may not affect the chapters I've already written too much, but I've still got quite a few to go.

A reference note for this chapter: the novel Skylar is talking about is "Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz. It's a fascinating tale involving the supernatural, told from the perspective of a guy who basically takes it in stride and throws in a good deal of dark humor and glib observations about life. I recommend it and its successors (there are four books total in the series, unless another one has been written without my knowledge).


	5. Chapter 4: State of Affairs

Hope you enjoy the read! There's a good amount of it this time.

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

**Chapter 4: State Of Affairs**

_This must be one of those 'Twilight Zone Moments' my dad talks about,_ thought Iris dazedly as she regarded the scene in front of her. Licks of fire still rose from the grass, thankfully not in danger of spreading out of control. A couple blackened trees trunks likewise bore the marks of Burnreptimon's attack. Patches of ice on the ground and one tree were slowly melting, soaking the ground surrounding them. _Pretty soon, I'm gonna be hearing a creepy repeating tone and a disturbing voice-over. Any moment now..._

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Burnreptimon with a hint of suspicion. "You look pale..."

"I'm...okay. But it's...it's just..._you._ How did that happen? What's going on with you?"

"I'm afraid I don't know."

This answer didn't suit Iris very well. "How can you not know? Aren't you..."

Burnreptimon shook his head. "I'm just a combination of two minds and bodies. Apart from who I am and what I can do, I don't know anything more than they do...and they don't know anything about this."

"They? Aren't you the 'they?'"

"It's not quite like that." Iris could tell that Burnreptimon was struggling to explain. "It's like...well...I...it seems like I'm a different mind. I'm part of both of their minds...but they're still there. They've given over control to me, but I can still sense their presence. It's like our minds combined partially, but left the rest of it alone."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah...unfortunately, that makes at least two of us. It's really hard to explain." Burnreptimon saw Shockavimon begin to stir in Iris's arms. "How is she?"

"I don't know." Iris felt Shockavimon adjust in her arms and look up at her. "Are you okay, Shockavimon?"

"Ugh...my head...I think so. Where are we?"

"We're still back at that path. You got knocked out by that whacked-out snowman thing."

"Frigimon. But where..." Shockavimon trailed off as she looked over and caught sight of Burnreptimon. It took her several seconds until she truly believed she wasn't seeing things. "Who in the world is that?"

"I'm Burnreptimon. I...oh, screw it, I had enough trouble explaining it once, to someone who didn't just come to. Look, that's not important right now. What matters is that now things have changed, a lot. We need to take action."

"Take action?" echoed Iris.

"Yeah. Everyone needs to know. We need to gather them together, as soon as possible. It's not something we can leave for later. You're going to have to make the calls."

"But we're not even sure if the people we think are involved really are. We don't know for a fact about Isaac or Derek. What if we're wrong?"

"Something tells me that we're not. At this point, though, we can't let caution get the better of us. This is a huge matter, and the more time we waste the more we put ourselves and others at risk."

"I...I'm not really sure what's going on..."

"I think I might," Shockavimon said shakily. "Or, at least, I'm getting a better idea. He's right, we'd better do this."

Iris nodded. "Well, okay. But what do I tell them? Where would we be going?"

"Hm..." Burnreptimon was quiet for a few moments, deep in thought. "I don't know what you can say to get their attention...I guess you'll just have to improvise. Just tell them that we need to meet tonight, that it's urgent, and whatever else you need to get them aware of the seriousness of the matter. Probably would help if you mentioned you know that they're harboring digimon. Tell them...we'll meet at the Undevelopment. The far side, where there's still a bunch of trees. Doubtful that anyone would spy us there." Sirens sounding in the distance caught Burnreptimon's attention. "Uh oh...they're probably coming here! I have to get out of here quickly! I'll be waiting for you out there!" With that, he dashed off, leaving Iris and Shockavimon alone, still not completely over the events that had just transpired.

"Someone must have heard us fighting," Iris realized. "You're probably going to have to vacate the area, Shockavimon. You know how to get to my house, right?"

"Yeah, but what are you going to do?"

"I can make up an excuse for myself, don't worry about that. But if they see you here, I'm not gonna be able to talk my way out of that. I'll just catch up with you back at the house, okay?"

"Right!" Shockavimon took to the air, flying through the trees instead of over them in order to keep some modicum of stealth. Iris took a deep breath, settled herself, and began composing a story for when the officers would see her as she left the grove.

(--------------------)

This was the most secluded area still within the city limits of Braun. Once a gigantic grove of trees that spread for several miles each way at the western edge of the greater city, perhaps the closest thing to a forest Braun could boast, the city council had given the green light for a large development to be built there. It was supposed to be a relatively private community, a bit out of the way and lower-density than the rest of the city. Ground had broken on the project fairly quickly, and a sizable dent had been made in the tree grove. However, the developers began to raise a fuss over details of the plan, enough so that the city council had gotten fed up with them, and nixed the deal. The area was now in limbo; the purchase of the land had not been completed before the spat, so the city still technically owned the rights to the land, but the project had never been officially cancelled. The city and the developers were waging a series of bitter lawsuits over some trivial aspect of the deal or another, neither one wanting to take the challenge to its apex out of fear of losing.

Development on the land had ceased. The ground that had been dug up was nothing more than a barren dirt plot almost a square mile in area. There were few features to speak of, aside from a few patches of grass and the occasional rodent burrow. It was rarely visited by anyone, for obvious reasons; it didn't make a good makeshift athletic field to to its unevenness, and the fact that it was a good third of a mile off the edge of the greater city limits made it an inconvenient place to go for most people. It was often referred to, rather derisively, as the Undevelopment.

There was one advantage to the place, and that was the level of privacy it offered. While a good chunk of trees had been removed nearer to the city, there were still plenty of them beyond the large dirt patch, and since very few people would have thought to look out there, it was a great place to lay low for a while, which was no doubt the reason why Burnreptimon had suggested it.

The sun had dropped well below the horizon, and darkness was close to setting in all the way. Six people were gathered well into the trees on the far side of the Undevelopment, with several of them caught in a somewhat heated debate.

"Let's just start without him," Skylar huffed, clearly out of sorts. "If he can't be bothered to show up on time, that's his loss. My dad's gonna have my head as it is if I don't get back ASAP."

"We have to wait for _everyone_, Skylar!" Iris snapped back. "This is important! Besides, we all knew Isaac was gonna be late, he always is!"

"That doesn't justify it!"

"He does have a point," admitted Derek. "Isaac ought to have learned by now how to actually get his ass in gear when he needs to. One of these days, it will catch up to him. It's not a good idea to keep people waiting."

"Don't tell me you're gonna ask me to start without him, too, Derek!"

"Did I say that? I don't recall so. Isaac does need to get some punctuality about him, but I think we have to be patient in this case. It sounds like you feel that it's important that he's here, and I think I know you well enough to know you've got a good reason to think that."

"He sounds like you without all the ginormous words, B.C.," commented Breezedramon to Blackcanismon. "Always calm despite how incendiatory everyone else is."

"Indeed. It is a role borne of necessity. The equilibriatory mindset is paramount to the cohesiveness of a team."

"You two are a pair to be reckoned with," Shockavimon noted with an eye roll. "I do believe that together, you could bewilder anyone into submission. Maybe we should have tried _that_ against Emperius. I hope Data gets here soon, so we have someone who can translate for you."

"I daresay that particular delay is nearing its termination." Blackcanismon looked up as he heard disturbance in the area. "If my sensory interpretations are not deceptive, their arrival is forthcoming." And he was right, as Isaac and Datacarnomon became visible in the very dim light.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up," Skylar greeted acidly as Isaac joined them. "You're lucky Iris is so stubborn, otherwise-OW!" His intended diatribe was waylaid by a sharp smack to the head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Isaac replied languidly. "You try having parents that bombard you with questions whenever you want to go out, to say nothing of trying to sneak Datacarnomon past them."

"Make all the excuses you want," said Derek. "But you should budget your time better when you know what factors you have to face. And you really ought to have figured this out after consistent lateness over...what, 10, 11 years?"

"If I _may_," Iris interceded before Isaac had a chance to make a snide reply, "we've got some business to take care of. It involves all of us - and that includes the digimon."

Shockavimon was nonreactive to this revelation, knowing what all this was about. The others, however, were not clued in. "Eh? How does this matter to us?" asked Breezedramon. "I thought this was about all the humans finding out where all of the digimon were."

"Hey, I thought were were waiting for everyone," Skylar said. "Reyn and Salmandmon aren't here yet, why are we starting?"

"It's not, and you'll see. It's about...well, it might be easier to explain with a, ah, visual cue. Maybe. Anyway, if you'll just come out now..."

There was a moment of silence as the uninformed exchanged confused looks. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Burnreptimon dropped to the ground from the tree he had been hiding in and approached the now-stunned observers. There were quiet gasps and unfinished exclamations as they took in the sight before them; as absurd as the possibility seemed to all of them, there was no question that they were all thinking of the exact reason why they hadn't waited for Reyn and Salmandmon.

Skylar was the first to recover, in a sense. "No...freaking...way...that's just..." He sputtered for several moments, temporarily robbed of the ability to form a coherent thought, before finally spitting out, "Is this for real? Is this...are you really..."

"If what I'm assuming about your, ah, half-questions is right," answered Burnreptimon, somewhat hesitantly and nervously, "then I can assure you that it is. As hard as that is to believe...I'm still kind of unsure about it myself."

"But...hang on, that's just crazy," Datacarnomon argued. "I mean, I guess it's not unheard of for a digimon to combine with another digimon to make one creature. But a human and a digimon? That can't be right."

"Iris said she saw it happen before her eyes," Shockavimon informed him. "She's got no reason to lie. I know I believe her."

"But HOW?" Isaac's question came out in a burst. "Just...how? How is that possible? How could it even happen? There'd have to be a, a, a mechanism or something for that!"

"I wish I could answer that, but I can't," Burnreptimon shook his head. "It all happened so suddenly. One minute it's two people, the next it's one. I guess I can't complain, since without it Frigimon might have been the end of us..."

"I'm confused..." Datacarnomon mumbled numbly. "You're supposed to be two people, but you keep referring to yourself as 'I.' Which is it?"

"Um...well...it's kind of complicated." Burnreptimon did his best to repeat his earlier explanations, though he wasn't sure if it would get across to anyone. The sea of blank faces indicated that he was probably justified in thinking that.

"Wow...that made absolutely no sense to me at all," said Breezedramon. All the humans just nodded in agreement.

"I think I get it," said Datacarnomon slowly. "It's not exactly easy to understand, but I can get some idea of what you're talking about."

"I believe I possess a grasp on the mechanics of your existence," Blackcanismon added. "Divided consciousness in a single being...remarkably resemblant of digimon undergoing DNA evolution."

"DNA what?" asked Skylar. "Great, now I'm just more confused than before."

"Evolution. It's the process that digimon undergo to get stronger," said Isaac. Everyone stared at him. "What? Datacarnomon explained it to me, at least in a simple way."

"Exactly," said Datacarnomon. "It's called digital evolution, and it's a process that allows a digimon to alter its form to become a new creature, and brings with it an increase in power. There are a few recognized types of evolution, and they can involve one, two, or even more than two digimon. For example, that one Black mentioned, DNA evolution, is a merging of two digimon to form a new one, usually with the help of a catalyst. But that's limited to digimon...I doubt it carries over to humans."

"I didn't even know you guys had DNA," marveled Derek. "I thought you were based on stuff other than what our world produced."

"It's not the same as your DNA," explained Shockavimon. "There's some long term for it-"

"Digital Network Attributor," Blackcanismon interrupted.

"-Some big long term that Blackcanismon would _obviously_ know," she continued a bit tersely. "It's also called our core data set, and it functions about the same way, making up all the stuff that makes us who we are."

"Quite the coincidence for both of us to have the exact same acronym," observed Isaac.

"Er...actually, that's not quite the case," Datacarnomon replied, a bit sheepishly. "We didn't start calling it that until after we learned about your DNA...the scientists just thought it sounded cool." This earned a few snickers from the humans.

"So, you guys are changing forms all the time?" asked Skylar.

"Not exactly," answered Shockavimon. "It's like this...uh...oh, hell, let Data explain it. He's better at this than I am."

"Yeah, clearly," Isaac remarked, drawing a glare from Iris.

"Very well," began Datacarnomon. "There are many different ways to classify digimon, seeing as there are many different groups they fit under. However, there are two types of digimon that exist regardless of classification. These two are fixed-state and variable-state, often just called fixed and variable for simplicity. You see, digital evolution takes energy, and a lot of it. Those in higher forms are in a higher energy state than those in lower forms. Now, when fixed digimon gain enough energy, they can evolve. As you might have guessed, this evolution is permanent, at least in the sense that they cannot go back to the lower form. For variable digimon, things are somewhat different - they're able to revert to a more stable form, generally what we call Rookie level. Not sure why, exactly, but it seems to be a core data set component - genetically-based, to use an organic analogy. Not to toot our own horn, but variable digimon are generally stronger than fixed digimon, because they can conserve energy for when they really need it, plus I have to admit it's usually more convenient to be smaller."

"Wow...that's fascinating!" Skylar exclaimed. "I can't think of any creature in this world that even remotely emulates that!"

"Interesting as it is and despite wanting to hear more," Derek snapped impatiently, "it doesn't explain why our friend and yours are standing here as part of the same creature. And I think that's of a little more importance."

"Yeah, yeah!" piped up Breezedramon. "What I want to know is, is that permanent?"

"Oh, no," said Burnreptimon quickly, almost seeming relieved to say that out loud. "No, thankfully, it's not; I was aware of that right away. And a good thing, too...how do you think I'd explain this to my parents?"

"_Your_ parents?" repeated Isaac.

"Shut up," replied Burnreptimon, sounding pained. "You have no idea how hard it is to figure out what pronoun I should use to describe those kinds of things. It just seems weird for me to refer to one of my components in the third person all the time."

"Sorry. But wait, if you can split apart, why didn't you do that and just tell us?"

"Partly because I needed some time to figure that out, partly because I didn't know if you guys would believe me...but mostly because Iris said it would be a dramatic entrance to make. She wasn't wrong, really. But you're right, I probably should revert to normal." Burnreptimon began to glow red, and in just a few short seconds, the form split into two, Reyn and Salmandmon, renewing the shocked reactions of both the humans and the digimon.

Mostly shocked, anyway. Isaac just scowled. "So you did that just to show off, did you?"

"...Yeah, honestly, we did." Reyn couldn't hide a somewhat abashed grin. "We wanted to see the looks on your faces."

"You're acting awfully casual, considering what just happened to you two," noted Shockavimon. "It doesn't bug you at all?"

"Well, it was definitely weird at first," admitted Salmandmon, "but it was surprisingly easy to get used to. After a while, it just felt really...natural, I guess. Not like what I would have expected. Maybe it's just because it's not too different from evolution. But enough of that. We've gotta really have a serious discussion about things."

"Hey, I wanted to hear more about that evolution thing!" Skylar protested.

Salmandmon shook his head. "Later. Right now, I think it's more important that everyone knows where we stand."

"Where we stand?" asked Breezedramon blankly.

"Yeah. Think about it for a second. We're all in the same boat here. I know all you guys had the dreams, and I'm gonna take a wild guess and predict that the humans did as well." After receiving unanimous nods of assent, he continued, "Well, Reyn and I had this...weird merging thing happen to us. I don't think it'd be a stretch to assume..." He stopped there, but the implication was not lost on anyone.

"You...you're not kidding around with us, right, Salmandmon?" asked Skylar slowly. "You're being completely serious?"

"Never more so in my life. And if that's the case, and I think it is, then our presence here takes an entirely different meaning." His voice had dropped to a very grave tone. "We were trying to keep you guys in the dark about why we were here. But with this phenomenon, I think it's inevitable that you're going to be involved. Which means it's only logical that we let you in the loop."

"Sounds like it's some pretty bad news," Issac noted.

"Yeah, it is. Data, would you mind?"

Datacarnomon nodded solemnly. "Yeah, of course."

"Why do you all defer to Datacarnomon to make all the explanations?" Derek asked.

"Come on, Derek, it's kind of obvious," Isaac cracked. "He's a robot. He can take information in an spit it out exactly how it got in, to say nothing of nearly perfect retention. Of course he's going to be the best to explain stuff."

"Yeah, exactly." Datacarnomon readied himself for a long explanation. "You all might want to sit down, this is gonna take a while."

"The digital world...well, it's not exactly a peaceful place. I mean, put a bunch of creatures with a whole lot of different combat abilities together, that's going to happen. So we've had our share of wars and the like. But for the most part, there's not a lot of large-scale fighting, and due to our nature we're pretty tough creatures, so we've managed."

"Part of it is that the digital world is a lot bigger than yours. I'm not sure how much larger on orders of magnitude, but our smallest continent is the size of your largest landmass, so that's pretty telling. That's the one we all live on. The population is fairly independent; we do have a grand ruler, Kaiserhuanlongmon, who I think is kinda iffy...I mean, he's a good ruler and all, but I think he's kinda paranoid and needs to work on prioritizing-"

"Data, you're getting sidetracked," interrupted Shockavimon. "See, Isaac, nigh perfect recall, but not-so-perfect playback. That's what happens when you give robots the sentience, remember that."

"Quiet, you, like you're that much better. Anyway, Kaiserhuanlongmon is the big ruler, but he doesn't usually interfere in stuff like daily life, and the people get to choose who wants to be in charge of their city or town or wherever. Then, a few years back, a new group of digimon formed. They called themselves Emperius. They made a bunch of declarations that basically said they were superior to everyone and everything, and would rule the digital world by divine right. No one put much stock in this at first, until they began attacking. They really were a force to be reckoned with, even back then, and it was made worse because they were so terrible to everyone who didn't agree with what they had to say. Something had to be done about them."

"The problem was, Kaiserhuanlongmon wasn't really able to offer any help. He was already trying to deal with another problem in a different part of the continent, and most of his personal army was already gone. Those that remained wouldn't be enough to take care of Emperius. So, in essence, there was no organized resistance to Emperius once they started their conquest."

"That's where we came in. A group of digimon decided to fight faction with faction, and founded a group called Libertius. The digimon come from many different backgrounds, but they all had the most important thing in common, and that was an anger at the actions of Emperius and a desire to fight back. With the number of people against Emperius, Libertius grew pretty quickly, and those that were considered to be among the most powerful were put into a special forces unit called the Elite Guard. The five of us, being variable digimon and having a damn high level of performance if I do say so myself, were among the greatest of the Elite Guard."

"So, with Libertius starting to fight back, Emperius suddenly found themselves in real competition for the first time. I don't think they expected it, so we really got a push at first. We made a lot of strides, even killing Emperius' commander. It was around that time that they finally started fighting back more fiercely, but we had the numbers advantage and the skill advantage, and Libertius was still making progress, albeit slower than before."

"And then...well, it was just a few days ago when everything fell apart. We got word from our scouts that there was a small group of Emperius soldiers moving towards an unguarded city. The regular forces were going to take care of it, until there was an urgent message telling us that some of the highest-ranked Emperius units were present as well. That was enough to get the Elite Guard dispatched for the occasion - we wanted to strike a blow against them that would take too long for them to recover from. We went into battle with a certain idea of their forces in mind. But somehow, everything went wrong."

"It was a disaster, through and through. We ran right into an ambush; the forces on the side of Emperius were huge, many times larger than what we had been originally told. They were attacking before we even knew what was happening...we were on the losing side even before we had a chance to attack."

"I remember that battle!" Skylar said suddenly. "I was dreaming about it! It was a war zone, there was stuff flying all over!"

"No doubt, it was something you were dreaming about. We all felt something there that we couldn't explain...it's probably the reason we're able to talk to you right now. But there wasn't much to celebrate about that fight for us. The Elite Guard was decimated...most of the members were captured or killed, from what we heard after the battle. Our own commanders, Dynasmon and Crusadermon, were badly wounded. And us...well, we got what may have been the worst result. Through some mechanism that none of us know about, one of them sealed our evolution abilities."

Isaac's eyes opened wide. "Sealed them? You mean they prevented you from being able to evolve? Is that normal?"

"Far from it...I'd never even heard of an artificial block on evolution before that. I thought it was the one ability that was free from control...apparently, I was wrong. You can imagine what a blow it was to us, to have an essential part of our battle ability stripped from us, with no known way of restoring it. That was blow enough to our spirits, but it was only compounded by the loss of the Elite Force, which greatly weakened Libertius as a whole."

"Blow enough?" asked Iris. "Was it really that bad?"

The digimon nodded somberly. "You have to understand...for our kind of digimon, the ones that can go back and forth, it's a critical part of who we are," Shockavimon explained. "It's what makes us capable in battle, it's what gives us our versatility, it's pretty much the reason why we're so prized as warriors. To have that taken from us, it...well, it's like we're only a fraction of the people we used to be."

"That...that sounds horrible..." Reyn breathed. Salmandmon heard an odd tone in his voice and looked down; Reyn's hands were clenched so tightly he thought he was having a spasm.

Datacarnomon continued on with his story. "Yeah, but this was just the tip of the iceberg. You see, what we haven't told you yet is that digimon have known about humans for a few years now. We found patterns that were abnormal, and...okay, the logistics are confusing even to me, so let's just leave it at we found out about your world somehow. Many of us wanted to make contact...we were curious about the differences between your world and ours, and we thought it could be a great opportunity to expand our knowledge."

"Emperius didn't see it that way. They found out that humans had no special abilities like digimon had, didn't have different classes, and weren't generally very strong...well, you have to realize they're comparing it to digimon standards, which are a lot higher than human standards. But that's how they saw it, and because of that, they deemed humans an inferior species. Just a short time before that disastrous battle, they came out with the Declaration of Purification. It was...a statement that all species deemed inferior were to face immediate and complete extermination by divine law."

Predictably, this information did not sit well with the humans. "You can't be serious!" "That's horrible!" "What kind of monsters would do something like that?"

Datacarnomon nodded solemnly. "Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction, as well. To make matters worse, their only qualification for determining inferiority or superiority is pure battle strength...hardly a good way to define anything. We weren't so worried when Libertius was there to stand in Emperius' way - if they couldn't do anything in the digital world, what chance would they even have to get to the organic world? - but once Libertius had their ultimate setback, we became gravely concerned. If they had nothing to stand in their way, then the human world was only a few technological advancements away."

"So that's when you decided to come to our world," Reyn deduced.

"Exactly. Using an incomplete but partially-functional technology, we pierced a hole in the barriers between the worlds and came out on this side. We knew there would be an opening that would last for a while, but that wasn't a concern to us...we thought we had a lot more time than we did. But, with Frigimon's attack here, we must have been wrong. If they were ready to come in little more than a day after we transferred, they must have been close for a while, or even ready for a while. Which means we may not even have the time to get into contact."

"You mean violent, genocidal maniacs could start appearing all over the world?" Iris gasped.

Datacarnomon wavered for a moment. "Mmm...well, on that note there's some good and bad news. Let me explain. There's kind of a barrier between our worlds, keeping each one from directly connecting to the other. If they were directly connected, gates could appear at any time, which wouldn't be great. Our coming through probably weakened that barrier, because it needed to destabilize it momentarily to allow a gate to be created. The bad news is, I'd expect that the standard transfer would take the path of least resistance, so anyone that would try to cross over without a destination would end up here, meaning those violent, genocidal maniacs will be cropping up around here all the time for all we know. The good news is, that makes it much more unlikely they'll appear in other places - and if they keep appearing here, those chances will drop even further."

"Question," Derek interrupted. "Why didn't that Frigimon thing or whatever it was create another one of those gigantic light bursts when it came through? You guys turned the entire sky white, and he didn't even make a peep?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. The technology's still new. It could be that that reaction was the barrier weakening, and now that it's at a minimal state there's not enough energy for that kind of reaction. Or, they simply have a better transfer technology than we do and it doesn't make as much fuss. Whatever the case, it's going to be a real pain in the ass."

"Fair enough. Can this barrier repair itself?"

"Probably with time, but I doubt we're going to get it. Emperius is not known for their willingness to back off of an objective regardless of setbacks. But that's where you guys come in."

"Us?" asked Skylar.

Blackcanismon nodded. "Our original methodology arose due to certain incapabilities from ourselves. However, at present the circumstances have been significantly altered. Though the generic method of expanding our capabilities has been summarily nixed, the restrictions upon us failed to account for aberrations in the evolutionary system implemented in our digital composition - specifically, the synthesis of digital and genetic organisms. The physical disadvantage afflicting us has markedly evaporated."

"Uh...translation?" asked Reyn.

"Basically, we came here because we couldn't fight, and now, we kind of can, with your help," Salmandmon explained.

"But hang on! I've heard you all assuming that this is going to extend over all of us, but you haven't explained why you think that is!" Isaac argued. "As far as we know, this could be just an anomaly!"

"Wrong," Skylar countered. "There's at least two bits of evidence in support of this. The dreams that the five of us have had continually in the past, and the fact that these digimon are here with us right now. These are patterns, and the five of us have them in common."

"So...we're all gonna end up like you two did?" Derek asked incredulously.

"Yeah, and you'd better hope we all do," Reyn said seriously. "If what these guys are saying is true - and hell, after what happened today, I definitely believe it - then there's gonna be more of those guys coming. There's no way we'd be able to handle them alone, even in a best case scenario."

Blackcanismon nodded. "Eloquently put, Reynard. I feel the likelihood of this singular event remaining so is infinitesimal, and such a scenario would be advantageous for us; we would finally have the capability to wage serious battle against the belligerent malefactors that could penetrate into this world."

"Yeah!" added Breezedramon. "We can flusterate and annexelate them!"

"We're getting ahead of ourselves, guys," Salmandmon broke in. "For one, we're not going to force anyone to do anything. I'm not gonna lie to you, if you humans get involved, you're putting your lives on the line. Emperius will not back down under any circumstances, that I'm sure of. They will try to kill you if you get in their way. There will be cases where it's kill or be killed, like with Frigimon earlier. It's up to you guys to decide if you can handle the idea of fighting to the death, and if you're willing to risk coming out worse."

"There's no question for me," Isaac said instantly. "Judging by what you guys are saying, they're gonna come whether we want them to or not. I'd like to stand a fighting chance against them if that's the case."

"For once, I agree with you, Isaac," Skylar said with a nod. "If we don't do anything, we're liable to end up dead anyway. It'd be highly preferable to at least go down trying to make a difference."

"You already know what I decided," added Reyn. "My path was certain the moment we became Burnreptimon. There's no way I'm going to just sit back and let these guys run us over. They'll have to work for it if they really want to achieve their vile goal."

"This is pure insanity and I can't believe I'm hearing it," Derek mumbled, rubbing his head. "Still, I doubt matters are going to change on that trivial point, and I'm rather fond of living beyond whatever amount of time these freaks have set for us. Count me in."

"Five of us against who knows how many of them, huh..." Iris sighed. "We'll have to make it last. We'd better know what we're doing."

Salmandmon cracked a wide grin. "You are some brave guys and girls, you know that? We're glad to have your help, though. If all goes well, we might just stand a chance against these nasty dudes after all."

"Yeah, but what about contacting the human leaders?" asked Shockavimon concernedly. "Sure, I understand we have to stay here and fight, but it's not gonna do much good if no one else knows what's going on. They still won't know what what this world is going to be up against, or be able to prepare for it!"

"Ah, you don't have to worry about that," Isaac replied. "Long-distance communication is something we're pretty good at. I'll see about getting something drafted to send out to Washington-"

Skylar quickly cut him off. "Correction: _we_ will see about getting something drafted."

Isaac glared at Skylar. "I don't need your help-"

"Help, perhaps not. Supervision, definitely. Don't think any of us haven't heard your opinions on our dear Commander-In-Chief. One of us needs to make sure you keep your message neutral, and it might as well be someone who's done a bit of proofreading in his life."

"Ah, fine, you got me there. Come around tomorrow and you can see it," Isaac said grudgingly.

"Oh, no. You wait until I get there. We work on it together."

"You know, we could tell my dad," suggested Iris. "He works for the government. He does investigative work at the local branch office. If anyone in the city could get a message to the President, he'd have the best chance."

"My dad might be able to help, too," added Derek. "They work together."

"Unless they already know about the digimon and are okay with it, that might be kind of dangerous," Reyn said with a shake of his head. "I'm not sure how receptive they'd be to the idea. It could end up doing the opposite of what we want."

"But your parents were okay with me, Reyn," argued Salmandmon. "Why wouldn't they be the same way?"

"People react differently to these kinds of situations. My parents are pretty cool...but I know a lot of people who wouldn't have been so calm about seeing a talking, fire-breathing lizard in their houses."

"Hm...that's a good point," mumbled Derek. "I don't know how well my dad would take it."

"My dad's super-paranoid about me," Iris admitted dejectedly. "No way he'd allow me to be involved in this sort of thing. He'd probably flip out if he saw Shockavimon with me, even if she isn't threatening."

"Then it's probably best that we stick with the original method," concluded Reyn. "Though, thinking about it, we might want to choose someone other than the President. Not that he's not the best option, but I think he just left for a huge summit in the Middle East, so any message might not get to him quickly enough. No idea when he's supposed to be back, either...frickin' Israel-Palestine conflict, it's like it's never going to end."

"How about the Department of Defense?" suggested Derek. "A Cabinet member would probably be able to get in contact with the President easily, and the Department of Defense would almost certainly play a role in any fighting ordered by the White House."

Reyn's brow furrowed. "I don't like that idea. That defense Secretary guy, Jonah Wheeler, he's a power-grubbing hack. Homeland Security would be better-"

"But on the pecking order, DOD is higher and they'll be able to do more as a result. Wouldn't you rather have the greater resources at our backs?"

"Not if I have to turn my back on that asshole."

"Opinions aside, Reyn, I have to agree with Derek on this one," Skylar interjected. "We're better off going with what can get us the most in the shortest amount of time. It's pretty obvious that we're not gonna have a lot of support until we get them up to speed, and that's gonna be bad enough. Let's make sure we can get a lot to make up for it."

Reyn relented. "Fine, you're writing the letter so I guess it's up to you where you want to direct it. In the meantime, we'll really have to be on guard."

"It would be highly recommended," suggested Blackcanismon, "that we examine our surroundings for any malefactors who might be scouting around. It is extremely probable that their quantities are minimal at the current time, but no doubt they have a commendable army ready to go once the scouts have given their reports, and their attitudes towards the indigenous populace of this world are marginally less amiable than ours."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," agreed Skylar.

"You mean you actually understood that?" Iris exclaimed.

"Well, enough of it to get the point. Basically, we go searching for them so they don't have a chance to cause trouble. Ideally, anyway. And maybe we can keep the rest of the city unaware that their hometown has just become a gateway for all sorts of bad guys. I can only imagine what kind of panic that would cause."

"Still a whole city to cover," Derek mused concernedly. "We're gonna have our work cut out for us. Could be worse, but I'm not looking forward to it."

"We should catch at least some of it if we just keep our eyes and ears open," explained Shockavimon. "They still have to come through the gates to get over here, and even if they don't make quite the spectacle we did, there have to be signs of disturbance when they come. Hopefully, they'll be noticeable enough - I wouldn't pray for any more light bursts, but there should be distortions."

A loud church bell sang out the time, eleven monotonal gongs preaching their own sermon to the city. "Oh, crap!" Reyn gasped. "I had no idea how late it was! My parents are going to go nuts! I told them I was going to be back in an hour, it's been like six!"

"Yeah, you're not the only one," Skylar said worriedly. "I think we'd better cut it for the night. I'd rather not get grounded at a time like this!"

"Yeah, breaking sounds...ah..." Salmandmon was forced to pause as he yawned for a sixth time in the past ten minutes. "...pretty good by now, I think. Hoo, wow...I'm exhausted."

"It's probably that merge," suggested Reyn. "I'm feeling beat, too...I hope we can even make it back to the house."

"All right, then we'll continue this discussion tomorrow," Iris finished. "Take care, you guys. Don't get caught out there."

(--------------------)

The moon hung high overhead, the fictitious man within lazily observing the world below. The stars cackled to their lucid tune, but the overbearing streetlights of the city drowned them out with boasts about their own power.

These braggarts were unforgivable to Derek. He loved the stars and the dim night sky, and in his eyes, the blaring streetlights were almost blasphemous to the night. However, tonight he forced himself to endure the glare he hated, because at this time he wanted to help Blackcanismon get acquainted with the surrounding city.

Braun was definitely no NYC, not that Derek would be able to compare. But it was fairly sizable, and one who wasn't familiar with the area could easily get lost. Derek was perhaps one of the most experienced guides Blackcanismon could have the hope to come across, as his nighttime wanderings had often taken him through the city, and he had a fairly good directional memory. It was almost worth it to Blackcanismon to wear a collar and leash, which he was not overly happy about.

"Perhaps I neglected to inform you that I never had a bondage fetish..." he had said upon sight of the leash and collar.

"Blackcanismon, I told you about the laws of the city," Derek had replied with a sigh. "I know it's not exactly comfortable, but if you don't wear these, we both get in trouble. I don't want to lose contact with you, especially with...well, you know..."

"If necessity demands it," Blackcanismon relented with his own sigh. After a while, he had managed to get over it, but he still didn't love the idea of having to act like a pet.

As one might expect, they came across very few people early on their walk. Even on the streets, during the night most people were either asleep or preparing to enter that state. Those that were outside at this time often had a very specific destination in mind. Derek had no illusions about the patronage of those destinations, and made sure to stay well clear of those areas at all costs. Still, he was glad to meet at least a few people on the street; there was no better way to test their ruse than actual field testing. His parents had bought it, but they were fairly self-absorbed, or at least Derek thought so, and he didn't think it was a useful litmus test.

As far as they could tell, the plan was going perfectly. Most people simply walked by without saying a word. A few of them commented on how beautiful Blackcanismon looked; he had a tough time not looking abashed at the compliments. None had asked about his breed, but Derek had prepared a response for this anyway: Blackcanismon was a stray, and he wasn't well-versed on breeds, so he couldn't tell them. He was fairly confident that satisfy even the most curious of the passers-by; he doubted anyone besides a dog expert would be that suspicious about it anyway. To Derek and Blackcanismon's knowledge, not one ordinary person considered the canine digimon anything more than an ordinary dog.

However, there were some people who were not so ordinary and thus not so easy to fool, and they ran into a couple of them deep into their walk. As the two passed by an alley familiar to Derek, they heard a soft chuckle from within. "Never 'spected ta see ya with a guard dog, boy."

They stopped and looked into the alley. Two older people leaned against the wall, one large and buff, the other smaller and very lean. Blackcanismon surreptitiously gave Derek a nervous look, but Derek was perfectly calm. "Gee, Grits, I never expected you to become such a chicken. What happen, a poodle nip at your balls when you were six?"

The larger man let out a hacking laugh, while the smaller man laughed crazily. "Ow, Grits, I think you been dissed!"

Derek was familiar with both of these men. Grits, who had a real name that Derek didn't know, was the tall, burly one. He had on two separate occasions tried to mug Derek during his nighttime walks. In both of those incidents, the boy had come off far better than the man, who had been expecting an easy target in the kid. Derek's boldness subsequent to these encounters had earned him some slight respect in Grits' eyes. It wasn't exactly reciprocated. Derek had long suspected Grits had some sort of either mental deficiency or psychological disorder. The man spent his time acting and dressing like a vagrant, when he was in fact quite well off. The purpose of the act was nothing more than a ploy to lure unsuspecting pedestrians into a trap and relieving them of a substantial amount of wealth. Derek felt that Grits would be well served by a good stay in a mental hospital, or better yet, prison. Yet, in some twisted way, he also considered Grits a friend of sorts.

The smaller, Reggie, was quite different. He was an actual homeless person, a victim of a very bad job market and bad luck. He looked for positions everywhere, but was inevitably turned down either for his appearance, his lack of any useful skills, or his schizophrenia. Derek sometimes had a hard time telling when he was lucid or in the throes of craziness; it seemed to come and go for him. He wasn't a criminal, and the only reason he hung out with Grits was because Grits would let him stay in his apartment on colder nights. Derek thought Reggie was probably getting a raw deal out of this, but he could never prove it. A shame, in his eyes, because he liked Reggie more and thought he deserved better.

"That's a fine canine ya got there, boy," noted Grits, kneeling down to get a better look at Blackcanismon, who did his best to seem oblivious. "Huh...I ain't seen one like this before. Mighty p'cooliar. What type is he?"

"Not sure. I just found him wandering around, and decided to take him home. He was too nice for me to let Animal Control have him."

"'E look's awful nice..." said Reggie, also kneeling to look at Blackcanismon. "Awful nice...I see strays all the time, and 'dey don't look awful nice as this...You sure 'e's a stray?"

"Did I not just say I found him wandering around?" Derek repeated, trying to sound a bit annoyed. "Unless someone decided to just let him loose in my direction, he's a stray."

"Mighty p'cooliar," repeated Grits, a slightly suspicious tone in his voice. "When'd ya say ya found him?"

"I didn't say. It was just yesterday morning."

"Mighty p'cooliar..." Grits wouldn't stop staring at the canine digimon. "He looks like a smart one. Seems like he almost understands me."

"Awful strange, for a dog," stated Reggie. "Ain't never seen da like."

Derek was getting aware of Blackcanismon's discomfort, so he decided to try to get them away from the duo. "Grits, only a guy like Reggie could honestly think that a dog could understand everything that we were saying. Don't tell me he's starting to rub off on you...though, considering everything, maybe it'd be better if he did."

"Ah, yer probably right," said Grits, standing up straight. "Just my imagination, that's all." Derek thought he was clear, until he spoke up again. ""By the way...d'ja see that hole in the sky yesterday?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that thing. Yeah, I saw it. Scared me half to death. Guess it did the same for you two, huh?"

"'Dat was awful strange, too," said Reggie. "Ain't never seen da like 'a 'dat, either. Big hole in the sky, then, FWOOM! Bright 'sif the sun 'sploded on us!"

"Poor Reg, nearly crapped himself outta fear!" Grits roared with laughter. Then, like an anvil dropping out of the sky, his expression changed again, becoming serious again. "Mighty p'cooliar...ya ever seen anythin' like it?"

Derek shook his head. "Never." Trying to extricate himself once more, he continued, "A guy I know thinks it might have had something to do with the weather. He's pretty sure it was a weather anomaly."

"A weather what?" Grits said incredulously. "Nah, yer friend's fulla BS. That weren't no weather thing. That was a hole, clear as day, and I'm sure it was somethin' big. No clue what it was, though."

"We ain't the only ones thinkin' that!" chimed in Reggie. "We seen lotta strange people around here! _Guvment_-type people! And dey're _feddies_, too! Mebbe they're lookin' for aliens or some such thing!"

"You watch yerself out there, boy," warned Grits. "Them gover'ment types, they're nothin' but trouble. 'Specially the feddies. They're nothin' like us, you'll find yerself up in if ya try anythin' on them. They're _law_, ya know."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Derek, highly amused that _he_ was being warned about the law from a long-time criminal. "Keep on chillin', you two." Finally, he and Blackcanismon were able to get away safely from the alleyway waylay.

They were almost a block away before Blackcanismon had the confidence to even whisper to Derek. "I was unconvinced that they remained oblivious to my true nature. Perhaps my expression was not quite abstract enough..."

"Don't worry too much about it," Derek replied comfortingly. "Grits...well, he could see through a brick wall, somehow. The only time I remember Grits being an inaccurate judge of someone was when he tried to mug me." Blackcanismon sent a shocked look Derek's way. "Actually, he tried that twice...but the second time, I think he was mistaking me for someone else. Reggie's pretty observant, as well, when he's not crazed out of his skull."

"And you hold rapport with these...unscrupulous characters? Their complete absence of decency fails to offend your sensibilities?"

"Hey, criminals are people, too," replied Derek with a shrug. "Albeit strange people, sometimes. But I've found that the more shady characters I get to know, the less I get bothered by them. And it can be handy at times. I mean, the criminal network is the fastest information network short of the Internet. If there's something out of the ordinary that one might need to know, there's more than a good chance that you'll be able to get it from one of the local brigands. Like that little tip about federal government agents being in the area."

Blackcanismon huffed derisively. "I would be remiss in regarding any assertions by such contemptuous individuals as anything short of dubious. They are simply too aberrant to be considered trustworthy."

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, Black. Grits may be a nutty criminal and Reggie may be a mentally ill vagrant, but neither one of them is a liar. And I believe that they both know a government agent when they see one, as well, considering their, ah, lifestyles. We might want to be on the lookout for them ourselves."

"Is your experience in identifying the characteristics of federal agents sufficient to give us forewarning?"

"Er...well, my dad's part of the local branch. I've seen a variety of uniforms, even though he doesn't wear them himself all that much, and they're all similar enough that I could probably have a good guess."

"I remain convinced that the ramblings of those brigands bears no merit."

"Oh, come on, didn't you ever have strange friends?"

"Are you accusing my comrades of bearing parallel peculiarities as the aforementioned vagrants?"

"No, but I'm saying that you can have friends that have some weird traits. I mean, I guess I'd call Grits and Reggie friends in a loose sense, but they're still friends when it comes down to it."

"I have friends you are not cognizant of, but they are of upstanding and noble character. One in particular, Glademon, is not less than the pinnacle of nobility and chivalry. Such a compatriot I could not hope to improve on in millennia."

"I see. Someone else on Libertius?"

"Indeed, a fellow Elite Guard combatant. However, I fear he shall never grace my presence furthermore...neither I nor any I could interrogate could elucidate me as to his fate from that critical melee."

"Oh...sorry to bring up a painful memory."

"Concern yourself not."

They didn't cross a single other person for almost an hour, so Derek didn't have a chance to test whether his recognition was accurate or not. At long last, they spotted a figure on the sidewalk in front of them. Blackcanismon clammed up quickly when Derek muttered to him, "That, Black, is what a stereotypical government agent looks like."

Derek grinned and shook his head as he caught sight of the agent. It had to have been 2:00 in the morning, and yet the man was dressed in a sharp tuxedo, and even wearing sunglasses. If the man had been going for stealth, he had failed miserably; there was no possible way anyone could think he was an average citizen. There were enough differences in his attire from his father's normal work clothes that he presumed the man was not from the area; the fact that he didn't recognize his face bolstered that thought.

As the pair passed by the agent, they heard him remark in a snide tone, "Awfully late for you to be out here, isn't it, little boy?"

Derek hadn't planned on saying anything originally, but if the agent wanted an argument, he wasn't going to disappoint. "Gee, I'm so sorry I don't conform to your standards. By the way, real subtle with the suit and glasses. A blind man could tell what you were doing."

The man seemed surprised that Derek would respond to him in that manner. It took him a few moments to recover, and even then, his riposte left much to be desired. "Well...what business is it of yours, kid?"

"None, I suppose," Derek replied off-handedly, "But given that you're out here in the middle of the night, I figured you were trying to be a little more discreet."

"Hmph..." the agent snorted. "I am acting in an official capacity, thus I will dress myself according to the code outlined for me."

"Now, that's strange," Derek countered with a smirk, as it began to dawn on Blackcanismon that perhaps Derek was not the bastion of peace and tranquility that he had made him out to be just a few hours earlier. "Because, you see, my dad works for the government, as well, and he doesn't _have_ mandated attire for 'official capacity' or some other stupid catch-all term like that. As long as he doesn't look like a slob, he's free to dress how he wants outside of the office."

The agent must have sensed he was in a losing battle, as he shifted the focus back to Derek. "And why are you not at home in bed, like you should be?"

"I _happen_ to sleep in the afternoon instead," Derek shot back. "Because I also _happen_ to enjoy taking long walks at night. Which, by the way, _happens_ to be none of your business."

There was a moment of tense silence. Then the agent spoke again: "That's an awfully unusual dog you've got there."

"No stranger than any other."

"Indeed? And just what breed does he happen to be?""

"Dunno. I just found him wandering around."

"Picking up stray dogs, then, are you? Maybe I should have a chat with your parents, see if they know everything you've been up to."

Derek scoffed. "Do you honestly think my parents have no clue what's going on in my life? I'm not about to hide a dog from them, as if that were even possible. I cleared it with them, and we've checked him out."

The agent gave Derek a long, hard look, clearly suspicious of what the boy was telling him. In the end, he decided to let it go. "Fine, whatever. I've got more important things to worry about than kids who don't have the sense to sleep when they're supposed to."

"I'm sure you do. So, how many guys are out here searching for information about that anomaly last night?"

Another look, this time partially infused with surprise. "And just how do you know about that?"

"I live here, smart one. Plus, I take all the night walks all the time. If word got to you within 24 hours, you can probably imagine how quickly I knew about it."

"I see...well, the information you have requested is classified. National security matters. Now, get out of my sight before I decide to haul you in for harassment of a government employee."

Derek shrugged. "Suit yourself." He motioned to Blackcanismon and they continued on. Derek glanced back after a minute and saw that the agent was still focused on him. "I don't like that guy," he mumbled to Blackcanismon.

"I have to inform you, you were entirely too vocal for my contentment during that encounter," Blackcanismon muttered back. "His suspicion was doubtlessly excited, and I fear repercussions may be forthcoming."

"We've got more to worry about than that," said Derek seriously. "If they're here, that means they heard about the incident already. But we haven't told them anything yet...so they're not here to help on your mission, and they have incomplete information. You guys might be viewed as peculiarities, or worse, enemies. We have to get that information to the top guys posthaste."

"Quite true..." Blackcanismon's sense of foreboding only sank deeper as that realization sank in. He hoped Skylar and Isaac could craft something convincing enough to keep them safe.

(--------------------)

(--------------------)

Another long chapter. No action, unfortunately, but enough of an info dump that we can focus on other things in later chapters. I've seen works in various media where the people who know the most about the background only reveal minute details throughout the course of the work, and I always thought that was unrealistic. I know I'd want to know as much as possible if I was involved in something I couldn't get out of. Besides, the more background info you guys have, the more things should make sense later on. At least, I hope that's the case. And I also made time for a bit of info on the general workings of this particular iteration of the digital world, which will be more spread out.

As for my portrayal of this world? I don't think government work is exactly how I'm going to portray it in this fic, but I'm going to call creative liberties on that. And no, I won't be using real political figures in this fic; they will all be my own manufacture.


	6. Chapter 5: To The Sky

Slightly delayed today. Apparently, stopped liking my scene break indicators. I don't know what it has against a bunch of dashes, but evidently that doesn't sit well with them.

Ah, well, time to do find-replaces in my documents. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 5: To The Sky**

As Iris woke up that morning, the events of the previous day had momentarily skipped her mind, and she was frozen for a moment, trying to figure out what the feathery bundle in her arms was. It took her a moment to reorient herself, by which time Shockavimon too had awakened.

"Are you okay?" yawned the bird. "You seem freaked out."

"Fine...just had a little memory blank," replied Iris, her heart rate returning to normal. "How'd you sleep?"

"Wonderful!" Shockavimon chirped. "Much better than last night! I'm so glad I didn't have to stand guard or anything, and it was a lot more comfortable!"

"I'm glad...I was worried that sharing a bed would be a bit less comfortable for you."

"Oh, no! Compared to the hard ground, it was quite nice!"

Iris smiled. "Good...that means I won't have to hide you in the closet at night. If Dad saw you, I'm afraid of how he'd react."

"Um, Iris..." Shockavimon started nervously, then stopped and averted her gaze, clearly unsure if she should continue.

"Hm? What's the matter?"

"Well, uh...I'm hungry."

"Oh, is that all? Don't worry about it! I'll get you some food!"

"Thanks, sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's not like you have any control over your hunger, and we've got plenty of extra food around here. And I won't have any trouble getting some - I'll just say I'm unusually hungry this morning."

"They won't find that suspicious?"

"They never have before. I do it all the time, just so I can sneak some food up to my room."

"You sneak food up to your room? Why?"

Iris shrugged. "I like to snack."

"Iris! Are you up yet?" Her mother's voice rang clearly from the floor below them.

"Coming!" Iris shouted back. "Guess breakfast is already on the table! I'll be back in a little bit, okay, Shockavimon?"

"All right!" Shockavimon watched Iris leave, and when she was sure she was safe, started searching the room for Iris' stash.

(==========)

Derek was normally back long before his parents were out of bed. However, this morning, due to the combined factors of an extra-long walk with Blackcanismon and the mysterious recent events, he entered to find his father out of bed and sitting at the table, newspaper in hand.

"Morning, Dad," Derek greeted nonchalantly. It was a feeble attempt at courtesy, and both of them knew it. Normally, Derek probably wouldn't have said anything; the fact that he did indicated that he had a question that only Elliot could answer. As such, his father waited patiently for his son to get on with it.

"Dad, do you know anything about the federal agents that have been snooping around here recently?"

Elliot glanced up from the paper. "You have to ask? They're investigating the events of the previous few days. The department was given back-up after the original event, and with reports of unusual activity in town yesterday evening, I'm glad we got it."

"Ah...well, one of those guys was bugging me last night."

"Was he harassing you, or were you harassing him?"

"Give me some credit, Dad. I don't just randomly go around bothering people. He thought I was suspicious."

"Were you acting suspicious?"

"No."

A pause, perhaps due to skepticism. "Well, then, you've got nothing to worry about. Federal agents are supposed to be suspicious of everything - it's a job requirement. But they don't act unless they've got good reason to, at least not if they want to have a job the next day."

"Right."

Derek's father fell silent again, and Derek chose to leave the room instead of pursue the subject. As he walked upstairs with Blackcanismon, the latter cracked quietly, "Well, that was genial and not at all laced with tension."

"Dad isn't exactly crazy about my lifestyle," Derek grumped. "Mom isn't either, for that matter. They don't like my nocturnal habits, and they think I'm gonna be a delinquent just because I'm not a social butterfly. We don't talk a lot...when we do, it's generally just like you saw it. Sarcasm, short answers, lots of tension. Hang around here long enough, you'll probably get to witness a shouting match - that happens a lot, too."

"An unenviable scenario."

"Yeah, really." Derek pulled open the door to his room. To his surprise, he saw a bag of dog food and two dishes on the floor. "What in the world?"

"Perhaps they care more than you think," noted Blackcanismon.

"Or maybe they think me having a dog around will help my behavior. I didn't think they'd be so receptive to the idea...well, in any case, that's good news for us. It means they won't be bugging me about you. Still..." he gave the bag of dog food a grim look as he opened it. "This stuff? They obviously don't want me sneaking any real food up to you..."

Blackcanismon ventured a taste of the food. He made an unpleasant face. "I'd be perpetuating a fabrication if I said it was the stuff of gourmet, or even marginally palatable at that. But it should serve as passable sustenance in lieu of superior."

"Passable doesn't sit well with me. I'll see if I can't manage something better."

(==========)

"34...35...36..."

As Reyn awoke, he found himself alone in his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he looked down to see Salmandmon on the floor, doing one-armed push-ups. "Getting an early start, are you?"

"41...yeah, I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Are you sure you're feeling up for that already? I mean, granted, your leg looks better, but it could be in bad shape deep down still."

"Actually, I've never felt better...50!" Salmandmon pushed up hard from the ground, and quickly switched arms so that he was pushing with his left instead of his right, not missing a stride as he started the reps with his other limb. "Digimon are generally quick healers, something that allows us to get back into battle quickly...those I suppose that's a rather dubious advantage. But I think merging also had an effect...my leg felt better right after we split apart."

"I get the picture. Hey, what did you dream about last night?"

"11...Lotta random stuff. I remember Burnreptimon, though. Why do you ask?"

"I think we had the same dreams. I always seem to remember seeing you, except when I was dreaming about being Burnreptimon."

"Weird. I think I remember you, too. Those connections must go pretty deep."

"Yeah, really. So, do you always exercise like this in the mornings, or is this something new to try to impress me?"

"Ha ha. I gotta stay in shape somehow. Besides that, a good work-out helps me wake up and get energized for the rest of the day. You should try it."

"I might just have to. If I had a body that looked even half as good as yours, in comparable human form, I'd be the star of every sports team in my school, and if we're gonna be kicking butt I guess I should be fit enough to do that. Is that all you did to get in your shape?"

"Hell no!" Salmandmon exclaimed as he leapt to his feet, wiping some sweat from his brow. "This is great for starters, but I went a lot further. Went to the gym a lot when I was younger. And they had a fitness room at Libertius headquarters which I went to all the time."

"If I had known you were coming, I would have gotten a weightlifting set or something for you to use. Question, why does a fire creature like yourself sweat when you don't need to reduce your internal body temperature?"

"Because it's an adaptation that allows for easier and faster removal of toxic products from my muscles as a result of activity. Unique to a few species of thermophilic reptile digimon such as myself, who don't need to sweat for the normal reasons."

"Sounds like you pulled that answer right out of a textbook."

"Yeah, well, I get that one a lot." Salmandmon paused for a moment, catching a highly alluring scent in the air. "Holy crap...something smells delicious!"

"Oh, yeah!" agreed Reyn, his own mind registering the sensation. "That must be breakfast! I hope Mom made enough!"

"Whatever it is, a ton of it wouldn't be enough for me!" Salmandmon dashed out of the room before Reyn could stop him. "Hey! Don't eat it all before I get there!" Reyn shouted after him.

(==========)

Isaac awoke sharply when his father entered the room. "Isaac, we've been calling you for ten minutes now. Hey, what's that?" Alphonse pointed to something he'd never seen before in the corner of the room. "New robot?"

"Oh, yeah, that's my most complex creation yet! It employs all sorts of things that I've been working on for years!" he said quickly, very nervous that his father had spotted Datacarnomon. "Of course, I probably couldn't explain it all to you, but I'm really proud of it!"

"Well, it's looking good. Are you going to enter it in Battlebots or something?"

"N-well..." Isaac stopped. "Actually, that's probably a good idea..."

"Well, hurry up and get out of bed. Your sister and mother are making breakfast, and we're not going to wait around for you much longer."

"Sure, Dad!" Isaac let out a sigh of relief as his father left the room. "Damn...I thought he wouldn't notice you, Data!"

"That's one bet I've won," replied Datacarnomon mischievously, sporting a wide grin - Isaac was continually amazed at how expressive the robot could be, considering that he was made of metal, and definitely wanted to learn about that mechanism for his bots. "Once we figure out some acceptable currency exchange, you're gonna have to pay up."

"See, this is why I never gamble. Too many variables outside my control. If I'm gonna lose, I want it to be on skill, not chance."

"Heh, that's part of what makes it fun. Though I guess I probably shouldn't be goading you into this myself. It's kind of a bad habit of mine."

"You didn't sound like that when you made the bet."

"Of course not. A guy who bites his nails isn't thinking about his habit while he's doing it." Datacarnomon stepped out of the corner, taking care not to tread on any of the spare parts. "Yeesh, you need to pick up around here. This is way too messy for a robot factory."

"Yeah, I know, I just don't have a place to put it all. I need some storage space. Or my own building."

"You keep catching on as fast as you do and they'll probably be falling all over themselves to get that for you. You should hurry down, otherwise they might come back, and you'll have a time explaining away how I can talk to you intelligently."

"You're not hungry?"

Datacarnomon chuckled. "Ike, I'm a _robot._ I don't have an organic cell in my body. Your food would be about as much good to me as a computer chip would be to you."

"Oh, yeah, right. You're so real that I kinda forget sometimes."

"No harm, no foul. When you get back up here, tell me what that Battlebots thing was that your dad mentioned. Sounds kinda cool, I'd like to know more."

"Why am I not surprised?" Isaac laughed.

(==========)

Breezedramon was jarred out of sleep by repeated pokes to his head. He tried to brush them away with a paw, not opening his eyes right away. The continued aggravation caused him to finally look up...right into a pair of big blue eyes.

_Oh, son of a-_

"I KNEW IT!" screeched the boy, jarring Skylar out of slumber and completely rattling Breezedramon. "He's alive! He's a real dragon!"

"Keep your voice the hell down!" snapped Skylar desperately. "Benny, what are you doing in my room?"

"I wanted to see the dragon!" said the boy innocently, a little subdued (but not much) by Skylar's reply. "I saw him with you yesterday, but you said he was a stuffed animal, but I didn't think so, so I came in this morning and saw him breathing, and he opened his eyes and I knew he was REAL!"

"SHHH!" hissed Skylar. "I don't want anyone else finding out! I don't know what Mom and Dad would think about this!"

"Don't worry! I won't tell anyone!"

"You'd better not!" Skylar demanded, knowing full well his brother's propensity to blab about anything and everything. He wished he could try to explain it away, but with Breezedramon having moved under his own volition in front of the boy's eyes, no amount of convincing would get him to believe the dragon was fake this time.

"I won't! I don't want him taken away! He's cute!" Without warning, the kid leapt on the bed and caught Breezedramon in a crushing embrace.

"Ack! Egh...kid...loosen...up!"

"Sorry!" Benny squeaked, lightening up.

"No problem!" gasped Breezedramon.

"All right, Benny, time to leave my room!" interrupted Skylar. "And if you messed anything up in here, don't expect any mercy from the Noogie Monster!"

"Aah!" Benny yelped in false fear, running out of the room and down the stairs. Both Skylar and Breezedramon breathed sighs of temporary relief.

"Well...that went well," said Breezedramon quietly.

"If he says a word..." growled Skylar, shaking his head in frustration. "Can't believe it, as if anything could be worse, now my little brother knows! And he's a liability if ever I knew one!"

"Maybe we should go post-haste on that report to your government," suggested Breezedramon. "The faster it gets out, the better for you as well as me."

"Right," sighed Skylar. "I guess worrying about it doesn't help anything...let's just try to keep you from getting seen by anyone else."

(==========)

"God dammit, Isaac! We were supposed to work on this together!" Skylar fumed at the larger boy. A sheet of paper was in his hand, containing a bunch of stuff that Isaac had written down on his own. "That didn't mean one after another, that meant at the same time!"

"Would you just relax already? It's not like I sent it out or anything!"

"That's not the point at all! I wanted to work on it with you for a reason, and it's not because I enjoy the presence of your company!"

From a safe distance, Datacarnomon pumped his metal fist in triumph. _Ha! I win again! I told him this would happen..._

Issac just folded his arms and glared down at Skylar. "Jesus, what's the big deal? Is it that bad that I decided to speed things up a bit and have something ready for you by the time you got here? If all you have to do is look it over, then what's the problem?"

"The problem," Skylar hissed, sounding calmer but no less irritated, "is that this is absolute garbage! The whole reason I volunteered for this onerous task in the first place was to make sure I could get involved before you screwed the whole thing up! This is not at all what we're trying to tell them! You make repeated jabs at the President, something that will not get either him or our intended target on our good side I might add, use lousy, simple, and obscene language, and don't explain anything about digimon or the other world!"

"Well, I was _trying_ to be a little discreet! You know, keep these guys under wraps so they don't go after them instead of the real problem!"

"As noble an idea as that is, it entirely defeats the point of making a report on the situation! We have to explain why the digimon are here, because that's integral to the problem! We also have to explain to the about the other world, because that's the source of said problem! If they don't know either of those parts, the explanation won't do squat! Not to mention that if they don't know who's on the good side, they'll be likely to make a blanket attack, and that's not going to keep anyone safe!"

Isaac glared fiercely at Skylar, but found himself unable to argue that logic. "Damn you. Fine, you win this round. Guess we'll start all over again."

"You'd better believe it. And while we're at it, _I'm_ writing the letter. You're a horrible writer as it is."

"The hell I am!"

The bickering between the two started anew on that point. Breezedramon and Datacarnomon kept their distances, not wanting to get into trouble themselves. "Damn, I know Reyn said that they weren't very good friends, but this is crazy!" Breezedramon commented. "They're gonna kill each other if this keeps up!"

"Let's hope they don't, we kinda need them," replied Datacarnomon. "Although Skylar is dead on on one point. Ike's writing is complete dreck. He's worse than you."

Breezedramon, for once as liable to make a joke about his writing himself as anyone else, let out a loud laugh. "Yowza, that's saying something! You read what he wrote?"

"Yep. And if he'd sent that, there's no way we would have gotten any recognition at all. They'd be laughing too hard to care. How can someone so obviously intelligent be so catastrophically bad at conveying a point through the written word?"

"Wow, then I'm glad he didn't send it. Hey, Data...have you thought any more about yesterday? You know, about this new merging evolution thing?"

"Of course I have. I'm sure all of us have been thinking about it since we found out about it. After all, there's a lot to consider. We don't have any clue about the mechanism of the effect. We don't know what it does to each individual human or digimon. For all we know, it could be detrimental to us in the long run. It's kind of scary."

"I'm not scared!"

Datacarnomon gave Breezedramon a wry glance. "Oh, really?"

Breezedramon hesitated a moment. "Okay, maybe I'm a little scared. But it's so parentangentially benefictitious that it's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"Ah, therein lies the dilemma, Breezedramon. On one hand, we have a chance to potentially achieve the level of power we used to have, perhaps even more, which would be paramount to our success...on the other, we're clueless about the risks, which could range from minimal to serious."

"That's no dilemma! If it can help us, even if it's risky, we do it!"

"Don't tell me you're _that_ daring. I mean, I'm all for risking my life for a worthy cause, seeing as I've done it for a long time. But surely you've considered the potential dangers beyond this?"

"Ah, to heck with the constinteridations. Besides, Salmandmon's all right, isn't he?"

"We don't know that for sure-"

"And his friend...what was his name, Red or something?"

"Reyn, and you ought to know that better than anyone, you've spent more time around him than anyone besides Salmandmon. Now, look, there could be long-term effects that we haven't seen yet-"

"Yeah, like the long-term effect of being victorious against Emperius! That's a hell of a long-term effect, ain't it?"

"I give up," groaned Datacarnomon, rubbing his head.

(==========)

Skylar was muttering obscenities under his breath as he left Isaac's house with Breezedramon. The last hour had been something akin to torture for him; Isaac had fought his suggestions every step of the way, and he'd very nearly gone ballistic with frustration. Somehow, though, they'd managed to hash out a report that was acceptable to all present. He couldn't have gotten out of the house fast enough after that.

They were taking the long way back to Skylar's house, cutting through a housing development on the northwestern edge of town. It was a place Skylar came to often when he just wanted a leisurely walk with his thoughts, and it was convenient in this instance because it pretty much ran between his house and Isaac's, or at least in the general areas of those locations. It was longer, but it was also farther off the beaten path, and Skylar had taken to the notion that it would be safer and more convenient for them to walk freely on the path rather than try to hide Breezedramon in a bag. There were two good reasons for that - one, he wasn't sure he could have carried Breezedramon for that length of time, and two, the squirmy dragon probably wouldn't have been any more concealed anyway. As it had turned out, the path had worked out quite well for them. Perhaps it was because the recent strange events were keeping people inside, or maybe it was that there wasn't any school (it was generally most populated after classes let out), but they hadn't encountered a single person on the way up, and the same appeared to be the case on the way back.

However, not far from where he would normally turn off the path to get to his house, Skylar caught sight of Iris standing off to the side, looking rather serious. This surprised him; Iris lived more south of the area, this location would have been well out of the way for her. "Iris? Is that you?"

Iris looked up, and immediately brightened. "Oh, hey, Skylar! Yeah, you sound surprised."

"I am. How long did you have to walk to get over here?"

"About 35 minutes or so. I had to get out of the house...my dad's going a little bit nuts about the thing in the sky, and I thought it'd be better if Shockavimon and I weren't around, because he has an annoying tendency to check up on me without warning. And you," she added, looking him over, "you look down in the dumps."

"You try spending an hour with Isaac and see how you feel," grumbled Skylar in response. "I've never met such a difficult person."

"Ah, so that's the problem, huh? Yeah, he can be really annoying. I don't see why we still put up with him."

"Out of necessity...or because he's Reyn's friend. It has to be one of those two reasons." Skylar looked around and quickly noticed something strange. "Didn't you say you left with Shockavimon? Where is she?"

"She got sidetracked by something. She sounded worried...I don't know what it is, but she warned me not to come with."

Breezedramon stiffened. "Something dangerous?"

"I'm not sure. She didn't say anything about it."

"I'm sure of it! Dammit, she does that all the time, leaps off into trouble without warning anyone first! Where did she go?"

They received their answer a moment later when Shockavimon exploded through the trees, slamming into Skylar and knocking him over. "Ow! Hey, watch where you're going!" the boy snapped as he rubbed his shoulder where the digimon's head had hit.

"Never mind that, we've got big trouble!" squawked Shockavimon breathlessly. "I just saw a digimon come through the barrier! It's an Aquilamon!"

"A what?"

"Bad news!" gulped Breezedramon, looking scared. "Aquilamon's a huge bird digimon! If it starts flying over the city, there's no way anyone could explain it away! We've got to stop it, right now!"

"Too late!" Shockavimon cried as a large figure punched through the trees up into the air. Skylar and Iris could just make out the figure through the leaves. Even with only an obscured glance, it was quite an imposing sight.

"Crap!" Breezedramon pounded the ground in frustration. "No way my little wings'll be able to catch up! What are we going to do now?"

"We've got to chase after it _somehow..._" Shockavimon said helplessly as the Aquilamon started flapping towards the city. "Otherwise, who knows what kind of destruction will occur? Aquilamon's strong enough to level buildings if given the chance!"

"Well...that kinda leaves us with only one option, doesn't it?" Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Skylar, who was still staring distantly up through the trees, though nothing more could be seen. "Don't tell me it never crossed any of your minds. After last night, we all had to be aware that it would come to this sooner or later. Right now, it's either do this, or let that thing level the business district."

"Even if we can't beat him, we'd at least distractate him long enough to give people a chance to escape safely!" Breezedramon chimed in. "You're right, Skylar! We've got to give it a shot!"

"But how do we merge?" asked Iris. "It can't be as simple as a few magic words."

"Maybe it's got something to do with really wanting to," suggested Shockavimon. "I know that when I've seen digimon DNA evolve, it only happens when both are trying to. And Reyn did seem dead set on helping Salmandmon in any way he could..."

"Hell, at this point anything's worth a shot," finished Skylar. "Let's give it a whirl, Breezedramon, see what crops up."

"All right..." Breezedramon agreed nervously as Skylar knelt down and took a hold of his paw. He couldn't deny now that he really was worried about what was going to happen, but looking into Skylar's determined eyes bolstered his courage a bit. _He's never fought a digimon before, knows it's dangerous, but he's still willing to try...well, if he can do it, then I sure as hell can!_

They closed their eyes as a strange feeling came over both of them. They were surrounded by a bright blue glow, and their forms seemed to twist and meld as their minds and bodies merged into a single figure. The fading glow revealed a draconian figure, a shade under six feet tall in height, with a thin body, lithe arms and digitigrade legs, powerful wings, long slightly-curved horns on the back of his head, and sky-blue scales covering most of his body, with white scales down his stomach and underside. "Kick-ass..."

"Whoa...that's awesome!" Shockavimon marveled, enthralled by her witnessing her first merging.

"Are you two just gonna sit there?" the dragon asked impatiently. "Or are you gonna help me take down that overgrown cardinal?"

"Uh...okay..." Despite having seen someone merge in front of her twice now, Iris still wasn't fully sure that she could handle it herself. Drawing every bit of bravery she could muster, she mumbled to Shockavimon, "Well, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Shockavimon took hold of the girl's hand, and after a few seconds of apprehension, they too were surrounded by a glow, yellow for them, and the merge began. A new figure erupted form the crackling yellow aura, revealing a bright yellow-feathered avian, a few inches shorter than the other creature but built sturdier, her wings broad and imposing.

"Now that's more like it," the draconian rumbled approvingly. "Let's get going. Oh, by the way, you can call me Skydramon."

"And you can refer to me as Bolteaglemon," replied the avian. "Last one to Birdbrain is a rotten egg!" She took off, her powerful wings needing no assistance for liftoff.

"Hey! No fair!" Skydramon pumped his own wings and also rose into the sky easily. "Come on, let's get 'em!" They burst through the sparse branches that shaded the path below, rising well up into the sky, not paying any attention the the gasps of the few people who could see them. Up there, it was no challenge at all to spot Aquilamon, who was well above the city.

"Looks like he's getting ready to attack!" reported Bolteaglemon, her brilliant eyesight seeing more than just the red figure. "Damn! We're not gonna make it in time to stop him! We're not fast enough!"

"That can be easily remedied!" replied Skydramon. "Leave it to me! Force Gale!" On that simple verbal cue, the wind picked up several notches, rushing at their backs and dramatically hastening their flight. "Catch the wind as much as you can!" ordered the draconian, his voice almost lost in the rush. "We just might be able to head him off this way!"

"He's way bigger than we are! Do you think we can even stop him?"

"It's all a matter of force! We'll have to hit him fast if we want to disrupt him, but if we do, it should work! Attack as you hit, too!" Their rapid pursuit was still unbeknownst to Aquilamon, who had been too focused on the building he was about to obliterate than any unforeseen combatants. Skydramon buffered the wind as far as he could, their flight speeds almost double their normal maximum. "Just a little more...come on..."

It was just enough. They connected with Aquilamon in mid-dive, loosing their pair of attacks on the behemoth bird.

"Aero Nail!" Skydramon slashed viciously at the flesh of Aquilamon as he hit with all his force, sending tattered feathers and drops of blood down to the surface.

"Static Cracker!" Bolteaglemon felt electricity rush through her body towards her shoulders, and put everything she had into a flying tackle, which sent a powerful charge through Aquilamon.

Caught in a very painful surprise, Aquilamon screeched and pulled out of the dive, which had been thrown out of direction anyway. The building remained intact, though said screech had wiped out most of the windows in it and a few of the surrounding buildings. The fight in the sky was causing mass panic on the roads below.

"Well, there goes discreet," remarked Bolteaglemon.

"Right now, I'd be willing to settle for damage control. Look sharp!" Skydramon shouted as Aquilalmon came raring back into the fray. He did not look happy.

"Little pests! Where did you come from? On second thought, you won't last long enough for me to care! Blast Rings!"

The pair scattered, allowing the ring attacks to sweep over the tops of several buildings, sweeping off debris, dislodging any satellite dishes and weather vanes in its path, to say nothing of the roasted pigeons. "Yeah, let's try to keep him from getting a direct shot of that on a building," growled Skydramon, even though he was out of earshot of Bolteaglemon. "Chew on this! Twister Orb!"

A bright blue ball of energy formed in Skydramon's hands. He tossed it directly at Aquilamon, whose evasiveness was far lower than that of the smaller two, and he was struck.

"Let me in on the action! Spark Wave!" Bolteaglemon spread her wings wide, showing the charge points gathered on them. With a powerful flap, she sent forth a cloud of miniature bolts of electricity, showering Aquilamon in their stunning wake. Still, the foe wouldn't quit. "How long is this guy gonna last?" Bolteaglemon shouted in frustration.

"He's larger and stronger than we are! We're just gonna have to wear him down and hope we can last long enough ourselves!"

The three continued their airborne melee; Aquilamon diving and charging and using his Blast Rings, the buildings forgotten by him for the moment; Skydramon raining Twister Orbs on Aquilamon, his aim dead-on for the most part; and Bolteaglemon, who refused to let up on the Spark Waves. After a few minutes, despite the size disadvantage, they had Aquilamon on the ropes, barely managing to stay airborne.

"Looks like we've almost got him!" Skydramon panted, wearing down. "Bolteaglemon, I'm gonna go in for the KO! Give me a charge!" He extended his arm out towards his avian comrade.

"You got it! Static Cracker!" Bolteaglemon formed an electric charge around Skydramon's clawed hand.

"Ah! Hey, that tingles!"

"Get going before he recovers!"

"On it!" Skydramon blitzed Aquilamon, sailing in from above. Before the opponent could do so much as protest, Skydramon was on him. "Aero Nail!" He swooped down and slashed the creature bodily, his claws easily rending the flesh and allowing the wind and electric energy to penetrate fiercely into Aquilamon's insides. The triple whammy was the clincher; with a feeble squawk, Aquilamon dissipated into data particles and was swept away by an unknown force.

In spite of their achievement, neither of the merged beings felt any desire to celebrate. "Let's scram!" Skydramon shouted, his minds more on the people below them than the battle that had just finished.

"No need to tell me twice!" replied Bolteaglemon. The pair beat a hasty retreat, soaring through the skies with little care for stealth at this point. They flew for a long while, only landing when they were off the northern edge of the city, hidden by trees and well away from people. Finally, they managed to split back into their component forms.

"Hoo...I am completely exhausted," Shockavimon panted. "That takes a lot out of you."

"Me, too," moaned Breezedramon, flopping onto his back. "I could sleep for a month after that ordeal..."

"And you two are the experienced ones," Iris moaned, sitting down on the ground in exhaustion. "Can you imagine what it must be like for us?"

"Or worse, if only one of us was out there?" added Skylar, who looked like he might pass out at any moment. "We'd never have managed that without working together."

"Not that it went all that well anyway! We were lucky enough to keep the damage to a minimum, but anyone could have seen us up in the sky, and hundreds of people probably did. And I'm willing to bet that there were no shortage of cameras, video recorders, cell phones, and the like. There's no way it won't get out now, and when it does, you guys are gonna be in even more danger. If anyone sees you, it'll start a riot, and end up with you being lynched or worse."

"Wait a second," Breezedramon protested. "We were fighting Aquilamon! We were the good guys!"

"Doesn't matter," Skylar replied resignedly. "Humans are notoriously unreliable witnesses, mainly because their perceptions get very clouded by emotion. When asked what they saw, they're not going to say 'two creatures fighting another creature that was destroying the city.' They're going to say 'three creatures that were destroying the city.' The situation will be lost, and only that impression will stick."

"Then again, those video cameras, digital cameras, and picture phones might work to our advantage...there will be plenty of evidence of what happened," Iris pointed out. "If they can get it so that they show what actually happened, we might stand a shot. Plus, you guys did send something this morning, so maybe the Department of Defense will be more willing to listen to our account."

"We'll be extra cautious anyway," said Shockavimon. "We'll take more preventative measures to make sure we don't get seen by the wrong people. No such thing as too careful now."

"I'm game for that," Breezedramon concurred. "I'd rather not have an angry mob on my tail if I can help it. Maybe when those guys at the top of the food chain get your report, we'll be able to go around safely."

Iris nodded. "Let's hope. We should probably get out of here...my dad's gonna go bonkers wondering where I am after this."

"Mine, too," Skylar sighed. "If nothing else, maybe the uproar will keep people inside rather than out on the streets...or crowded around the area where it all happened. It might provide some cover. Let's use it while we can."

(==========)

"Reyn! Salmandmon! Would you two come down here, please?"

Up in Reyn's bedroom, the two traded looks. "Why would my dad be calling you down?" Reyn wondered.

"I was wondering the same thing," Salmandmon replied. "Come on, let's go." The two descended the stairs and found Treylor, and the rest of the family, in the living room, watching the television.

"Can you two watch this, please?" His father pointed in the direction of the television.

"Uh...sure..." They turned their attention towards the report. It was on one of the ubiquitous 24-hour news channels that Reyn despised, with reporter Sairah Sussannes speaking.

"-reports of a large birdlike creature appearing over Lenson Street, eventually accompanied by two other creatures who may or may not have been attacking it. As you can see, there is some damage, especially to the windows on most of the buildings on the 2300 block, but the primary effect it has had is to create panic. Buildings have been evacuated, hospitals are treating people for stress-related maladies and a few trample injuries, and the police have been frantic to restore order. We now go over to Cement Dongola for more on this breaking news-"

Treylor snorted as he turned down the volume. "The names they have in the news media...honestly, sounds like a bunch of comedians made them up. But forget that for now...do you two have anything to say about this?"

Reyn sighed and looked down at Salmandmon. "Well, that lasted a whole, what, 18 hours?"

Salmandmon shrugged. "What can I say? Some of them are too big for discretion." He looked around at the other people in the room. "I guess there's not a whole lot of use in keeping the matter from you now. I hope you're comfy, this'll take a while."

Minerva looked gravely at the reptile. "We...aren't going to like what we're about to hear, are we?"

Salmandmon shook his head. "I'm afraid that's out of the question."

(==========)

"Now, eyewitness reports are all over the map here. Some say there were at least six monsters, others only say two. Most seem to think there were three or four. There's some video footage, but it's not all complete and no one's sure if they caught everything. There's mixed opinion on whether the creatures were locked in combat or not, it's about half and half now, but most say that only the large one was causing the majority of the damage. There's not much else in the way of specifics. Everyone described the larger creature almost exactly, but the details of the smaller creatures don't coincide at all over accounts. If it wasn't for the damage you see to the Marks building, it would be hard to believe anything happened at all. Police say they are receiving dozens of reports of other sightings, but say that it's probably hysteria over this event. Regardless of this, citizens are being advised to keep their eyes open and immediately contact the authorities if they see anything out of the ordinary. Sairah."

Isaac rarely turned on the television in his room, but this was a special occasion. He'd been on his way downstairs when he heard the breaking news on the television downstairs, where his parents were held captivated by the reports. Isaac had good reason to keep well away from his parents when it came to this situation, so instead he shut himself up in his room and watched with Datacarnomon.

"Thank you, Cement. Now, we go to Jorge Me Importa Un Bledo, with more information on this event. Jorge?"

Isaac muted the television, a deep scowl marring his features. "Well, so much for all the secrecy and not wanting to cause a national panic. This sucks."

"Unfortunately, it wasn't likely to last long anyway," sighed Datacarnomon. "So many digimon are of Aquilamon's size and larger...there'd have to be dozens of them in Emperius' ranks. I'm more worried about what's going to happen to me, now! If they figure out I'm a digimon, I'll be in it deep."

"Not as long as you're with me. It's no secret around here that I'm a machinery freak, everyone knows it. I build robots, that's what I do. And you can pass for an ordinary robot any time. I have been dropping hints about some big project I've been working towards...I can just claim it was you."

"A convenient excuse for us. What about the others?"

"They have to get their own. Not much we can do about that."

(==========)

"Iris! I was so worried about you!" Her father had her in a very uncomfortably tight grip, and was not about to let go.

"Ack! Dad! I told you, I'm fine!" This was what Iris had been worried about; Emil was a nice man and a stellar father, but always over-worried and occasionally overprotective.

"Sweetheart, I've been worried sick since I heard about this monster business! I don't know what I would have done if you had been hurt by one of them! I never would have forgiven myself!"

"Emil, I think you're getting a little worked up over this." Iris's mother, Heather, came into the doorway, gently prying father from daughter. "I told you, this is a big city, and chances are Iris wasn't anywhere near the building that was attacked. Isn't that right, dear?"

"Yeah! I was off in one of the forest trails with a friend!" Iris didn't like to lie. But when the lie was half-truthful - she _had_ been out on the forest trails, just not the entire time - she could at least justify it to herself. "Nowhere near the monsters!"

"I still think we had reason to be worried...and still do. Iris, I think maybe you should stay home from school tomorrow. I wouldn't trust you to be safe anywhere around the city-"

"Dad! I'm really glad you're worried about me, really, but I don't want to be locked in the house all week! That would just get boring! Besides, at school I'll be with lots of other people-"

"There's nothing to say about school," Heather said with a concerned sigh. "I just got off the phone with Myra, the superintendent's put all classes in the district on indefinite hiatus."

"What? Over...but this could have just been a one-time deal!"

"I doubt many parents would accept that as an excuse. According to Myra, the calls deluged her almost as soon as that creature disappeared...no one wants to send their kid to school when they might be attacked by a giant bird. There wasn't much else to do but officially cancel classes so that the school can't be held liable for operating in dangerous conditions. If nothing happens, they'll start up again in a few days, I'm sure."

Iris groaned at this news. School had been her most convenient excuse to get out of the house, and with that gone, she'd be forced to improvise. And the odds were stacked against her in this - not only was she not a great liar, but her father was an expert at lie detection, having worked for the government for years. It would have been easier (though by no means a sure shot) if she could lie to him over the phone than try to look him in the eye and do it.

"All right, I guess we'll discuss this later," agreed Emil. "I have to go to an emergency meeting at the office. We need to get things straightened out over there so we can deal with this threat without distraction."

"Okay, Dad. Stay safe out there." Iris sighed as Emil vacated the house. If he had reacted that way to just the fact that monsters were in the same city, what would he have said had he known that she was about to let one into her room once he was out of sight?

(==========)

"Skylar! Where on Earth have you been?" Corrine cried as Skylar entered the house, accosting him before he could go anywhere. "Don't you have any idea what's going on?"

"Yeah, Mom, I went down and checked it out," Skylar responded with a dismissive wave of his hand, playing the façade of unconcernedness quite well. "Lenson Street's a madhouse right now...the police weren't letting anyone even close to the place where all the action was. I had to settle for seeing the broken windows from a distance."

Corrine sighed. "I swear, you're too curious for your own good. You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble one of these days."

"Relax, Mom. I know how to take care of myself."

"I suppose you do." She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. "And I suppose it is one of the things that makes you such a bright young man. I just hope you stay careful, because you know what they say about curiosity."

"I gotcha, Mom."

"If you want to see more, the news is on in the living room. Your father and sisters are completely captivated by what they're seeing."

"Ugh, no thanks," replied Skylar, with no shortage of disgust. "You know how I hate the TV news media...they're the worst way to gather news. I'll stick to the computer - who knows, maybe one of those weird people who see things everywhere will finally be useful for once."

"Well, make sure to keep an eye on Benjamin, then. He's been looking for you all day, if memory serves me."

"Gee, why am I not surprised?" groaned Skylar.

"Now, now, Skylar," Corrine admonished with a hint of a smile. "I know Benny can be difficult, but he really looks up to you, Sky. When you're nearby, he doesn't get into trouble quite as often. It's not always easy, but do try to be patient with him."

"I know that, and I try. It's just that he's...well, he's a little brother. And you know how that can be, seeing as you had six of them."

"You think that's bad, try stacking two little sisters on top of that. I don't care what all the experts say, girls are definitely far tougher to deal with than boys."

Skylar laughed a bit at that as he headed upstairs. Benny was waiting for him inside his room, much to his chagrin. "And just what do you think you're doing in here?" he asked in a tone that didn't exactly scream patient.

"Waiting for you and the dragon!"

"He's got a name, you know." Skylar opened up the window, signaling to Breezedramon that it was safe to come in. He didn't know if the dragon could see him, given the darkness, but their options were fairly limited.

"Well, you never told me!"

"Now you know. His name's Breezedramon. Speaking of him, you didn't say anything to anyone else, did you?"

"Nope!" the 5-year-old reported proudly.

"Jeez, it's a freaking miracle," Skylar cracked in mock awe as he caught sight of the dragon coming in for a landing. "There you are. No one saw you, did they?"

"Not as far as I could tell."

"We have to get a better method of getting you in and out of the house. Sooner or later, someone's gonna see you, and that's not going to go over well."

"Maybe we could dress him up like a birdie!" suggested Benny as he pulled the dragon digimon into a death grip.

Skylar frowned at the two. "Benny...as glad as I am that you're keeping quiet about the whole thing, if you throttle that dragon, we're going to have words."

(==========)

(==========)

Yeah, this jumps around a bit, but I wanted to get a little face time for everyone. If you're reviewing, let me know how I'm doing on character differentiation - it's another one of those little things I'm worried about all the time. I sometimes worry that I get too much into a writing routine and stop writing the characters as if they're all different people.

Special thanks to Dawn of Glory, who submitted the first reviews for this story. I'm glad you enjoy the story so much! I'll put in every effort to keep you and any other reader entertained. And I'll work on minimizing the need for a dictionary, at least where I can. Thanks again! And for you and anyone else, feel free to point out where spelling or grammar errors are. I'm still catching errors from chapters I've re-read five or six times before without noticing them, so I don't doubt there are still a few in there.

Reference note: Those made-up-sounding news person names? Yeah, totally made up, but I used the formula provided by America: The Book, a product of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. If you have the book, you probably recognized it almost instantly. If you don't have the book, what the heck are you waiting for?


	7. Chapter 6: Catching Up

Hello! This week's installment comes a day early, given that I'll be out of town this weekend. And next weekend, too, but I'm not sure if I'll get another chapter up before then. Hopefully, I will.

Anyway, have a long one. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 6: Catching Up**

Reyn shut the door behind him quietly, making sure that no one was up and about to hear him. "Are you really sure about this, Salmandmon?" he whispered almost inaudibly. "I don't know how good an idea this is...if someone sees you..."

Salmandmon rolled his eyes, a gesture that went unnoticed by its target. "I know. But I'm sure I saw something come through, and I'm a little worried about leaving Derek and Blackcanismon out there on their own. They haven't merged yet, and I'd rather not rely on them having to get lucky like we did. We should at least be able to provide them some support. Besides, how often are both your parents called in to the hospital at once?"

"Not that often. Still, I'd feel better if you had some sort of disguise." The two of them were able to raise their voices somewhat as they started down the street, both ever vigilant in case someone else was out and about.

"It'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Reyn wasn't so sure, but he decided not to argue further for the sake of limiting attention in their direction. Neither one knew where Derek and Blackcanismon would be, so they just wandered around carefully, hoping to get lucky.

"Maybe we should rethink this," Reyn sighed as they had no luck after about 20 minutes of walking. "He might be all the way on the other side of the city for all we know...I don't want to go into the less concealed parts the way you are now."

"Really, Reyn, don't worry about it. There's not much chance of us seeing anyone, and if we do, they're likely to be too stoned or wasted to give us any trouble. It's easy to manipulate someone under those influences."

"Yeah, of course! No one's gonna question the word of a giant red lizard! And not that I'm doubting, but what would make you think that everyone up and about at this time is under the influence of alcohol or drugs?"

Salmandmon grinned wryly. "It all comes from experience. Did you think they didn't have cities like this in the digital world?"

"Hard to know what to think when you don't tell me any details. I can't remember all those dreams, you know."

"Hm, I'll have to work on that. Anyway, I grew up in a big city like this one, actually probably bigger. I know what goes on in these places at night. If you're not asleep, you're inebriated in some fashion; if you're not asleep or inebriated, you're having sex, in which case you're generally inside, though I suppose that's not necessarily set in stone."

"I'm impressed that you can say that so...dispassionately," Reyn remarked. "You definitely live in a different world. What about the larger digimon like Aquilamon?"

"They don't usually live in cities. Now shut up, I think I see them." Salmandmon's assessment was spot on; the boy and dog digimon had just turned and were walking about a block ahead of them. Carefully and quietly, the two pursued them, catching up little by little. Derek and Blackcanismon appeared unaware of their presence.

When they were within just a couple dozen feet of the two, Reyn spoke, doing his best impression of a Bond villain. "Fancy meeting you here, Mr. Katran."

Derek didn't even turn around for his response: "Reyn, if I've told you once, I've told you six dozen times, I always know when I'm being followed at night. You've been behind me for almost three blocks now."

"The hell! And I was sure I was gonna catch you this time!"

"And on another note, why is Salmandmon out here when he clearly is undisguised and could be witnessed by anyone who happened to pass by?"

"Damn, he really is that good," Salmandmon marveled. "You know all this without even looking at us?"

"Most of us have more than one sense. I don't have to look to get information, at least not at night." Derek and Blackcanismon finally turned around. "So, I doubt it's a social call that brings you out here...though if that is what you had in mind, Reyn, I'm going to have to break your heart, right before I break your skull."

"Hey, you _do_ have a sense of humor!"

"Bite me."

"Careful, we've got people around here that might take you up on that."

"The banter has become rather tiresome," interceded Blackcanismon impatiently. "Please enlighten us as to your presence, with all due celerity."

"Chill out, Blackie," said Salmandmon. "Listen, I caught sight of some ripples in the sky not too far from this area. It could have been an illusion, but somehow I doubt it. So we're going to check it out, and we were hoping to have your help."

"I suppose that's reasonable enough," said Derek, "but we've got to be more careful than you guys are being right now. There are government agents out and about, and if they see Salmandmon, the nasties are guaranteed to hit the fan. And I know there's at least one agent who's taken a certain disliking to me, so that makes matters all the more difficult."

"Don't worry, Reyn's already super-anal about that," cracked Salmandmon.

"Good. So, enlighten me...where do you think this thing is?"

(==========)

For all the ideas Isaac had had about improving the performance of his robots, there was one he had never considered before: actually ask a robot.

Granted, that had mainly been because there hadn't been any robots for him to ask. Now that there was, however, he found himself improving at a faster pace than he ever had before. Datacarnomon had helped him with numerous issues he'd been unable to solve on his own, or that he'd solved but not to his satisfaction. His confidence was growing with each hurdle he'd surpassed.

For Datacarnomon's part, he was amazed at the speed with which the human grasped the concepts of machinery he presented. He figured the only reason Isaac hadn't managed to get farther was the limitations on the knowledge of the world around him; if there was nothing to teach, all he had was trial and error.

"I dare say that it won't be long before you're building the best robots in this world," he stated, marveling at an improvement Isaac had made to one of his robots. "Once you get the hang of something, it's like you can do it from instinct."

"Thanks...I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you." Soft thumps from outside the door got Isaac's attention in a hurry. "Someone's coming! Better make like a statue!"

Datacarnomon dashed to one corner of the room and pretended to be deactivated, leaving Isaac apparently alone in his work. The door opened a couple seconds later, and Isaac suppressed a groan. It was Ashley, his older sister with a penchant for prying, conniving, and aggravating the heck out of him. "You again, huh?"

"Me again, little bro. Working with more of your junk?" Ashley was only two years older than Isaac, but in his eyes she treated him like the difference was much greater. He often reflected that she was the kind of older sister people would find funny if they didn't have to constantly put up with her. He got this impression because people laughed whenever he griped about her.

"Nice to see you're taking an interest," he replied shortly. "You can leave anytime now. Sooner would be optimal."

"My interest is better than your obsession." In truth, Ashley held her brother's abilities in high regard. However, the unwritten Big Sister Code forbade her from ever revealing that fact to him directly.

"It's not an obsession. It's a potential career opportunity. Robots are the future, you know, and I'm gonna be in high demand when that comes around, especially if I keep getting better."

"So you say." Ashley's continued presence was beginning to unnerve Isaac, especially the way she kept glancing around the room. His instincts warned him that she was just toying with him. "But really, I'm quite impressed. You've put a lot of work into this."

_Uh-oh...dangerous statement. Where's she going with this?_ "I always put a lot of work into my robots. They're important to me."

"So you've said - repeatedly - but I wasn't talking about that. I was thinking more along the lines of the excuse you came up with to convince Dad that the metalhead in the corner was your own work and not some creature from another world. Sounds like he bought it. I wouldn't have thought such a lame line would work."

_Son of a bitch!_ "I haven't got the slightest idea what you're talking about, Ash. What are you accusing me of?"

"Ah, it's so amusing how you think you can hide things from me. You must think I've got all the brainpower of Paris Hilton." She leered a bit in Isaac's direction. "But you know, I do love to observe people. And you don't get very far observing people if you don't take notice to some...details."

"Details?" That scared Isaac. He knew of his sister's long-standing interest in people; she loved psychology and sociology, and she was exceptionally good at reading people, almost scarily so. Worse, she was also good at playing mind games. She was definitely in this for a reason, and it wasn't to tease the answer out.

"Mm-hmm. For instance, I know for a fact that you've been bugging out over some hydraulics systems business for the past few months. Interestingly, you made no fuss at all when the problem was suddenly solved, unlike usual. And I know the problem was 'solved,' since I distinctly remember you saying that hydraulics systems would be needed for your dream robot. Don't think I don't listen to your ramblings when I'm in here. Speaking of which, I've been in here quite a few times, and I never saw you working on that thing. You think I'm supposed to believe that it got done all of a sudden, and you never wanted to show it off? Fat chance, little bro."

"Big deal. I got it mostly done, but I don't want to show it off until it's perfected. Easy answer."

"Of course it's an easy answer. Easy answers are usually lies."

"You can't prove that." Even to Isaac, that smacked of a weak answer lobbed out solely out of desperation. But Ashley hadn't even played her trump card.

"Oh, and there was one other little detail...hearing the two of you talk about how you could pass him off as the results of your big project. Might be a good idea not to chat so much about your plans before you put them into action, you know."

Isaac went pale. "What the-you were...you were eavesdropping on me?"

"You're not a talkative person, Isaac. You don't even talk to yourself all that much, at least not loudly, except when you're pissed off. And I know who you allow into your room, and they weren't here last night. So when I hear two voices when there should just be one, I do what a big sister is supposed to do - damage your trust in me to satisfy my idle curiosity. Face it, little bro, you're not worming your way out of this one."

"Should've figured you'd find out..." Isaac groaned. "Always frickin' spying on me and crap. Never leaving me alone..."

"Just be glad it's me spying on you and not Dad. He'd have a conniption carnival if he found out that you were harboring a creature from another world in the house, to say nothing of what he'd do to you for lying to him."

"Does this mean you won't say anything?" asked Datacarnomon, sensing that the jig was up and more focused on damage control than anything.

"Well, I was worried at first. I mean, I'm sure you saw the story about the giant rooster terrorizing Lenson Street. If you were one of them, even a lot smaller, you might be dangerous. But then I reasoned that if you can live with this guy for two days without going postal, the rest of us are probably safe."

"Hey!"

"So, yeah, I'm willing to keep this under wraps. Can't promise Dad won't find out on his own, though. He'll catch on sooner or later, especially if you keep acting weird."

"I'm sure I can keep him guessing."

"You'll have plenty of time, at least. No school tomorrow! Well, I'm off to bed...I plan on spending tomorrow with _real_ people." She stuck her tongue out at Isaac and left the room.

"Damn...if she was a robot she'd be the best neural network hacker in both worlds," Datacarnomon said approvingly after Isaac closed the door. "You should put up a better firewall if you're gonna keep living with her."

Isaac moaned loudly. "And here I thought it couldn't get any worse. She's gonna abuse the bejeezus out of this."

"Oh? Care to lay a bet on that?"

"Hell no, even if I'm sure I'm already in the hole way too much. But seriously, she's going to play with my mind, make me think things that aren't true. I tell you, she's going to end up causing me to tell Dad the truth."

"Well, at least she's not five years old and prone to accidental outbursts. I think Breezedramon's got more to worry about that I do, since she'll actually have a reason before she makes her move."

"Ah, man, I hope to holy hell you're right."

(==========)

"Okay, I'm getting a bad feeling about this," said Salmandmon shakily as they turned onto Kassper Street. "I feel like something's going to pop out of the darkness any moment now and strike us down before we can react."

"You have absolutely nothing to worry about in regards to that," Derek assured the lizard. "I'll be able to notice anything coming from a quarter mile away. We'll have plenty of time to get ready."

"We've got more to worry about with all these houses around," Reyn noted. "Almost everyone's asleep right now, and that makes them fairly vulnerable to a sneak attack. That's the last thing we want right now." Kassper Street was in the more thinly-populated residential side of the city in the southern areas, closer to where Iris and Derek lived than Reyn, Skylar, and Issac, who lived in the denser housing districts closer to the commercial centers. Still, there were a fair number of houses on the block they were on now, which meant plenty of choices for targets.

"I think we'll be able to take care of any threats before people get attacked. Still, we don't want them waking up and seeing us - no doubt they'll mistake us for enemies." Derek paused for a moment, then continued, "I guess we'll just have to try to be as quiet as possible. Do whatever we can to avoid making a ruckus and stop where you are."

"Huh?" Reyn and Salmandmon didn't catch the sudden focus change right away, until they turned back to see that Derek and Blackcanismon had stopped dead in their tracks. "What's goi-"

"SHHH!" Derek hissed loudly. His eyes were closed, and it looked like he was almost in a meditative state. Rapidly, his expression changed, and he twisted ninety degrees and pointed right at one of the houses. "There! There's something in the back yard of that house, I know it!"

"Can you tell what it is?" asked Salmandmon.

"Not exactly...just that it's larger than we are, strong, and carrying a weapon of some kind." He paused another moment and added, "Perhaps a club or something similar."

"Sounds like it might be an Ogremon or one of its relatives," said Salmandmon. "No way to know for sure unless we check it out, but I think we should be ready for anything, don't you, Reyn?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Let's show him what Burnreptimon can do."

It was definitely easier the second time they merged. Perhaps because they had no idea what was coming, the first combination had been a very confusing experience for both of them. Now that they were not only familiar with the concept, but had already undergone the process, it was almost a natural feeling for both of them. Before long, Burnreptimon stood again, ready to take on whatever came his way.

"Remember to keep it down, Burnreptimon," reminded Derek. "You're probably going to be very close to the house, and people will hear you."

"Thanks...I'll be as quiet as I can." Burnreptimon left Derek and Blackcanismon and slowly stalked towards the house. As he reached the front, he crouched close to the side of the house, moving slowly and staying low. As he neared the corner, he caught sight of the figure in the backyard. It was a large, lumbering creature, tall and muscular, with a club in its hand. _Definitely Ogremon,_ thought Burnreptimon. _Man, he really is good._

The Ogremon was moving quietly, showing unusual care for one of its kind; stealth wasn't exactly a strong trait for their ilk. It seemed this one wanted to not alert its targets to its presence, which didn't sit well with Burnreptimon. He didn't intend to let him even get close.

The Ogremon didn't notice its adversary until he had surrounded himself with his fiery aura. "Take this, you overgrown green goon!" Burnreptimon taunted quietly as he loosed an uppercut to Ogremon's jaw. Ogremon staggered backwards, stunned by the blow and resulting burn, and left himself open to Burnreptimon's second strike, this time to its abdomen. The strike left a vicious burn in the center of Ogremon's pectorals. A third strike, again to the head, left Ogremon reeling, and Burnreptimon took that opportunity to loose his Pyre Rush, incinerating Ogremon and turning him to data.

The battle was over as quickly as it had begun. _He probably still doesn't know what happened,_ Burnreptimon thought with a smirk. Then his expression changed to one of uncertainty. _That really did seem too easy...maybe I should stay on guard..._

(==========)

Back in front of the house, Derek could hear the sounds of the battle, muted enough for him to be comfortable. As they died away, though, he became cognizant of another presence in the yard. He didn't know what it was, but it was chilling him much more deeply than the last. "Blackcanismon...come on, we've got to let Burnreptimon know there's something else back there."

(==========)

Burnreptimon looked around the yard. As far as he could tell, nothing was out of place. But something wasn't right, and he knew it.

A sharp pain jolted through his back before he could further ponder the issue. Burnreptimon gave a quick, alarmed cry of pain before muting himself. He twisted around, and came face-to-face with another opponent, a winged demonic creature with red skin and an evil grin plastered onto its face.

"Boogeymon!" Burnreptimon identified him in a harsh whipser, partly out of pain and partly out of trying to be quiet. "Bastard! I'll show you to mess with me!" He jumped up to lash out at Boogeymon, but the demon blocked with his spear and sent Burnreptimon crashing to the ground.

"So, it's true...there are digimon that are here to protect the humans," taunted Boogeymon in a condescending tone as Burnreptimon got unsteadily to his feet; the collision with the ground had winded him, to say nothing of the resurgent pain from his wound. "Some might even call it noble, acting as lone guard to worthless scum...but your effort is a waste. The Purification will take place, regardless of who we have to go through to enforce it!"

"Not a chance in hell!" growled Burnreptimon, suddenly feeling woozy. He wanted to jump back up and lash out again, but his body didn't seem to be cooperating very well; he felt heavier than normal, and was finding it harder to breathe. _What's going on?_

(==========)

Derek and Blackcanismon remained silent observers from around the corner of the house, having been too late to warn their comrade of the danger. "Burnreptimon appears to be suffering considerable fatigue," Blackcanismon worriedly whined. "Boogeymon must have struck him with a manipulative effect resulting in energy drainage and physical disruption! It is imperative that we offer our assistance, posthaste!"

"Yeah, but...we don't know how to merge!" whispered Derek edgily. "And without that, how are we going to beat that guy?"

"Perhaps the recombination is a simpler task than we perceive it to be. Reynard and Salmandmon did not appear to require considerable lengths to effect synthesis."

"You've got a point...maybe we just have to both try. Whatever it takes, we've got to do something...I'm not about to lose a friend here. Let's go for it."

Human and digimon both concentrated hard. It was not long before the change began to take over in them, under the cover of a black glow that obliterated their forms in the night.

(==========)

Neither Burnreptimon nor Boogeymon was aware of anything out of the ordinary. Burnreptimon was busy trying to ignore his pain, as well as the unfamiliar and unexpected fatigue that he was suffering, and strike at the demon above him, while Boogeymon was flying just out of the reptile's reach and taunting him nastily. "It's such a shame that you have no flight abilities!" he cackled. "You might actually be of some challenge to me!"

"Tsk, tsk, Boogeymon...that won't do. We should level the playing field somewhat, then."

"What?" Boogeymon swung around, but no one could be seen. "Who's there? Come out and show your face!"

"If you insist. Nightmare Tangle!"

Dark shadows flew up from the ground, wrapping themselves around Boogeymon. The demon began thrashing wildly to try to escape the clutches of the ebon tentacles, but more joined in to restrict his movement further.

"What the..." Burnreptimon was bewildered by the sudden turn of events. "What's going on?"

"Relax, Burnreptimon, it's only me." On that cue, a figure rose up from the ground, as if by an invisible elevator. It was much shorter and smaller-bodied than Burnreptimon, being just a shade over 5'3", had a decidedly lupine appearance, and seemed little more than a formed shadow, the only visible features being two glowing crystal-blue eyes. "You may call me Darkwolfmon," he stated smoothly, his voice having just a hint of an English accent.

_Darkwolfmon!_ Any further mystery as to his sudden appearance was cleared up for Burnreptimon. "Man, am I glad you came when you did. This guy was driving me crazy!"

"Heathens!" howled Boogeymon from his shadowy snares. "How dare you stand in the way of destiny! You will suffer for this!"

"This grows tiresome," Darkwolfmon hissed smoothly. He raised a hand up, which was already pulsing with dark energy. "Let's end this before he wakes up the whole neighborhood. Shadow Wave!"

The black energy ripped across the air, blasting into Boogeymon, almost seeming to tear partway into the demon digimon. Burnreptimon added his own weaker Pyre Rush to speed things up, and the combined force of their attacks did the trick, scattering Boogeymon's being into the atmosphere.

"Impeccable timing," commented Burnreptimon with a grin. "I owe ya one."

"Think nothing of it," replied Darkwolfmon modestly. "I would never abandon a friend in need. How is your back?"

"It's been better, but nothing I can't deal with."

"That's good." A light suddenly clicked on in the house; it seemed that Boogeymon had indeed woken up the people inside. "That, however, is not. Quickly, leave the area! We'll meet in Pine Park!"

"Right!" Burnreptimon dashed out of the yard and started running down the street, the exhaustion from before having mostly dissipated with Boogeymon's demise. Pine Park was about a third of a mile from their location; it was hardly a good place to hide out during the day, but few people went there during the night. It would be better than trying to hide out around the houses.

Burnreptimon ran the whole way there, and it only took about a minute to reach the park. Even with his injured back (which was already healing up nicely - faster than any human or digimon would recover, he mentally noted), he had no trouble with the trip. Once there, he looked for Darkwolfmon, but was unable to find him. The park was bordered on two sides by a light grove of pine trees (hence the park's name) and on two sides by road. Burnreptimon chose to wait in the shadows under the pine trees.

"Took you long enough."

Burnreptimon nearly leapt out of his skin. "Darkwolfmon! Don't do that to me! You know I'm not as good at detecting things in the dark!"

"All the more reason to do it," said Darkwolfmon with a satisfied grin (maybe; it sounded like it to Burnreptimon, but his facial features were indefinable). "Come on, let's split before someone comes by and catches us in the act."

"All right." The two became four again as the humans and digimon resumed their natural forms.

"Well, that was exciting," commented Derek. "Usually, my nights consist of long, quiet walks, not life-or-death battles with demons."

"Guess we'd better get used to it, huh?" said Reyn. "Until we get through to the government, we're the only ones on this front."

"Not exactly true. There are those agents."

"Yeah, but what are they gonna do?" pointed out Salmandmon. "I'm sure they're armed, and _maybe_ Ogremon or Boogeymon would be injured by a pistol, but something like Aquilamon?"

"We do have larger armaments," Reyn pointed out.

"And how fast could you mobilize them? Even if you know there are problems, you can't be ready for anything, even if you do keep them around the city."

"I guess there's a point to that," ceded Derek. "We may not be the only ones, but we're the only _reliable_ ones."

Reyn stifled a yawn and said, "Works for me. I think I'd better get home...I don't want my parents to find out I snuck out to battle those monsters. Besides that, I'm exhausted."

"Heh. I could go another round with Boogeymon."

"Yeah, well, you're always up at this time. I'm not."

"Make sure to take great care," warned Blackcanismon. "It would be a tragedy and a serious blow, given our current situation, to have our ranks reduced because you two were apprehended."

"Don't worry about us. You guys just keep a watch out."

(==========)

Owing to the dual facts that Reyn had no school and that they'd both stayed awake until much later than they normally would, Reyn and Salmandmon woke up to find that they'd slept in until almost 11 AM.

"Jeez, I'm surprised your parents didn't yell at us to get up!" Salmandmon commented as he caught sight of the clock. "Do they normally let you sleep this late?"

"No, almost never, but they might both be at work. I remember Dad saying that the hospital was especially busy over the last few days. I guess we're on our own, save for maybe Cayden and Alisin."

"What about the big dunce?"

Reyn chuckled. "Don't let Wallace hear you call him that. He said he was going out with his girlfriend. I don't think he's all that comfortable with you, though that might be because you tease and taunt him whenever you're around him."

"Only telling it like it is. Your older brother didn't exactly get the top-of-the-line core data set, if you catch my drift."

"Hey, ease up a bit. Those are my parents you're commenting on with that line."

"No, it's not. Quirk of genetics...data transfer...whatever. Your younger siblings turned out just fine."

"Wallace is just a bit lazy. And inept. And has no drive whatsoever. And has a bit of a temper. And is...you know what, let's just say you're right and get it over with, okay?"

Salmandmon grinned. "You know it's true. Did you sleep all right last night? I had a bit of a time with it...my back still hurts a bit because of that moron Boogeymon."

"I slept all right. I hurt a bit, too, but not too badly. And it's a small sacrifice to make sure the people in that house were safe, right?"

"Yeah..."

There was a moment of silence before Reyn spoke again. "You're right, it is lucky that Derek and Blackcanismon merged and managed to help us out. Kind of strange that Darkwolfmon can travel by shadows, though. That's a really weird trait, but it's probably pretty handy in situations like what happened last night."

Salmandmon turned his head, a perplexed look on his features. "What are you talking about? I never mentioned anything about that."

"Huh? You didn't comment on how it was lucky that they were there?"

"No...I didn't say anything."

"Oh...okay." _That's odd...I was sure he said something like that. I'm fairly sure I wasn't hearing things..._

Salmandmon looked back up at Reyn again, this time clearly annoyed. "Reyn, cut it out! I already told you, I didn't say anything!"

"Hey, you're a lizard, don't get batty on me, okay? I wasn't suggesting anything."

"You weren't...wait, you didn't say anything after you said okay?"

"Huh? No, nothing!" Reyn looked around the room. "Is there someone else in here? Someone's screwing with us. Cayden, is that you?"

"Reyn, Cayden doesn't know anything about this. At least I hope."

"Little brothers, you never know. Wait, maybe it's something Boogeymon did to us? He did have something to do with us getting tired, I know that, so maybe he did something else to us."

"Nah, Boogeymon may be able to create some curses, but I don't think they can do anything like that. But...you know...nah, forget it." Salmandmon's expression went from puzzled to contemplative.

"What is it?"

"Well...okay, this is gonna sound totally crazy, but...I didn't _say_ anything about Darkwolfmon, but...I was _thinking_ about it..."

"Wait a second, what are you suggesting? That I heard what you were thinking?"

_Did you?_ Reyn looked stricken for a moment as the words registered clearly in his mind, despite the fact that he had been looking at Salmandmon the whole time and the lizard hadn't spoken a word. "What...but...how..."

"Reyn, can you reciprocate?"

"Oh, uh..." Reyn hesitated for a moment, then directed a thought at Salmandmon. _What am I thinking right now?_ It was the best he could do on short notice.

"You're thinking how absolutely crazy this is," Salmandmon replied.

Reyn raised an eyebrow. "Lucky guess."

"But this _is_ absolutely crazy!" Salmandmon half-shouted. "I've never had telepathic abilities before! I mean, even those strange dreams...but they don't really count! They're not the same! How did this happen?"

"Maybe something changed when you went through the portal?" suggested Reyn. "I mean, that wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence for you, was it?"

"Yeah, but then you'd think the others would have the same thing! And we'd have noticed it when we were together! Besides, that doesn't affect you in any way, and yet you're still telepathic, too!"

"But that would mean that you and I both-oh, duh, of course!" Reyn realized, smacking his forehead. "Why wasn't that the first thing I thought of? Burnreptimon! The merge must have something to do with it! It's the only experience we've actually physically shared!"

"Hey, that's probably it! But if that was the case, why didn't it happen after the first time we merged?"

"Hell if I know! Maybe it did, and we were just too distracted to notice it. Or maybe it doesn't kick in right away. Or maybe it just has to do with us getting comfortable with the idea, for all I know."

"That's wild...hey, let's test it out!"

"Test it out how?"

"You know, check to see how far away we can still be cognizant of the other's thoughts...see if we can block transmissions...you know, that sort of thing. If this ends up being a lasting ability, I'm gonna want to know how well we'll be able to use it!"

"That's a good point," agreed Reyn. "We might want to know how far these abilities extend in case one of us gets captured, or we get separated somehow."

"Definitely!" Salmandmon motioned outside. "Come on, you're up! I can't go out there alone and risk being seen, you're the one who's gotta do it!"

"All right, all right, calm down." Reyn exited his room, giving his siblings a brief shout to stay out of trouble as he left the house, his mind whirling with the implications of this sudden discovery.

(==========)

"Response? Yeah, I got our goddamn response right here! 'Thank you for sending your thoughts and opinions to the Department of Defense in the Government of the United States of America. We respect all your ideas and value the input of our constituency.' And then they go on with a bunch of bullplop that had nothing to do with the original e-mail! They didn't even freaking read it, Reyn!" Isaac shouted angrily into the phone. "This is why I hate these guys! They just dismissed our request like it was nothing! And if that wasn't bad enough, there's this condescending form response that was written in five minutes!"

"Toldja you should have gone Homeland Security."

"Not appreciating the attitude, Reyn!"

"Cool down, buddy. This is the government we're talking about, they screen every little thing that comes their way. You'll have to just be a little more creative next time. Someone's eventually gonna listen to us."

"Yeah? When's that gonna be, Reyn? After they catch us harboring fugitives? After we're arrested and executed? Or, perhaps, strung up by a lynch mob and burned at the stake?"

"Hey, some of us might survive that, you know. 'Course, then they'll probably call me a witch, but if they demand to burn me again-"

"This isn't a time to be joking around, Reyn! We don't know how much time we have left before Emperius comes in full-force! We're having a hard time keeping up with the few that have come in already!"

"Isaac, _calm down._ I know it looks bad, but spazzing out isn't gonna make things better. Things don't always work out on the first shot, but that just means you gotta take another, and another, until you actually hit something. Better than whining about it, at least."

"Okay, okay...you're right, Reyn. I guess I'm overreacting a bit."

"Yeah, just a bit. Really, Isaac, get outside and take a break. Go for a walk or something. This is important, but it doesn't help anything if you're all agitated when you're trying to work. You'll tell Skylar and Iris what I told you, right?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Reyn. Sorry for going off on you like I did." Isaac hung up the phone and sighed deeply. "Well...now I feel like hell."

Datacarnomon was slightly surprised. "That's not what I would have expected. After that row with Skylar yesterday, I never thought a shouting match would end without you being either viciously triumphant or insufferably obstinate."

"Yeah, well, that was Skylar and this is Reyn. Two different people, two different relationships. Reyn never gets annoyed at me, no matter how I act...I feel like sometimes I'm unfair to him, because I start yelling and he doesn't reciprocate."

"So, he's different from your other friends?"

"Exactly. I'll explain it to you in a bit, first I need to get into contact with Skylar and Iris." Isaac picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hey, is Iris there?"

(==========)

An hour later, Isaac and Datacarnomon had gotten out of the city and away from anyone who might have wondered about the mechanical creature. As promised, Isaac explained his earlier reactions.

"Being the smartest student in the school is a lot tougher than you might think. Sure, I have no trouble with classes, but the other students are so insanely jealous of me that they can't stand me."

"You don't suppose your modesty level had anything to do with it?"

"Nah, if there's one thing people hate more than those who are better than them, it's those who are better than them but don't act like it." Datacarnomon suppressed a snort at this line; it was about the most ridiculous claim he'd ever chanced upon. "Anyway, it was about three years ago when I first met Reyn. It was lucky for me, because it would have been intolerable for me if I hadn't. You see, we were doing a project...

-_3 years ago_-

"_...And no, Isaac, you can't work by yourself," added Ms. Beseda, answering my question before I even got the chance to ask it. "It requires two people working together, especially in the data collection part. I'll be pairing you up myself, so no one gets to play favorites."_

_I could have left the class right then and there. I could put up with those insufferable idiots the rest of the time, as long as I didn't have to come into direct contact with them. But partner on a science project? I knew at least half a dozen students who would willingly sacrifice their own grades to bring mine down - they'd actually said that out loud. Even those that wouldn't would make my life hell every chance they got. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the prospect._

_I wasn't listening to her call out the names; I didn't care who else was partnered with who else, since I really didn't have anyone to look forward to. My name was the only one I cared about. "Isaac Wherrels-" Cue the disinterested, annoyed look that she had learned to ignore, dammit... "-and Reyn Kessilik."_

_Reyn Kessilik? I didn't even know he took this class. Not that I paid a lot of attention to other people, since most of them would have preferred it that way, but you'd think after as much time as I'd been there I'd at least get an idea. He'd moved here only half a year before, and though I'd seen him around a few times, I guess I didn't know what he's like. I'll admit I didn't have high hopes, and figured he'd get on my nerves like everyone else. Other kids in the class were prepping him nicely; "Oh, tough luck, Reyn..." "Could you spill some acid on him for me?" "Sorry you're going to be put through that, Reyn." "Man, I'd rather have sex with a rabid bulldog than pair up with him..." ...Okay, I made that last one up. Reyn, oddly, didn't seem to even notice the people around him. I didn't know how to interpret that._

_It was hard to imagine the possibility at first, but the experiment went off without a hitch. Reyn didn't try to make idle conversation, just remained focused in the data collection. That was something I liked about him right away. I didn't talk much, either, except to direct him. In the end, we got great numbers, probably the best in the class overall. I was a lot happier than when I'd started the day, considering my rather dim views at the outset._

_But none of that really measured up to what happened after the fact. Reyn and I turned in our data and left class...and then he turned to me and offered his hand, and said "Great working with you, Isaac." He had this grin on his face that really showed that he meant it. No one else had done that in as long as I can remember. They all wanted to get away from me as fast as they could...probably because they were so miserable to know they were below me._

_I replied with, "Well, it's not every day you get to work with the smartest person in school." Okay, after the fact, I realized that the response probably left something to be desired, but at the time, I was kind of shellshocked. It didn't matter, though. He just shrugged and said "Yeah, I guess I was lucky today. See ya around." And just like that, he left and went to wherever else he went that day. No annoyance, no anger, no jealousy, nothing that made it so hard for me to associate with other people._

-_Present Day_-

"We basically just started hanging out from then on," continued Isaac. "It made dealing with those trolls easier, since there was always someone there to talk to. I guess the only time things got really hairy was when Skylar moved here."

"Yeah, I had a feeling things weren't so great between you two. I'd have to say I was tipped off somewhere around the insane shouting match."

"I didn't exactly try to hide it. I have a lot of...oh, disdain for Skylar, for lack of a better word. He's one of those kinds of people that really bothers me - the kind that are highly intelligent but try to act like they're all regular. I'm not going to deny he's smart - that would be just stupid. But it sickens me that he acts like he's just the same as everyone else. Reyn and Skylar became friends pretty quickly, and I was a titch jealous of that at first, too, though that passed pretty quickly. There was really one incident that brought out the real hostility...I'd rather not talk about it right now. The only reason we haven't really been at each others' throats all that much is because of our mutual friendship with Reyn - he's always been a pretty good mediator, from what I hear. But the issue never really got resolved, mainly because he's too stubborn to admit he deserves some of the blame for what happened."

"How much is 'some?'"

"...Like I said, I'd rather not talk about it. Besides, we're here, anyway." Isaac could clearly see Skylar and Iris in the trees on the outer edge of the Undevelopment. "Wonder if they have any clue what they're about to hear?"

"I doubt it, I'm still having trouble believing it myself...hey, I'll betcha 500 creds that they get on your case about how late we are."

"I already told you I don't like making bets, especially ones I know I'm gonna lose. They're always on my case about me being late...it's really annoying."

"Have you ever tried, oh, not being late?"

"You shut up. I get enough snark from humans as it is." They made their way through the foliage into a small 'clearing' which wasn't overly clear, where the two humans and their respective partners were waiting.

"About time you showed up," Skylar snapped. "Once again, fifteen minutes _after_ the time you said you'd meet us here."

Isaac tried not to pay attention to Datacarnomon's smirk. "Give it a rest, will ya? I had to sneak Datacarnomon out of the house. It's not that easy!"

"You couldn't have started earlier? Do you ever think ahead? Whatever, I don't care about that so much right now as I do for the reason why you called this impromptu meeting. What do you so desperately have to tell us that for some reason you can't use AIM or the telephone for?"

"Or e-mail," Iris added.

Isaac sighed impatiently. "Jeez, I have to explain everything to you guys. My e-mail address might be being watched because of that contact with the government, I've got a history of BS over IM that both of you are _well_ aware of, and I've got a big sister who likes to eavesdrop on me. Happy?"

"Well...I guess that's fair enough," ceded Skylar. "I've caught Kirsten snooping around, too...maybe phone wouldn't have ben such a great idea. But now that we're out here, get on with it!"

"All right, all right, don't go nuts. I got a call from Reyn this morning..."

(==========)

"No way!" Breezedramon shouted, amazed. "Telepathy? That would be freaking sweet! Do you think we'll get it, Skylar?"

"I'm not so sure about that," Skylar mumbled uncertainly. "I mean, we've merged already, and it wasn't out of the blue like with Reyn and Salmandmon...I'd think we'd already have gotten it if that were the case."

With a shake of his head, Isaac replied, "Maybe not. Remember they've already merged once, and it wasn't present after that, or at least it wasn't noticeable. He said it might be a delayed effect."

"That kind of makes sense," Iris said. "But telepathy...that's kind of weird. What if you heard someone's, er, private thoughts?"

"No worries. Reyn also said that you can control what you send and what you keep personal. Which would also make a lot of sense."

"What else do you know?" asked Shockavimon.

"Uh...Reyn said something about it working over a long distance. I think that's what he said, anyway..."

"You _think_? You have seriously important information, and you only _think_ you know the details?"

"Flash point," Datacarnomon mumbled to Breezedramon.

"Oh, boy, here we go again," groaned Breezedramon, raising his hands to his head. "It's so annoying to see those two fighting all the time. I'd give anything for a reprieve from this argument."

As if in response to the voicing of Breezedramon's desires, a loud stomping sound emanated from around the location of the six. "Oh, great, now what?" Shockavimon moaned.

"Okay, if anyone bugs me with that 'be careful what you wish for' crap, their eyes are coming out," hissed Breezedramon.

"Obviously, there's a digimon nearby," Skylar reported, rather pointlessly. "I can kind of see it through the trees, but I don't know what it is."

"Here's an idea: instead of waiting here for it to come and get us, why don't we actually go out and stop it right away?" suggested Isaac. "So, you know, we're ready for it, and it might not be ready for us."

"You're one to be talking, considering that you haven't even merged yet!" Iris shot back, beginning to lose her patience with the boy's pushiness.

"And that means I won't be able to? You guys didn't seem to have too much trouble-"

"Isaac, calm down, please," Datacarnomon interrupted softly. To the others, he explained, "We've talked about the phenomenon, and what we're probably going to go through, and both of us are ready for it. It can't be too difficult after that, can it?"

"Prove it," ordered Skylar.

"Well, you heard the man," Datacarnomon said to Isaac. "Let's show 'em what we can do!"

"Gladly!" Both Isaac and Datacarnomon began to glow a metallic grey color; unlike when the others had merged, they weren't in contact with each other to start. This, however, didn't seem to be a barrier, as they came together and fused into a single being like those before them. A heavily built carnosaurian android was the result of this merge, fully eight feet tall and possessed of a broad, strong, muscular body, complete with sharp claws, a broad tail, and jaws that looked like they could snap a steel bar in two. Mechanical components accented the flesh of the creature, mostly limited to the right side of its body with a couple patches on the left, descending from his chest to his knees. Some plates were attached to the back of his head, with one section extending a thin visor over his eyes. His right arm was fully encased in a large mechanical system up to just a few inches below the shoulder. He crossed his arms in front of him, directing a wry smirk at the unmerged partners in front of him.

"Okay, okay, I'm satisfied," Skylar quickly conceded. "Breezedramon, I think we should join him, don't you?"

"Sounds like a plan!" The now-familiar blue glow surrounded them both, and in seconds they were Skydramon once more.

Iris looked at her partner. "Shockavimon?"

"Let's get it done, Iris!" Soon, the third pair had come together as well.

"'Bout time!" snapped the saurian android. "I was about to leave without you!"

"Can it, metalhead," hissed Skydramon testily.

"Hey! The name's Andrexmon, and don't you forget it!" Andrexmon charged out of the woods; Skydramon and Bolteaglemon followed after exchanging exasperated looks.

As their views became less obstructed, they could distinctly make out what their foe was. A large green dinosaur digimon, with what looked like two very large horns sticking out of its back, was pounding around in the Undevelopment, looking as though it was waiting (not very patiently) for something. Upon catching sight of the three unfamiliar digimon emerging from the woods, however, its attention was redirected.

"Don't you dare roar-" started Andrexmon, but he was cut off by a loud roar from the behemoth. "Dammit, what did I just say?"

"That's a Tuskmon!" exclaimed Skydramon. "Crap, are we ever lucky we caught it! That thing could level buildings like they were nothing!"

"Either we're really lucky, or it's not very bright," commented Bolteaglemon. "We've been wasting time for how long, and it hasn't moved from this place?"

"Gift horse! Ignore the mouth and attack the dinosaur!" Disregarding the obvious size mismatch between himself and Tuskmon, Andrexmon charged, displaying unexpected speed for his build. The green beast swiped at him, but a push from his powerful legs sent Andrexmon over the paw and right into its chest, where he wasted no time. "Energy Claw!" The claws on his right hand glowed brightly as he slashed through the creature's hide as he descended towards the ground; the attack wasn't enough to draw blood, but enough to enrage Tuskmon, who let out another loud roar and went after Andrexmon again.

"Let's get it now, while he's distracted!" Bolteaglemon shouted to Skydramon. "Spark Wave!"

"Twister Orb!"

Both attacks shot at Tuskmon, smacking against its thick hide. It didn't even look their way, instead continuing to keep Andrexmon on his heels. "Well, that sucks," Skydramon complained. "And I thought Aquilamon was sturdy...Hey, what's that up there?"

Bolteaglemon looked in the direction Skydramon pointed. There were two figures in the sky, heading towards them. The long, elliptical bodies, thin, glistening wings, and three pairs of spindly legs left little to the imagination...

"EWWW!" Bolteaglemon yowled, completely disgusted. "They're...giant cockroaches!"

"Must be Roachmon..." Skydramon grumbled with slightly less revolt. "I think this would be right up your alley, though. Birds eat bugs, after all." In an instant, Skydramon was rewarded for this remark with a painful backhand from his avian cohort. "Ow! Hey, what the hell was that for?"

"Accuse me of eating bugs again," hissed Bolteaglemon, "and you'll find that that was a love tap compared to what I'd do to you!"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry already! Can we focus on hitting the oversized arthropods now?" The two rushed up higher to get face to face with the insects.

"Hey, hey, hey, what do we have here?" cackled one Roachmon. "Perhaps some young and foolish digimon who think they can beat us?"

"Hah, as if that could happen!" the other scoffed. "What makes you think you stand a chance against us, birdie?"

"Did I mention that I really hate bugs?" Bolteaglemon glowered at the foes. "The bigger they are, the grosser they fall. Spark Wave!"

Both Roachmon swooped out of the way of the attack, their agile wings allowing them to move more quickly than Bolteaglemon or Skydramon. Rather than use this advantage, though, the first Roachmon got behind Bolteaglemon and tried to grab onto her. "Now, that's hardly a way to greet greatness! After all, we're performing a service to all digi-kind!"

"You think so? Dying would be an even better service!" Bolteaglemon's hand shot out and grabbed the insect by its neck, claws digging in and drawing blood. "The digital world will thank me. Static Cracker!" She blasted an electrical shock through Roachmon, causing it to howl in pain. The second Roachmon tried to ambush Bolteaglemon while her attention was focused, but Skydramon would have none of it.

"Don't you know it's impolite to hit a girl?" he cracked as he headed off the second Roachmon's flight. "Aero Nail!" He swiped at the other insect, tearing through its belly and causing it to disappear in a flurry of data.

Back on the ground, Andrexmon was getting annoyed at having to remain on the defensive. He was faster than Tuskmon, but not fast enough to get back at him after the first attack. "All right, you asked for it! Time to bring out the big guns!"

Andrexmon's right arm shifted, the clawed hand being drawn into the mechanism and replaced by a hemispherical inversion that glowed brightly. This was his arm's cannon mode, and he knew instinctively that it would pack more of a wallop than the claws. "Take this, you sorry excuse for a reptile! Dino Buster!"

Andrexmon braced himself and fired a powerful blast from the cannon, feeling the force from the blast radiate through his body, almost pushing him back a few millimeters. The blast hit Tuskmon square in the chest, blowing a large hole in the hide and sending flesh flying all around. Wasting no time, he fired a second round into the same place, which ripped through the creature and ravaged its insides, finishing it off for good.

"Hah...that was easier then I thought it would be, for a guy his size," chuckled Andrexmon as he watched Tuskmon's data scatter. Skydramon and Bolteaglemon came down next to him, having taken care of the remaining Roachmon. "So, I guess you two think you're exterminators now?"

"Very funny," growled Skydramon unpleasantly, but before he could launch into further discourse, he caught sight of something very unpleasant. "Crap! Helicopters! We've gotta hightail it!"

"Into the forest!" ordered Andrexmon. "It'll be easiest to lose them in there!"

The three hurled themselves into the trees, hoping their haste would be enough to elude the forces that were bound to pursue them.

(==========)

"Of all the miserable luck..." Elliot growled as he exited his vehicle. He was too late; the creatures were gone. All he'd gotten was an unclear look at them, not enough to know many details. He wished he could have gotten a picture. "All units, cease pursuit! No point in trying to follow them at this point, they have too much of a head start!"

"But sir!" one officer protested. "If they get away, they might enter the city! We can't let them do that!"

"We have people stationed around the city already! If they try to enter, we'll have the advantage of surprise! But if we try to chase them now, they'll have the advantage, and these creatures are highly dangerous! We can't afford to lose men to this if we can avoid it!"

This was enough for the officers, who stationed themselves at the vehicles but not inside, not a one of them letting their weapons out of their hands in case something showed up. Elliot folded his arms and leaned against his own vehicle, cursing that he couldn't have gotten there sooner.

Another car pulled up next to his, and Elliot saw his long-time partner Emil exit in a hurry. "Elliot! Did you catch anything?"

"Nothing except a mental image," replied Elliot. "Even that wasn't very good. Definitely not happy about that...maybe the helicopters got an image, but from that distance its bound to be indistinct. We'll have to be more on the ball next time."

"Yes, indeed...I can't believe we weren't prepared to meet them head-on right away. I'll have a talk with the boss about that. What did you see?"

"I know I saw three of them. First one was blue and had wings. Second was yellow, also had wings, but they looked different. More bird-like, I think. Third one was grey and green - kind of a metallic grey, maybe wearing armor or something. That's all I got before they vanished into the trees."

"Wait, that's it?" asked Emil curiously. "The call I got was of some giant T-Rex with horns or something like that."

"I heard about that, as well, but it was gone by the time we got out here. These things have a tendency to come and go as they please, it seems...someone on this side must be helping them out, letting them know that we're coming or something. All the more reason to be ready to go at a moment's notice. I'm going to get the helicopters to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. They'll have an easier time examining the city from above."

"All right. What about us?"

"We stay here, and see if we can find any clues about those monsters that I saw. If they weren't ghosts, they had to leave _something_ behind. Any clue as to what they are or why they're here would be especially useful...don't know if we'll find them here, but right now it's our best lead."

(==========)

The phone finally picked up after six rings. "Derek! About time you answered, I've been trying to reach you all day!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was out on an errand all morning for my mom."

"Really? I never thought I'd see they day you'd help _your_ parents."

"Funny. You know there are certain...circumstances that prompt me to give her some leeway."

"Oh, yeah...you're dad's probably way immersed in the digimon situation, isn't he? I heard that something big was reported as being out in the Undevelopment on the news...I hope the others are okay, I think Isaac was going to meet them out there."

"I'm sure they are. Yeah, my dad's on the forefront in this deal. And Mom's worried sick, literally - she got a migraine."

"What? Again? Hasn't it been like two years?"

"Something like that. You know how it is - she's pretty much bedridden until it passes, which can take hours. And she's been decent to Blackcanismon, so I decided to cut her some slack and help out."

"Aw, you do have a heart."

"Would you cut that out already?"

"All right, all right. I can ask my mom for some advice, if you want."

"Thanks, but she's seen so many doctors already that she's tired of it. Besides, her episode's finished for now."

"Suit yourself. You gonna be out tonight?"

"I'm hoping to. Why do you ask?"

"It's good to have someone on alert for all 24 hours of the day. If some creature came through and none of us were there to meet it head on, that would be a problem."

"Makes sense. It'll be easier if my dad's working late, because I know he's just looking for any excuse to get on my case about going out at night. I don't want to worry Mom, but there's not a lot else we can do, right?"

"Right. My parents aren't so keen on me wandering around, either, though since Salmandmon's with me they're probably a bit better about it. I just hope they don't realize we're fighting them."

"They're gonna find out sooner or later. You can only keep a secret like that for so long."

"True, but I intend to make the most of that so long. I've kept them in the dark, I think, by telling them I've been going over to Skylar's or Isaac's."

"They still believe it?"

"Well, why not? They know Isaac asks me for help with his robots, especially the welding phases. And with no school, what better way to waste time than going to a friend's house?"

"Once they start thinking about how often you go out instead of inviting them over, they're going to start doubting you."

"Yeah, well, when that happens I'll wing it. They're pretty understanding, and I think they'll forgive me for lying to them given why I wouldn't tell them."

"Man, I couldn't imagine my parents trusting me like that. No way I could tell them about what we know."

"Can't imagine why that would be. So, what are you gonna do?"

"What I always do. I never gave a damn whether they liked it or not before, and now I have a very good reason for going out at night. Keeping people safe takes precedence over Mom and Dad. I suppose there's another reason you called?"

"Oh, yeah. There was something way more important I wanted to tell you. Salmandmon and I had this odd experience this morning-"

"Let me guess, you heard each other's thoughts."

"Isaac already told you?"

"Nope, found it out on my own. Happened out of the blue last night, after you took off. Blackcanismon was kind of reluctant to tell me something, and I was...well, kind of trying to pry it out of him. Then I heard it, clear as day, only he didn't say anything out loud. I knew it had to be telepathy right away, because what else could explain it? And I doubted Blackcanismon knew about it, since he wasn't keen on letting me know what was bothering him."

"What was it?"

"I'm not saying. He swore me to secrecy, and I'm not about to go breaking that."

"So you guys got it after one...nice."

"Yeah, any idea on why that might be?"

"A few, but nothing very concrete. In any case, it doesn't really matter, since we probably all have it by now. There's enough confusing about this whole deal that I don't want to ask more questions that I probably won't get an answer to."

"That makes two of us. I'm more interested in the fact that we can do it than why. Blackcanismon can't stop yakking about it, though...not that I can understand a word of what he says. Loquacious little bastard, he is, I can barely make heads or tails of what he's talking about most of the time!"

"Same here. Salmandmon has no idea where he got it."

"I should ask him. Oops, that's my mom calling. Let me know how the others turned out, okay?"

"Gotcha. Later, Derek."

(==========)

"Whoa...cool..." Breezedramon breathed in awe. "We really did become telempathetic! It sounds like you're speaking really clearly, yet I don't hear any voices...and I still know it's you! I mean, instead of Data or something."

"He sounds so immature..." grumbled Shockavimon, shaking her head. "A good example of what happens when you don't stay in school. Still, he's right, this _is_ cool."

"Agreed." Iris looked over at Isaac and Datacarnomon. "So, you guys get lucky as well?"

"If you're talking about the telepathy, yep," Datacarnomon nodded.

"But none of us are gonna be very lucky for much longer if we don't get moving," Isaac added. "No doubt they're scouring the area for anything out of the ordinary. I doubt anyone's still trailing us from the Undevelopment, but they have to have all their resources out in full force, and someone's gonna be almost everywhere."

"You're right," Skylar agreed, a little reluctantly. "Best if we part ways here, too. If someone's nearby, it'll be harder to see two than six. We need to figure out a new place to meet, too...I mean, the Undevelopment is gonna be under heavy scrutiny for a while."

"Hm..." Isaac closed his eyes for a moment. "I think I've got an idea..."

(==========)

"I think there are four sets of tracks," Emil reported, halting his wandering for a moment to address his partner. "I don't think we have any question as to the largest set, so the others probably belong to the small creatures."

"Any clue as to what types of creatures they are?" asked Elliot. "The more we know about them, the more effectively we can fight them."

"What do I look like, an ichnologist? I suppose one set looks kind of bird-like. You said the yellow one looked kind of bird-like?"

"Yeah. Great, another oversized canary. At least it's not that gigantic nightmare that appeared over Lenson. What else do you have?"

"The other two are completely foreign to me. The larger ones...oh! I think they look something like what I imagine Godzilla's footprints would look like, only smaller."

"Referencing movie monsters to describe real monsters?" Even in this kind of situation, Elliot couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"Art imitates life, life imitates art. Don't even ask me about the last set, I couldn't think of anything to compare them to if I tried. They're nothing like anything I can think of having seen in biology classes, either."

"You don't see many tracks in biology, Emil."

"Well, then, Mr. Bio Degree, what classes do you see them in?"

"The classes I'm starting to wish I'd taken." Elliot was suddenly distracted by an officer rushing up to the agents. "Hey, don't disturb the scene! What's going on?"

"Sorry, sir! I heard from another officer about the creatures you heard. You said one was blue and one was yellow, right?"

"I did."

"Well, sir, we got a lot of conflicting reports about the monsters that appeared over Lenson Street yesterday, but a lot of people seemed to remember one of them being blue and one being yellow. Video evidence confirmed this. There's a possibility that, well..."

"They might be the same creatures," Elliot finished. "Intriguing...thank you, that's useful information. They might have been involved in the previous incident. The other creature disappeared without a trace, just like the large one over here..."

"What are you thinking, Elliot?" Emil queried.

"I'm thinking about how to explain all these strange events. I've got a couple inklings...nothing concrete yet, though, I'll need more time for that. Let's focus on this for now."

(==========)

(==========)

This chapter is the first appearance of my 'character viewpoint' shorts. They're really just a kind of stylistic experiment, but I tried to make them so that they imparted information about the characters as they saw it. I don't do a lot of first person because unless I exaggerate the character I almost always automatically default to myself, so this is just kind of an effort to see if I can break from that habit, if even for a little bit. I have one for each character, spaced out through the whole story, so you'll see more of this. Just small sections, in case they don't work out very well - like I said, it's a bit of an experiment for me.

And no, I don't have a good reason for the inconsistency with getting the telepathy. It was just convenient to get it all settled in in one fell swoop.

Thanks to Dawn of Glory for another review. I'll be sure to take those suggestions into account.


	8. Chapter 7: Conflicts and Suspicions

And I'm back! Miss me? Of course you didn't.

So yeah, it was a busy couple of weekends for me. First a wedding, then a memorial service. And I live a couple hundred miles away from where these were held, so I was basically gone for seven days out of the last ten or so since I last posted a chapter, with Internet access but without my chapters.

But that's done now, so I'll put this one up now and get back onto my Friday schedule. In the meantime, enjoy this special Sunday posting!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 7: Conflicts and Suspicions**

It was late Wednesday evening, and the city was again falling into torpor. Derek and Blackcanismon were out on their usual stroll, keeping their eyes open for any unwelcome visitors. Skylar and Isaac were drafting another letter for the White House, and remaining remarkably civil for once; their partners were idling around in Isaac's room, Datacarnomon keeping his sensors active in case anything came up. Reyn, Iris, Salmandmon, and Shockavimon were at Reyn's house, half-waiting for a call in case Derek and Blackcanismon needed help. None of them really expected a call, so instead they just burned time playing video games and plotting their future moves. No matter where they were, all were hoping for an uneventful night...

"In short, we need to find a place where we can all meet. The Undevelopment's out because they're watching it too closely, so it's gonna have to be inside the city. Which is a problem, because there's not a lot of good places to hide away here."

"Why don't we just meet here, Reyn?" asked Iris from Reyn's bed. "I mean, your parents are the only ones who are really cool with the digimon. We could use it until the next attack distracts them from the Undevelopment."

"I'd prefer not to hope for an attack," replied Reyn. "Things are hectic enough as it is. God dammit, would it kill one of you to give me some help over here?"

"Actually, it might," Salmandmon cracked.

(==========)

"Going for a walk, Derek?" asked Elliot as he caught sight of his son heading down the stairs.

"Yeah," came the evasive response.

"...Fine. Just be extra careful out there. And don't annoy any other agents. I'm hearing enough complaints from the population of the city without having to get them from my co-workers."

"Okay. Sorry about that." Derek left without another word. Elliot saw the dog at his side.

The dog. He had tried to ignore it, for the most part; he had better things to worry about. But the unanswered questions...the unknown breed, the unusual body type, the behavior, the timing of its appearance...it came to the point where he couldn't get it off his mind. The dog was definitely strange.

Still, nothing suggested it was related to the current incident at all. It hadn't been a problem in any way. It didn't eat much. It wasn't loud. It certainly wasn't violent - he'd never even heard so much as a growl from it. That was strange in its own right - who ever heard of a well-behaved stray? - but it didn't fit the profile of anything he was hunting. So he said nothing about it...but every time he thought about it, the questions were still there. And Elliot Katran, by nature, had a hard time letting things go.

(==========)

"I've been trying to think about places for us to hang out where the digimon would be safe," said Reyn. "But I can't come up with anything. That's the problem with the big city. I remember when I was younger, and we lived in a smallish town. I was always out and about, finding great places that we could hide or just be alone. It was a lot of fun until we had to move again. Out here, there aren't a lot of options, unless we're willing to be almost an hour away..."

"And that's just not convenient," finished Iris. "I see what you mean. I guess I never really thought about those places, just because I've lived here all my life. Wish I had now, though."

"Derek probably knows a lot of places," continued Reyn. "But they're out of the way, too, and aside from that, they require going through areas that are heavily populated on a normal day. Even Isaac's suggestion...I'm just not convinced it's private enough."

"So we need a place that's relatively close for all of us but still where people don't usually go. Call me pessimistic, but I don't think a place like that exists in Braun. Salmandmon, quit attacking that statue, it's not an enemy."

"Sorry, the last one was. This is a crazy game."

"This is all happening so quickly..." Iris said softly. "I feel like I'm kind of getting left behind. Sometimes, I just have no clue what's going on."

"Sometimes you don't have to know everything that's happening, Iris," said Shockavimon. "Just settle for everything that directly affects you. You can get overwhelmed if you always try to concentrate on everything that's happening to everyone. However, you do have to pay attention to when an enemy is whaling on you for the last twenty seconds, so I don't have to save you yet again."

(==========)

"Isaac, what are you doing?" asked Skylar, a bit testily.

"You were working on drafting what we were going to send out," said Isaac. "I can't put it in the computer until you're done with it, so I'm designing a weapon attachment for Andrexmon."

"Right...and the fact that it's just information on a computer means nothing?" Skylar looked at the models and specs. "It's a nice weapon, but you're not going to be able to build it, even with all the crap you have strewn around your room."

"I don't call all your weather books 'crap' and I expect the same courtesy from you," Isaac replied indignantly.

"You constantly call my weather books crap."

"That's beside the point. And FYI, I don't have to build it. I think Andrexmon can handle that on his own. He's got the ability to connect to computers and interface with them, and I know he can put data on...and I think that he can take it off, too, and make it manifest in reality. He's a pretty versatile machine, you know...there's a lot of stuff I can do with his body."

"You must be joking..."

"Come on, Skylar, open up your mind and think about it for a moment! These creatures come from a world where data is the primary composition element. Now, we may be made of something else, but we do have access to data, so it would only make sense that our data would be able to influence them. And if a robot could log into our computers, there's no telling what they could do with the data they take in. And since we're still part data when we merge together, that influence should still apply."

"That's a stretch and you know it," said Skylar with a frown.

"Actually, Skylar, he might be right," countered Datacarnomon, who had gone to poring over the strewn pieces and parts on Isaac's floor after Skylar had had enough of his unceasing suggestions. "I've done a bit of analysis, and the data from your computing machines here is enough of a facsimile of our data that it might just pass for it. I'm pretty sure I can manipulate it to some degree...if I could take more advantage of it, it might better serve our enemy detection. Whether Andrexmon can make full use of that ability...well, I'm not fully sure, because he's a composite of digital and chemical material, but it can't hurt to try. And it certainly can't hurt to have some extra firepower at our disposal."

"All right, I give. But can you hold off on that for a bit? I've got the finished document, and I think we're ready to send it."

Isaac took the document and looked it over. "Hm...well, I can't say I see anything wrong with it, which might be a first."

"Funny guy. Just type it the hell up, would you? I got enough annoying commentary from the other two jokers in this room."

"Hey, it's not our fault your writing's so dry," Breezedramon huffed. "We were just trying to spice it up a bit!"

"It's a formal letter to our heads of state, not a freaking novel. It doesn't need to be 'spiced up,' it needs to have the necessary information and sound as sane as possible, the latter point of which, I might add, your suggestions couldn't possibly have helped."

"Is he really that bad?" Isaac asked.

"Well, he still beats you by a fair margin. I don't hear any typing, by the by."

As Isaac grumbled, Datacarnomon let out a soft chuckle. "Ah, it's so nice to see them being civil for once."

"You call that civil?" Breezedramon snorted.

"Well, it's better than normal, so I think it qualifies."

(==========)

"I don't get it...why are we here wasting our time playing video games when everyone else is hard at work? It seems unfair..."

Reyn snickered. "Iris, has anyone ever told you what not to do with a gift horse?"

"Come on, now," said Iris severely. "I don't know that the rest of those guys would be very happy that we're not doing anything useful. Salmandmon, you have to wait for the boss to reveal his weak point, you're not doing any damage."

"Gotcha. Look, sometimes not helping out is the best thing you can do to help. Tagging along with Derek and B.C. is just going to distract them, and it's not like we can come along anyway, given that we've got bounties on our heads and can't disguise ourselves in plain sight like Black can. Isaac and Skylar don't need us hanging around and giving out random suggestions, given that Breezdramon and Datacarnomon are already prone enough to doing that. We'll have our roles to fill, but as it is now, we're best serving the whole group by keeping out of their hair."

"I dunno that I like us being lazy, even if it's justified."

"Hey, I've got no problem with it," Reyn cracked.

"You wouldn't."

"Uh, I think you're missing my point. In a group, you want to play to strengths. No two people will have the same strengths and weaknesses, if it's a good group. Each person - Gah, stupid troll - each person will then have their roles in the group. Now, if one person is good at solving puzzles, you don't want for average puzzle-solvers, or worse, just plain bad puzzle-solvers, to get in the way of the one who's good at it and distract him, right? If you do, he's more prone to make a mistake, thus hindering the entire group."

"To bring the point into better perspective," added Shockavimon, "take our battle earlier with Tuskmon. Andrexmon had the strength to bring him down, but Bolteaglemon and Skydramon couldn't really do very much. Andrexmon did fine by himself, but do you think it would have been as easy if we had continued to try to give our input in the fight? Andrexmon would have been distracted, maybe worried that he might hit us, and it's not like we could have contributed anything, so maybe we end up losing, or almost as bad, not finishing the battle in time to avoid those agents."

"Okay...so, what're our roles right now?"

Reyn shrugged. "Heck if I know. I doubt any of us will know until we've learned a little more about each other's capabilities. You can't know everyone's strengths and weaknesses right away - it takes time, and more importantly, shared experience, to get a feel for everyone's talents and abilities. Which reminds me, we really should figure out what those are, like compile them in a list or something."

"Compile them in a list? Yeah, right, like that would really impress anyone," Salmandmon snickered. "Wasn't there talk of all of us getting together and...well, you know, showing off our stuff?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, we all get caught in the same place at the same time, that could be a complete disaster for everyone."

"Well, that's why we need to find some place to meet in the first place. Besides, we don't really know who's who, and I don't want to accidentally start whaling on someone who's on our side, or worse, ignore someone who isn't."

"I feel kind of...overwhelmed by this," sighed Iris. "Like I'm lost or something. I don't like not knowing where I can stand out, it makes me uncomfortable..."

"Ah, we'll all know our roles soon enough. It's not like we can just conjure them out of the air...it'll take some time."

"Well, I'm not exactly the patient type, but I guess I have to live with that." Iris put down her controller. "I'm getting kind of tired of this game. Is there something else in your collection for four players?"

"Actually," said Reyn with a grin, "I was thinking about some Halo. Maybe, teams of two-on-two, where we can practice with our newfound telepathic abilities?"

"Ah, no better way to make use of a gift then wasting it on useless garbage," chuckled Salmandmon. "How about it? You girls up for the task?"

"Bring it on, hothead!" retorted Shockavimon fiercely.

(==========)

"So, you've got the information sent out?" asked Reyn over the phone.

"Yeah, a few copies from a few different addresses. I created a couple new ones specifically for this, so something had better come of it. By the way, I hit upon the exact place for us to meet for our get-together. 1226 Aspen. It's stable enough and hard for anyone to see us."

"Uh...huh. I didn't realize you were that eager to rack up trespassing charges."

"Oh, please. How many people have been around there since the whole block blew up? No one's even gonna know we're there as long as we aren't trashing anything."

"All right, you win. Isaac, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, is it really necessary, or are we just exposing ourselves to potential discovery?"

"Reyn, we've been over this. It's not good enough to know _of_ each other, we have to actually know each other. I have to see what Darkwolfmon looks like, and so does Andrexmon. And you and Burnreptimon have to know what Andrexmon looks like."

"I don't get it. Can't you just tell us?"

"It's not the same. You know as well as I do that seeing a creature is better than getting a verbal description. Your mind doesn't always organize things the way they are; you might have a mental impression and be totally wrong."

"Actually, I didn't know that."

"Of course you did, I told it to you before."

"The hell you did. How do you know that in the first place?"

"Ashley. Now, quit worrying about it. We're risking discovery every single day just by being involved. Besides, them seeing us all in one place can't be that much worse than seeing just one of us."

"Wow, in the face of such a compelling argument, how can I deny it? They get to see all of us, Isaac! They can provide descriptions that other people can use to hunt us down!"

"First, the snark isn't necessary. Second, take the intimidation factor of one monster and multiply it by five. Then, take the amount of attention it requires to make a good mental image, and multiply _that_ by five. Throw in unreliable witness testimony, and there's little chance any of us will be well-defined by anyone that sees us."

Reyn sighed. "You're not going to let up on this, are you? I can't imagine sending pictures will be an agreeable alternative to you."

"Yeah, let's put them on cyberspace, where just about the entire world has a chance to come across them. And did I tell you about the time I intercepted 16 e-mails from random locations?"

"Now who's being snarky? Fine, you win. Will I be able to see the house number, or is it charbroiled like some of the others?"

(==========)

"This seems an awful lot like trespassing," said Iris uncertainly. "I know the houses are abandoned, but there's still owner's rights. The titles were never given up, according to my dad."

"Well, it seems like trespassing because it is trespassing," pointed out Reyn. "But Isaac's right, it's unlikely anyone's gonna come around for a while. Besides, it's not like we're planning to destroy them, not that you would probably be able to tell with the fire damage. We're just using it as a place to hide out for a while."

The four of them were surveying their new meeting location: a burnt-out house on Aspen Road, situated in the southwest corner of the city. The entire block was quite desolate, a testament to the horrible explosion and resultant fire that consumed over two dozen houses. It was a late night just eight months previous that a vengeful carpenter, recently divorced and about to lose everything, drank himself into a state of severe inebriation and somehow got over to his soon-to-be-ex-wife's house with the intent of destroying it. He had only meant to cause a fire; however, a leak in the gas main had occurred the previous day, driving the woman from the house. As he struck his light, it was inevitable that an explosion would occur. Flaming debris scattered over a 500-foot radius, lighting fires on fourteen different houses that would, thanks to dry weather and unusually heavy winds, spread to twenty-six before the fire was controlled. Thirteen people had died in the fires, including the arsonist. To the present day, many of the houses had yet to be rebuilt; the stigma of Aspen Road was still very heavy on the minds of those that lost property or family there, and getting buyers for the damaged buildings or the land was proving difficult.

"I don't know..." Shockavimon said hesitantly. "It seems kind of...morbid to me. Laying low in houses where people died?"

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers, right?" proclaimed Salmandmon with a dismissive shrug. "Besides, it's not like the people who died there have any reason to care about it. Come on, let's get inside before someone walks down the street and sees us."

They snuck in through the doorway, which was no hard task given that there wasn't even a door there anymore. The interior looked worse than the exterior, an array of scorch marks, soot, ash, and general dilapidation. Some of the floor in the upper story had caved in due to pressure from snow over the winter; looking at one area, they were very glad that this house had no basement, so they were standing on the lowest floor. Not that that was much comfort whenever they heard a creak after they stepped.

They were not the first ones there. Derek and Blackcanismon were waiting for them in a room that had a single window, pointed towards another desolate reminder of the recent tragedy. It might have had more impact if they weren't already dealing with something potentially worse.

"I wondered when you'd get here," said Derek. "I scouted out the houses last night at Isaac's request, and this one seemed best, since it's the least likely to have someone look in and see us. There was a house with a room without windows, but it also had a basement, and I didn't like how unsteady the floor was."

"Why would someone have a room without windows in their house?"

"I dunno. I can think of several reasons, but most of them are culled from horror movies, so I'd say they're unlikely at best."

Skylar arrived shortly afterward, followed by Breezedramon swooping in from a more roundabout route. Twenty more minutes passed before Isaac and Datacarnomon arrived, a fact not unnoticed by anyone.

"I swear to whatever gods exist in this universe, you need an alarm clock hooked up to your damn brain," Skylar railed. "How do you not have to stay after every class to make up for your tardiness?"

"Hey, I make all my class times!" Isaac shot back. "I just have trouble at some other times!"

"Because you never plan ahead! If you actually gave two thoughts about when you had to leave, maybe you'd prepare for any obstacles! Lordy, I'll bet you spent twelve months gestating."

"It was only ten, and you make it sound like it's some horrible crime!"

"Can we stop yelling at each other and actually get down to business?" Reyn groaned.

"I don't quite get why we're doing this in the first place," Derek mumbled. "There's gotta be a better way of going about this, why this way?"

"Solindaricitary!" exclaimed Breezedramon. "We're all in this together, right? It's kind of a bonding experience!"

"Bonding experience?" hissed Datacarnomon. "We all already know each other! We've been together for at least four years, and they've all known each other at least two! And it's 'solidarity,' you linguistic lunkhead!"

"Hey! I'm no lunkhead! Just because I'm not as literabilitarian as B.C. doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"Christ, I'm sorry I asked," groaned Derek. "You guys are starting to sound like Skylar and Isaac."

"Well, they are merging with them," cracked Shockavimon.

Reyn shook his head. "Five days and we're already at each other's throats. This is just going wonderfully."

Isaac thankfully defused the situation. "Look, we have to figure out who's who sometime, right? Best to do it when we're not in the middle of a dangerous fight where we're easily distracted and an unfamiliar face causes us to attack before we can think twice. You may think you know what you're looking for, but in the heat of battle, are you sure you want to take that risk?" Silence was the only response he got to this. "Exactly. Let's just do this and get done with it, then we won't have to worry about it anymore."

That managed to put all remaining objections to bed, and soon, the room was filled with several differently-colored glowing figures, which would have been quite a sight had anyone been able to see it. In just seconds, the five hybrid beings stood before each other, all together for the first time. Despite the fact that their components were very familiar with each other, it still felt somewhat like a meeting between strangers for all of them.

"Ah, it's good to finally know you, Darkwolfmon," Skydramon said.

"And the same for you," replied Darkwolfmon, phasing through the shadows and reappearing behind Skydramon. "I can hardly wait to see you in action."

"Wha-hey! How did you do that?"

"In this form, I am only half-solid," explained Darkwolfmon. "Using my power, I can shift into shadows and use them to travel great distances in a matter of seconds."

"Even during the daytime?" asked Bolteaglemon.

"As long as there are shadows. And any object casts a shadow in the light."

"Wow, Andrexmon, you've certainly got some meat on you," marveled Salmandmon. "I expected you to be all-machine, and certainly not quite so large."

"Jealous, Burnreptimon?" chuckled Andrexmon. He had easily 20 inches on the smaller reptile, and plenty more bulk. "Not everyone's got a body like this."

"Betcha I'm faster, though," challenged Burnreptimon.

"Who cares?"

"Everyone except you," chimed in Bolteaglemon. "Then again, that may be because you don't want to dwell on your weaknesses, hm?"

"Heh, go ahead and think that. But I tell you, if you tried to take me on, I'd handle you quickies quickly."

They continued to talk about various things, getting familiar with everyone's capabilities and special traits. After a while, the conversation ascended to something even more critical.

"Look, we've gotten no response so far, and I'm starting to think we're not going to get one. The longer we go on as strangers, the harder it will be to convince people that we're on our side. I think it would be a good idea to reveal ourselves."

"Andrexmon, come on, think about it! People are so much more prone to shoot first and ask questions later! We're more likely to get turned to Swiss cheese than anything!"

"And what if they don't believe us? We could go up to them and tell them we aren't a threat, but do you think if our roles were reversed that you would buy it?"

"Well, we have to do something! Right now we're at as much risk from enemy digimon as we are from the people we're trying to protect! There's video of the two of you fighting Aquilamon, that would help our case!"

"Provided we could find someone willing to show that video in our favor."

"You're all such pessimists."

"Hey, just being realistic. But I agree, I think it would be good for us to do something. The fact of the matter is, they've seen us before and they're probably going to see us again. It would be to our advantage for them to see us in a better light, rather than while they're pursuing us with heavy weaponry."

"I thought you were the one who didn't even want us to meet here, and now you're saying we should tell the whole world?"

"Hey, my objections were about people seeing us when we couldn't explain who we are. I'm trying to say we should show ourselves on our own terms."

"My terms would be people without guns or anything else that could kill us at 50 yards."

"Good luck with that."

Darkwolfmon hadn't been part of the conversation; he had been sitting near the window, seemingly lost in some sort of trance. At that moment, however, he stood up and cut into the entire discussion. "Quiet down, all of you."

"What's up?" asked Skydramon.

"I said quiet!"

They all stayed silent for a moment, waiting as Darkwolfmon, throwing caution to the wind, stuck his head out the window and stood rigid. As there was little view from this window, it would have been a strange sight had they not noticed that his ears were twitching almost unnoticeably. "Something's coming. I can hear the disturbance in the air."

"Oh, goody," growled Andrexmon. "And here we were having a good time. Can you tell where it is?"

"Not far. It's to the south, actually outside the city limits...that's probably a good thing. I think it's about a mile out...if we hurry, we might be able to get there before it appears."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Bolteaglemon. "Let's hurry!"

(==========)

Darkwolfmon's ability to phase through the shadows helped him guide the others to the location of their enemy. It also helped him scout ahead and see if there were any people around, so they could avoid them; fortunately, there were none, which wasn't terribly surprising given that they were outside the greater city limits and away from the main roads.

Their quarry had already made their appearance by the time they got to the location. One, a giant insect with large stingers that was buzzing around loudly in the air; the other, a large blue draconic digimon who looked as if he was unhappy to be there. They figured out why that was quite quickly, as the flying digimon began emitting a horrible screech with it's wings.

"Agh!" Darkwolfmon slammed his hands over his ears, but it wasn't much good; his sensitive hearing was picking up the screech loud and clear. "Someone, get that thing to stop!"

None of them heard him; they were all affected by the sonic assault as well. Skydramon took the initiative, rocketing up into the air and blasting the digimon with his Twister Orb. "Finally!" he roared as the sound subsided. "I was gonna go nuts if that kept up!"

"That's Flymon..." mused Burnreptimon, taking in the situation. "And that one... is Veedramon,' he continued, his attention shifting to the groundbound draconian, who had likewise been affected by Flymon's emissions. "Five on two...hardly seems fair, doesn't it?"

"Who cares about fair?" snapped Andrexmon. "Let's send these guys where they belong!"

"Right! Bolteaglemon, go help Skydramon take down that...thing! We'll handle the ground battle!"

"With pleasure! I don't want to have to hear that again!" Bolteaglemon took off after Skydramon, who was now desperately evading the stingers being fired at him. Flymon's attention was captured by his target, so he didn't notice the avian rushing him. "Static Cracker!" Her body thudded against Flymon's, knocking him for a loop.

On the ground, Veedramon was trying to be both cautious and threatening. It wasn't exactly working on either front. "Now, you guys better get out of the way, or...or you're really gonna get it!"

"Um...right..." Burnreptimon replied, nonplussed, while Andrexmon stifled a humored snort. "We don't plan on getting out of the way, or 'getting it,' but we've got plenty of intent to dish it out!"

"Talk is cheap," interrupted Darkwolfmon from the shadows. "Force, however, is priceless. Nightmare Tangle!" Shadows erupted from the ground around Veedramon, trying to hold the creature down. They kept him for a few seconds, but with a sudden pull, the draconian freed himself.

"Rats! He's too strong to be held by them!" spat Burnreptimon. "Guess we're just gonna have to live with that!" He charged forward, leaping at Veedramon just as he realized what was happening. "Flare Fang!" He latched on to Veedramon's shoulder and bit down hard, just as he released a fiery attack from the depths of his throat. He heard Veedramon roar loudly near his head, which hadn't fully recovered from Flymon's sound effects, and felt the metallic taste of blood mingled with charred flesh on his tongue. A moment later, Veedramon ripped him from his shoulder and threw him away. Burnreptimon hit the ground and rolled backwards, ending up sprawled out on his back, not badly injured but a little dazed.

Veedramon seemed ready to follow up on that attack, but from nowhere, heard a voice say, "I don't think so. Shadow Wave!" The blast exploded from Veedramon's left, throwing him to the ground painfully. He was hardly up again when Andrexmon came in. "Oh, we're not done with you yet!" he taunted as he delivered a vicious kick straight into the draconian's chest, followed by an Energy Claw swipe that left bleeding furrows in his skin.

Back up in the air, Skydramon and Bolteaglemon were having trouble catching Flymon. The insect was a faster flyer, and more agile in the air. Even trying to catch it off-guard with one and force it into another wasn't working, as Flymon was keeping a close eye on what both of them were doing.

"Bloody hell!" roared Skydramon as their sixth double-team attempt failed. "I'm sick of this! There's gotta be a better way to do this! If I could get close enough to clip his wings..."

"Then do it!" shouted Bolteaglemon. "Let me distract him!" She dodged a stinger attack and flew right at Flymon, who evaded easily. Bolteaglemon concentrated on forcing Flymon's full attention onto her, so Skydramon could get a shot in. She saw that it was working; the Flymon was looking around for Skydramon less and less as she became more relentless in her attacks. She decided to go for gold.

"Hey, bugbrain! Try a little jump-start! Spark Wave!" She sent her bolts of electricity right at Flymon, who swerved to avoid them - straight into Skydramon's trap.

"Thanks for dropping by! Aero Nail!" With one swipe, Skydramon shredded one of Flymon's wings. Suddenly without a way to stay airborne, Flymon careened towards the ground from 2000 feet in the air, slamming into it hard. The impact on its own was enough to finish it, and it split into data.

The pair returned to the ground, landing near Veedramon as Andrexmon finished his assault. "Wow, you did quite a number on him," commented Bolteaglemon. "Nicely done."

"Thank you," replied Andrexmon. "Ready for the grand finale?"

"Wait!" The roughed-up draconian hacked desperately. "Please! Don't kill me! I'll leave and I won't cause any more trouble! I didn't want to come here anyway! I only did it because he made me!"

"It seems to me," growled Darkwolfmon dangerously, "that you should have considered much more thoroughly the consequences of your actions. I don't believe we have reason to show you mercy-"

"Now, hold on," interrupted Burnreptimon. "I want to hear this." He moved up very close to the Veedramon. "Are you able to go back on your own?" The Veedramon nodded quickly, not looking at Burnreptimon. "And you won't return to this world?" Another nod. "And you will leave Emperius for good?" The Veedramon hesitated for a prolonged period of time, eventually nodding yes to this condition as well.

Burnreptimon considered for a moment. "...All right. We'll let you go...this time. But if I find out you haven't kept your word, no mercy."

"Yes, of course! "Oh, thank you, thank you-"

"Enough. Just go."

A strange energy kicked up around the Veedramon. It didn't seem like anything was happening at first; then they saw a distortion in the air above the digimon. _The same type of distortion we saw Sunday night,_ thought Burnreption. _This must be how they're going back and forth...they must have been given that mechanism by someone in Emperius._

The Veedramon's form dissipated, converting to a form that could travel through the gate that had been created. The energy that had been surrounding it swirled up into the distortion, and both disappeared.

"What's up with that, Burnreptimon?" snapped Andrexmon. "Why'd you let him go?"

"Isn't is obvious? I wanted to prove he was telling the truth about being able to go back."

"...I don't get it."

"I'm sure you will eventually. Come on, I don't want to be here when everyone else shows up."

(==========)

It was strange, being out on his own again. Salmandmon had been right next to Reyn for most of the time he'd been in this world, mainly because it was a lot easier to get around with someone who knew the area. But at that moment, he needed to be on his own...everything had been stacking up since the catastrophe, and the events of the day were enough to bring it to a tipping point. He needed someone to talk to, someone who knew more than Reyn did.

That person came. It wasn't long before Blackcanismon showed up, as requested; the canine sat near Salmandmon, waiting. When the reptile didn't speak, he took the initiative.

"A pleasant twilight, is it not?"

Salmandmon looked up at Blackcanismon. "I guess..."

"I suppose evasive conversation is wholly unnecessary in this situation, no?" commented Blackcanismon, sensing Salmandmon's discomfort. "You obviously have a notable weight on your mind, to be out here at this time on your own."

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks for coming...does Derek know you're out here?"

"Derek currently remains in slumber. I emigrated alone."

"Right." Salmandmon sighed deeply. "I've been bothered by a lot of stuff that's happened since that last battle in the digital world..."

"More sinister business than our sealing, I assume."

"Of course. What's been eating at me lately...I think Emperius knew we were coming."

Blackcanismon tilted his head. "That conclusion is hardly abnormal. Emperius has expected our presence with unwavering consistency...they are fully cognizant of the fact that our efforts are concentrated at thwarting their ghastly intents."

"No, that's not quite what I meant. I mean, they knew _we_ were coming - us, specifically. They'd only seen us fight a few times before. They shouldn't have expected the highest of Libertius' Elite Guard to be present that day."

Blackcanismon mused on this for a moment, not sure what to make of it. "Continue."

"Do you remember the original report? It was supposedly just a bunch of grunts making trouble, something that the regulars would have dealt with, no muss, no fuss. Then out of nowhere, Commander Dynasmon tells us that they've learned of high-level threats accompanying the grunts. We're rushed in to take care of those guys. And...well, you know the rest. It was more than just high-level threats, they knew exactly who was coming and how to beat them."

"And there's more than that, too. We never let anyone know that we were heading to the human world. It was just the five of us and Gallantmon who knew. Now, with the Elite Guard crippled, Libertius had little to go on. I doubt Emperius would have done away with them - the only reason they cared about us in the first place was because we were in the way. So, they should have known nothing about our trip to the human world. And yet, right after we arrive, they start coming. Not only that, they've been working on a way to perfect the transfer, so that they can go both ways. Remember, Emperius was furious that they couldn't get their hands on the technology to make those transfers, because production on it was halted. There were no other transfer machines...the one in Libertius' headquarters was the only one that was partially functional."

"Sal...If I am not radically mistaken, the suggestion you are attempting to hint to me is that within the ranks of Libertius dwells an agent of espionage. That our downward trend of fortune in latter days correlates to covert operations within our borders-"

"To put it simply, Black," Salmandmon interrupted, "We had a mole. Emperius sent someone in to take us out from the inside. That mole found out who the strongest warriors were. That mole spread rumors about that last battle in order to ensure our participation, and reported to Emperius who was on the battlefield. That mole gave them the schematics for the Transworld Transfer Matrix, giving them time to work on it and make it more functional than our own! Dammit, I wish I'd seen it earlier! How could I have missed it?"

"To place blame on your conscience would be a travesty, Sal. Not a single individual, in my recollection, ever considered the suggestion. I must admit, the possibility never made in impression upon my own mental faculties."

"And that mole is probably still in Libertius, ready to alert Emperius at any time should they become a threat again! And we can't even warn them!"

"Disassociate that unpleasant revelation from your mind, Sal. It is of paramount importance that we concentrate on the situation currently at hand. Should the opportunity arise that was can report our determinations to our superiors, we will take full advantage. But until that precise moment, our only objective is the defense of this organic terrestria."

"I guess I can't argue that...still, how do you not kick yourself, when you realize too late what you should have known all along?"

"I recommend 'kicking' the individual responsible for such treachery." Blackcanismon suddenly became distant for a moment. "Ah...it appears my compatriot has roused himself, and requests my return to his domicile. I must take my leave."

"Yeah, I should probably get back, too. See you later, Blackie."

(==========)

(==========)

I figure it's unlikely a whole street would be all but abandoned in the real world, but I've seen burned houses that took ages to be rebuilt before, so I just kind of went with that on a larger scale. At any rate, I don't intend for it to be a major element, so I think it can slide.

By the way, Blackcanismon is a lot of fun to write. It's certainly challenging to find the largest number of unnecessary words I can cram into a single sentence, or to figure out how to substitute simple words for complex ones. I have no idea what possessed me to make a character with that kind of loquaciousness, but I have no regrets. Breezedramon is also fun - how much can I mess with a word and still make it similar enough to the intended word that you can generally guess what it is?


	9. Chapter 8: Narrow Escapes

Before getting to this chapter, I have an apology to make. I only just this week noticed that I had Anonymous Reviews disabled for my story. I'm not sure how this happened, as I didn't make any actual effort to do so - maybe it was default and I just didn't notice before. Whatever the case, I certainly didn't mean to lock people out of giving their input! You should be able to give a review now regardless of whether you're a user or not. Sorry about this!

All right, with that out of the way, it's time for the chapter. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 8: Narrow Escapes**

The Allomon stalked through the streets, scanning the quiet, darkened homes. So many targets...but how to strike to do the most damage? It wouldn't be worth it if he only tore down one or two. He wouldn't stand for it. It wasn't his job to cause any destruction - just to scout the area where they were entering, and figure out why their scouts weren't returning. But he loved to cause mayhem, and he just couldn't resist causing a bit of an uproar before he had to go back.

In his distraction, he didn't notice the figures nearby. Then they were on him. Something wrapped around his arms, legs, and neck before he could react. Their grip seemed tenuous, but his failure to register that immediately allowed them to drag him down so he was laying on the ground and in poor position to break free.

"Nice catch, Darkwolfmon," said a voice. Even in the dark, the Allomon could make out two creatures in front of it. "This is a nice big one. Okay, just what exactly were you planning to do?"

"Des...destroy stuff," replied the Allomon uncertainly.

"That's really specific. In any case, I don't think we can let you do that."

"Screw you."

"Now, now, I'd think that politeness would be a good idea. You see, I've got a very powerful comrade here who would just love to get on your case and under your skin...and he's got the weaponry to back it up. And if that wasn't enough, it's not just us two around here. You're dealing with five opponents, and even with your size, you won't be able to take us all." The Allomon would never have admitted it, but he was getting nervous. "And we're charged with protecting this area, and we do our job well."

"So, I'll give you a choice. You can either resist and try to attack, and be quickly slaughtered, or you can go back to your own world, leave Emperius for good, and never show your ugly hide around here again. Either way is just fine with me, though it would be a lot more fun to just kill you..."

"All right! I give...this isn't worth my life. But I won't forget about this."

"I'm sure."

The Allomon sighed in defeat, and used the force given to him to open the gate to his return. As his consciousness wavered, he wondered who it was that browbeat him into submission.

(==========)

"So, that's what we're going to do now? Bully our enemies?"

"Come on, Andrexmon, you thought it was fun."

Andrexmon scowled. "We're not doing this for fun, Burnreptimon."

"Yeah, yeah. Look, you looked into his eyes just like I did. Anyone who could look into his eyes and not see 'giant wuss' is really slow to catch on. I wouldn't have suggested that tactic if I wasn't sure it would work."

"How can you tell that a large dinosaur is a pansy just by looking into its eyes?"

"I have my ways," replied Burnreptimon mysteriously as the rest of the gang came out of hiding.

"Nicely done, you two," said Bolteaglemon. "I admit, I had my doubts, but I guess he was as weak-kneed as he looked."

"If only they were all that easy," said Skydramon wistfully. "We would have a lot easier time of things, wouldn't we?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Darkwolfmon chimed in. "I like having an opportunity to practice with my Nightmare Tangle, especially on larger creatures. If I can get the larger creatures to submit to it, all our battles will be-what was that?"

Everyone looked to where Darkwolfmon looked. A posse of cars was driving their ways; as if that wasn't bad enough, two helicopters were tagging along, searchlights blaring brightly. Evidently, someone in one of the houses had seen either Allomon or them, and had called in to the authorities.

"Scatter!" ordered Burnreptimon. "Meet back you-know-where!" They all split, racing away from their pursuers any way they could.

(==========)

Burnreptimon ran hard and fast. In order to not draw attention to himself, he couldn't boost himself up with his Pyre Rush, but he was a lot faster than any human anyway. After several minutes, he slowed and stopped to catch his breath. He turned to look behind him, and saw no one; it appeared that no one was chasing him.

He resumed his escape, walking now instead of running. He tried to keep his wits about him, keep his guard up, and keep a low profile. Even so, he worried that he might miss someone who was after him.

The click of two pistol hammers and a loudly whispered "Freeze!" told him that his fears were justified. He stopped in place, not wanting to provoke his followers further.

"Turn around and keep your hands in front of you!" ordered the same speaker. Burnreptimon complied and turned around. There were two men, one who appeared to be a police officer and one who seemed to be a government agent. The officer was the speaker; the agent appeared too cowed to say anything.

"Damned monster...I should shoot you right now," spat the officer. "Terrorizing the neighborhood, attacking people...if I wasn't under strict order to keep you alive, you'd have a bullet in your head right now. Hell, I'm not beyond defying those orders, either."

This was not going well. Burnreptimon decided that silence wasn't going to help him. "Look, you don't have to worry about me. I don't mean anyone any harm-"

"Shut up!" Apparently, the officer would have none of it. "Don't try to act innocent! We've seen how things stand! All you and your kind care about is our destruction!"

"Easy, easy!" Burnreptimon tried to calm him, but the officer wasn't biting, and his fingers were twitching. _No choice, gotta act fast._

He crossed his arms in front of him and raised his Heat Field just before the officer began firing. The bullets were aimed right, but as they passed into the Heat Field, they melted almost instantly. Instead of a solid projectile, Burnreptimon only had to endure several globs metallic liquid splattering against the scales on his forearms and muzzle as the officer emptied the entire clip on him.

"Bastard!" howled the officer. He needed to reload, and that time that he needed was just what Burnreptimon needed. He enveloped himself in flames and dashed forward. He snatched the agent's unfired weapon out of his hands, and then grabbed the officer's gun. It took only a moment of wrestling before the weapon became too hot for the officer to handle, and he was forced to relinquish it.

"These things are dangerous," hissed Burnreptimon condescendingly as he used his hands to melt the guns into useless blobs of molten metal and tossed them to the ground. "You could hurt someone with them."

"You monster!" Even unarmed, the officer didn't back down. "I will take you into custody! Even if I have to do it with my bare hands!"

"Save it," replied Burnreptimon as he killed the flames around him. "I've got bigger fish to fry, as well as bigger monsters. You're not worth the time to care about." With that, he turned on his heel and sprinted off, ignoring the obscenities hurled by the officer as he tried and failed to keep up. This time, he didn't stop running until he reached safe haven.

(==========)

Bolteaglemon and Skydramon had split off in order to divide their pursuers; as the only flying members of the group, they were the ones who really had to contend with the helicopters.

Bolteaglemon was having trouble escaping the searchlight. She was a fast flier, but the the helicopter easily had her beat, and she couldn't shake it. She had to act fast if she wanted to get away.

"I gotta destroy that light!" she said to herself. "Spark-no, I can't do that! I just want to wreck the light, not the copter!"

She had little choice. She swung up towards the helicopter, and noticed that it stopped trying to pursue her and was trying to back off. She reached it before it could get away, and slammed her fist into the light. This caused the helicopter to wobble somewhat, but the light remained functional despite her efforts - the casing was stronger than she expected. Still, the move had disoriented the helicopter and the pilots enough that she got a chance to dive down into the trees, away from the searching beam.

No more flying, but she was okay with that; at least the light wouldn't be able to find her. She ran through the trees as fast as she could, though the form wasn't exactly well-suited to ground travel. She kept low, tried to stay quiet, and always alert. The last thing she wanted to do was run into someone.

As she came to the edge of the tree lines, something stepped in front of her. With a squawk, she reacted. "Static Cracker!"

She didn't really try to attack, but the contact was enough. The figure in front of her took the electrical jolt, and crumpled to the ground. Only now did she see who it was; a human police officer.

"Oh, no..." She kneeled down. The human was not conscious, but a quick check indicated that he had a pulse, albeit erratic, and was breathing. She hadn't killed him. "Oh, thank God..." she sighed with relief. Still, she was worried; she had just shocked the guy, and she worried that there might be lingering effects. She couldn't leave him there. But at the same time, she couldn't risk being discovered.

Her dilemma was resolved when she saw the object on his belt. A radio transmitter. That would have to do. She took it from his belt and spoke into it. "Hello?"

There was a moment of silence before a response. "Who is this? Identify yourself!"

"No time. Listen, an officer is down. He suffered a moderate electrical shock that knocked him unconscious. He needs attention immediately. His location is at the edge of the trees near the old fields. Please hurry."

The voice repeated itself, "Identify yourself immediately!" but Bolteaglemon ignored it now. She was ready to get up and go when she heard the officer moan. He was waking up. He gave her a look, and his eyes opened wide and he started to squirm.

"No, stay down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to injure you. But I've called for support for you, and they should be on their way. Just stay down until help arrives, okay?"

The man nodded, still in too much of a daze to recognize that he was talking to something that wasn't human. The helicopters were gone, so Bolteaglemon decided not to waste more time and risk more people running into her. She stepped over the man, exited the trees, and took off into the air to get to their meeting place.

(==========)

Skydramon had fared better against his helicopter. It too was keeping track of him with its searchlight, and he was unable to fly fast enough to escape. Soon, he grew impatient with having to deal with that.

"I hope that light is vulnerable up there," he said to himself. "Twister Orb!" He fired his attack right at the light of the helicopter. It struck home, shattering the casing and the bulb and disabling the searchlight. The helicopter wobbled dangerously, but managed to regain its stability. "Hoo yeah! Take that!" he cackled triumphantly. "I'm outta here!" He rushed away from the helicopter, which broke off its pursuit, being unable to reliably detect its quarry.

He had intended to fly all the way to their meeting place, but he reconsidered and decided against it; though it was dark, there was a chance that they could see him descend if they were nearby. He decided to walk it out from nearby.

He landed in an area that seemed to be empty about a mile and a half away from the meeting point. He hadn't gone three steps, though, before he heard the click of a pistol behind him. _Dammit,_ he thought as he turned around. It didn't look like a police officer, so he guessed it was one of the government agents that had been hanging around. _This could be trouble if I don't play it carefully..._ "You're not gonna shoot me now, are you?"

"Only if you make me." He kept his gun pointed at Skydramon. "I'm ready to at any moment. All I need is to feel threatened."

"Funny. If that's all you need, why aren't you firing now?" It was a bold statement, perhaps too bold, but he needed to keep the agent talking while he thought something out, and something like that was more likely to get a response.

"I have my reasons."

"Oh? And what are those?"

"You talk too much. If you have to know, we've got orders to catch you alive. If I shot and killed you now, I'd be in as much trouble as I could imagine."

"Captured alive?" His curiosity got the better of him. "Why's that?"

"Why else? They have some insane desire to learn about you. Think there's something about you that's different from the others, and they want to know what it is so they can use it."

Skydramon spied an opening there, and quickly made a decision. _Maybe I can talk him to distraction and give myself a chance to get away. He probably doesn't expect me to be so intelligent..._ "Sounds like you don't agree, do you? Think it's useless to learn about us?"

The agent gave Skydramon a strange look, and Skydramon worried that he wouldn't bite. Then, cautiously, he responded, "What's the point? You're monsters. You have nothing to give us alive that you couldn't give us dead. They're just distracting everyone from what's important."

Thinking fast, Skydramon quickly organized a long response. "Are you sure about that? No knowledge is completely useless. Firstly, even if it doesn't get to the heart of the matter, some information can lead to more important information. Second, perhaps you don't know all the information you might need, and tangential information is where you find it. Thirdly, perhaps you might gather information on an unrelated subject that turns out to be extremely important. So perhaps, through this extra information, you may find a weakness...perhaps information on who should be captured and who you shouldn't bother with...you may even find the key to why these creatures are here in the first place. Never underestimate the power of _any_ information."

The agent looked completely bewildered at the sudden torrent of speech, a point in Skydramon's favor. "But...what good is it if it's not related? It would be more useful to find what's most pertinent first! We could buy ourselves time-"

"The most relevant information is not always the most obvious nor the most accessible. Sometimes, indirect routes are the best bet for gathering information. Take this situation. As you said before, we don't intend to reveal any important information about ourselves. However-" Skydramon suddenly made his move, dashing forward before the agent could react and knocking the gun out of his hands. The agent dove for it, but Skydramon beat him and snatched it out of his reach. Startled, the agent backed away, and Skydramon smirked at him. With a flourish, he tossed the gun into the air and ripped through it with his Aero Nail. The pieces falling to the ground had about the expected effect on the agent, who turned pale and started shaking.

"Relax, tough guy, I'm just making sure you can't come after me. Like I said, we don't intend to reveal any of our own secrets...but, you can learn stuff about us nonetheless. Like, say, that we're never unarmed, despite what you might think, and that we're not just mindless beasts with an appetite for destruction. A few small facts can tell you a lot about a person, you know."

"Y...you expect me to buy that?"

Skydramon shrugged. "Can't help you with everything. Now, if you excuse me, I have an engagement that I cannot afford to blow off. Tah." And with that, Skydramon took off, looking for a better place to land and make his walk to their rendezvous point.

(==========)

Andrexmon took refuge in one of the few larger groves of trees within the city limits. He had initially been nervous because this grove was surrounded by houses on two sides, and it occurred to him that the pursuit might be stronger if he remained closer to the buildings. However, he soon found that the opposite was true; there was no foot pursuit after him. This was a good thing; he wasn't too slow, but he was definitely a larger target, and he certainly didn't want to have to take a bullet.

Soon he came to the eastern edge of the grove, where he could see the yards of a few houses extending towards the trees. He kept somewhat within the trees, following the border south, where he knew he could emerge more safely.

He felt he was getting close when he heard a noise near where he was walking. Knowing that there were agents around, his first thought was that it was one of them, so he swung around and leveled his arm, converted to cannon form, at the area of the disturbance. There was a moment of standoffish silence.

"Stand up...slowly...and keep your hands visible," growled Andrexmon fiercely. "Make no sudden moves, and don't try to run at me or away from me."

A trembling figure rose from a bush at the edge of the forest. Andrexmon was shocked; it was just an young boy, probably not much older then ten. "P-p-p-please...don't hurt me..." said the boy timidly, obviously in tears.

"Jeez, kid, you scared the hell out of me," sighed Andrexmon, lowering his arm. "I thought you were someone who might attack me. What the hell are you doing out here? Haven't you been paying attention to the news? It's dangerous enough out here during the day, much less in the middle of the night."

The boy didn't respond. Perhaps it was just fear, or perhaps it was the mind-blowing effect from being chastised by a monster about being outside when it was dangerous. This was lost on Andrexmon, however.

"Do you live in this house?" he asked, pointing the the closest house to their area. The boy nodded. "All right. You should head inside and get to bed. Don't come out wandering at night again, okay?"

"You...you aren't gonna hurt me?"

"Kid..." Andrexmon crouched down to be closer to eye level with the boy. "There are a lot of monsters that will appear around here who will want to hurt you. I am not one of those monsters. If I had been, I wouldn't have hesitated before firing into that bush. But don't tempt fate any more, okay?"

"O...okay..."

"Good." Andrexmon left the boy there in wonder and relief, feeling a bit relieved himself. It wasn't an agent after all...still, he wasn't completely out of the woods, so he paid a lot of attention to his surroundings as he made his way to the meeting location.

(==========)

Two agents and a police officer met up together in a deeper section of the woods. "Did you catch sight of anything?" asked the officer.

"I saw a big, lumbering thing that looked like a dinosaur, except it was partially metal," said one of the agents, looking like he was about to lose it at any moment. "I won't be able to sleep sober for a month. How'd you do?"

"I was lucky. Didn't see a thing," said the second agent.

"Same here," said the officer. "I think we'd be best off heading back."

Darkwolfmon looked on from the shadows. The second agent was the one who had been harassing them on Saturday night. He'd learned that his name was Lexis Redford. Darkwolfmon had a mind to screw around with the agent tonight; after all, he would be safe from the shadows.

_Pity, Agent Redford,_ he thought malevolently. _You'll probably never know what hit you, never realize who it was that scared you out of your wits tonight..._

Unfortunately, his payback would have to wait. Agent Redford turned and greeted another person who had just entered. "Agent Katran...decided to join us, did you?"

Darkwolfmon cursed to himself as Elliot entered his field of vision. _Dammit, it would figure as much that I would get unlucky like this...consider yourself lucky, Agent Redford. I'm not going to risk attacking with him around._

"I've been working harder than you have, Redford. Just because you're from DC doesn't mean you and your buddies can just sit around trying to look important while the rest of us do the work."

Agent Redford raised a placating hand. "We are merely exercising due caution. We discourage charging in to attack unknown threats."

"Well, unless you start pitching ideas that will get us somewhere, you're going to have to deal with it. We _are_ still in charge here, as I'm sure you are well aware. Now, have any of you seen anything?"

"Sir!" the other agent called to Elliot. "I got a look at one of them! The large one, he went through the trees here a while before! He looked...jeez, like something out of a science-fiction movie or something! Some kind of dinosaur with robotic parts or something!"

"Did you try to stop him?"

"I'm...I'm sorry, sir. It was so big...I'm sorry, I lost my nerve..."

"Don't worry about it. If it was a robot of some kind it might not have been easily taken down by our handguns...just try to get a good picture for the artists, if you can. Come on, we're moving out, we've lost track of all of them."

Darkwolfmon watched as the agents and officer left. _Artist? That sounds like bad news...I hope no one got a look at me. I'll have to warn the others about this, we'll have to be even more on guard than normal after this._ He phased through the shadows back to the rendezvous point.

(==========)

"Well, that was certainly a hair-raising experience," said Reyn as they split back into their natural forms. "How many of us got seen?"

"I heard my dad talking," said Derek. "Sounds like all of you except for Bolteaglemon were very clearly witnessed, and she was seen in previous events, so they have an idea of what she looks like. I may have gotten off safely, but I can't confirm that. And Dad said something about an artist. I'm not 100% sure what that means, but I have a pretty good idea."

"How did they see us?" protested Datacarnomon. "I checked to make sure there were no agents around! I would think that they'd have revealed themselves..."

"The authority that intended to accost you," explained Blackcanismon, "was suddenly affected by a case of the jitters. His nerve failed him, thus explaining his ability to remain invisible to your sight."

"Well, that sucks," complained Isaac. "I can't believe we didn't consider our sensors...that would have told us for sure. I think I still have to get used to being part robot in that form."

"Let's just hightail it home," suggested Skylar tiredly. "There's gonna be hell to pay if we're out here too late. I keep worrying my mom and dad because I'm gone all the time."

"All right, then. Are we meeting here again tomorrow?"

"I think it would be wise for us to keep a low profile," said Salmandmon. "They're going to be looking for us specifically, so we might be well served by staying close to home tomorrow."

"I'm fine with that," yawned Iris. "See you guys later."

(==========)

(==========)

Not much to say about this one. It's shorter than most of the previous ones, but I didn't feel like it needed to be especially drawn out. Plus, it was pretty fun to write, and kind of sets the stage for the next arc of this story.

Thanks again to people who are submitting reviews!

The Silent Insomniac: Yeah, Reyn and Skylar aren't what I would call common, but they are real names. I actually know a Reyn, which probably is one reason it came to my mind here. Skylar, well, that was more for the subtle joke than anything. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and that I've got some elements that are less common - hopefully I can continue to keep you interested!

ambsos001: Glad you're enjoying it! If you can point to any specific areas where I've made grammar errors, feel free to do so, I'm always trying to make sure I catch as many mistakes as I can but sometimes they slip past. This is the most I've ever written for a single work, so it takes a lot of looking to catch everything I do! Probably good practice, though.


	10. Chapter 9: Swarm

It's still Friday! Where I am, anyway. Blame Ace Combat 5, I got so engrossed in it that I nearly forgot about uploading the chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 9: Swarm**

_So we're gonna meet up with Shockavimon and Breezedramon first, and then supposedly Reyn and Salmandmon and Datacarnomon will be along. That is, if Isaac can get a hold of them._

_Certainly a substandard situation to be ensnared in._

_No kidding, but when you're trying to juggle stuff like this it's gonna happen. At least the signals indicate relatively weak digimon, so maybe we won't have to merge at all if we're lucky._ Derek heard a knock at the door, and suppressed a groan. _Probably Dad. Act doggish._

He opened the door; as expected, it was Elliot. "Hey, Dad."

"Can I come in, Derek?"

"Sure." Derek headed back over to the bed, where Blackcanismon was laying down, pretending to sleep. Elliot frowned. "I don't know about letting that animal on the furniture. Fur is going to get everywhere."

"Relax, Dad. Blackie doesn't shed that much."

Elliot sat on the bed and started to pet Blackcanismon. "Well, he certainly is affectionate," he said with a smile as Blackcanismon leaned against Elliot's leg. "And placid. I've never even heard him growl."

"Yeah, he's a nice dog. I'm surprised he was just wandering out there." Derek had gone through the pretense of having found a lost dog quite well, even having put an ad in the paper. Some might have considered the ad risky, but Derek was fairly confident no person was looking for a lost dog with Blackcanismon's features. "Without a collar or anything. It's really weird."

"Yes, it is." Elliot looked back up to Derek. "Are you sure that you should be taking him out at night?"

"He doesn't seem to mind. He's on my schedule pretty well."

"I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about how dangerous it is out there. You don't have a guard dog here; you've got a lap dog. And it's such a nice dog, it would be a real shame if he got injured. And the proper owner would be quite unhappy if that was the case, too."

_He's certainly pullulating the theatrics, no?_ Blackcanismon cracked telepathically.

_Nothing I can't handle,_ Derek replied. "Dad, I would never be careless out there. I know Blackie's not a real fighting dog, so if I was in a dangerous situation, I'd take him and run. I won't let him be injured."

Elliot sighed; he'd hoped the attacks would give him an excuse to stop Derek's nocturnal excursions, but if anything he'd seemed more insistent than ever about going out. As frustrating as he could be, he still cared about his son's safety. "I wish I could be as confident about that as you. You're going out on your own at night when there are monsters running loose in the city. You could run across one without warning, get ambushed..."

"Dad, I think you're overreacting. Why would any monsters go after me?"

"Son, I don't care who you are, that kind of attitude gets people killed."

"All right, all right. I'll admit I do think about it, but I'm not too worried. I mean, the monsters started coming on the 5th, and I've been out there every night since without incident."

Elliot regarded Derek with an odd look. "The first monster appeared on Monday the 7th, Derek."

Derek swore in his head, but tried valiantly to keep his composure. "Well, yeah, the one we saw, but...that thing in the sky early that Saturday morning, that had to be related."

"Ah, yes...the evidence seems to suggest that, sparse as it is. Even so, that isn't an assurance that you're not going to run into trouble out there. Every time you roll the dice, you have a chance to get one of the numbers-"

"Dad, is this going somewhere?"

Elliot stopped short. "Erm...listen, I'm just worried about you, that's all. You're my son, and though we've had our disagreements, I certainly don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, Dad. Tell you what, if I see anything out of the ordinary, I'll call you first thing, and then I won't go out anymore. Okay?"

Elliot sighed and nodded. "I suppose that's better than nothing. Thank you, Derek." He looked at his watch and stood up. "I guess I'd better be going. I probably won't be around much for the next couple days...we have to get this thing settled. Keep an eye on your mother, all right?"

"All right, Dad."

As his dad left, Derek looked at Blackcanismon and rolled his eyes. _What a drama queen._

_Perhaps a slightly overblown performance, to be accurate, but you perhaps exhibit unwarranted excoriation. Your patriarch simply possesses a sensibility of protectionism about you, and your dismissiveness of his certainly reasonable concerns no doubt provides a sensation of unpleasantness within his person._

_Yeah, but he doesn't have to make a production out of it. It's annoying and kind of insulting. Anyway, it doesn't matter right now. We've gotta get going as soon as he's hit the trail._

(==========)

Elliot closed the door and started down the stairs, his mind racing with suspicions. He knew something was up with Derek, even if not specifically. But what Derek had said about the timeline...Elliot knew the anomaly was involved, even if there was no discernible connection it was hard to ignore the coincidence. But despite this, there hadn't been any confirmed discoveries of monsters before Monday. Sure, there was one suspicious incident on Sunday, but no monsters had been found there and no one was sure exactly what the story was there. That Derek would point to Saturday when no one else was aware of it...and he also recalled that Derek said he had found the dog Saturday evening. A dog from apparently nowhere with peculiar behavior...

He shook his head. There was plenty to be suspicious about, and he knew he had to get some answers, but without anything concrete it was just suspicion. And he'd been burned too many times acting on suspicion alone to fall into that trap again.

Looking down idly, he noticed a number of stray hairs on his pant leg. _Hm...must have been left there by the dog...so much for not shedding..._

And then an idea struck him. He went downstairs, got a piece of masking tape, and pulled some of the hairs off of his leg with it. He looked carefully at the hairs; it had been a long time since his days in a biology lab, but he was fairly sure that they could get DNA from some of them, if there was DNA to be gotten. _Maybe I can't figure out where this dog came from...but I wonder if Rudy could,_ he thought as he finally left for work.

(==========)

The phone rang in Reyn's house early Tuesday morning, and no one was picking it up. Groaning, he reached over to the end table, picked up the receiver, and grunted tiredly, "Whoever you are, this had better be damn good, or you're dead."

"It's not good, but it's serious," came Issac's voice from the other end. "Listen, I hooked up Datacarnomon to the computer last night. I managed to upload some software that was wired into his programming, including a program that could detect nearby digimon. It's a good program, but Datacarnomon's sensors can't extend far enough to search the whole city, so I took the proactive approach. I wired a satellite dish up to the computer and started using it to scan the city for any digimon-"

"Okay, where the hell did you get a satellite dish?"

"You'd be surprised what kind of treasures people just toss into junkyards."

Reyn blinked a few times, wondering if he'd heard wrong in his sleepy state. "Don't tell me you go trolling through junkyards for stuff to use in your robots!"

"Not all the time! I order some parts online, but I can't do it with every part, otherwise it would cost way too much. Anyway, that's not important. I've got a layout of the city, and I can see if there are any digimon around at any time! Now, I was taking it for a trial run, because you know it's not a good idea to try to-"

"Isaac, I'm not in the mood for long tangents this morning. Just gimme the bottom line."

"All right, all right, keep your shirt on. Long story short, there's a bunch of signals in Norris Park."

Reyn sat up, now fully awake. "Damn. How many is a bunch?"

"They're really clustered together, so it's hard to tell, but it could be even as many as a dozen. They're hidden away from any real concentration of people, probably so they don't get detected...Data thinks it could be a scout group of some kind, or perhaps an ambush force waiting for a larger battle. They aren't high energy, so they're probably at a low level, but they'll be a challenge if they gang up on you, and considering their proximity I have to assume they have that level of organization. It seems obvious that we should go after the sooner rather than later, but..."

"But?"

"Look, I'm sorry to dump this on you, but I've got conflicts today that I can't weasel out of. My parents are taking me to some stupid play that a cousin of mine is in, and they say that I can't back out. Trust me, I tried everything short of telling them the truth, I'm stuck in this one. I don't really want to send Datacarnomon on his own, though."

"And? This wouldn't be the first time we've been on our own. We've all had one-on-one battles since this started. It's not like they wait for us to party together to make their appearances. We can take care of it."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could take Datacarnomon with you."

"Take him with me? Why?"

"Because, like I said, there could be a lot of them, and if they gang together they could be a challenge even for one of us merged. Plus, there's also the danger that they're variable, which would make them even more dangerous. I'd just rather have him out there backing you up, even if he's not able to merge or evolve or anything, he can still be a force to be reckoned with."

"Erm...I don't know, Isaac. It'd be tough enough for me to keep one digmon under wraps, two might be more than I can handle."

"Jeez, it's not like he's a dog or something, Reyn," Isaac snapped, sounding annoyed. "He can keep out of sight on his own. I'm just asking you to be a chaperone in case there's some unexpected trouble."

"Sorry, you're right. Okay, I'll do it. Where are we gonna meet?"

"It's up to you. After you get together, you're gonna find Derek, he'll be waiting in a small park up to the north. Says he can get you to Norris Park the easy way."

Reyn was quiet for a moment as he processed this. "Would you mind telling me WHY I'm the one playing escort to Datacarnomon if you've already talked to Derek?"

"Because he's already stuck on duty. Apparently, he was already planning on going out with Shockavimon and Breezedramon when I got in touch with him."

"Oh, for crying out loud...let me guess, it's just gonna be me and Derek out there for the human contingent."

"Hey, like you said, it's not like they wait for us to all be ready for them."

"Yeah, I know. Still, talk about inconvenient when you clearly think there's reason to be worried."

"Yeah, but what can we do? Derek said there was a huge blow-up between Iris and her parents over going outside when it was so dangerous. He was pretty iffy on the details, but the story is that she's stuck inside all today, and Shockavimon decided to patrol with Derek for any danger. And Skylar's aunt is sick or something, his whole family's going to visit her and he didn't want Breezedramon all on his own, so they were gonna let him come with."

Reyn sighed heavily. "Ah, man...well, no one ever said this would be easy. Have Derek buzz me and tell me where to meet him, and I'll meet Datacarnomon out near that location."

"Sounds fine to me. Don't get killed out there, I'd hate to have to start welding my own stuff."

"Hmph. Enjoy your boring-ass play, ya big lug."

He hung up the phone and motioned to Salmandmon, who had stopped his exercise routine when he heard who was on the phone. _Come on, we've got business to take care of._

Salmandmon followed Reyn out the room and towards the stairs. _What's up?_ _More digimon around?_

_You got it._ _A bunch of them, apparently. And Iris, Skylar, and Isaac can't come along, so it's just gonna be me and Derek for the human representation. With any luck, that's all we'll need._

_Here's hoping._ They reached the bottom of the stairs to see Minerva washing up a bowl. This caught Reyn off-guard; he thought she was out when no one else answered the phone. "Hey, Mom, I'm heading out!"

"Reyn, hold on a moment!" Reyn suppressed a grimace as his mother called him back. It had to happen sometime, but he really didn't want to deal with questions today. Still, he complied, stopping in his tracks and turning towards her. As he expected, her face was showing a lot of concern. "Are you sure you should be going out there? I don't like the thought of you putting yourself in danger, and I worry every time you go off."

"It's...it's okay, Mom. Really. I mean, the monsters haven't actually attacked any people yet."

"Just because they haven't-"

"Doesn't mean they won't, I know...look, I'm just going over to Isaac's, okay? I know the most direct path, I won't be outside long. Besides, I already agreed to help him with welding."

"Oh...is that who was on the phone earlier?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I don't intend to do anything dangerous. Well, to me, anyway."

Minerva laughed slightly. "And to think, most mothers would be more worried to hear that their little boy was playing with fire...all right. As long as you keep out of trouble. Just make sure you get there and back safely, all right? You too, Salmandmon, all right? I know there are people out there looking for you."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Kessilik, we'll keep a low profile," replied Salmandmon innocently.

"I should hope so. Stay safe."

Free to make their escape, Reyn and Salmandmon wasted no time leaving the house. Their moods, however, were considerably dampened, and they hadn't been great before. _Great...I feel awful about lying to her,_ Salmandmon griped telepathically. _As if she didn't have enough on her plate already._

_You think I like it any better? _Reyn responded dismally. _But what else can we do? If she knew the truth, she'd worry about me whenever I wasn't around her. I don't want to put her through that, not if I can avoid it. Better she not know what she was worrying about than know._

(==========)

Back in the house, Minerva sighed deeply as she watched her son disappear around the corner through the kitchen window. She didn't even notice Treylor enter the room. "I gather that was Reyn and Salmandmon just leaving?"

"Yes. Off doing something dangerous, no doubt. He tried to tell me he'd be safe and just go to his friend's house...a part of me desperately wants to believe that it's the truth, but..."

"But we both know that that's not the case." Treylor sat down at the table, looking very tired. "After what Salmandmon told us, I'm all but certain they have something to do with stopping the monsters that have appeared. And I know you feel the same way."

"Yeah. I...I wish we could stop him."

"I don't blame you. I do, too. But he seems to be taking this very seriously...if we tried to stop him, I feel like he'd just sneak out when he could. At least this way, we know he's out there."

Minerva shook her head. "I know you're right. And if we did actually stop him...well, what would that mean for the attacks? They might go completely unchecked."

"Which, of course, would be even worse." Treylor sighed deeply. "We have to trust him, dear. Even if he doesn't quite trust us...and I can't say I blame him. If our roles were reversed, I'd probably feel the same way. He's a smart kid, though. He knows when he's in over his head, I'm sure of it. And Salmandmon certainly isn't a pushover. He'll do all he can to make sure Reyn stays safe."

"I know. I just...wish there was more we could do. So he wouldn't be in so much danger."

Treylor nodded absently. "Would that we could...I think we've done all we can, for now. All we can do is wait until he needs us again, and be there when that time comes."

(==========)

Throwing caution to the wind, Salmandmon walked beside Reyn as they headed towards the rendezvous point. It would have been safer for them to take a back road or for Salmandmon to move surreptitiously, but it also would have been slower, and they didn't want to keep anyone waiting. The streets were mostly deserted, though, which made it less risky than it might normally have been.

"Hey, Salmandmon, I've got an odd question. Can you cling to walls?"

Salmandmon gave him a curious look. "What brought this on?"

"Skylar. He found some website on geckos or something while surfing the Internet a couple nights ago, and he was just going on and on about some wall forces stuff and spatulas or something like that. I had no clue what he was talking about, but he's a bigger nerd than I am. Anyway, I couldn't get him to shut up until I promised to ask if you were able to do anything like that, so here I am."

"He sounds like a genius of some kind," Salmandmon marveled.

"Yeah, he is, kind of. So, is it true?"

"Uh-huh. It's kind of a novelty more than anything, I guess, but it can come in handy every now and then, plus it's a good workout to climb stuff. Actually, that's how I got into your house the first time - climbing up the wall on the outside."

"I shoulda guessed that. Can I look?"

Salmandmon gave him an odd look, but said "Sure." He held out his hands palms up, showing the furrowed and layered skin on his fingers. Reyn ran a finger over them curiously, and Salmandmon twitched. "Hey, that tickles."

"Sorry. Skylar said there were a bunch of hairs on each of these things, so small that we couldn't see them without a pretty powerful microscope."

Salmandmon tilted his head. "Really? I never knew that. It's been little hairs holding me up all this time?"

"Well, that's what Sky says, anyway. I'm impressed that even little hairs could hold up a creature of your size, though...though I suppose you have a lot more of them than our geckos."

"How do you know that?"

"Because we don't have any three-foot-long geckos."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense, then. That's weird...and kinda cool, too. Maybe I'll have to tell Skylar myself, just so he can explain it all to me."

"Enjoying yourselves?" Reyn and Salmandmon jumped as Datacarnomon waved to them from up in a tree. "I thought you were supposed to be looking for me, not staring at each other's hands."

"Sorry, Data, we got sidetracked."

Suddenly Reyn turned his head. "Uh-oh! Make yourself scarce, Salmandmon!" With that warning, Salmandmon quickly shot up the tree himself as a pair of loudly-talking girls came into view, walking right by Reyn. They all waited for a couple minutes before they were sure it was safe. "That was too close," the lizard breathed, a little shaken.

"Tell me about it," Datacarnomon said seriously. "I was nearly caught myself, that's why I'm up here in the first place. Still some bold humans out here, I guess...we need to get to a more secluded place. Thanks for helping me out, Reyn. I'll try not to be too much of a distraction."

"You're not a distraction, Data," said Salmandmon jokingly. "You're an annoyance, and damn good at it."

"Ha, ha."

(==========)

Elliot turned as he heard the sound of running in his direction. "Hey, Emil. Not like you to be late...normally you're the one getting on my case about that."

"Sorry, Elliot. I was...talking with Iris. She's not happy that I want her to stay inside...I mean, I hate to make her feel like a prisoner, but dammit, it's just too dangerous out there to let her go wandering about like she usually does. I had to put my foot down."

"I don't blame you. I'd do the same with Derek if I didn't already know that he'd just sneak out anyway." Elliot sighed, the frustration audible. "One of these days...did you have any luck?"

"Well, I compromised. Told her she could go to a friend's house tomorrow if she stayed in today. She didn't look happy about it, but she agreed...and she won't go sneaking around, at least I don't think so. Okay, so, can you get me up to speed?"

Elliot nodded. "Yes, we've got quite a bit to go on here. Come with me and I'll show you what the police artist came up with. She's amazing, really..."

(==========)

With some navigation assistance helpfully provided by Datacarnomon, and a couple more unwelcome scares, the trio finally managed to get to rendezvous point, where Derek and the other digimon were waiting. Derek was less than pleased. "Well, well, well...look who finally decided to show up. I was beginning to think Isaac was coming instead."

"Better late than caught," Reyn answered quietly. "Honestly, I don't know what the people around here are thinking, you'd think they'd be inside checking their weapons instead of wandering around in broad daylight. Anyway, where's our target location?"

"Northeast...that way," Derek replied, pointing off in the distance for Reyn's benefit. "About two miles, give or take. The trek will take us about half an hour."

"Half an hour of being really obvious, huh?" Shockavimon frowned at this. "I wish I'd known that when we left."

"It'll be better once we get into the park," Derek assured her. "Norris Park is kind of a nature preserve with a lot of tree cover. It's got a lot of trails, and some of them are not so obvious. I've been all over this place at night, it's really kind of cool, but it's a long trek. I doubt anyone will actually be there, and there probably won't be too many people to see us on the way. Even so, you should probably be as invisible as possible. Stay out of very open spaces and you'll be golden."

"She already is," cracked Breezedramon, earning a smack from the bird digimon.

"Can we save it for the enemies?" Salmandmon asked, rolling his eyes. "Data, you have a bead on our foes? Are they still in the same spot?"

"You kidding, Sal? I only _wish_ I had a two-mile detection range in this form."

"Oh, right. Well, I guess we'll just have to get close, then."

"Dang right. Let's get going."

(==========)

"Whoa...you weren't kidding, Elliot. These are simply amazing." Emil was amazed at the detail of the drawings; they seemed almost lifelike to him.

Elliot smiled. "Told you. I'm pretty shocked that we found her right in the city, as good as she is. I have no idea how she does it, it's a real gift. The moment the police commissioner saw these, he ordered the department to hire her as a suspect sketch artist. She's going to get paid more than we do."

"She deserves it if she can do this well. The old sketch artist is a hack, I've seen his drawings. Okay, so tell me what you know. Start with...ah, this one. Very curious." He held up the sheet with the green-and-gray monster. "This was the new one outside the Undevelopment last week, wasn't it?"

"Yep, and I'm fairly sure his comrades are in this lot with him. He's a little different from the rest, and that's saying something. The description we got makes us believe that the grey areas aren't flesh, but metal. That would make this one a cyborg of some sort...as if being a dinosaur wasn't freaky enough already."

"No kidding? And are these dimensions accurate?"

"Well, it's not like we had a tape measure out there, but it certainly sounds like he's the largest of the gang. We didn't get anyone to engage him, which I'm thinking is probably for the better."

"You keep saying 'him.' You think it's male?"

"It's a guess. Physically, all the differences aside, there's a vaguely human element to his shape, and it's more masculine than feminine. Anyway, we're pretty sure he's the most dangerous one of the bunch. We've warned all agents not to approach him unless they're carrying rocket launchers."

"We have rocket launchers?"

"Nope." Elliot spread out the remaining sheets, pointing specifically to two of the three. "I'm surmising that these two are the others that we found out in the Undevelopment. They match the colorations, and their forms are a little familiar to me."

"Talk about the yellow one."

"Pursued in the air by a helicopter. Both those two were. She tried to attack-"

"She?"

"Again, a guess, judging by body type, plus the officer's account, I'll get to that in a moment. She tried to attack the helicopter, didn't seem to do any damage as far as they could tell, but it made them lose track of her, and she got down into the trees. Down there, she attacked an officer, left him stunned. The officer said he heard a female voice before everything went woozy. Also said that she didn't leave until he got a look at her, though he wasn't quite sure if his description was accurate, because he was still off-kilter at the time."

"He seemed pretty liberal on the details, if that was the case. What happened to him?"

"He's all right. A report on the radio came in that he had suffered a moderate electrical shock. An unknown woman reported it in...we had a voice sample sent over to him, and he doesn't think it was the same, so a person was probably out there and witnessed the whole thing. Lucky for him she was..."

"No kidding. So, this bird creature, she could...have some kind of electrical abilities? That's just nuts...it's like something out of a fantasy novel or something."

"Or a video game. Either way, she's definitely a threat, and not one I'd like to be on the opposing end of."

"And the blue one...Jesus, is this..."

"Yep, that's no flight of fancy. You're looking at an actual dragon. It's no mistake, Paul got a very long look at him."

"Paul Dailey? The rookie?"

"The same. The other helicopter got on him at the same time the first went for the bird, but he attacked the searchlight with something and KO'd it in one shot. Lucky for the pilots that was the extent of the damage. It was kind of chance, he came down right where Paul was stationed."

"Standoff scenario?"

"Exactly. Paul said that he displayed remarkable intellect and cunning. Actually engaged him in conversation - and Paul said it was pretty interesting, what he said - then disarmed Paul when he was distracted. And then...well, you kind of have to see this to believe it." Elliot held up the evidence bag with Paul's former gun. Emil stared at it wide-eyed.

"It's in pieces!"

"Paul said the dragon's claws tore right through it. Like it was fabric or something. Not a set of claws I would want to be on the receiving end of. He's a major threat. Not only strong, but if Paul's account is accurate, and there's no reason to believe this isn't so, then startlingly intelligent as well."

Emil drew in a deep breath. "That's a scary thought. The two keys to surviving a crisis are to be stronger and to be smarter than who you're facing off against...we already knew we were behind on the former, but if we're going to be challenged on the latter, we've got even bigger problems than we thought."

"That's a certainty. I'd maybe be more worried about fighting him than the cyborg. Not that I'm relishing either idea. And it doesn't get much better from here..."

"The fourth creature, I'm guessing," Emil said, pointing to the last sketch. "I don't recall seeing this one before."

"Neither have I. And neither has anyone else, as far as I can tell; this is the first report we've had of this one. You've heard about they mythical Salamander, right?"

"I think so...characterized as a fire spirit a long time ago, nowadays more commonly portrayed as something like a lizard, right?"

"Got it in one. Well, what we have here is something like a real live Salamander. He escaped the original pursuit team, but I think he got overcautious. Whatever the case, he slowed down enough to let an officer and Tony Rivier accost him."

"_Tony?_ You're joking. He's got all the courage of a baby jackrabbit. He wouldn't have come within a thousand feet of any of these creatures. Why wasn't he on desk duty like normal?"

"The brass wanted everyone they could get out there. Anyway, he got in range, but it wasn't like he did very much. The accompanying officer certainly was brash, though. Specifically defied orders and fired on him. That moron got chewed out good by his superiors."

"I would hope so. We have a capture-alive order for a reason. What was the damage?"

"To the creature, nothing. Now you get to hear what made me think of the Salamander. According to Tony's, ah, rather haphazard account, the creature protected himself by superheating the air around him, enough to melt the bullets like they were ice cubes - another sign of remarkable intelligence."

"No joke?"

"Tony is a terrible joker, I would have known. The officer corroborated the story, as well. The bullets were liquid before they could even get close to him, and you can imagine that they didn't have much effect overall. Tony never fired a shot, but the officer emptied his clip. Salamander went after them as the officer was reloading. Took their guns and...again, you have to see this to believe it." Elliot held up two more bags, containing misshapen blobs of metal.

"Holy crap...he melted the guns."

"Like chocolate in the sun. It's seeing these kinds of things that bothers me the most...they're able to just walk up and disarm us like nothing, it seems. And none of them appear to need anything like guns of their own...honestly, I already kind of feel like we're a little helpless.

"But he didn't do anything after melting the guns?"

"Correct. That's a bit unusual, I think, but I'm sure they have their motives. Perhaps their goal is intimidation rather than assault. Or they don't want to expose themselves to more danger than necessary...Someone here suggested that they might be summoning the other monsters that have been seen around the city, bringing them in to cause some damage and then spiriting them away before we can react. It would fit with either motive."

"Oh, that's certainly possible. It would explain why there have been multiple sightings of some of these and only single sightings of the others. Is that it?"

"For what we have. The consensus is that there was a fifth one, as well, but no one got a good enough look at it for any sketch. We're keeping our eyes and phone lines open. Everyone's out looking right now, and the capture-alive order is still in effect, though I'm beginning to think it's a mistake to think that's even possible. Even with all the manpower we've put into it, I'm getting more concerned about the situation every second."

"You're not the only one." Emil recalled the events that had transpired that morning. "I wonder why my daughter isn't, though."

Elliot shrugged. "Ah, teenagers. They think they're invincible, you know? I just hope they don't find out they aren't in the worst way."

(==========)

It was definitely not an uneventful trip. Save for Blackcanismon, the digimon were forced to take refuge wherever they could. This made for a lot of nervousness when anyone passed by, as most of the hiding spots were less than stellar. There were moments when they were entirely exposed, simply because the environment had no hiding spots and they had to get across it to get to the park. Shockavimon was actually spotted in the air at one point, and it was only with desperate convincing on Reyn and Derek's part that the passerby accepted that it was just a regular bird and the color was an illusion from the sun. All in all, none of them were unhappy to finally get to the cover of Norris Park.

"I thought I was doomed so many times..." Breezedramon mumbled, holding his head in his hands. "There's gotta be a better way to do this."

"We totally need some way to get around that people won't suspect," Salmandmon agreed. "Unfortunately, I don't see that happening. Man, this would be so much easier if we could trust people not to freak out if they saw us."

"Such propositions are for consideration in future discourses," said Blackcanismon. "I trust reminders of our purposes for reconnoitering at this precise location have not been discarded from your collective cognition."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get to the point Isaac found. Data, can you get a bead on the direction?"

"Um...yeah."

"Data?"

Datacarnomon seemed to snap out of a trance. "Wha? Oh, sorry, yeah, I'll take you there."

"What's up?"

"I'm just...trying to scan the area. Making sure we're not going to come across anything unfriendly."

"Isn't that the point?" asked Breezedramon.

"It's not...oh, forget it, let's just go." Datacarnomon started off, and the rest of the group followed behind. It was fairly quiet along the trails; there was not a soul to be seen other than their own peculiar group of travelers. Even the animals seemed to be well settled. They eventually arrived at a point on a trail that was a little wider open; it appeared to be a resting point for hikers on the trail.

"That's weird...I just had a signal, and then I lost it," Datacarnomon mumbled. "What's going on?"

"This is where Isaac said the signals were gathering, so we should be seeing something," Reyn whispered, looking around the park, which was devoid of any signs of life. "But I don't see anything. Maybe they've moved on."

"That wouldn't be a good thing," Shockavimon said sullenly. "Bad enough that they've been allowed to run around for however long they've been here, if we have to chase them all over the city someone's going to be discovered."

"There it is again," Datacarnomon said suddenly. "It's off in the trees, and...wait, it just disappeared again. Am I going haywire or something? I just ran a freaking diagnostic..."

"Maybe it's an issue on the signal side," Salmandmon suggested. "We should go check it out. Do you know where it was?"

"Yeah, I can take you there." Datacarnomon led the group into the trees, appearing somewhat distracted as he continued scanning while walking. After a minute he stopped. "It was here...I don't get anything now, though-"

Suddenly, Blackcanismon twitched and looked up. "Everyone! It's an ambush! They're above us!"

"What?" Reyn had barely spoken before a bolt of blue energy sailed down, barely missing him to the right. Yelping, he tripped and fell backwards. "Son of a bitch! What was that?" he shouted, stumbling back to his feet and quickly looking around. The trees were obscuring the attackers, but he could see and hear them around.

"Hang on, Reyn, I'm coming!" Salmandmon made his way through the trees, trying to get to Reyn, but as he did, something slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. He tried to stand, only to get struck again, sharp claws raking across his chest. As if that hadn't been enough, a sharp bolt of electricity jarred him right afterwards. That was enough to keep him down.

"Salmandmon!" Reyn cried, running over to his fallen partner recklessly. He saw something come out of nowhere right at him, but before he could react, Blackcanismon leapt out of the woods and pounced on it. "Black Slasher!" A dark aura smoked from Blackcanismon's claws as they cut into the creature, drawing blood and making it hiss in pain. "Reyn, get out of here! It's too dangerous!"

"I'll say it is!" Reyn quickly looked around. Blackcanismon was squaring off with a small green raptorish dinosaur, its bloody claws indicating that it had been one of Salmandmon's attackers. Right in front of him was a small blue thing with a murderous glare fixed on Reyn. Another digimon popped out of the trees, a horned thing that looked something like a dog. Reyn knew they were after him and Salmandmon, and looked around for some way to escape.

"Breeze Tackle!" The two attackers ran for cover as Breezedramon sailed through the air, scattering them and giving Reyn a chance to gather himself. Breezedramon righted himself and flapped around, trying to give Reyn a wider berth to make his escape. "Stay away from them, you bastards!"

Reyn wasted no time, taking a clear path away from the chaos, moving as fast as he could with Salmandmon in his arms. As the clister got further away, he thought he was out of the woods...until a jarring pain seared through his back, causing him to drop Salmandmon and fall to his knees. Dazed, he turned his head upward and saw a beetle with its wings spread, an electrical charge building up between them. "Oh, sh-"

"Yah!" Shockavimon plowed into the beetle creature, sucking up the built-up charge and throwing it from its perch. She flapped down to Reyn and gave him a once over. "Are you okay? That was a nasty shock you took!"

Reyn nodded, panting heavily; he was still in pain, but it had gone down quite fast. "I-I'm fine, but Salmandmon-"

"I know! I'd tell you to escape, but we're surrounded here! Derek and Datacarnomon are trying to-agh!" Something wrapped around Shockavimon's body, binding her fast; Reyn looked up and saw a Palmon trying to bring in its prey. "Dammit, get off! Static Burst!" Her body unleashed a static charge that surged through the vines, zapping the Palmon and forcing it to let go. Shockavimon took advantage of its moment of weakness to hit it with a Feather Bolt, deleting it. "We're trying to find a way to escape, but we're surrounded here! And we're way outnumbered!"

"Ow...mother..." groaned Salmandmon, finally returning to consciousness. "What's...going on? OW!" he shouted loudly as he tried to move.

"Hey, don't move, Sal!" said Shockavimon. "You're badly hurt, and we're trying to find a way to get you out of here! If we're lucky, we can-dammit!"

Reyn looked up; Derek and Datacarnomon had just come out of the trees, running for their lives from three other digimon; a pinkish bird, a purple fox-like digimon, and a ball-like bat digimon.

"Gangway! Dino Shooter!" Datacarnomon fired something from his claws, shots barely missing the cackling flying Demidevimon. "Dammit, hold still! Ah, to hell with it. Homing Missile!" A hatch opened up in the robot's chest, unleashing a missile that twisted and turned with Demidevimon. It nailed the digimon and exploded, scattering its data.

"Hah! Take that!" Datacarnomon's triumph was short-lived as a club sailed into him, knocking him to the ground. "Hey, cut that out!" he shouted to the goblin digimon who had attacked him.

"There's too many already!" cried Shockavimon anxiously. "And there might still be more! Feather Bolt!" She rejoined the fray, trying to take out the bird digimon that was still flitting around, attacking Derek.

"Reyn...agh...my back feels horrible..." groaned Salmandmon. "I should have been more caref...Reyn, are you bleeding?"

Reyn looked down. Blood covered his shirt, but Reyn hadn't felt anything cut him. His confusion was allayed when he saw his partner's chest, which had a few large wounds on it. "No, that's your blood!"

"Oh..."

Salmandmon seemed to be wavering in and out of consciousness. Reyn bent down and picked him up, leaning up against a tree, cradling the lizard in his arms. Reyn worried that the lizard's injuries were more serious than they looked, and they looked pretty serious. "Salmandmon, stay with me."

Salmandmon nodded, his features now contorted in pain. "I wish I could help them out...they need my help..."

"Don't worry, they're doing fine." But Reyn knew this wasn't true; the other digimon were holding their own as best they could, but with so many digimon attacking them, they were getting overwhelmed. Even worse, Derek was now trying to get away from three other arrivals, and he didn't have time to try to merge with Blackcanismon.

_Salmandmon...I wish I could help you..._ thought Reyn. _If there was something I could do..._

As he thought this, Reyn felt an odd feeling coming over him. Not like the feelings they had just before merging, this was different. He didn't understand quite what was going on at first, but it came to him, almost a foreign thought passing through his head, and he understood without fully understanding why. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Salmandmon was barely conscious at this point, but aware enough to notice the change in Reyn's demeanor. _What's going on, Reyn? _he asked telepathically, but there was no answer. He noticed an odd sensation on his chest, looked down, and gasped in shock; he could see his wounds healing before his eyes. The pain in his back was also quickly receding, his head was clearing up, and he felt a surge of energy that he'd never felt before. In just seconds, he had gone from gravely injured to feeling better than when he had started. He leapt out of Reyn's arms. "What's going on, Reyn? What just happened?"

Reyn opened his eyes, with a rather distant look. "Just glad...I could help you out..." he said listlessly. "Go get 'em..." He then sat back against the tree, eyes closed, appearing to have passed out.

Salmandmon hesitated a moment, confused as to the sudden shift in both of them. Then it hit him; he'd seen this happen before, how on occasion a digimon would transfer its energy to another digimon. It wasn't common, since generally it left the giver very drained, which would be dangerous in a life-or-death situation.

"Reyn...I'm gonna get them!" said Salmandmon fiercely. He turned around and struck at the digimon that were after Derek. Gazimon, Elecmon, Felismon. He felt a sudden surge of anger, and with it a rush of heat from within. "Rrragh! Burner Breath!"

A large stream of fire emerged from Salmandmon's mouth, more powerful than he'd ever felt it before. The fiery attack was a direct hit on the Gazimon, who howled as he was deleted instantly. This had an instant effect on the other two digimon, who instantly stopped chasing Derek and stared at Salmandmon.

"No way...he one-hit Gazimon!" the Felismon gasped.

"Assault my friends, will you?" roared Salmandmon, fire in his eyes. "Burner Breath!"

The two leapt out of the way and then tore off into the woods, apparently convinced that facing the very pissed-off reptile would be bad for their continued existence. The blast continued on, narrowly missing a couple other combatants and effectively getting everyone's attention.

"How the...we took you out already!" gasped the Veemon who had struck him earlier. "Your back should've been broken!"

"It was. Now it's not. Funny how that works." Salmandmon focused intently on the Veemon, who was suddenly feeling the heat. "Burst Point!" A blast of flames exploded around the Veemon, causing him to cry out loudly and collapse to the ground, well-done but not quite dead.

Salmandmon's return and dispatching of some of the attackers gave the others a chance to regroup and make a more organized charge. They struck back with a vengeance, unleashing their strongest attacks on the enemy gang. What had started as a coordinated attack by the enemies had descended into disarray, and the ones who were still standing scattered, seeing defeat in their immediate future if they didn't. When the dust finally settled, Veemon, Biyomon, Tentomon, and Gabumon were on the ground, in various states of injury.

"Phew...finally..." panted Breezedramon. "It's over..."

"Not quite," Derek said, pointing to the numerous incapacitated digimon on the ground in the clearing. "We've got to decide what to do with these guys."

"Hmph. Let's just kill them and be done with it," said Shockavimon bitterly. "I wouldn't miss them, that's for sure."

"True, they deserve that..." Salmandmon said quietly. He looked back at Reyn, who was unconscious against the tree. He shook his head. "No, we give them a chance to escape with their lives. As much as I deeply loathe these guys right now, that wouldn't be an excuse to destroy them while they're down."

The rest of them gave Salmandmon surprised looks. But Datacarnomon said, "Well, I guess there's no need to argue that. Let's give it to them." He looked over the fallen foes. "How about it, guys? We'll let you live if you leave now and never go back to Emperius."

"I'll take it!" the Gabumon groaned. "No way they'll want me back after losing this bad." He closed his eyes and appeared to focus, but opened them again after a few seconds. "Um...can someone give me a hand with the gate?"

"What? You mean you can't open it?" Shockavimon asked.

"I...I should be able to, I don't know why I can't! Please don't kill me!"

"All right, relax," Derek said sternly. "Can any of you open a gate? You can take him with you, can't you?"

There was some silence before Biyomon spoke up. "I...I think I can open it up. If you get them all close to me..."

Derek nodded. "Well, you heard her, guys. Try to get them all in one spot."

(==========)

Reyn slowly came to, in the same place that he'd blacked out. "Huh...I'm still here?"

"Yeah, you are," replied Derek, who was kneeling in front of Reyn, checking him over. Salmandmon was right next to him. Reyn noticed a small cut on Derek's forehead, over his eye.

"That looks painful. Did one of them get you?"

"Nah, that was a branch. I got lucky, there was so much confusion and so many trees in the way that they weren't able to get a good lock on me. How do you feel?"

"Fine. Just tired." Reyn tried to stand, and found that it took a lot of effort. "Really tired...wow, I don't think I've ever felt this drained before."

"I'm not surprised," said Salmandmon. "You...transferred your energy into me. How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Reyn cast his mind back to before he'd lost consciousness. "It was another one of those spur-of-the-moment feelings that I got. And since they've all been helpful before, I decided to take advantage of it." He looked around, and saw the other digimon loitering around. "Seeing that everyone's still alive, I'm glad I did. What was the count?"

"Fifteen," reported Derek. "Six of them were deleted in the fracas. Four were caught and sent back to the digital world...though it was weird, only one of them said they could open the gate. But the more important part is that five of them got away and still aren't accounted for. I didn't think it would be wise to pursue them until we determined if you were all right."

"Aw, how sweet."

"Just because I was worried about you doesn't mean I won't smack you for that one."

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Reyn shook his head; he was still feeling somewhat muddled. "I think I'd just like to get home. Do you need me for anything?"

Derek shook his head. "Go home. You wouldn't be a lot of help as you are now anyway. I'll take Datacarnomon with me and we'll see if we can find any of the stragglers. Salmandmon, make sure he gets back all right."

"Yeah, of course."

(==========)

(==========)

Whoo, lots of stuff in this chapter. Its importance may not be immediately evident, but it'll be made clear in time. Wink wink.

I ended up making a lot of changes to this one just a couple weeks before it got posted. I really SHOULD be working on the later chapters...but no, I just can't leave well enough alone. All joking aside, I wasn't happy with some of the dialogue, I felt some things needed more explanation or a more natural-sounding explanation (an improvement I feel much of my dialogue could use, but I'm getting better at as time goes on), and I wanted to fill out the battle scene a little more. I also realized that I have abilities for the digimon I haven't used anywhere, either before or later (at least at the time of writing this), so I figured this was as good a spot as any. I think it turned out better. I _know_ it turned out longer - around 10% longer, actually. So, more bang for your buck.

One thing I haven't been entirely clear on is the time course for the story. Not intentionally, of course, and I don't know how important it would be to know that kind of thing, but I figure I might as well annotate it. Chapters 1-6 take place over the course of four days, Saturday April 5th through Tuesday April 8th, 20XX (I basically chose the dates without looking at a calendar, and by design they aren't intended to correspond to a particular year). Chapter 7 took place the following Thursday (the 10th), Chapter 8 the following Sunday (the 13th). And the above chapter...well, I did rewrite it to put in at least one time cue, so you're probably up to speed by now. Anyway, I tried to imply in there that they've fought more than I've actually written, because I wasn't sure if that would be taken as a given or not.

About the wall-climbing stuff. Apparently won't let me put actual net addresses in my story. Not sure why, it's not like I'm trying to hyperlink them. Anyway, because I don't know if trying to bypass it will get me in trouble, I'll just recommend you search for "How Do Geckos Stick To Walls" on Google, and you can peruse the sites from there to learn about what might have inspired Skylar to ask about the wall-climbing properties of the average Salmandmon. Fun fact: it's entirely likely that the maximum force with which an average gecko could cling to a wall could in fact hold up Salmandmon, if only the gecko's body could handle the weight. Talk about a sticky situation. Pretty cool, huh? The nerd in me (who am I kidding? The nerd IS me) loves this kind of stuff, but then, it's got reptiles and molecular physics, what's not to like?

Thanks again to reviewers! Anyone who wants to, feel free to add your own comments.


	11. Chapter 10: The Next Level

This chapter's a bit shorter than the last. Long one again next week...actually, just expect them to alternate between shorter and longer for a few weeks. Didn't plan it that way, but that's how it turned out. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 10: The Next Level**

When Iris got up that Wednesday morning, the first thing she thought was that she was getting out of the house, no matter what. Not even the rain pouring down outside would dispel this notion; she had to get out somewhere or she would go crazy. It was only after settling on that that she realized that Shockavimon was sitting next to the window; she appeared to have been awake for a while. "Shockavimon? Did you have trouble sleeping last night?"

Shockavimon nodded. "Yeah. How did you know?"

A dim memory stirred from the last night. "We share some dreams...and I was dreaming I was watching something very unpleasant. Some creep was hitting you, and he was being really nasty."

Shockavimon didn't respond immediately. When she did, her voice was very quiet. "You weren't supposed to know about that..."

"You know you can tell me about anything, Shockavimon-"

"I know. But I didn't want to talk about this, because I was trying to...I dunno, just forget about it entirely. I've been trying to for a while now, but it's like every time I get close, I have another nightmare."

"What happened?"

Shockavimon sighed deeply. "It was a long time ago..."

_-8 years ago-_

_I thought I had met my dream guy. I never got very ga-ga over guys, but this one...I just felt something with him, a connection that I didn't have with other people. At first, he was everything I had hoped for, and we really connected...I thought we were destined to be life-long partners._

_And then...well, I don't know if he really changed, more like he was putting up his front less and less. I didn't realize it at the time...just long afterward. He became meaner to me, both privately and in public. He said nasty, horrible things to me, calling me worthless and a shame to him. And he seemed to become more and more obsessed with controlling me._

_But the worst was yet to come. After a while, he started hitting me, kicking me. Sometimes he did it when he was angry, other times it was just out of the blue, and I never got a reason. I hated it, but I blamed myself...because, well, I was stupidly still in love with him. I kept telling myself it would get better. How wrong I was. It was that day I learned the truth..._

"_Ow!"_

"_Shut it, bitch!" He struck me again, hard, right on the side of my head. I fell to the ground, shaking, very close to crying. I wished that I could get used to him hitting me...but every single time, it felt like the first time all over again. It hurt so bad, and it never stopped._

"_Don't you EVER think of talking back to me!" Hawkmon started shouting at me and shaking me hard. It was dreadful for me...he was worse than ever, and I was scared of how far he might go._

"_P-please, Hawkmon! Th-that hurts!"_

"_Stupid birdbrain." He stood up and kicked me in the stomach. I felt my breath explode out of my chest, and I coughed violently, almost throwing up. I wasn't sure how long it took me to recover...it felt like a few minutes, but it probably wasn't even one. I finally managed to sit back up. He was glaring at me...that hateful glare that always scared me. This time, I finally managed to gain the courage to say something._

"_Hawkmon...why do you do this to me? Why do you keep hurting me?"_

_He looked at me like he didn't believe I would ever ask that question. He stomped up, clearly angry at me. "Obviously, if you have to ask the question, you still haven't picked it up, bitch."_

"_Wh-what?"_

"_So stupid. Men are better than women. And I'm sick and tired of all these idiot bimbos thinking that they have some right to be considered equal when they're inferior in every possible way. I'm doing you a favor by making sure you know your place in life, and you'd better not forget it. You will never be better than me, Shockavimon...you remember that."_

_He didn't say anything more...just left to go do whatever. I had no idea what he did, he never told me anything, and I had come to expect him not to. But this time...it was different. I was scared, shocked, trying desperately not to believe what he'd said. But there wasn't any way for me to. I had always stayed with him, because I thought it might get better...this time, I knew the truth. It was never going to get any better. He was going to keep hurting me, hitting me, telling me I was worthless. And nothing I could do to him would ever change that._

_That's when I finally felt that connection of love disappear. And right then I decided I had to go._

_-Present Day-_

"I left that night...I had nothing except the knowledge that I couldn't stay there. I'd already started to believe what he told me...those first few months were painful, sometimes so bad that I thought about going back just because I knew how bad it would be, that at least I wouldn't potentially be facing worse. Thankfully, I came across a few people who helped get me out of that funk, so it got better after that. If I had gone back...well, I probably wouldn't be alive right now."

"Holy crap..." Iris whispered, shivering madly. "I...I remember dreaming about that...about you getting abused. I didn't understand it...I was too young. But it scared me all the same...I felt so horrible, watching you get hurt and not being able to do anything about it...you looked like you felt so hopeless..."

Shockavimon nodded solemnly. "So often I did. I thought at times that nothing was ever going to get better...didn't make it any less painful when I found out I was right. But those were the memories that drove me to join Libertius. I knew what it was like to feel like you had no hope, that no one could ever help you. I don't want anyone else to feel how I felt. That's almost as painful as feeling it myself."

Iris nodded in understanding. "I think that's a great reason to be fighting for what you believe in. It's better than the reasons some people have..."

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry, I didn't mean to depress you this morning."

"It's all right. Come on, let's get out of here and go to Reyn's house. We'll try to put your mind off that asshole and onto happier thoughts."

"Thanks."

(==========)

"It's nice to know," observed Salmandmon with a certain amount of annoyance, "that no matter how serious the situation is or how important it is that we be searching for enemies, the weather still doesn't care."

"The weather channel says that it should let up in early afternoon," reported Reyn. "Until then, I'm content for some down time. The fights have been more intense lately." Neither one was exactly 'down' at the moment, however; Salmandmon was using the bar in Reyn's closet (normally used for hanging clothes) as a chin-up bar, and Reyn, despite his protests, had finally caved to the reptile's pressure and was doing a few push-ups and other mild exercises of his own.

"They're probably going to get worse," Salmandmon commented.

"You think so?"

"Emperius underestimated the challenge they had to face. They've been sending their grunts because the stronger guys don't want to get their hands dirty."

"That makes almost no sense to me."

"Well, with as long as I've been with Libertius, I've had enough time to analyze a few patterns. The stronger you are in Emperius, the more control you have over what you do. They consider strength to be the only worthwhile asset, so those with more of it have more power, more control, more influence. It's like with you humans and money."

"Nice pot shot."

"Thank you. But with the amount of resistance we're putting up, they're probably going to start sending some bigger guns in soon...and when that happens, we might have some trouble. The grunts we've faced so far have been pretty strong, but still Champion-level or less...Ultimates would be much more difficult."

"Think we have any hope of matching them?"

"Dunno. I wish I knew if we could evolve or something when we were merged together like that. I know some guys who have undergone DNA evolution were able to advance further..." Salmandmon caught a glimpse of an odd look on Reyn's face. "Oops...you probably still don't quite get digital evolution, do you?"

"Well...I'm a lot better off than I used to be," Reyn said, rather distantly. "I think I've been taking in information about digimon while we've been merged. I mean, I shouldn't know anything about the different digimon species, but I'm almost certain I could have named at least half of the creatures I saw yesterday without any help."

"Huh...you know, I think something similar is happening to me. I'm learning more about humans just by being merged with you...like that comment I just made about humans and money. That just suddenly came to me."

"That's weird. Maybe it's a result of having our minds merged into a different entity...it allows us to share important information."

"Or makes us. All right, I'm officially bored," Salmandmon said suddenly, dropping off of the bar. "What else can we do while waiting for your uncooperative weather?"

"There's always a video game. That is, if you don't mind getting thrashed by me yet again."

"Yeah, right. You'll be begging for mercy at my claws." Salmandmon grabbed a controller and planted himself in front of the television. "I'm a one-mon wrecking machine, and you know it."

"I'm surprised you're even as good as you are," Reyn remarked, grabbing a controller of his own. "Doesn't sound like you've done a whole lot of gaming in your life...to hear Datacarnomon tell it, you spend practically all your free time working out."

"Tch. Sounds like a person who doesn't do nearly enough of it."

"Hey, I'm not like a 300-pound slug or something! I'm just not going for the physical fitness awards. I'm not worried about being fit and trim."

"Yeah, but there's also nothing wrong with wanting to be fit and trim, is there? Especially when you're part of a military outfit, where it can be kind of helpful to be in shape. Besides, it's good for your health."

"I'm not saying there's a problem, just that because you are doesn't mean I have to be."

"Well, you're fighting digimon now, so it might help. Okay, I'll admit, I've always been kind of an exercise nut, but every now and then, a few of the guys would rope me into playing a few rounds of this game or that game, and I started setting aside a bit of time to practice so I wouldn't get constantly walloped. I guess I'm kind of a competitive person, though in a different way from Data. Besides, on a bad day, there's really not a much better distraction. It's a bit different in the digital world, though...some larger digimon have larger consoles because they need larger controllers for their hands, and I'm more used to playing in a larger form to adapt to that..."

"Oh, so that's the excuse you're gonna use for losing to me this time? Your hands and controller are too small?"

"Hah. I won't need an excuse because you're going down!"

"Is this a testosterone-only challenge, or can anyone play?" Reyn and Salmandmon looked over to see Iris and Shockavimon in the doorway of Reyn's room, both somewhat soaked from the rain.

"When did you two get here?" asked Reyn, ignoring the question. "And when did we start dating? I thought I was safe from the uninvited drop-in until at least my third girlfriend."

"With an attitude like that, you won't even get to three," Iris shot back, her expression fierce and determined. "36 straight hours in that boring house with pretty much nothing to do. I'm pissed off, and I need to let off some steam. Speaking of which, you look like you've just run a mile in 90-degree heat."

"Nothing wrong with a little exercise, is there?"

"Yeah, if it's you doing it. Though I guess it's probably a good thing, maybe you won't be so lazy. So, which controller is mine?"

"Latecomers take third and fourth-hey! Salmandmon, I'm supposed to have first controller!"

"Fine, then," challenged Salmandmon. "Get up off the bed and switch 'em around."

Reyn rolled off the bed and switched the controller plugs around, to Salmandmon's chagrin. "Hey! You were supposed to be too lazy to do that!"

"Bah. No one messes with my first controller."

"You boys and your power trips," Shockavimon interjected. "It's not the placement of the controller, it's how well you use it to kick ass."

Salmandmon snorted in amusement. "Tch. Are you _sure_ you two are females? Because my testosterone-sense is really going haywire right now."

"We'll see if you still say that when you've seen me with PMS," cracked Iris. "Now plug it in before I take out my frustration on you in real life."

(==========)

Outside the Kessiliks' house, a malevolent creature watched and waited.

"Soon...your souls shall be mine..."

The door to the house opened. It was time.

(==========)

"The rain's stopped!" said Salmandmon gleefully. "Finally, let's get outside and get crackin'!"

"And do what?" asked Reyn. "I don't recall us having anything specific to do right now."

"Just being outside is good enough for me!" exclaimed Iris. "I've been inside too long, and I'm sick of it! Come on, Reyn, I'm sure you can think of something for us to do while we're out there. Scout around for gates, look for anyone that came through before that we missed, and so forth."

"Hm..." Reyn thought for a moment. "Oh, I guess we could search for those digimon that escaped us yesterday. Maybe I can call Isaac, see if he can run his program or someth-"

A loud scream from just outside the house cut off Reyn's sentence. Immediately, the four of them dashed down the stairs and made for the door. Reyn's breath caught in his throat at the sight that greeted him just outside his own home: a tall, menacing skeleton digimon bearing a ghastly staff, standing over Minerva and Cayden. Both humans were cowering in the presence of the nightmare.

"Mom! Cayden! Get away!" yelled Reyn, panicking. Part of his fear was that he knew what digimon that was: Skullsatamon, a frightfully strong digimon that was feared throughout the digital world, and would be in this one if other people had the chance to see him. Salmandmon's earlier concerns seemed almost prophetic now; this was a foe that Reyn didn't know if they could beat.

Minerva turned her head and caught sight of Reyn. "Reyn! Run!" Skullsatamon used this moment to strike, raising the staff and swinging it with a fury. "Skull Hammer!"

Minerva would have been killed for certain if not for Salmandmon's intervention; he yanked the woman and her younger son to the ground, the swing just sweeping over them, missing by millimeters. Salmandmon hissed at the pair of humans he had just saved, "Get back in the house and don't leave! We'll take care of him!"

Minerva and Cayden didn't do much more than skitter back in fear, holding each other next to the wall of the house. Desperately, Salmandmon tried to play distraction by attacking Skullsatamon. "Burner Breath!" The attack drew Skullsatamon's attention, and he swung at Salmandmon, who jumped back to evade. _Reyn! We have to merge, now!_

_But...my mom...my brother...they'll see us!_

_We don't have a choice here! We can't win the way we are, and he's not going to let up his attack! Better they know the truth than we all die!_

There was nothing else to do, and Reyn realized it. "All right, Skullsatamon, now you're gonna get it!" he shouted as he and Salmandmon began to glow red. Iris saw this, and, with a nod from Shockavimon, also began to merge with her partner.

Skullsatamon simply laughed evilly as he saw the newly-merged digimon before him. "Do you think that will save your precious humans? You shall relinquish your souls to my power, and the Purification will commence!"

"Fat chance," said Burnreptimon boldly. "We'll stop you like we've stopped the rest of them! Pyre Rush!" He sent his powerful fire wave over Skullsatamon. The foe raised its arms to guard against the attack, and seemed hardly fazed by it. In another motion, he swung his staff, catching Burnreptimon on his side and throwing him to the ground.

Bolteaglemon came up behind Skullsatamon, readying her own attack. But she never got it off, as Skullsatamon twisted around and smacked her in the jaw with his staff. She was tossed to the ground, groaning and holding her beak. "Ow..."

"Is this what you thought would stop me? Pathetic!" Skullsatamon taunted.

"We've just started!" Burnreptimon dashed up to Skullsatamon, having recovered from the earlier blow, and delivered a punch right to its rib cage. Skullsatamon was knocked back but again hardly looked bothered by the attack. With a shout of "Skull Hammer!" he swung again at Burnreptimon, who was ready for it and leapt over the swinging staff.

He wasn't ready for what happened next. In one fluid motion, Skullsatamon raised his staff up in front of him and aimed at Burnreptimon. "Nail Bone!"

A burst of energy, almost invisible, fired out at Burnreptimon with impossible speed, striking him square in the chest. He flew backwards at high speed, hitting the side of the brick house with a sickening thud and falling into the ground.

Skullsatamon made a move to attack Burnreptimon again, but was interrupted by Bolteaglemon. "Spark Wave!" The attack wasn't very effective, but it did draw Skullsatamon's attention. He started swinging at Bolteaglemon, who made sure to stay just out of range enough to avoid being hit but in range enough to be a direct threat.

Burnreptimon slowly got to one knee, his head spinning and entire body washed in pain. He coughed, spitting up blood. "Damn...that...hurt..." he heaved. He tried to rise up, but went back down as the pain redoubled. A trickling sensation down the back of his neck told him he had an open wound on his head. He felt like he was going to pass out, an increasing wooziness causing him to sway slightly.

"Reyn?"

Burnreptimon blinked. Turning his head slowly, which did nothing to reduce the pain it induced, he looked over at Minerva and Cayden, who were staring at him with worry and fear. _No...no, I can't give up..._ he thought, closing his eyes. _I have to protect them...I can't let Skullsatamon get to them!_

Clenching his jaw tightly, he willed himself to stand up despite the pain. As he did, he saw Bolteaglemon finally go down, Skullsatamon's Skull Hammer finally nailing her in the side. She fell to the ground in a heap. "Your resistance is futile!" Skullsatamon laughed triumphantly. "Your death will be quite pleasing to my superiors...no longer will you be around to prevent us from achieving our divine goal!"

Hearing this, Burnreptimon felt a primal fury well within him, an anger he'd never even come close to feeling in his life. _How dare he! Come to my house, threaten my family, show such arrogance...I'll make him pay!_ A blazing fire flared within him, whisking away the pain and everything else. "I won't let you destroy this world for your own selfish ends!" he roared at Skullsatamon, who jerked around to stare at the foe he thought he'd taken care of. "The only thing that needs to be purged from our worlds is you!"

Burnreptimon glowed a bright red, and began to feel his body change. His size increased slightly, boosting his height eight inches and bulking his body up a bit more. Dark metal armor formed around his forearms and lower legs, and sets of studded leather straps wrapped around his upper arms, upper legs, tail, knuckles, and chest. He stood in a battle stance in front of Skullsatamon, pain free and with a pulse of anger beating strongly within him.

"You...just because you evolved doesn't mean you'll be able to beat me!" thundered Skullsatamon, though he certainly didn't look as confident as he had before. "Nail Bone!"

Skullsatamon tried to aim at the new creature and attack, but he dodged and rolled to the side quickly, regaining his footing and leaping at Skullsatamon. "Inferno Claw!"

The digimon's claws became enveloped in flames, and he swiped an X down Skullsatamon's chest, leaving burnt claw marks on the bones. Skullsatamon staggered backwards, bringing his staff up to guard himself. "What...what are you?"

"Your worst nightmare?" growled the digimon with an almost unhinged ferocity. "The bringer of your demise? Perhaps the last creature you'll ever see in your cursed life, and good riddance? Wouldn't mind any of those!" The digimon became covered in a powerful fire aura, and with a sudden burst of speed assaulted Skullsatamon, sending a flurry of burning punches and kicks his way, crushing the creature's bones and pushing him backwards, culminating in a jaw-shattering uppercut that threw Skullsatamon several feet in the air before he crashed back to the ground. "You can call me Blazereptimon...with your last breath. Solar Wave!"

With that, Blazereptimon pulled his fist back and then lunged forward, releasing a jet of heat and flame that looked somewhat similar to Burnreptimon's Pyre Rush but larger and imbued with far more strength. Skullsatamon gave a tortured cry just before the flame completely annihilated him, even incinerating the core data. All that remained after the attack was a scorched track on the ground.

The threat gone, Blazereptimon felt the raging fury within him begin to die down. He took a deep breath to stabilize his racing heart, then looked over at Bolteaglemon, who was sitting up but still in obvious pain. "You able to stand up, or do you need help?"

"I'll manage," came the reply, and indeed Bolteaglemon got to her feet under her own power. "How...how did you do that? Did you evolve?"

"I did something like it, at the very least," replied the lizard, looking down over his new body, "but heck if I could tell you how. Still...I've got more important things on my mind," he added, looking back at his mother and brother, who still hadn't moved from the same spot by the wall of the house. "I think we'd better get them inside...they deserve an explanation."

(==========)

Both Burnreptimon and Bolteaglemon found themselves sitting at the kitchen table in Reyn's house, facing down Reyn's parents, the rest of the family thankfully sent out for the time being. It was not an easy task for any of the parties involved; the utter shock and confusion from the humans was a hard thing to get past.

"I guess...I really don't know what to say," Treylor managed to get out after a while; he as holding his head in his hands and had been for some time. "I mean, I figured you were out there, fighting those things, but..."

Burnreptimon nodded in understanding. "I know it's a rather startling revelation. It was to me, as well...just happened all of a sudden, without any warning. And given what we were facing...well, we decided to take advantage of it. I can assure you that your son is safe within me...in fact, his mind is a part of mine, as is Salmandmon's. They...we...my two components have merged several times before, and emerged unharmed."

"Still," said Minerva, "It's a shock to see your son disappear into the body of a completely different creature. And seeing that creature almost get killed..."

"Trust me, we're as afraid of that as you are," Bolteaglemon assured her. "We're as careful as we can be, but...the sad fact of the matter is that this is a risk we all have to take. Right now, we are the sole line of defense between your species and complete slaughter. If saving you means putting our lives on the line...none of us hesitated."

"Of course not," Burnreptimon added firmly. "The risk may be grave, but inaction is far worse. The choices are risk death to stop our enemies, or do nothing and be assured that death...I'll take 'might die' over 'will die' every time. Please understand." Both of Reyn's parents nodded solemnly. "Thank you...it means a lot. I know you want to see Reyn, so..."

Burnreptimon and Bolteaglemon both glowed, and separated back into their component forms. Reyn had barely regained his senses before he was nearly crushed in his mother's death grip. "Ack! Mom, not so tight!"

"S-sorry..." Minerva choked through her tears. "I had to...I h-had to make sure. You really are okay...Thank G-god..."

"It's all right, I understand," Reyn said tightly, trying to keep from choking up himself. "That's the last secret I was keeping from you, I promise, and I won't keep any more. You'll be aware of what's going on from now on. I'm sorry I hid it from you..."

"It's all right, Reyn," said Treylor with understanding. "I think we can understand why you would...it's not something that can be easily entrusted to anyone, even us."

"Just promise me you won't be reckless," Minerva said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Always be careful."

Reyn nodded. "Absolutely."

"And Salmandmon..." She looked down at the lizard, who quickly became nervous. "Thank you, for everything. Especially for keeping him safe."

"Oh...yeah, of course," Salmandmon replied, relieved. "I wouldn't dream of anything less."

"And your friends here..." Treylor looked over at Iris and Shockavimon, who had kept their distance. "I assume you're not the only other ones involved here."

"A smart assumption," said Shockavimon, rubbing her side.

"Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine. I've had way worse than this, this is just a bruise."

"If any of your friends needs any help at all," said Minerva, "Our doors are open. Now that we're aware of the situation, I want to do everything I can do to help."

Iris smiled warmly at them. "Thank you...that means a lot to me. It may turn out that we need a lot of help in the future..." _Especially me,_ she thought as she remembered her father, and fresh worries about his reaction cropped up in her mind. However it came to light, she held out little hope of him reacting like the Kessiliks.

(==========)

Isaac sighed. "I don't know what's going on, Datacarnomon. I've sent who-knows-how-many e-mails to the White House. We've all written letters to the Department of Defense. We should have at least gotten some reply by now. I've been annoyed by it, but it's gotten to the point where I'm starting to worry."

"Perhaps they have their mail blocked off or something."

"Why would they do that? The only thing I could imagine would be a screening process, but I don't know why they'd lose all our letters and e-mails during screening. It doesn't make any sense...I just don't know. I get the feeling that something is seriously wrong, and we're going to up blindsided by it before we even know what it is."

(==========)

In Washington, D.C.

The Secretary of Defense's office door opened to reveal a young intern. "Sir? I just got a letter that has to do with the monster scourge in Braun-"

"Burn it."

"Excuse me?"

"Burn it. Or shred it, or whatever you have to do, just get rid of it. I'm not interested in some random idiot's opinions on the matter."

"Sir, I don't mean to be insubordinate, but I think you're making a mistake in not reading these. They may have information that could help us. The President would want-"

"The President is currently dealing with tensions in the Middle East. He has given me the green light to do whatever I feel is necessary in this matter. Therefore, I will make my decisions as I see fit, not some random person writing stuff that they want me to hear. So _get rid of it._"

"Yes, sir." The intern seemed confused and annoyed at the attitude of the Secretary of Defense, but left the office without further complaint. The Secretary sat back, a satisfied smile on his face. "Who cares what some letter writer has to say? I'll just send in more people to take them all down, one by one if necessary. And if that doesn't work, we'll just nuke them all. And when the threat is gone, people will see me as a national hero, and the Oval Office will be safely within my grasp!"

(==========)

(==========)

Ooh, sinisterness! But there you have it. I didn't want to leave you entirely in the dark about why they weren't getting any response. Yeah, I know, the 'corrupt power-hungry politician' angle is probably too predictable, but on the other hand, he's pretty much an ancillary villain in the grand scheme of things.

And finally, we get to the phase where I introduce the second-level forms! I take a slightly different approach with their evolutions than I might with regular digimon - their basic form doesn't vary quite as much, but they get more embellishments as their level gets higher. This may be explored in more depth in future chapters, if I can write it in in a way that isn't too contrived.

Another viewpoint section, as well. I deny no accusations that I pick on easy targets for antagonists - few people like racism, sexism, fanaticism, etc., so they're easy bad guy traits. To be honest, they're issues I feel pretty strongly about, so I tend to make more use of them than I probably need to. It makes sense for Emperius to have all those same motivations, but you'll probably get more of them from less related sources later on. I'll try not to have it be all of them, though; I'm sure I can get more creative with some of my antagonists, at least.

Last note: I'm going to be camping next Friday, so I won't be posting an update next week. They will resume the week after.


	12. Chapter 11: Enhancement

And I'm back! With some renewed writing impetus, as well. I've gotten a little ahead in the game, I got a few ideas for later plotlines that were eluding me before, and I think I'll be able to get later chapters going more smoothly now that I have a rough idea of the directions I'm going. But that's for the future; right now, we've got a chapter for the present! Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 11: Enhancement**

The ripples beneath the water were almost indistinguishable, but to Bolteaglemon's sharp eyes, they were unmistakable. She mentally ticked off another mark in her mind, and reconnoitered with Skydramon above the lake. "How many did you count?"

"Five."

"I caught eight of them. Are you sure about your number?"

"No," replied Skydramon, rubbing his eyes. "I understand why we have to do this in the middle of the night, but it's really hard for me to see a lot. How the heck do you do it?"

"Guess it's just my natural advantage. I can't believe we didn't think about this before, though. How could we be so foolish as to ignore the lakes?"

"Well, part of it might have something to do with us being caught up in the guys who keep attacking us above water."

"I guess, but you'd think one of us would have thought of it. The more important question is, how are we going to deal with these digimon? Last I checked, none of us were built for underwater combat."

"And there's the other part. I'm worried about that as well. Attacking from above isn't going to help very much, and I know I would be chum trying to face them in the lake. There's gotta be a way to solve it, though..."

Bolteaglemon shook her head. "Nothing we can do about it right now. At least no one's out on the water...they're too scared about what might be lurking beneath the surface, and finally it's justified. Let's turn in and discuss it with the rest of the group tomorrow."

(==========)

Saturday morning brought more overcast skies, though this time without rain. Still, the unforgivingly volatile spring weather shifts of Braun had reared their ugly heads again; the warmth of the last week was gone entirely, replaced by a bitter cold that could only remind them that it was still April.

_Every day like this makes me pine for summer a bit more,_ Reyn complained telepathically, his face too buried in his coat to speak effectively. _And that house isn't going to be comfortable...isn't there some way you can share your body heat with me?_

_You, maybe,_ Salmandmon responded. _But not the rest of the group, and they're gonna want it. I'd start a fire, but I doubt that would be overly comforting, given the location._

It was just under ten minutes before they reached the house, which had been rather insensitively dubbed the Burnout by Isaac. They wasted no time entering. The charred walls provided some buffer against the wind, but neither of them found the increased creaking with every gust comforting.

"We have _got_ to find a meeting point with better ambiance," pointed out Salmandmon to the rest of the gathered group, which was missing only Isaac and Datacarnomon. "Sure, this place is private, but it's creepy as hell."

"Yeah, I still don't know why we couldn't meet at Reyn's house," agreed Iris. "It's closer to all our houses, and probably warmer."

"Because it's not nearly as private," said Derek coolly. "A lot of people walk by his house on a daily basis. Any one of them could happen upon us as we're trying to leave, and then they'd raise a stink."

"I'd p-p-prefer g-getting caught to t-t-t-turning into a-a dragons-s-sicle," chattered Breezedramon, shivering madly. This particular dragon was not good in the cold; he was cuddled up very close to Skylar, his wings and tail wrapped around him, seeming smaller than ever. "Th-this is a l-l-lot colder than I'm used t-t-to. Isaac and D-d-data had b-better g-g-get here soon."

"I wish I could help," said Skylar ruefully. "But this coat is too damned small as it is. I'm close to freezing myself."

"Aw, bring him over here," Iris urged him tenderly. "I've got this big coat, I think I can get him close." Skylar did so, placing Breezedramon on her lap as she opened her coat and closed it around him. "Is that better?"

"A l-little."

Isaac and Datacarnomon finally came into the room. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up," snapped Skylar, trying to hide a shudder. "Were you gonna wait until we were encased in ice or something?"

Isaac shook his head and sighed. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting. My dad's getting really suspicious about all the time I'm spending away from the house lately, especially with the monster attacks recently. I finally managed to get away from him, but I think he knows that something's up."

"Let's not argue at this moment, okay?" Iris interjected before Skylar could respond. "I don't want to prolong this any longer than we have to. We've got an issue we have to deal with, and it's pretty serious."

"Right, sorry," said Skylar. "I'll get right to the point. As Bolteaglemon and Skydramon, we found some digimon in Lake Idle. Probably seven or eight of them. Some of them had pretty large figures, but we didn't get the chance to see what kinds they were, or how powerful they were. That we can deal with, but the major problem is that we don't know how to attack them, since none of us are good in the water. So, we need ideas! Anyone have one?"

"I'll give you a good one," said Isaac instantly. "We'll head in and stomp on them ourselves."

Everyone looked at Isaac. "Unless my memory has taken a sharp decline as of late, or Andrexmon has suddenly manifested underwater abilities in the last two days, you are no less ill-suited for such an excursion as we are," observed Blackcanismon impatiently. "If you insist upon sapping us of precious time, could you not generate a more plausible method?"

"Translation: either quit being stupid and make a serious contribulation or just shut up," said Skylar menacingly.

Reyn shook his head. "Isaac, you'd better have something good up your sleeve, or I'm not gonna be able to defend you this time."

"Oh, ye of little faith," Datacarnomon chuckled. "Skylar, you especially should be aware of how we could take care of this, Ike's mentioned it to you before."

"Refresh my memory," said Skylar, clueless as to what Datacarnomon was getting at.

"As Andrexmon," explained Isaac, "We can download information created on a computer, and use it to enhance ourself. All I have to do is create a module that will allow us to sustain ourself underwater, download it as Andrexmon, and we're set!"

"Impressive," said Salmandmon. "But what if it doesn't work?"

"It should work as I program it to," said Isaac. "And if it doesn't, we'll find out pretty quickly, won't we?" He looked around at the group's expressions, which ranged from intrigued to doubtful to stubborn disbelief. "Come on, guys," he continued, impatience crawling into his voice. "It's not like we have many other options, unless a few of you somehow merge into giant fish. This is all we have to go on."

"He does have a point," agreed Iris. "All right, let's try it out. Can you get it written by tonight?"

"Sure! I'll meet you out at Lake Idle at midnight, all right?"

(==========)

"Agent Conover?" Emil looked up from his desk at the sound of his name. "There's someone who wants to make a report to you..."

"Really? I wasn't expecting anything this soon..." mumbled Emil; he was feeling very tired, having gotten very little sleep in the last several days. It had gotten to the point that Elliot had ordered him to stay back and try to rest while he attempted to gather more information.

"He says he just got this information in."

"Hm, well, send him in." Emil waited as the messenger got the agent, yawning several times during the period. Far too slowly for his taste, the agent arrived in, looking rather bewildered.

"All right, what've you got?"

"Well, sir, it's kind of strange..."

Emil sighed. "Everything about this crazy matter is strange. Well, strange how?"

"Well, it's kind of out of place of what we've been told, sir."

"Will you just get on with it?" snapped Emil tiredly.

"Sorry. I got a report from, well, a kid. He's 11 years old. You remember that night where we got all those creature sightings? Well, that kid was wandering around outside, apparently, obviously against curfew, and says he saw the big metal one up close and personal."

"Good lord..." Emil breathed, waking up a bit. "How up close and personal?"

"To hear him tell it, close enough to get a giant cannon pointed at him. He says he startled the creature."

"Huh. I wouldn't imagine something that big would startle easily. Then again, we did come after it...sorry, I'm drifting. How did that play out? Was the kid hurt in any way?"

"No...you're gonna be weirded out by this. He said the creature said he wasn't gonna hurt him, and actually warned him about being outside while it was dangerous!"

Emil wondered if it would have sounded funny if he was more awake; as it was, he was just bewildered. "Now, let me just make sure I didn't mishear because I'm tired as hell. You're telling me... that a monster... and let's be clear here, a freaking huge _cyborg dinosaur_ _monster_...warned a little kid about the dangers of being outside late at night."

"Yes, sir. I know how absurd it sounds, like something out of a kid's cartoon or something...I wouldn't have brought it to your attention, but the kid's description of the creature was almost a perfect match to your sketch. I think it's legit, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"What does these days?" groaned Emil. "Well, I'll keep this in mind...you're dismissed for now. I'll let you know if I have any further questions."

"As you wish, sir." The agent left the room. Emil sighed and put his head in his hands. "What in blazes is _that_ supposed to mean?"

(==========)

Andrexmon tromped through the grass quickly, not terribly worried about being seen; the way he was taking was only for boaters, and there weren't any boaters at this time of night. He looked quite different from his usual form; a cybernetic mask covered most of his face, there was a large machine attached to his back, and small jets were fused to his lower legs. The air temperature had only gotten colder since the sun had set, and Andrexmon felt the nip as he made his way to the lake; it would only get colder underwater, so he had included a heating mechanism in the program he had written for his underwater adventure.

Three figures waited at the water's edge for him: Bolteaglemon, Skydramon, and Darkwolfmon. Only Burnreptimon was missing; Reyn and Salmandmon had decided to bow out, knowing that they wouldn't be much help in this mission.

"Hey, you're early," commented Bolteaglemon as she saw the carnosaur approach.

"What? No, I'm not...I said midnight, and it's 20 after."

"Yeah, we know," said Darkwolfmon, sounding amused. "Since you said midnight, we all expected you at 12:30. So, what's the excuse this time?"

"Ah...well, let's put it this way. My plan would have gone off without a hitch, since I got the program written and downloaded without any trouble. However, I forgot to factor in the difficulty in trying to sneak out of the house as a large android dinosaur."

"Why didn't you just get out unmerged?" asked Skydramon impatiently.

"I probably could have, if I thought ahead," replied Andrexmon. "But I didn't check to see if the attachments stayed if we separated. And I didn't want to risk it at this point."

"Well, whatever," said Bolteaglemon. "Just jump in there and whack those guys, okay?"

"You got it!" Andrexmon tossed Bolteaglemon and Skydramon small devices that looked like walkie-talkies. "Let me know if you see anything from up there. These go directly through the com in my head, so there's no risk of the transmission getting intercepted."

"Will that even work underwater?"

"Trust me on this, girlie." Andrexmon turned towards the lake. "All right, let's get this show on the road!" He turned and bolted for the dock at top speed as Bolteaglemon and Skydramon went to the air and Darkwolfmon receded to the shadows. As he reached the end, he pulled his legs up to his chest and shouted "CANNONBALL!"

A loud splash signaled that he had struck the water. He quickly started sinking to the bottom, though just off the dock it wasn't terribly deep, just barely coming over his head. He took a breath in, and sighed in relief; the program was working perfectly. It was only then that he noticed the screeching in his head.

"You moron! What the hell is the matter with you, shouting like that?" Bolteaglemon sounded absolutely furious. "Someone had to have heard that! And they're going to wonder what's going on!"

"Would you relax? I did it intentionally! If people just hear lots of splashing, they're going to get paranoid and perhaps contact the authorities. If, however, they hear some punk kid trying to rile up his friends, they're not gonna think anything of it! Trust me, I know from experience!"

"Wait, _you've_ gone for a midnight swim in Lake Idle?" Skydramon asked, sounding greatly incredulous. "Since when do you do stuff like that?"

"You sound more surprised than I would care to hear. I - well, as Isaac - enjoy a good skinny-dip every now and then, it's a good way to keep myself awake on a long night. 'Course, I don't go out to Lake Idle all the time, 'cause it's a pretty long walk, but sometimes it's fun to go with friends."

"You have friends?" cut in Skydramon.

"Oh, shut up."

"I still don't think making a lot of noise is a good idea," said Bolteaglemon, shuddering at the idea of Isaac skinny-dipping.

"Listen, I promise you, no one's gonna think anything of it. Plus, it should draw the attention of the aquatic digimon, so you guys up there won't have to do as much searching. So pipe down and help me find those stupid water creatures before they find me." Andrexmon crouched down, and started up the machine on his back. A motor rumbled to life and started pushing him forward. _Nice. Everything's working perfectly. Cold as hell down here, though._ As if reading his mind, his internal sensors began sending him warnings about his core temperature, so he activated the heating program. Immediately, he felt a rush of warmth through his body. _Oh, yeah, that's more like it._

"Heads up, Andrexmon," Skydramon warned over the radio. "I see something near the surface swimming towards the dock. Looks like someone did hear you."

"Perfect." Andrexmon shifted his visor to a thermal-detection mode, and caught sight of the figure heading towards him. He couldn't see what type it was, but his visor translated the image for him. _Dolphmon, huh? Well, let's see what he thinks of this!_

Andrexmon shifted his arm to cannon mode, and aimed straight at Dolphmon. The cannon had also been modified under the program, to greatly reduce interference from the water. "Dino Buster!"

The attack sailed into Dolphmon, who appeared to have been caught by surprise, and was stunned. A second and third blast finished it, and the figure disappeared; Andrexmon assumed it had been turned to data. "That's one down," he reported.

"Nice," Bolteaglemon's voice crackled over the transmission. "I keep seeing a large shape down there...looks like a big sea snake, so I think it's Seadramon. Why don't you take out that next? Maybe it'll clear out the water a bit, and help us see the rest of those digimon."

"On it." Andrexmon's motor thrust him forward, towards the center of the lake. His visor began to register a heat source in the distance, apparently in motion. He fired again, and heard a water-muffled roar in response. Suddenly, the Seadramon lunged at him.

"Whoops!" Andrexmon activated the jets on his legs. He rolled hard left, out of the way of Seadramon. "That was close! Dino Buster!" He shot several times along the body of Seadramon, inflicting heavy damage and enraging the Seadramon. It raced at him again, just as he had hoped. He rolled down, shifting his arm back to claw mode. "Energy Claw!" He thrust his claws upward, the Seadramon's force carrying it along the claws, rending it open. It finally dissipated into data, the water around it stilling as its form left its void.

"Phew, that's number two. All right, next!"

(==========)

Forty minutes later, Andrexmon was feeling quite good. He had eliminated five more underwater digimon without suffering too much damage himself, and was about to waste the eighth, a Sharkmon.

"Hydro Ripper!" Sharkmon went for Andrexmon's leg, intending to tear it off.

"Dino Buster!" Andrexmon fired at nearly point-blank range, the blast tearing through Sharkmon's body and turning him to mere data.

"Hah, none of these guys are a match for me!" gloated Andrexmon. "You guys see any more from up there?"

"Nothing," reported Skydramon.

"Negative," agreed Bolteaglemon. "Looks like you took care of them all. Not bad, Andrexmon."

"Nice. That's eight of them. Your eagle eyes are as sharp as we could hope, Bolteaglemon."

"Crazy good," Skydramon agreed. "How do you do it?"

"Heck, even I'm not sure. I'm not about to complain about it, though."

"All right, then." Andrexmon looked around once more himself. "I guess I'm heading back to shore, then-"

"Wait!" Bolteaglemon cut through just as Andrexmon started to move.

"What is it?"

"I just...thought I saw something else move down there! Something we didn't see before!"

"What are you-whoa!" There was a sudden rush of water around Andrexmon. He twisted around, but was unable to see anything immediately. That is, until something very large rammed him. "Oof! What the hell's going on?"

Bolteaglemon and Skydramon both saw massive turbulence in the lake below. Skydramon yelled into his communicator, "Andrexmon! Something huge is down there! Watch out!"

"I kind of already know!" Andrexmon snapped back. "I'm attacking! Dino Buster!" He fired several times at the large creature. However, it didn't seem to have much effect. "Crap! It's not working! It's no good, I'm taking evasive-Aaaaaagh!"

Andrexmon's transmission was cut off as a jolt of electricity seared through him. Something then cut through his arm and chest, sending a red spray into the water. Andrexmon was reeling, trying to regain his senses, but before he had the chance, something wrapped around him and pulled him up to the surface.

Bolteaglemon and Skydramon watched from above as a long, serpentine creature emerged from the water. "Good lord! Is that what I think it is?" cried Bolteaglemon.

"Megaseadramon!" gasped Skydramon. "How did we not see it!"

"It must have been laying dormant on the bottom of the lake! All the activity must have woken it up!" Bolteaglemon looked closer as something else emerged from the water. "What's that? Looks like..."

"I think it's its tail!" said Skydramon. "But what's it holding?"

"Oh, no! That's Andrexmon!" They could only watch in horror as Megaseadramon tossed Andrexmon to the shore, before crashing back under the water. They waited a few moments, but it appeared that Megaseadramon was not going to come back up. Fearing the worst, they dove towards the point where Andrexmon had been thrown.

Darkwolfmon had already gone to aid the unconscious carnosaur. "These are bad wounds...I don't want to admit it, but we might need to get him to someone!"

"But where to?" asked Skydramon worriedly. "It's not like we can just waltz into the ER and ask them!"

"Reyn's house!" Bolteaglemon suggested. "His parents are doctors! They can help him out! We'll have to carry him there, though...Skydramon, come on!"

"Wait, you want to fly with him?" Skydramon's jaw dropped in shock. "Do you _want_ to be seen?"

"If you have a better idea, I'd certainly like to hear it now!" snapped Bolteaglemon, glaring at him. Skydramon mumbled something, which she took to be an admission that he didn't. "All right, Darkwolfmon, go to Reyn's house, tell him we're coming! He might need to wake up his parents! I don't like imposing, but they'll understand, I know it!"

"Very well. Please hurry!" Darkwolfmon faded into the shadows while Bolteaglemon and Skydramon worked out how they were going to carry Andrexmon.

(==========)

Reyn never considered the psychic connection between him and Salmandmon a bad thing. After all, it had helped Salmandmon survive serious battles in the digital world, brought them together when they arrived here, and now allowed them to communicate telepathically. Still, anything that comes with positives also has to come with negatives, and Reyn quickly found out what one of those negatives were, as he once more began jostling Salmandmon out of sleep.

Salmandmon grumbled in annoyance as he awoke. "What the hell is your problem, Reyn?" he asked sleepily.

"Your dreams are the problem!" Reyn hissed. "Would it kill you to dream about something else? I have to share them sometimes, you know!"

"For the love of...it wouldn't be a problem if you weren't such a prude. Don't tell me you never have dreams like that."

"There's a difference! I mean, it's more about having to watch than being involved, not to mention that...well...other creatures are not exactly compelling to me, even if one of them is my friend!"

"Oh, get over yourself. I'm sure you'd enjoy joining in."

Reyn glared at Salmandmon. "I hope you're still half-asleep, because I don't want to even think that was a serious suggestion."

"I can't help it and you know it, so shut up. What do you want out of me? Unless you know how to control dreams, you're gonna have to be mature about it and live with...hey, did you hear something?"

"Huh? I didn't..." Reyn looked around the room, confused.

"I could have sworn I just heard something..." Salmandmon mumbled, now fully awake and somewhat nervous. "Maybe it was my imagination, but if it wasn't, we should be ready for an ambush..."

"Oh, that's a fine way to greet a friend." Darkwolfmon popped out of the shadows, nearly giving Reyn and Salmandmon heart attacks.

"Darkwolfmon!" Reyn almost shouted aloud, barely having enough presence of mind to keep his voice down. "What the hell are you doing? I swear, if you're pulling pranks by coming into my room in the middle of the night..."

Darkwolfmon raised an invisible eyebrow. "By the looks of it, you two weren't exactly mired in slumber. Why should it have mattered so much?"

"Well, it's not like we couldn't have been," Reyn countered, "at least, if Salmandmon could have nicer dreams."

"Hey! Those dreams are very nice for me!"

"Er...right...if I can turn your attention to other matters for a moment, we've got a rather serious issue concerning our attempts to clear out the lake. We need your parents' help."

"My parents?" Reyn's attention was quickly captured; if Darkwolfmon wanted his parents, there was little question as to why. "Who got hurt?"

"It was Andrexmon. He's in pretty bad shape, bad enough to warrant the need for immediate treatment. I know it's late, but..."

"Say no more." Reyn jumped out of bed. "My mom's downstairs, she'll probably be awake. She's got some sleeping issues, and her weird schedule doesn't help much. I'll tell her, and we'll get my dad up in case we need his help, too. Wait..." He paused a moment. "How is Andrexmon getting here if he's injured that badly?"

"Air rescue team."

"Uh...right. How long are they going to be?"

"I can't be sure...I doubt they've tried to carry something so large and heavy, especially in a tandem, so they might be slowed down a bit. I'll check on them."

"You should, it would help us be ready. Phase in downstairs somewhere next time, I'll make sure they know so you don't scare the bejeezus out of them."

(==========)

"Try to hold still...this is probably going to sting a little bit." Andrexmon, sans marine attachments, flinched as Minerva applied some antiseptic to a large gash on his head, but did his best to follow her directions. "That should be good...all we have left are the bandages, and we'll be finished. Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Thanks...I'll be okay," mumbled Andrexmon, sounding very subdued. "I've got self-repair systems in place, they'll fix me up fine in a few hours. I really hate to be bothering you like this..." He did indeed look the worse for wear, with his arm and chest wrapped in bandages and a splint on his left leg in addition to the head injuries.

Minerva just smiled gently at him. "For the fifth time tonight, it's all right. I always have time to help out my son's friends...though, I have to say, I've never had the experience of working on a cyborg dinosaur before. And Jill says I never have any interesting stories to tell during coffee breaks."

"Buck up, Andrexmon, it's not the end of the world," Reyn added tiredly. "I got my ass kicked, too, so it's not like you're alone."

"Thanks, Reyn, but that's not exactly comforting," groaned Andrexmon. "I'm lucky I wasn't fish food...for a while, there, I thought I was."

"You were really lucky," Bolteaglemon said with a bit of a shudder. "Megaseadramon probably thought you were already finished and wanted to get back to his rest. If he'd been any more attentive, we may not have even gotten the chance to bring you here."

"But now what do we do?" Skydramon growled impatiently. "We can't just leave that behemoth down there! The lake hasn't seen a lot of activity since the monsters, but if it gets to a slow point, they'll definitely be coming back out, and if there's a bunch of motorboats on the lake..."

"Tranquilize yourself, Skydramon." Darkwolfmon's smooth voice slid across the room as he reappeared. "There is no use in getting overly worked up, even over a serious matter such as this. We will need to plan and find a way to deal with this, but it does not help us to get hysterical. Let us focus on the most immediate problems, which are Andrexmon's injuries and the inconveniences resulting from them."

"Yeah, like the problem of possibly being discovered," Andrexmon mentioned, sounding nervous. "I left the light on in my - Isaac's - room, so Isaac's parents wouldn't get suspicious about him going to bed so early. But if they see it on this late, they might try to go in and tell him to turn it off, and if he's not in there, that could put me in a lot of trouble."

"That has been taken care of," answered Darkwolfmon. "The light is off, and judging by what I observed in my reconnoissance of the house, the rest of the family is already asleep. You could sneak in now and no one would notice."

"Yeah, but I can't go in there like this. I need a few hours for the self-repair to take care of the major injuries, otherwise they might not heal properly when I split. And if I'm still asleep and they decide to come in for whatever reason...well, I don't know what'll happen, but it'll be bad without a doubt."

"Why not stay here for a few hours until you've recovered, then?" suggested Treylor. "Set an alarm or something so you can get up and get back to your house before anyone wakes up and finds out you've been missing. That should give you enough time to recover."

"And I can help you out when you are ready to return," added Darkwolfmon. "I can keep an eye on the house, and warn you if someone is waking up."

"You sure about this? I mean, I hate to impose on you guys, especially after you've helped me out as much as you have."

"Hey, if you're gonna be gone in the morning anyway, you're not really imposing all that much," said Reyn. "I'm just wondering where you're gonna sleep, because I think our couch is a tad too small for your oversized frame."

"Oversized frame..." Andrexmon grumbled. "Whatever you say, shrimpy. I can just sleep on the floor, it's not a problem."

"Oh, but that wouldn't be-" Minerva started to say, but Andrexmon help up a hand.

"You've done more than enough for me already. I won't be that uncomfortable on the floor, and I don't want to put anyone out if I don't have to. Don't worry about me, it can't be any worse than getting beaten up by an oversized sea snake."

"All right. And if you're still not feeling well enough by tomorrow, don't hesitate to stay longer," Treylor offered. "We'll come up with some story for your parents."

"Thanks for the offer...I should be okay."

(==========)

Isaac gave a quick glance around the entryway. Seeing nothing, he tiptoed in, trying to be as quiet as he could. Datacarnomon followed close behind, moving quite silently for a robot.

They stopped before they reached the stairs, waiting for their signal. They got it when a hand popped out of the shadows and motioned for them to climb. They complied, knowing that they were safe.

Inside the room, Darkwolfmon appeared before them. "All right, looks like everything went off without a hitch. Take it easy today, and don't worry about everything. We'll deal with it when the time comes."

"Um...yeah," replied Isaac, sounding exhausted. "You take care, too. Don't let anyone catch you."

"Hah, no one can catch me," snickered Darkwolfmon as he disappeared. Isaac rubbed his eyes and climbed into bed, intending to sleep for a long while.

"So, what's the plan for today?" asked Datacarnomon as he settled in the corner.

Isaac grunted, "Find out what we did wrong this morning, fix it, and take care of that thing once and for all."

(==========)

"Sorry about last night, Salmandmon. I wasn't being very fair."

"'Sokay. I probably coulda dealt with it better, too. I wasn't thinking about you being able to, well, see that kinda stuff."

"It was just a little, well, weird, ya know?"

"No, I get it. It's like walking in on your best friend in the shower or something. It's just awkward, I didn't know how to respond."

"Yeah, I understand." Despite a nearly unending stream of warnings from the others, Reyn and Salmandmon were out walking again in broad daylight. They knew how reckless it was and the risk they were laying no themselves, but Salmandmon had to get out of the house or he would risk going stir-crazy. Since so few people seemed to be outside now, they decided it was worth taking a chance. The weather was warmer than the previous day, though still not comfortable.

"I wish we didn't have to worry so much about you being hunted," Reyn sighed. "It would be so much easier if we could walk like this without looking over our shoulders. It's not very relaxing to always be alert."

"I'll take what I can get. Being cooped up inside unless we're preparing for an attack is not the way I prefer to live my life. We'll have to take chances with strangers."

"Even so-" Reyn never finished, as the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching behind him drew his attention. He turned around, then ducked to the side just in time to avoid a flying jump kick from the creature coming at them. "Jesus Christ! Salmandmon, let's go!"

"Right!" The pair merged together into Burnreptimon, just in time to defend themselves against the sudden attacker. It as a saurian digimon with a single horn on its nose, a ceratopsian crest on the back of its head, and belts over its chest and long pants down its legs. "Ceramon..."

"Damn! And here I hoped to get you before you could do that!" the saurian complained, backing off his attack. "Son of a bitch..."

"Wait, you knew about this?" Burnreptimon shouted. "Who told you?"

"Stupid lizard! You think you've seen every digimon that's come into this world? We've known about your little tricks for quite some time, and the fact that you've stood against us this long means you're the prime targets now!"

"Yeah? Well, you'll have to hit me, first! Pyre Rush!" Burnreptimon shot his attack at Ceramon, but the larger digimon was unexpectedly agile. He rolled under the attack at Burnreptimon, uncoiled, and delivered a vicious punch right in the reptilian's ribs. Burnreptimon was tossed backwards and landed roughly on the ground, but was up again in a flash, rubbing his chest where the blow had landed. "Ouch..."

"That's just a taste of what I've got!" He stormed forward before Burnreptimon could prepare another fire attack, forcing him to block with his hands. A flurry of punches and kicks were delivered in his direction, and it was all Burnreptimon could do to block them.

That's what Ceramon had hoped for. After one punch, he dove his head forward. "Horn Lunge!" He rammed his head forward, the horn digging into Burnreptimon's shoulder. With a pained cry, he grabbed his shoulder, dropping his guard momentarily. With a smirk, Ceramon twisted around with a shout of "Saurian Strike!" delivered an energy-charged kick right to Burnreptimon's chest.

The fire lizard went flying into the side of a house, his arm banging loudly against the window. Amazingly, it didn't break. He crumpled to the ground, gasping painfully as each breath sent a jolt through his entire system. Slowly he got to his knees, dazed and worn out, his shoulder bleeding freely.

Ceramon didn't seem to care, as it came at him again. Knowing his chances were limited, Burnreptimon got to his feet and prepared one last shot. As Ceramon punched, he dove under it and swung behind him. Before the saurian could react, Burnreptimon bit down on the Ceramon's neck and loosed a blast of flames from his throat with his Flare Fang. The flames seared around and inside Ceramon, burning through his spinal cord and the major blood vessels in his neck. He collapsed to the ground, paralyzed and bleeding out.

Burnreptimon backed away from the fallen body, watching it dissipate into nothing. He felt a dim sickness within him as the metallic taste of blood soaked in his mouth. _That was nothing like the others...I've never had to kill like that before. I don't think I like it..._

A sudden, quiet gasp made him look up. An older woman was standing outside the house he'd been thrown into, gaping at him. Burnreptimon froze. _Damnation...how long has she been out here? How much did she see?_

There was a brief period of tense silence. Finally, Burnreptimon took a couple steps away from the woman, then suddenly turned and sprinted away. He thought he heard her shout, but the violent pain coursing through his body blocked out virtually everything. He ran as long as he could, managing to make it to The Burnout before collapsing into unconsciousness.

He awoke to the soft touch of a feathery hand. "You feeling any better?" Bolteaglemon asked as he managed to get his eyes focused. "You look like hell."

"Mrph...feel like hell, too." Burnreptimon managed to sit up against a wall, the pain still there but lessened. His shoulder was wrapped up, and judging by the pool on the ground, a lot of blood had drained out of him before that. "When did you get here?"

"Not long after you did. I was scouting around for any potential threats, and I saw blood on the ground. When I saw where it led, I knew it had to be one of us. What happened out there?"

"I got nailed by a Ceramon. Stabbed me with his horn, then kicked me into a wall. Could have been a lot worse...Reyn nearly got his head taken off before we merged."

"What about your mouth?" She pointed to the congealed blood around his mouth. "He break your jaw, too?"

"Nah...that's his. He got me in a bad position, and...well, I did what I had to."

Bolteaglemon gave him an uncomfortable look. "Do I want to know the details?"

"Let's just leave it at 'fire and internal organs don't mix.'" Oddly, he didn't feel as uncomfortable about what had happened as he did right after the act. _Maybe it's just because I've had time to get used to it..._

"Jeez..." Bolteaglemon shook her head. "First you, then Andrexmon, and now you again. It's like they're coming after us directly or something."

"No 'or something' about it. Ceramon confirmed it...he said they'd known about us for some time, and now we we're prime targets." Burnreptimon rubbed the damaged shoulder; it appeared to have mostly healed up by that time, a rate which he still found astonishing. "I had a feeling after Skullstatamon, but this makes it a certainty. It's not a good day for the good guys. Now we're as important if not more important targets than the rest of humanity."

"That's probably how they'd be operating anyway," Bolteaglemon reasoned. "Seeing as we're the ones who can really fight back effectively, it's only natural they'd want to get rid of us first. Probably won't change things all that much, but we'll have to be more careful. They can afford to lose a few members...we can't. If we fall here, there's no one else behind us to help this world."

"Yeah, I know." Burnreptimon stood unsteadily, and found himself too fatigued to stay upright. He sat back down, back against the wall. "Rgh...would you mind staying here for a while? I'd rather not be here alone in the condition I'm in."

Bolteaglemon nodded. "Of course. You just rest for a while, I'll make sure you stay safe and don't get thrown into any more walls."

"Agh, don't remind me. That's happened entirely too many times in the past few days. Oh...right, I should warn you, I did get sighted."

"Well, that was bound to happen sooner or later. When?"

"Not sure when she first came out, but I noticed her after the battle. She got a good look at me, but I don't think she managed to follow me. Still, if you see people prowling around the area, that's probably why, so you should stay away."

Bolteaglemon nodded. "I'll keep my eyes out."

(==========)

Day passed, and night fell. Isaac had all but isolated himself entirely from his surroundings; even Datacarnomon couldn't get through to him. He stared at his computer, made random inputs before deleting them with angry grumbles, and then stared some more, then made more inputs, then deleted them, and so forth. Occasionally he would rise and pace for several minutes, glancing at various machines around his room before sitting back down and resuming his previous pattern. When 11:30 rolled around, he stood up and made his announcement. "Come on, Datacarnomon. We're going."

Datacarnomon couldn't have been more surprised. "Just like that? No downloads or anything? Don't tell me you've done absolutely nothing that could help us!"

"I haven't. I tried...damn, did I ever try. I don't know what it was. I just couldn't think of anything that would be of any help." Isaac pounded his fist on his desk. "It's ludicrous! I've never been stumped before...I don't get stumped! I always have some idea, some plan! Faced with this kind of situation, I should be brimming with ideas!"

"Isaac, quiet down! Someone's going to hear you!"

"Right...sorry. It's just...frustrating. We're the only ones who can do anything about this, and just like that, I'm as lost as anyone else. I'm a genius, that shouldn't happen to me."

Datacarnomon sighed deeply. "It happens to everyone. Even the smartest people get hung up on some things at some times. You shouldn't get all that worked up about it."

"I guess," said Isaac, unconvinced. "Come on, I want to get out of here. If I spend another second in this room, faced with nothing to help me out, I'm going to go mad."

"Should we ask-"

"We're taking care of this ourselves. Let the others have a rest."

(==========)

Despite the late hour, Emil felt wide awake. This was partially due to a long nap he'd taken back at the office and partially due to the report he'd gotten. Another creature had been sighted, and there was supposedly new information to be gathered.

Emil couldn't get a hold of Elliot when the call came in, and so he was resigned to going to the site of the incident himself. As he drove, he couldn't help but mull over the odd story he'd heard the day before, still wondering what it could possibly mean. He hoped that perhaps this new sighting could help shed light on the situation.

When he arrived, a number of police cars were around the house. Some were taking note of bloodstains in the grass and on the road; others were poring over some damage in the siding of the house, right next to the window which, upon closer inspection, Emil noticed the wood frame at the top of the window had splintered. Looking around some more, he caught sight of a middle-aged woman who was apparently very irritated, almost yelling at an officer that was standing in front of her, not appearing very attentive. Emil decided to start there.

"I'm telling you what happened!" the woman said loudly as Emil approached. "Why do you act like I'm making stuff up?"

"Ma'am, please, don't argue with me," the officer grumbled, writing something down in a notepad. "This happens all the time. You're in a stressful situation, you start feeling panic and hysteria, and you recall things that don't make sense."

"I'm making plenty of sense! You just don't want to believe me!" The woman saw Emil approaching and quickly dragged him into the situation. "You! Maybe you can tell this jerk to start acting like a professional!"

"Er...I'll take over here, officer, if you don't mind." The officer shrugged and gave him a _she's all yours_ look before walking back to one of the squad cars. Emil sighed and turned towards the woman. "Sorry...I don't know what it is. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

The woman folded her arms and looked brusquely at Emil; whatever she was, she certainly didn't seem hysterical or panicked. "Well, it all happened like this. I heard shouting outside, and I decided to take a look, and there were these two...things out there! One of them looked like the red lizard thing that was on the news, the other one looked like some kind of dinosaur-man or something."

"Dinosaur-man? Did it have any-"

"Metal? No, not that kind of dinosaur, something like a...a...shoot, the kind my nephew likes, a...triceratops, is that what they're called? Yeah, I think that's it. Except, oh, it only had one horn, so it was a bit different."

Emil began to wonder how the officer had come to the conclusion that she was misremembering; she seemed to have a decent grasp on the details to him. "Right, okay, so the other one was the red reptilian creature? You're sure about that?"

"Well, if it wasn't, it did a damn good impression! Looked a lot like the one on the news, like I said. Anyway, these two creatures were fighting each other-"

Emil did a double take. "What? Fighting each other?"

"That's what I said. The officer didn't believe me either...I don't know why it's so hard for everyone to get, they're supposed to be brutes, aren't they? Well, I went outside to get a better look, and I promise you the dinosaur monster was beating up on the lizard monster pretty bad - he stabbed him with his horn and then kicked him right into my house. The thing's arm slammed against the window, I'm shocked he didn't break it. He looked pretty out of it, but when the dinosaur came after him again, he got behind it and bit it right in the neck!" She made a gesture with her hand on her own neck to illustrate the point. "It fell to the ground, and then it just...sort of dissolved or something!"

"D...dissolved?"

"I know! It was weird! Anyway, the lizard-thing didn't realize I was there until the other creature was gone. It looked like it was more scared of me than I was of it...not that I was all that scared at the time, I probably would have been more than a match for it in that condition! Sure did surprise me, though. Then it just up and ran away, like I was coming after it or something."

Emil rubbed his head; things were just getting stranger and stranger. "It ran away? It didn't try to attack you or anything?"

"After the abuse it took? I'm surprised it could even run!" She suddenly gave him a penetrating look. "You _do_ believe me, don't you? I didn't get a giant dent in the side of my damn house just to be called a liar!"

Emil sighed in frustration. "Well, I don't really see any reason not to believe you, you don't seem to have any difficulty recalling what happened...the event itself borders on unbelievable, but...well, at this point almost nothing makes sense. I don't get it, why would those two creatures be fighting?"

"Well, maybe they weren't on the same side or something. How should I know? I thought I heard them chattering before they started fighting, but I couldn't hear it clearly through the walls, and by the time I got out there it was all violence."

"Right...well, thank you for your input. I'll have to take it under consideration. But try to stay inside if any other monsters come around...putting yourself right in the line of fire is a very dangerous move."

"Yeah, yeah." The woman turned around and headed back into her house. Emil just shook his head to clear his thoughts and started back to his vehicle. _That's another account that doesn't line up. What on Earth is going on here? What are we missing? Maybe Elliot knows something...I sure hope he does, because I feel like I know less and less as I learn more._

(==========)

Andrexmon once more found himself at the water's edge in the middle of the night, though with considerably fewer spectators than the previous night. He was not at all as carefree as he had been the night before; now he was deadly serious, focused entirely on what was coming, and not at all looking forward to it.

_Here goes nothing..._

He stepped into the water quietly, cringing a bit as his body began to register the water temperature. The night was warmer than the last, but that apparently didn't carry over to the lake. Since the heating program wasn't designed to be active above water, Andrexmon decided it would be a good idea to get more than his feet wet, and continued wading in slowly until he was fully submerged.

Activating the heating program and motor, Andrexmon began his journey to the bottom of the lake. It wasn't terribly deep, from what he'd heard, but the lake was large, and he worried that he would have to do a lot of searching.

Those worries had been unfounded. Megaseadramon's form was visible under his thermal visor very clearly on the bottom. It was motionless at the moment. _Wonder if it's asleep?_ though Andrexmon idly. _Not for long, if it is._

The figure shifted underneath him. _Uh-oh...how's that for a prophetic thought?_

Something heavy slammed into him from behind. He regained his focus just in time to avoid another strike from the lower body of Megaseadramon. _Whoa, that was close! Better keep an eye out!_ He fired his cannon at Megaseadramon futilely, trying to keep himself aware of the location of the body at all times. But with such a long body, it was a difficult task, and he kept having near misses.

Then it happened. Megaseadramon, apparently tired of dealing with the pest that kept shooting him, encircled Andrexmon's legs and started wrapping its lower body around him, squeezing him tightly. Andrexmon felt his body being compressed, and found that he was having trouble breathing. He didn't notice Megaseadramon aiming its horn at him. "Thunder Javelin!"

A jolt of electricity seared through Andrexmon, jarring him. He could barely breathe as it was, and his mind was beginning to waver. _No! I can't...I can't give in now...I'm not gonna lose, not to him!_

Andrexmon pushed out with all his strength, trying to remove himself from Megaseadramon's clutches before it could attack him again. Eyes closed, every muscle tensed outwards, he started to feel the grip loosen. He breathed in rapidly, trying to make up for lost air, and with a final push threw himself out of the dragon's clutches. It was only then he noticed the change.

_Whoa! I evolved or something!_ His body had grown even larger, almost reaching ten feet in height. His weapon arm had changed drastically, with the mechanical parts extending all the way up his arm and over his shoulder. Metal covered more of his body, extending over half his head, most of his upper chest and shoulders, and the fronts of his upper legs; the mechanical areas over his body were more symmetrical than his previous form, save for his head and arms. Each of his scales had a pattern visible within them, something like the circuits of a computer chip.

_Ha, I've become Mecharexmon..._ he thought, an unexpected surge of ferocity rampaging through him. _That should be enough to take out this overgrown eel!_ Said eel was renewing its assault as he thought this, and he was forced to evade; he realized that the underwater attachment was still in place, and itself was far stronger than it had been in its previous form. With a burst of speed, he charged Megaseadramon, the massive claws on his metallic right arm glowing with power as he slashed into the large sea dragon's flesh. "Plasma Claw!"

The claws left tears in Megaseadramon's body; it screeched in pain, a sound that Mecharexmon was sure could be heard above the lake. "Dammit, shut up before you blow both of our covers!" he growled. "Swarm Missiles!" Compartments in his mechanical shoulder opened up, and a dozen small missiles shot out and swerved around before locking on Megaseadramon and blasting into it. Megaseadramon let out another loud screech, but it was weaker, indicating that it was wearing. It still had enough to fight back, though, and did its best. "Thunder Javelin!" It fired its electrical attack once again, and struck home once more, but Mecharexmon bore it much more easily than Andrexmon had. "Nice try!" he shouted through the water. "Now die!"

He aimed his metal arm at Seadramon, and converted it into its cannon form; instead of a single blaster, four openings stared out from the barrel. "Saur Blaster!" The weapon fired in chaingun format, each blast being almost as powerful on its own as one Dino Buster attack, with added force behind it. The shots pummeled Megaseadramon, the sheer number of blows making up for the lack of power in each individual shot. "And now for the finale!" The firing stopped as Mecharexmon charged the weapon, each of the four ends glowing sinisterly. He unleashed the blast, sending a powerful ray of energy at Megaseadramon, ripping its body in two. The torn digimon disappeared, stilling the water.

The adrenaline began to die down within Mecharexmon, only to be replaced by relief. _I did it...I actually did it. Damn, that was lucky. If I hadn't evolved right then...I'd better get out of here before someone decides to bring in the authorities to investigate the noises._ He motored to the edge of the lake, staying underwater long enough to ascertain that there was no one above water. He hadn't even emerged when he knew something was off.

His thermal visor indicated multiple figures at the water's edge, and others crouched in the bushes near the dock. He couldn't determine what they were doing exactly, but he had little doubt of who they were. _Wow, they got here fast...it can't have been more than two minutes! Someone must have reported strange activity out here last night...guess my diversion tactic wasn't entirely effective._

He stayed under the water, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He didn't want to have to harm them in order to get away, nor did he want to stand up and get shot a few dozen times, which he had little doubt would happen if they saw him. _Great, I might have to stay down here all night..._

Just then, he could make out loud shouts of panic from the people on the surface. They all began running over to one spot, giving Mecharexmon an obvious opportunity. He ran from the water, completely bypassing the congregation of humans by the bushes. It took but one look for him to understand what had happened.

After a good minute of running, he came to a stop within the trees. Checking his sensors, he saw no sign of humans near his immediate location, and breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess I owe you one, Darkwolfmon. When'd you figure out I was out here?"

Darkwolfmon appeared out in front of Mecharexmon. "If you were perhaps slightly more attentive, you would check your sensors more often. Then maybe you'd have realized I'd been watching you the entire time. Did you honestly think you were going to fool me into thinking that you were going to take it easy tonight?"

"You never trust what I say."

"No one does, because they're always right not to." Darkwolfmon surveyed Mecharexmon for a moment. "Nice figure. Judging by the fact that you're still alive, I take it it was enough to put down that Megaseadramon, negating your utter foolishness in going it alone when you knew you were outmatched."

Mecharexmon grinned. "Hell yeah! That bastard put up a good fight even when injured, but I put it in its place. Nothin' can stand up to these guns!" He flexed his arms in a display of bravado that Darkwolfmon received coolly.

"Delightful. Unless you're coming on to me, you can stop showing off. We can't count on going unnoticed for long if we don't get a move on...those agents and officers are no doubt looking for the culprit that tied up one of their own, meaning they're on high alert. We need to find a refuge where we can normalize."

"Don't worry about me. My sensors will keep me informed."

"Yes, if you bother to keep up with them."

"Hey, I don't make that mistake that often!"

"Yes, you do. This is the fourth occurrence that I know about. What is the point of being a metalhead with all sorts of gadgets if you never use them?"

"All right already. I'll make sure to keep all my eyes open."

"Exquisite. And while you're at it, you might consider de-evolving. A hulking demimachine like yourself is easily spotted."

"Yeah, like I'm _that_ much less noticeable in my base form." Still, Mecharexmon took the advice and devolved to Andrexmon. "Until next time, then."

"Safe travels." Darkwolfmon once again disappeared into the night.

(==========)

(==========)

One of my more heavily-revised chapters between conception and finalization. It's a pretty busy chapter, with a lot of different things going on, and it was a lot more clumsy the first time around. I like how it turned out in the end, though, and I think I did a much better job working in details that I could use in the future than I did before.

I imagine sharing dreams would get a little awkward if they strayed into more, ah, mature subject matter. Originally they just woke up for no reason; this was added in after a conversation with a friend concerning something similar, and I think it's makes it seem a little less contrived (not much, but every bit counts).

I guess that's it until next week. I'll keep on writing!


	13. Chapter 12: New Heights

Whoops, is it Saturday? Busy day yesterday, totally spaced on the chapter. Won't keep you waiting any longer!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 12: New Heights**

Elliot entered the technician's lab, perturbed at having been called away from the field. He knew that he had submitted the samples and wanted to be informed of the testing, but he still had wished they would have just told him over the phone. But no, the tech wanted him in the lab to see for himself, and so with an air of impatience, he had complied.

"This had better be worth my time," he snapped at Rudy, the head lab technician for the agency. Elliot thought he was a nice person and a capable lab rat, though a bit too excitable for his liking. "I don't want to have my time wasted in here when I could be searching for those fiends."

"Oh, trust me, sir, it will be well worth it," responded Rudy eagerly. "I took the time to analyze the hairs you gave me. It took me a long time, I think because I was trying to use parameters that were too complex."

"What?" Elliot generally had some understanding of what the lab techs were saying, but this one went over his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, here, look at this." Rudy brought up the screen with his analysis: a screen full of 1's and 0's and nothing else.

"Is this a goddamn joke, Rudy?"

"No, sir! This is actually how the analysis turned out! What you've given me, what those hairs are, are data! Pure and simple!"

"Data? You can't be serious...are you trying to tell me that we're chasing after computer programs? Or are we talking robots?"

"Not just computer programs..._extremely_ complex computer programs. Programs that are actually complex enough to replicate life! Different from robots - robots are machines, and these are actual creatures." Noticing the look on Elliot's face, Rudy quickly added, "I understand your skepticism, sir, but I swear to you I ran every analysis I could think of, and it all come back to this."

"So..." Elliot mumbled under his breath, "I've had one of them under my nose the whole time..."

"Sorry, sir, was I supposed to hear that?"

"No, you weren't." Elliot stared at the screen, trying to keep all the numbers from blending together. Suddenly, something popped out at him. "Rudy, I'm seeing patterns...it seems like there are certain sequences repeating every now and then."

"Yes, I noticed that. I didn't want to start converting them right away, because I wanted you to see this. I want to try converting these to ASCII..."

"It might be a clue. Hackers sometimes have certain signatures. Can you show me a few of the conversions?"

"Sure...let's start from the top. Unless the data is incomplete, the beginning of the sequence should start up at the beginning."

"Obviously. Show me."

Rudy scanned a row of the numbers, and sent them through a conversion program. As they ran, Rudy asked, "So, do you really think this is the work of hackers?"

"Rudy, I honestly don't know what to think. We've never had something like this happen before, so at the moment, pretty much anything is an option. I don't think I've ever heard of a hacker so good he could make his programs come to life, but if something like that was to happen...well, maybe they _could_ be made of data. I'm no computer expert, I don't know how it would turn out. The fact is, right now, I'm willing to believe anything if it takes care of the problem."

The computer screen changed, indicating it had finished its small analysis. A sequence of letters showed up. "Whoa! You weren't kidding - these are repeating sequences!" Rudy exclaimed in excitement. "And they're...they're..."

"A...C...G...and T..." Elliot said. "If I'm not mistaken...those are the letters that represent adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine...the base nucleotides in human DNA."

"Wow, that's pretty good."

"Well, that was my original specialty. Almost went into that field instead of government work. Do you think you could translate it fully?"

"Let's see...it could take anywhere from a few hours to a couple days of non-stop calculations, depending on how fast the computer operates and how long the full profile is...I can only estimate the size because of how big it is. These computers are fast, so it might be on the lower end even if it's a long sequence, but I can't make promises. I might be able to get a full profile, but that might be of only limited use, and I don't want to waste your time if it doesn't pan out."

Elliot thought for a moment. An idea came to mind.

"No...make the full profile. When you have, determine the extent of the profile and run it against the profile of the most similar Earth species you can find in the database. That is, whatever profiles they have on the database. They've got a pretty diverse array, right?"

Rudy appeared confused. "I-I think so...they get some of it directly from NCBI, and I know there's supposed to be a bunch of genomes and such. But what's that going to accomplish?"

"Consider one matches. If the genome bears similarities to a known creature, we might find a surprise weakness. For example, if the genetic code is similar to, say, a fruit fly, we might be able to eliminate them with insecticides. Or maybe it'll be like a bacterium, and some known antibiotic will be effective. I know it's a real shot in the dark, but this thing turned Twilight Zone a long time ago, and if even a remotely possible lead pans out, even if it sounds absurdly Hollywood, it just might turn the tide in our favor. There's so many species out there, all with different DNA. And they all have weaknesses somewhere. Viruses, parasites, toxins...anything we can exploit will be helpful to us."

"That's brilliant, sir! Should I test it against all the representatives of the creature it's most similar to?"

"If there are multiple representatives in the database, yes. We wouldn't want to find out that our creature is of a strain resistant to the normal weapon after we try it against them."

"All right. I'll let you know about the results."

"Please do." Elliot left Rudy on his own. It was time to face off with Derek.

(==========)

Iris nervously fidgeted in front of the Katrans' door. Half of her mind was telling her to leave now and not bother Derek, and the other half was urging her to stay. It had been like this a lot for her lately, and she didn't get why that was.

She was surprised when Elliot opened the door. "Oh! Hi, Elliot!" All the Conover kids were on a first-name basis with Derek's parents, as he was with theirs; it was a testament to the closeness of their families. "I didn't realize you were home! I thought you'd be out fighting monsters!"

"I have been for some time," Elliot said with a smile. "You haven't seen any around lately, have you?"

"Not up close and personal," Iris lied. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could talk to Derek?"

"He's not home," admitted Elliot with a shake of his head. "Actually, I've been waiting to talk to him myself...about that new dog of his."

"Oh, you mean Blackie?" Iris said, maintaining her chipper demeanor even as she felt her stomach churn. "He's a real nice dog! Derek said he was a stray, though, so I guess the owner called?"

"Erm...there's a bit more to the story than that, but it's something I really need to discuss with Derek."

Iris smiled. "Okay! I don't want to bother you!" As she said this, she sent a telepathic message to Shockavimon: _Find Derek and Blackcanismon! His dad knows that Blackcanismon is a digimon, and I think he plans on doing something nasty to him if he comes back!_

_Roger!_ came the reply.

"You're not bothering me at all, Iris. It's always nice to see you. I keep telling Emil how lucky he is to have a daughter like you."

"Aw...how is Daddy, by the way? He hasn't been around much lately."

"Same with me. We've been very busy at the offices, what with the monsters and all." Elliot suddenly frowned. "Iris...are you all right out here on your own? I'm sorry, you probably get a lot of this from your own parents, but I'm worried about you being by yourself out here, given the current state of things..."

"Oh, I'm not worried! How could the monsters possibly eat a cute girl like me?" This was a joke, obviously, and it had the intended effect as Elliot smiled widely. "I'm not wandering off too far, anyway, because my dad wants me to stay in more, so I think I'm okay."

"Well, all right. I'm sorry Derek's not around."

"Oh, don't worry! I'll just come back later!" Elliot closed the door and Iris walked away, hoping Shockavimon would catch Derek and Blackcanismon before they got to his house.

Unfortunately, Shockavimon reported that she had no idea where Derek was. Undaunted, Iris told her to fly around close enough to Derek's house that she would see him before he got in. She herself found a good place to hide close by, ready to catch him and let him know what was up.

She didn't have too long to wait; she started to heard Derek's voice after just a few minutes. "It's really beautiful out, Blackcanismon. I may prefer night-time, but I guess there is something to say for daylight."

"Indubitably. Light resides on the dichotomy with darkness; appreciation of the latter doesn't preclude that of the former, despite one's personal preference."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm glad we have an opportunity to enjoy it...it's been kind of rough the last couple weeks, but I guess that helps us appreciate the peace even more." Something about Derek's tone struck Iris. He seemed different to her, though she couldn't quite place how it was. In any event, she had little time to reflect on it, as Derek and Blackcanismon had just come into view. "Derek! Wait!"

Derek jumped a bit, surprised to see Iris. "Oh! Hey...what are you doing here?" Even his demeanor seemed different to her, but she pushed that out of her mind for the moment.

"Listen, I've got to talk to you!" Iris explained what had happened when she'd gone up to his house. Whatever differences she had seen or heard before had evaporated by the time she got done; Derek looked extremely serious, and his grip on Blackcanismon's leash had tightened to white-knuckled.

"Damn...he found out. I knew that slip would come back to haunt me...he's waiting for me now?"

"Yeah. He wants Blackcanismon...and I doubt it's to give him a medal."

Derek nodded. "Yeah, you can say that again...Blackcanismon, what do you think we should do?"

"I think it would be a grave misjudgment to initiate a confrontation, given your father's position and position. It will be necessary to be evasive...perhaps I shouldn't even be present."

"We could keep an eye on you, B.C.," Shockavimon suggested. "That way, you won't have to be alone and you'll be safely away from harm."

"Yeah, but Derek still needs something to tell his dad," Iris noted.

Derek closed his eyes, lost in thought. "Hm...I may have an idea..."

(==========)

Elliot waited for almost a half-hour after Iris had left. His patience was wearing thinner with each minute, and for the first time in a long time he wondered if it wasn't time to break down and get the kid a cell phone. But finally, Derek walked through the door.

The dog wasn't with him.

"Derek, where's that dog?"

"Iris ran into me when I was coming home. She said something about how you wanted to talk to me about the dog, and she thought you were making me give him up, so she wanted to spend some time with him." Derek didn't know how convincing he sounded, but it was the best he could do on short notice. "Did you find the owner, Dad? I guess if you did, I can't complain, but-"

"Derek, the dog doesn't have an owner." Elliot looked darkly at Derek. "That's because that dog is a monster."

Derek gave his dad a well-practiced look of mixed irritation and shock. "What? Oh, come on, dad! If you don't want me to have a dog, just tell me!"

"This isn't me fooling around!"

"Dad, you're so paranoid! You've been seeing monsters all around me ever since that thing in the sky exploded! Why can't you relax a bit? I've never even seen one of those things on my walks, let alone run into them!"

"Derek, listen to me! I admit I have been worried about monster attacks, but this is different! I know he's a monster!"

"How could he be? He's never attacked anyone! You've spent time around him yourself, and he's never hurt you! He's barely been away from me for any appreciable length of time, and he's never given me so much as a scratch!"

"I found out today. I took some hair samples...and sent them in to be scanned on our computers. The way his...basic structure is formatted is not like any creature on Earth. It's entirely based on data. Like a computer program...it's unequivocal proof that he's not of this world."

This time Derek didn't have to act, as he was truly struck dumb by the revelation that his father had pulled off a stunt like that without him realizing it. He didn't respond, instead sending a panicked relay to his partner. _We're boned! I should have known he'd pull something like this...I'm never gonna be able to worm my way out of this one!_

_An unfortunate occurrence, to be sure. It may be of paramount importance to formulate an excuse for my unexpected escape, so as to remain safely removed from this problematic scenario._

_Maybe we can work that out...whoops, I'd better pay attention._ Derek split from the mind conversation and rejoined his father, who appeared to not have noticed him zoning out. "Derek, we can get you another dog, a real one. We'll discuss that later. But right now, I need you to bring 'Blackie' back to me. We have to bring him into the lab, get some information from him, and keep the public safe from him."

"The public's already safe from him," replied Derek acidly. "Or did I miss the memo where peaceful creatures were a threat to humanity?"

"Don't argue with me! Just do it!"

Angrily, Derek stomped out of the house. What had begun as an act had turned into a very real dramatic production. He was violently pissed off that his father was typecasting Blackcanismon just because of what other digimon did, which was amazingly unfair. Even worse, he wanted to experiment on him! Derek had no intention of standing for that.

The three had stowed away in one of the nature areas to avoid detection, though there wasn't much risk of others recognizing Blackcanismon as a threat. The canine guided Derek to the spot, and he had no trouble getting there. Keeping his temper down was a different story.

"God dammit!" he yelled angrily, shaking a fist at no one in particular. "Why the hell won't he listen? Blackcanismon's done nothing wrong, it's not fair for him to claim he's a problem!"

"Jeez, calm down, Derek!" Iris exclaimed, alarmed at his anger. "You can't change anything by going nuts! Come on, we've got to figure out how to get out you of this situation! And we have to hurry, or your dad's gonna get suspicious!"

"I know, I know! I just shouldn't have to have this problem in the first place!"

"Certainly not fortuitous, but hardly could we claim inevitability for this particular scenario," Blackcanismon replied calmly. "Let us concentrate our endeavors on confabulating a prevarication believable enough to satisfactorily dissuade him from his pursuit."

"But how?"

Iris thought for a couple moments. "I think I know. Since Elliot already knows you're not normal, he'd probably buy something like this..."

(==========)

Elliot's patience was not at its best level in recent days, and the further delay was only taxing his meager resources further. After another half hour, Derek finally came back in, looking as dark as Elliot had ever seen him. He still didn't see the dog.

"Derek? Did you bring the dog?"

"No," he replied with as much bitterness as he could muster, which was quite a bit. "Turns out I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to him. Iris was talking to him about how they found his old master...he must have known the jig was up."

"If he wasn't a monster," said Elliot, "he wouldn't have understood that-"

"I don't care if he was a monster!" shouted Derek. "He never did anything wrong! And he was a damn good friend!" It was a practiced line, but it still had very real anger behind it. "I'm going to my room...don't follow me." He stomped up the stairs past Elliot, who simply glared after him in frustration.

Derek plopped down on his bed, sighing deeply and frustratedly. _What the hell am I gonna do now? I can't sneak him in, that would be practically giving him to Dad...but I can't just leave him out there on his own, and I don't wanna put him so far away from me that I can't get to him quickly..._ He stared out the window at the spot his friend was hiding, mulling over any possible way to get around the situation...but those thoughts were soon driven away when he saw a yellow figure rise up from the trees into the air. _Uh-oh...what now?_

(==========)

"Shouldn't we be talking to the others before going out hunting like this?" asked Breezedramon as they walked the familiar path between Skylar's and Issac's houses. "It would be a lot easier if there were more of us looking."

"Maybe, but it's probably not gonna happen. Reyn and Isaac have had a bear of a time in the last few days, what with getting beaten up repeatedly and all. They need to take it easy for a while. Iris said she and Derek were busy with something. We're the only ones available at the moment."

"Aw, man. Just our luck. What happens if we find one of those guys that attacked us?"

"We capture them if we can, wipe them out if we have to. Do you even know what we're searching for?"

"Um...Data said five of 'em escaped. Er...Felismon, Elecmon, and some bunch of others. I can't remember which ones were still up at the end."

"So we're going in half-blind, at that," Skylar concluded with a sigh.

"Sorry! I've got a inconstonantant memory!"

"Well, we'll just have to make do. Sometimes I wish I had sensors like Datacarnomon, so we could see beyond what our eyes can see."

"I just hope we don't get ganged up on again," Breezedramon said nervously. "That was scary...if it wasn't for Salmandmon's sudden rush, we might have been done for. I still don't know how that happened...none of them would tell me."

"Supposedly, it was some sort of energy transfer thing," Skylar explained. "But I'm not sure if it was something that any one of us could do...maybe it was just a lucky thing. In any case, I'm not exactly keen to find out."

"What, you're not even curious?" Breezedramon smirked. "Hey, then I'll try. If it works, then it should be mutual, right?"

"Hey, we were just talking about fighting digimon! I don't want you exhausting yourself out here!"

"Relax, I'm not gonna exhaustate myself! I'm just gonna give ya a little booster!" Breezedramon landed on Slylar's shoulders, grabbing the boy's head to keep himself steady.

"Hey, cut that out! You're heavy! And those claws hurt!"

"Ah, you can handle it. Just calm down for a second." Breezedramon closed his eyes and focused on trying to give energy to Skylar. Skylar couldn't see what the dramon was doing, but he felt the effects after a moment, a sudden rush that permeated his body from the head down.

"Hey, it worked!" Breezedramon hopped to the ground, panting slightly. "Guess it wasn't just a lucky occurrence, huh?"

"Are you all right, Breezedramon?"

"I'm fine! Okay, I'm a little worn, but I've been a lot worse. The question is, how do _you_ feel?"

"Weird..." Skylar shuddered a bit. "It's like everything's amplified...all my senses are on edge, hyper-sensitive. I feel like I could run at top speed for an hour straight and not feel even the slightest bit exhausted."

"It would be even stronger if you got all my energy," said Breezedramon. "Of course, that's really not necessary, is it?"

"Definitely not right now...hey, quiet down a second."

"Huh? Okay..." Breezedramon remained silent as Skylar listened intently to his surroundings. He'd heard something out of place. Something like a person breathing...

_Did you hear a digimon?_ Breezedramon asked telepathically, so as to not disturb Skylar so much.

_Maybe...no, not a digimon..._ Skylar suddenly realized it. "Benny!" He wheeled around and stormed to the bushes, instantly locating his younger brother. The boy looked stricken at having been found out. "What are you doing out here?" Skylar shouted, almost louder than he intended. "You're supposed to stay home! You can't just go wandering out on your own like this!"

"S-sorry!" Benny replied, looking on the verge of tears. "I was just...I wanted to see where you and Breezedramon were always going! Mom always says to stay in, but you always go out, and I just wanted to see what you did!"

"All right, stop crying, Benny..." Skylar took a deep breath to cool himself. Benny was generally more well-behaved than most his age, but he had to remind himself that Benny was still five years old, and he had definitely received the same genetic curiosity that Skylar himself had; he shouldn't have been so surprised that the boy would start to wonder about him. "Look, I know you're interested in what Breezedramon and I do all the time, but it's dangerous out here. I wouldn't be going anywhere if it wasn't with him. And I don't want you to be hurt. So you need to go home, okay?"

"Okay..." Benny wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sky..."

Skylar smiled warmly. "It's all right...I'm sorry I shouted. Just don't do it again, okay?"

A screech from the sky interrupted them. Both Skylar and Benny looked up, and saw a rather nightmarish sight. Large, serpentine dragons with what appeared to be skulls adorning their heads flew over the city, circling like vultures.

"Airdramon!" cried Breezedramon. "That's bad news if I ever saw it! They'll just start destroying stuff without a thought!"

"Benny, go home, now!" ordered Skylar. "Stay out of sight of those things!"

"What about you?" Benny asked Skylar, wide-eyed.

"I'm...I'm going to find the friend I was going to meet out here, and make sure they're safe. Then I'll come home, I promise."

"But what if they're in trouble and you get hurt?"

"No one's gonna get hurt! I won't let that happen, Benny, I'll make sure no one gets hurt at all. You just get home so I don't have to worry about you, okay?"

"Okay...don't get hurt, Sky..." Skylar watched for a few seconds as Benny began to run towards home, and then turned and ran in the opposite direction, Breezedramon close behind. "That was quick thinking!" the dragon complimented.

"Let's hope it was enough to keep him from getting suspicious!" Skylar skidded to a stop under a passable opening in the trees. "Let's go!"

(==========)

Benny started wading though the branches, glancing back a couple times to see if Skylar was watching him. He wasn't, as far as Benny could tell. He was so frightened that he forgot to pay attention to what was in front of him; as such, he didn't notice the thing on the ground until he'd tripped over it.

"Agh!" he cried as he hit the ground. Instantly he scrambled up, looking around fearfully, thinking he'd been attacked. It was a moment before he realized that what he'd come into contact with was a creature on the ground. He knelt down to get a closer look. "Um...hi?"

(==========)

Skydramon shot up from the forest, his eyes fixed on the Airdramon he'd seen from the ground. There were three of them, and they looked nasty. He could see some damage to a few buildings, minor but significant.

"I don't know if I can do this on my own..." he growled to himself. Luckily for him, he didn't have to; he saw Bolteaglemon flying up from a different part of the city towards the battle. "Well, that's nice..."

The Airdramon saw him before he could make his attack. All three started on him, coming from three different directions. Quickly Skydramon determined which directions were safe and evaded to one of them. As he did, he unleashed his attacks. "Twister Orb!"

The attack pelted against the side of one of the Airdramon, it's loud screech indicating that it had made a mark. The screech distracted all the Airdramon, and their attack suddenly became uncoordinated. Skydramon took advantage of this opportunity to unleash a barrage of Twister Orbs as Bolteaglemon arrived on the scene.

"Glad you showed up, Bolteaglemon!" Skydramon shouted over the commotion. "Give me a hand, will ya?"

"Gladly! But watch out, there's something else up here! Spark Wave!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Skydramon as the Spark Wave scattered the Airdramon.

"I'm talking about those-" Bolteaglemon pointed over to the west; a pair of helicopters were flying in for the attack. "And that!" Bolteaglemon pointed east, where a small creature was whizzing around in the air, too fast for Skydramon to make out what it was.

"Damn, it's a free-for-all up here today! Take cover!" Skydramon and Bolteaglemon split up as the Airdramon lunged at them. "I've had enough of you! Aero Nail!" Skydramon charged as the Airdramon looped around to find him, tearing into its hide before it could evade. Being the most damaged of the trio, the attack was enough to eliminate it from the sky.

Bolteaglemon flew in close "Nicely done, Skydramon! But I think we'd better beat it!"

The helicopters roared into the vicinity, drawing the attention of the remaining Airdramon. The creatures made to attack the newcomers. The choppers reversed quickly, and fired a barrage of missiles. They struck both remaining Airdramon bodily, destroying them.

"Hey...maybe they stand a chance without us after all," commented Skydramon.

"Look sharp...I think we're next!"

Skydramon cursed loudly as the helicopters fired on him and Bolteaglemon. A number of missiles homed in on them, forcing them to fly away. Skydramon knew he wouldn't be able to shake their tail, so he was forced to blindly fire Twister Orbs behind him, trying to destroy the deadly followers.

In a flash, something slammed into Skydramon, driving him hard through the air; he was well away from the fray by the time he managed to recover. Even then it was hard enough to stay aloft, what with the sudden pain in his ribs and wings. Shaking his head and clutching his ribs, he tried to get a bead on whatever had hit him.

The creature looked like a miniature purple jet, complete with missiles under the plane-like wings. The legs and head, however, gave away the fact that it was a digimon. A Pteramon, at that. "Ugh...looks like I forgot about that one..."

Shaking off his wooziness, he flew back over to the battleground. The helicopters were firing at the Pteramon, but it was far faster than their weapons could hope to match. Skydramon added his own contribution by tossing a few Twister Orbs its way. Pteramon noticed the attack, and burst away from it with amazing speed. Skydramon cursed again; the thing moved too fast for him or his attacks. And Bolteaglemon's as well, he noticed when he saw a field of electrical bolts come into his vision.

The helicopters fired more missiles, a much smaller volley; Skydramon knew they had to be running out of ammunition. Pteramon countered these with its own missiles, creating a series of explosions in mid-air. Once the missiles were gone, Pteramon turned to the helicopters, which were beating a hasty retreat.

Skydramon watched, horrified, as Pteramon closed the gap with little effort, and fired once more. A pair of missiles slammed into one of the helicopters, shearing off the tail and destroying the rotor blades. The damaged copter began to plummet rapidly to the ground.

"NO!" Skydramon dove, his heart racing; he knew his speed wouldn't be enough to reach the helicopter before it hit the ground. Still, he pushed himself harder, desperately trying to speed up, remembering his vow to Benny.

He wasn't even aware of the change as it started. His body grew larger and stronger, especially his wings. Streamlined armor formed over his chest, around his forearms and lower legs, and a helmet manifested itself over his head, wrapping around the horns protruding from the back of his head and forming transparent shields over the eyes. Two powerful energy jets attached to each of his wings, with bladed armor forming over the fronts. A large polearm weapon also formed, firmly attached to the back of his armor in order to keep it from being swept away.

Now completely operating on automatic, he spread his wings, activating the jets on them. They expelled a radiant blue-violet energy as they powered up. His speed increased dramatically, rapidly narrowing the gap between him and the falling helicopter, finally letting him reach it. He swooped underneath and pushed against it with his whole body, trying to counter the velocity of the fall. The ground was still approaching at a rapid clip, though; the helicopter weighed too much to stop it without some added help. Thinking extremely fast, he extended a clawed hand towards the ground. "Psycho Squall!"

A powerful rush of wind pulsed up from the ground, boosting the drag force on the helicopter. With the added resistance, he felt their descent slow enough for him to finally take control. Soon, he was essentially carrying the machine downward in his hands, and in fact when he touched down, he realized his body was strong enough to support the large machine's weight on its own. He gently set it on the ground, his breaths still coming long and hard but a strong sense of elation running through his mind. "Ah ha...hahaha! I did it! Yeah!"

Finally able to take the time to consciously register the changes, he looked his new body over. "Cool...this must be Jetdramon. I wonder if it's fast enough to take out Pteramon...guess there's only one way to find out!" He pushed himself off the ground, getting himself airborne before activating the jets on his wings.

Rocketing up into the sky, he saw Pteramon assaulting Bolteaglemon, who was unable to hit the speedy digimon with her attacks. Jetdramon sped at Pteramon, who didn't notice the new opponent until he was on top of it. "Shear Claw!" He bared his claws, now enveloped in a bright green energy, and swiped Pteramon as he shot by. He heard a loud screech as he passed; Pteramon had been seriously injured. It relented its attack on Bolteaglemon and tried to attack Jetdramon, who ascended high up in the sky, the better to obscure his form to those on the ground with.

The two played chicken for several minutes; Pteramon's injury caused it to have trouble keeping up, while Jetdramon toyed with the enemy in order to practice his control over the jets on his wings. He realized just how amazing the armor was; it had a major reduction effect on his personal inertia, meaning he could change direction on a dime no matter what his speed was, and stop at a moment's thought. The sensitivity of the jets on his wings allowed him to exactly control his speed with his mind.

Presently, he decided he'd let Pteramon go long enough. "I think that's enough playtime! Time to finish this!" he roared, loud and brash, a tone that seemed almost foreign and yet natural for him. He swerved to face Pteramon head-on; the opponent had given up on trying to recover its speed and was readying missiles. "Take this, you pitiful excuse for a plane! Jet Stream!" His right hand glowed with wind energy, and he unleashed it as Pteramon launched its Sidewinders. The attack intercepted the missiles, destroying them harmlessly, and continued through Pteramon, causing it to dissipate into data.

"Hoo yeah! Take that!" Jetdramon swooped over to Bolteaglemon, still on a high after the successes. "Hey, you okay?"

"Fine," replied Bolteaglemon, shaking her head. "In a lot of pain, a little disoriented, and in desperate need of a rest, but fine."

"That's good. Need a hand getting back to earth?"

"Aren't you the chivalrous one? Don't worry, I'll make it down all right. Let's just beat it before those helicopters decide to send reinforcements, all right?"

Jetdramon shrugged. "Whatever you say. Glad you were up here to give me a heads up, though! I never even heard those helicopters until you pointed them out! How'd you find out about them so fast?"

"Call it women's intuition," Bolteaglemon responded cryptically. "Catch you around...oh, and nice new look." She swooped downwards into a grove of trees, leaving only a perplexed Jetdramon in her wake.

"Women's intuition? Last I checked that didn't involve flying machines of death. Ah, well, better get outta here."

(==========)

Emil rushed into the emergency room, looking as harried as he had ever been. "Where are the pilots? I want to get a full report!"

A nurse rushed over to Emil, making placating gestures. "Please calm down, Agent Conover! I was told to take you to them, you'll see them in just a minute!" Evidently, she had been forewarned of his arrival, though not of his excitement. "Isn't there supposed to be someone else coming?"

"Ah, no...my field partner is indisposed, he told me to come on my own. It doesn't matter, I just need to speak to them!"

"Hopefully, you'll cool off by the time we get there," commented the nurse, sounding irritated. Emil turned pale, but said nothing as the nurse started off and he followed behind, more reserved.

The two pilots who had been in the helicopter were laid out on beds, though on the surface neither appeared to be seriously injured. One was clutching his head with both hands, the other looked as though he was watching a television program he didn't quite care about.

"That one was treated for anxiety," explained the nurse, indicating the first one. "Poor man had a panic attack...though I guess we can't exactly blame him, having narrowly escaped death in a falling helicopter. The other suffered what we think is a mild concussion. He refused treatment and asked to be released, but we insisted on keeping him here for observation."

"All right, thank you." Emil didn't want to bother the nurse further, but he was amazed that the pilots were not only alive, but only mildly injured; all he had heard was that a helicopter had fallen to the ground from the air during the fight. He walked over and sat at the side of the first pilot's bed. "You feeling all right?"

"I just fell fifteen thousand feet," the pilot replied shakily. "Considering that, I'm peachy, thanks, though later I'm gonna get so plastered the Irish will think I'm overdoing it."

Emil felt a bit of a flush. "Sorry...I suppose that was a stupid question..."

"No, I'm sorry. I feel ridiculous...I've been flying for six years, and you'd think I'd be more used to the idea of plummeting to the ground by now-"

They heard a scoff from the other pilot. "That's what's bothering ya, kid? Listen, I been up there 13 years, an' I promise, never gets easier. Just because ya got experience doesn't mean the idea of dying up there's any more rosy."

"Um, I'd like to ask you a couple questions," Emil started.

"Sorry, I don't think I could answer anything right now," moaned the first pilot. "My mind's completely frazzled...I can't remember squat from the last few hours...I don't even remember taking off..."

"I'll answer yer questions, bud," the second pilot stated calmly.

"All...all right." Emil felt a bit out of sorts; Elliot prided himself on his ability to interrogate others, so he was generally the talker in most situations. Thus, Emil had much less practice talking to people in an interrogatory matter, and didn't always know what to say, even though this was a fairly informal discussion. "Um...just curious, but how are you so much calmer than him?"

"Well, the thought'a dying never gets easier, but when ya got more experience ya get over it more quickly after the fact. What is it ya wanna know?"

"Uh...I think I'll just take your word for it. I have to know, now. How did you escape from that so...unscathed?"

The pilot chuckled a little. "That's a softball. I thought this was gonna be tougher. One'a those monsters ya keep railin' about on the news flew down an' saved our hides."

Emil stared at the pilot in disbelief. For all the sense that made to him, the pilot might have told him that unicorns broke the fall. "Are you putting me on?"

"'s a crime to lie to a federal agent, no? I'm bein' 100% serious. Freakin' blue dragon-like thing rushed down out of the middle of the fight, grabbed our copter, and did somethin' to stop our free fall. An' then he flew right back up an' blasted that little shit that blew us up in the first place, completely wiped it out. Gotta tell ya, I was as surprised as anyone, but I sure ain't complainin' about it. Guess not all'a those things are so bad, after all."

Emil's mind was rocked as the image of one of the creatures from the sketches pushed into his mind unbidden. "But...but that makes no sense!" He felt himself falter, and stumbled over to a stool on the other side of the pilot's cot. "I just don't understand it..."

"Well, then, maybe yer 'information' ain't complete," the pilot grunted. "Doesn't look like it's the case that all them monsters are on the same side after all. Ya might wanna look inta that pretty seriously," he added with a scowl, "an' try ta get a bit of an accord with some'a them, because we need all the help we can get, seein' as we ain't got a lot more helicopters ta trash."

(==========)

(==========)

Ugh, dialects...I hate actually trying to write them out, because they look so strange. But sometimes I feel like just saying "he talked like so-and-so" just doesn't cut it. Hopefully your imaginations will do a better job of actualizing the idea than my writing does.

I like the first part of this chapter best, I think. The first time I wrote it out it seemed too much like a 'War Of The Worlds' cop-out (if you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up if you don't mind spoilers), but as I read over it and revised it I found myself liking it more and more, because on some weird level it makes sense.

Not much more to say about this one. Besides, you'll have plenty of reading with the next chapter, so I'll just sign off here.


	14. Chapter 13: Understanding

Introductions be damned. Enjoy reading!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 13: Understanding**

"Wow, we kick ass as Jetdramon!" commented Breezedramon as he flew into Skylar's room. "Are we not the most awesome digimon-human combo thing ever?"

"Keep it down a bit, Breezedramon," Skylar urged the dragon. "You have to remember that there are other people in this house, and if they hear you, I'll have some explaining to do."

"No one's heard me yet. Except Benny, but he knew before he heard me, so he doesn't count."

"Oh, right, thanks for reminding me." Skylar opened the door to his room and looked around quickly. "I have to make sure Benny got back all right." He left his room and went down the hall to his younger brother's. Peering in the door, he saw Benny asleep on his bed. Skylar smiled and sighed in relief. _Phew...he's just fine...hopefully, he won't decide to come out after me the next time I...wait...what's that?_

Skylar's eyes opened wide as he got a good look at the creature laying on the bed next to Benny. _What the hell? Is that a Dorumon? What's a Dorumon doing in Benny's room?_ He quietly went back to his room and found Breezedramon. "Hey, uh, Breezedramon, did you happen to invite over any...friends that I might not have known about recently?"

"Huh?" Breezedramon looked up from the book he had been engrossed in. "What're you talking about? I don't have any friends that you don't know about, at least not in this world."

"Well...there's a Dorumon sleeping on my brother's bed."

"A WHAT?" Breezedramon shouted, leaping up and forgetting about the book. "I gotta see this!"

"Breezedramon! Ah, for crying out loud..." Skylar followed his partner over to Benny's room, where Breezedramon had entered and was staring at Dorumon. "No way! That can't be!" he said loudly, causing Skylar to wince.

"Dammit, Breezedramon..." he mumbled under his breath as Dorumon woke up. She barely had time to register what was going on before Breezedramon pounced on her. They rolled off the bed and onto the floor, where Breezedramon got the upper hand and pinned the furry digimon to the floor. Amazingly, Benny slept through all this.

"Ow! Hey, cut it out, you menace!" snapped Dorumon.

"Oh, so now _I'm_ the menace?" Breezedramon growled back. "I'm not the one hunting for human blood!"

"At least I'm not some stupid pet!"

"I, ah, take it you two have met?" interrupted Skylar.

Breezedramon nodded. "Yeah, she was part of that gang that nearly killed us a few days back. Out with it, you, what are you doing here? Decided you just wanted to hunt us down and get at us from the inside?"

"Like I'd consider you worth my time!" Dorumon hissed. "You're probably such a lap dragon that you'd be easy pickings!"

"Lap dragon, my ass! If you saw what we did to that Pteramon, you wouldn't be thinking lightly of us!"

A loud moan came from behind them. They looked up; Benny had finally woken up from the noise. The boy brightened as soon as he saw Skylar. "Sky, you're back! You're not hurt!" His attention was soon grabbed, though, by the once-tussling pair on the floor. "Breezedramon, why're you on top of Dorumon? Are you playing?"

Skylar blinked twice, momentarily stunned. "Wait a second, you knew about her being here?" he asked when his voice returned to him.

"Yeah! She came home with me today!"

"She came home with you...you didn't tell Mom and Dad, did you?"

"Yep! Oh, hang on, I'll be right back! I had a present I wanted to give to you, Dorumon!" Benny jumped out of his bed and rushed by Skylar before the elder boy could question him further.

"So..." Breezedramon started slyly, grinning too wide for his face as he stared at the Dorumon, who looked a little more than abashed. "For someone who doesn't think much of being 'some human's pet,' you certainly are playing the role well."

"It's...it's not like that at all!" she protested, a little too desperately. "I was out in the forest, and I was injured, and he just kinda...tripped over me or something, and...well, it's hard to be mean and menacing to a little kid, even if it is a human!"

"Ah, yes, the Cute Kid Complex," said Skylar with a shake of his head. "Guaranteed to soften the heart of all but the coldest people. Still, you gotta admit, it's quite a shift from wanting to kill humans to be perfectly fine with living in the same quarters with them."

Dorumon sighed. "Ugh...trust me, I have no desire to have to share with humans...but on the other hand, it beats getting killed out there."

Benny popped back into the room. "Surprise! I've got something for you, Dorumon!" Before the digimon could contest the gift, Benny had wrapped the oversized ribbon around her neck. "There ya go! Now you look so cute!"

Dorumon hung her head very low, blushing madly through her fur, and trying with all her might to ignore Breezedramon, who was literally quivering with repressed laughter. Part of her wanted to bolt out of that room and never set foot in there again; another part of her felt grateful for the boy's present; and yet another wanted to kick Breezedramon's ass before he couldn't contain himself and started rolling on the ground in hysteria.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to tell Mom and Dad about Dorumon?" Skylar asked Benny. "I mean, I don't think it's a stretch to assume that Dorumon's not exactly a creature of this world - after all, she's got purple fur, and that whatever-it-is on her head..."

"I know that! But they didn't seem to mind! They said seeing as you had Breezedramon, they didn't see any trouble in Dorumon being here!"

"Seeing WHAT? Benny, didn't I tell you not to tell them about Breezedramon?"

"I didn't! They said it all by themselves! I thought you told them!"

"You mean..." Skylar once again found himself floored at this newest revelation. "No way...they never said...but how...they can't have known! We were so careful!"

"Well, they did," Benny asserted, now holding Dorumon close and petting her; she had quickly given up her weak protests. "I didn't know you told them. But I guess you didn't."

Skylar groaned and put his hands on his head. "And all this time, we've been working so hard to keep them in the dark..."

"On the plus side, if they've known for a while, that means they must not mind me," pointed out Breezedramon. "It would have been worse if they hated me or something...I probably wouldn't have been able to stick around."

"I can't think about this right now," said Skylar. "Let's just go back to my room, Breezedramon. I gotta think for a while."

"Fine." Breezedramon gave one last enormous grin to Dorumon before leaving. "Enjoy."

Dorumon shot him a nasty look; she wasn't going to admit it, but that was what she was beginning to do.

(==========)

"What's got you so glued to the window, little dude?" Wallace asked as he noticed Cayden staring outside the kitchen window. "You're gonna pop your eyes outta your head if you're not careful."

"Who taught you biology?" Salmandmon snickered between bites of his sandwich.

Wallace glared down at the reptile. "You know, I'm getting a little tired of hearing you yap at me all the time. Keep in mind that I'm a lot bigger than you are..."

A snort. "Yeah, I'm so scared. It's not like I've ever fought anything larger than I am, or more powerful than you could ever dream of being. You're not so tough, buster."

"Oh, you don't wanna try me! I could kick your ass from here to New York City!"

"You would get torched before you could lay a finger on him," Reyn said, rolling his eyes at his brother's brashness. "You know, it's only stupid people who try to bully something that could lay waste to them without a second thought. Is that really who you want to be?"

"Don't you start on me, bozo. You two and your creepy little combining thing can take a hike for all I care."

"Hey, you wouldn't have to spend so much time around us if you actually had a job or went to school. Ball's in your court, Wally."

"Dah! I don't have to take this!" Wallace stomped up and stormed off to his basement bedroom, while Reyn and Salmandmon had a good laugh between them. The mirth was cut short, thought, when Cayden suddenly spoke up while still looking outside the window.

"Reyn...there's something moving in the bushes back there. I think it's been out there for a while. Can you go out and see what it is?"

"Again? Man, they must be attracted to your smell or something, Reyn," cracked Salmandmon as Reyn got up from the table and went to the window. "Either that, or we're celebs on the Emperius circuit."

"I'd rather be Paris Hilton than an Emperius celebrity." Reyn made his way over to the window and looked out. There was definitely something rustling the bushes out there. "Yeah, there's definitely something out there. Let's check it out, Salmandmon."

"Way ahead of you!" Salmandmon shouted from the doorway. "Get a move on, slowpoke!"

Reyn rolled his eyes as he followed the lizard. "That's great, Salmandmon. Let them know that we're coming out. That'll help us a whole lot."

"Snark."

"Hothead."

"And don't you forget it!"

Now outside, they became more serious as they approached the bushes at the edge of the yard. Another rustle indicated that the intruder was still there. _He's in for a nasty surprise,_ Reyn pathed.

_Either that, or we are,_ Salmandmon returned. _Look sharp!_

As if triggered by their thoughts, something leapt out of the bushes at high speed. It appeared to be aiming for Reyn, but it was off target, and sailed harmlessly over Salmandmon and crashed into the ground. It attempted to rise, but was thwarted by a full-body tackle from Reyn. The two skidded several feet across the ground before stopping.

Reyn kept it pinned to the ground. "Well, well, well...what have we here?" he snarled with clear disgust. "I remember you, Talomon. I especially remember you gouging out a few ruts in my partner's stomach!" Talomon didn't respond, having been rendered semi-conscious by the attack; he certainly looked the worse for wear, with marks all over his body indicating that he was in some kind of fight. "Hey, Salmandmon, hold this guy down for a moment. I'm gonna get something to make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"Only too happy to oblige." Salmandmon jumped a bit roughly onto Talomon, who heaved in shock and pain but still didn't struggle. Reyn ran into the house and was back within seconds, holding a length of thick rope.

"Make extra sure you get those hand and feet bound, Reyn," Salmandmon cautioned as Reyn went about tying up the creature. "Those claws are sharp enough that they'll go right through that stuff."

Reyn nodded, binding Talmon up quite liberally. As Talomon came around and started trying to nip at Salmandmon, Reyn clamped down hard on his muzzle and tied that closed as well. Talomon glared daggers at him, but it was clear he couldn't move his arms or legs an inch. Reyn simply picked him up by the back of the neck and returned the gaze, somewhat cowing the dino.

"I don't know what possessed you to come around here, or how you managed to find us...or, for that matter, what brain-damaged idea would even make you consider trying to threaten us. But I promise you, you're not getting away this time, at least not without us making damn sure you won't be around here again. Isn't that right, Salmandmon?" When the lizard didn't respond, Reyn turned his head back to see Salmandmon staring in awe. "...What is it?"

"You! You just picked him up with one arm!"

"...I did?"

"Hell yeah! When did you get that strong? It wasn't long ago that you were struggling to just lift me!"

"Not like this guy can weigh that much more. But that can wait. Right now..." he turned back towards Talomon, who also seemed to have registered the human's strength and was clearly more nervous than aggressive. "Let's figure out to do with Jurassic Park Reject here."

"Hm, lotta options here. I doubt he'd like any of what I'd like to suggest...maybe a taste of his own group's medicine would do him good." The dino's eyes went wide as streetlights. "Of course, I never was good at this whole 'cruelty for the sake of cruelty' thing."

"Me neither. Still, we can't just let this go without some sort of punishment being doled out. Perhaps we could reach an understanding of sorts, hm?" He waited for a moment, until the Talomon realized that that was his cue to respond. He nodded vigorously. "Fabulous. I'll outline our terms: you go back to the digital world, never return to this world, and leave Emperius for good. Sound good to you?"

There was a long and tense moment of hesitation. Then Talomon responded with a shake of his head: no.

"Pity," Salmandmon said with casual contempt. "I'd have considered those pretty good terms for your life. Guess we have to bring out the hot oil."

Now Talomon wildly shook his head, and made moaning sounds through his tied jaws. "Guess he wants to talk," commented Reyn. "Can't let you have those things free to chew through your bonds, though - or us, for that matter."

"How about we tie him to one of the trees?" suggested Salmandmon. "That way, we can make it so we can keep his head immobile but his mouth open to talk."

"Works for me." The pair brought Talomon over to a decent-sized tree close to the bush line at the edge of the yard. Reyn wasted no time renegotiating the bonds so that they wrapped around the trunk, while leaving as much of the original bonds down as possible. As a final measure, he wrapped a line around Talomon's neck just under the jaw line, effectively ensuring that he couldn't move his head down to bite at the ropes and also that the dinosaur couldn't breathe quite so well.

Finally, Salmandmon went to untie the rope from around Talomon's muzzle. "You take even the tiniest snap," he hissed as he grabbed the rope, "and you can consider your life as good as gone. Keep in mind how easily I slew that Gazimon." This was evidently more than enough persuasion for Talomon. He kept him jaws clenched tightly until he was sure Salmandmon was far enough away to not be threatened by them. "Good. Okay, let's try this again. You know our terms."

"I...I can't," replied Talomon slowly, not bothering to mask his fear. "Something went wrong in my transfer...I tried to go back a couple days ago, and it didn't work. I don't think it worked for any of us...I don't know what happened, but I was trying to find someone to send me back, but..."

"No one's survived long enough to take you?" Reyn surmised.

With a noticeable glower, Talomon responded, "Yeah, basically. It's your damn fault."

"Don't blame me, I'm just defending myself and my world. You guys didn't have to come and try to wreak havoc in the first place. Though I hope you've come to the realization that not all humans are as worthless as you thought."

"Pah. Doesn't change that humans are worthless scum who could hardly stand up to a real attack. You're not even worth the trouble."

"You seem to be going to an awful lot of trouble for something that isn't worth it," Salmandmon cracked.

"I...shut up."

"You're not in much position to be making demands." Salmandmon looked up to Reyn. "Well, what now? He can't go back of his own power, provided he's being honest about that. What's next?"

Reyn shrugged. "Not sure. I guess we've got a few choices: leave him tied up here, put him somewhere else where he can't get away, find someone to take him back, or turn him in to the authorities."

"Who's gonna be smart enough to actually take him back? Where else could we put him? How do we know the authorities are going to be able to handle him and keep him from escaping?"

Reyn nodded. "Option one it is, then. He stays tied to the tree."

"How about you guys let me go, and I won't immediately turn around and kill you?" Talomon suggested, trying and failing to sound brash.

Reyn just snorted. "Well, no one can deny that you're a bold one. Trying to drive negotiations from the standpoint you're in...you're either remarkably gutsy or remarkably stupid. Actually, I'm guessing both. Regardless, you're not going anywhere."

"The hell I'm not! I'm not gonna stay tied to a tree where anyone could get me!" With that, the dino renewed his struggles against his bonds, desperately trying to get some wiggle room.

Salmandmon just shook his head. "Some people-" A noise from by the house made him stop before his thought got out and look behind him. "Hey, Reyn, I think we've got a spectator."

Reyn looked back toward where Salmandmon was looking. Cayden was peering out from behind the door. "Oh, jeez...he's probably freaking out. After what Skullstatamon did, I can't blame him."

Oddly enough, however, Cayden didn't seem as fazed as Reyn expected; instead of going back in, he closed the door behind him and walked tentatively up towards the pair. "Is that..."

"Yeah, that's another monster," Reyn confirmed for his brother. "Kiddo, are you sure you want to be out here?"

"I...I'm okay. He's not as scary as that other guy."

"Well, as long as you're okay with it, I guess." Reyn still wasn't so sure about this, but Talomon didn't seem to be going anywhere, so he figured it was safe enough. "Just make sure not to get too close. He bites, and though he can't really use them right now, his claws are super-sharp."

"Sound advice that would be more compelling had you not delivered a full tackle to him minutes earlier," Salmandmon sniggered.

"Well, you know what they say. Do as I say, not as I do. I'm fairly good at giving advice I don't actually follow. I consider it an art form."

"Would you shut up?" Talomon snarled as his fury hit a breaking point. "It's bad enough I'm tied up like a show animal, I don't want to listen to my captors clowning around like-AGH!" Whatever else he was about to say was obscured by the strangled scream he gave as he went entirely limp, eyes shut tight and features contorted in pain.

"Sounds like someone strained something," Reyn remarked offhandedly. "Told you you weren't going anywhere."

Cayden looked up at his brother, stricken. "Reyn, stop it, he's hurt!"

Reyn looked down, dumbfounded. "Cayden, are you serious? He just tried to attack us, and he wouldn't have thought anything of biting your head off. It's his own damn fault he's in this state."

"But he's hurt! I'm gonna check on him!"

"What? Don't you even-" But it was for naught, as Cayden was off before Reyn could even come close to telling him off. "Dammit, kid!"

Caydne paid no attention, skidding to a stop right next to the tree and looking down at the now-unresponsive lizard. Immediately, his eyes went wide. "REYN!"

"What now?" Reyn and Salmandmon dashed over and looked where Cayden was pointing. Reyn drew a sharp breath inward when he saw the damage. "Jesus...his entire back's torn open. The tree didn't do this, he must have been like this when he got here! How the hell did we miss this?"

"We weren't really paying much attention to his condition, on account of that he attacked us!" Salmandmon exclaimed. "He probably got in a fight with a dog or something. Should serve him right!"

"He certainly came off second-best, whatever it was. Should we-" And again, his words tapered off into a groan as Cayden ran for the house, screaming for his parents. "Dammit. Now we _have_ to do the noble thing and help him out."

Salmandmon sighed heavily. "Sometimes I wonder about you humans."

"That makes two of us. Come on, let's get him untied so Mom and Dad won't have to do it all."

(==========)

When Elecmon awoke, his head was pounding painfully and his vision was hazy. _Ugh...where am I? Last thing I remember was hiding in some bushes..._

He surveyed his surroundings; he appeared to be indoors, in a room with posters lining the walls, a desk with a computer and other devices he couldn't make out, a large bed...it was the inside of a house. But he couldn't remember getting in there...

"So, you woke up, did you?"

Innocent-sounding words, yet they made Elecmon's heart begin to race. A rather menacing-looking female human stood over him, wearing a grin that was a mixture of satisfaction and deviousness. "Good. I was wondering when you would come to. We have much to discuss."

"Discuss?" Elecmon tried to move, but found that he was bound to a small chair. "What the-"

"Comfy?" Elecmon grimaced; now she was just being patronizing. "I'm surprised my dad kept that little old chair up in the attic...surprised, but rather delighted when I found out it was a perfect size for you. I hope you like it, because you're not moving from there until I'm good and ready to release you."

"Wanna bet?" Elecmon started to charge his Super Thunder Strike, but found it wasn't working. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Ah, that was a nifty little number my brother was so kind to supply," gloated the human. "No idea how he got his hands on it, but I'm glad he did. You won't be able to shock me for a while, at least not with that ring around your arm."

Elecmon hadn't noticed the ring originally; now that it had been mentioned, he could feel it wrapped tightly around his forearm. Things had gone from very bad to oh-so-much-worse. "Okay, I'm beginning to think you _might_ have the upper hand."

"So glad we finally agree on something." The human pulled out the chair from the desk and sat down on it. "My name is Ashley, and I'll be your captor tonight." More patronizing. Elecmon wanted to be getting angry, but instead just got more nervous. "Any questions?"

"Er...yeah, what exactly do you intend to do to me?"

"Hm...well, for starters, I think I'm going to beat you up with logic." Elecmon blinked, not comprehending this. "I hear some of your kind has some thing against humans. Well, that just won't do, and I'm going to force you to reconsider your stance."

"...Is this a joke? Is this what passes for torture in your world? I've been beaten up and broken down a dozen times, and you think you're going to get me with mere words?" Elecmon scoffed. _Humans...is it any wonder they're the weaker species?_

Ashley, however, appeared unfazed. "Say what you want, but in a little while you're going to realize just how powerful words can be. So, let's hear what you have to say."

"What makes you think I'll say anything?"

"Because, first, you won't be able to leave until I'm satisfied that I at least have all my questions answered, and second, I know little brother torture techniques."

"Little brother torture techniques?" Elecmon repeated, bewildered.

"Yep. Annoying enough to get the proper information, harmless enough to not cause permanent damage. They're highly effective, especially on little brothers. And being an older sister, I've no qualms about using them."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if they're anything like your earlier proposal I probably have nothing to worry about," Elecmon spat back. "Besides, I know you humans, you don't live alone. You think no one will hear me if you try to hurt me?"

Ashley laughed snidely. "Nice try! My parents are out of town, visiting one of our uncles, and took my younger sister with them. My older brothers are elsewhere in the country, getting their educations - they're not going to hear you unless you can shout loud enough that they notice it thousands of miles away. And my brother is off fighting monsters with that robot digimon that you probably remember from when you attacked him earlier. Oh, yeah, he kind of mentioned that to me before he left. Count yourself lucky that I wanted to deal with you."

_Rats..._ thought Elecmon. _There goes that tactic._

"All right, I'm tired of the stalling. Talk! What exactly is your beef?"

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me. So you're gonna play hardball, are you?" Ashley took one of the devices off the desk and set it on her lap. "Those ears of yours, they look like they're really something. They must be pretty good for hearing things, huh?"

"Uh...well, yeah, they're quite sensit-AUGH!" Elecmon's sentence was punctuated with a pained cry as Ashley switched on the machine. The device was emitting a tone at maximum volume - up at the range of 26,000 Hertz. She couldn't hear a peep, but Elecmon was thrashing around in agony, his ears definitely sensitive at that frequency and very much not used to that kind of volume. This was not the kind of tactic they had prepared him for at Emperius, and a few seconds of the treatment had smashed his resolve. "Stop! Please! All right, I'll talk, if you just turn it off!"

"So glad you've come around," said Ashley with faux sweetness, switching off the device. "I want to hear the full story."

Reluctantly, Elecmon told her about Emperius, the Declaration of Purification and the reasoning behind it, and his own mission in their world. He felt pretty lousy despite knowing that there wasn't much the human could do about it; his only comfort was that his account was definitely bothering her.

"So _that's_ why Isaac wouldn't give," she muttered after he ended. "Well, now I feel bad about draining the batteries on his laptop. Eh, oh well. You honestly believe that BS?"

"Why not?" spat Elecmon defiantly; he was in no mood for conversation now. "Look at us, then look at yourselves. Even our smaller creatures are stronger than you! And that's not even considering our special abilities! We're infinitely stronger than your pathetic species!"

"You certainly do have an impressive repertoire. And, yet, I was able to knock you out, tie you up, negate your 'special abilities,' and convince you to start talking. You tell me who's better off right now."

"Grr...I suppose you are."

"Damn right, I am. So, tell me, does that make me superior?"

Elecmon very much did not want to answer that question, but there appeared to be no way out. _If I give her what she wants, maybe she'll let me go. _"Fine, maybe you're superior."

"WRONG!" For good measure, she boxed him over the ears.

"OW! Hey, what gives? What, did you want me to say we were?"

Ashley leered down, a wicked grin on her face that did little besides unnerve Elecmon. "You poor, pathetic creature. So short-sighted, so narrow-minded. We're just gonna have to do something about that."

"You're creeping me out, lady."

"Good, at least I'm getting into your head somehow. Tell me, did any of what I mentioned actually make me stronger than you were?"

"Huh? Oh, uh...not that I can imagine." _Where the hell is she going with this?_

"Exactly. I'm no better off on that measure now than I was before I heard about your cult."

"Cult?"

"Don't interrupt me. As I said, I'm not stronger than you are now or then. What I am is more clever."

"Beating someone over the head is clever?"

"Maybe not that particular bit. But I also recognized that someone was hiding. I found a way to capture that someone without them detecting me. I thought up a way to hold them captive. I learned about what you were capable of, and found ways to keep you from doing everything you were capable of. I also figured out your weaknesses and used them against you."

"All right, I get it!" Elecmon shouted helplessly. He was starting to get what being beaten up with logic felt like. He wished he could just ignore his surroundings, but the threat of another sonic torment kept him rigidly attentive.

"You see where I'm going. I may not be strong physically, but up here - " she pointed to her head for an unnecessary visual example - "I'm way better. Where does that fit into your cult's ideology?"

"It doesn't."

"But if it means I can beat you without extra strength..."

"...Then...maybe it should, I guess." Elecmon hated to admit it, but he couldn't touch her on that point. _After all, look where I am. What further proof do I need?_

Ashley was grinning triumphantly. "_Now_ you're starting to get it. And just for the record, you're going to find that that's the case for a lot of us humans, in fact because most of us aren't as strong as you, or even some of the creatures on our world. We don't have the strength to match, so we have to compensate, and lucky us, we got the brains to do it. I'd say that measures up pretty nicely against your brute force."

"...Okay...so...what? We're still stronger, so we're not worse than you."

"Oh, I wasn't suggesting that. But I'd say it about cancels out, hm?"

"Cancels out?"

"Five plus two is seven, right? Same for two plus five. We measure up better in one area and worse in one area. Even Steven. And that's not all. There are a great many ways by which you can measure people...I couldn't even begin to name them all." She leaned in close to Elecmon again. "What are the chances, you think, that once you get down to be very bottom of everything, that it ALL cancels out?"

"All? You mean..."

"No superior, no inferior. We're better in some respects, worse in some, but equal overall. Don't tell me you can't see the beauty of it...I can tell that you do. I know your kind of person, Elecmon. You feel inferior, you feel like you don't matter, like everyone has something offer except yourself. You're desperate to try to be better than others, to give yourself some sort of meaning. That's why you joined, isn't it? If you were part of the destined ruling class, you could look down, instead of being looked down upon. You'd be someone important, someone that matters. I know all about it, I've seen more people on this world with that kind of attitude than I could count with a calculator. But aren't you just creating more of yourself that way? More dissatisfied people who feel like they're less than nothing, just lying at the bottom, looking up at someone who doesn't give a hoot about them? Didn't you just _hate_ those people at the top?"

"Yeah...yeah..." Even now, he could feel that old anger bubbling up. Even in Emperius, he was the cannon fodder, someone who everyone thought was worthless and expendable...the whole reason he'd been sent on that miserable assignment in the first place. And he hadn't been able to go back...maybe they had done that intentionally, because they didn't think he could make it back...it was almost scary how easily she had fished it out, and yet he wasn't able to focus on that anymore, just on those long-burning feelings of resentment.

"You think that if you get to be the one at the top, then everything becomes all right. But then you're just one of those assholes at the top that everyone that has to look up at hates, because now you're causing all their problems. You want others to feel like that?"

"I...no...no, never. I hated it. Other people would, too."

"That's all they want to do. All they want to do is make others feel that way. That's all they can do, because their entire philosophy is about being above others. But you don't have to think that way. Everyone can be equal, when everything comes down to it. Emperius wants to make more of you, more people at the bottom who have to look up. Whereas if everyone is equal...no one looks down at anyone, and no one has to be looking up."

"R...really?"

"Really. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? You don't have to be stuck at the bottom of the ladder, and you don't have to step on anyone to get away from that. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Yeah...it does."

"And that's the opposite of what these Emperius guys want. So, wouldn't it be better for everyone if you weren't supporting them?"

"Yes. Yes it would." It was funny, she had done exactly what she claimed she would do, and beaten him with logic, which technically should have made him the loser. Yet, he didn't feel like he was coming off second-best. "I'm not going to follow them anymore. No, more than that, I'm gonna stand against them. They should be stopped. They should be stopped!"

Ashley nodded. "Excellent. Glad we've reached an understanding."

"Thanks...um, can I go now?"

"Hm, I'm afraid not. Unless you want to go out with your newfound understanding and be instantly annihilated."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Well, there's probably about six dozen humans crawling the area, looking for what was reported to be a giant orange rat wandering around people's yards."

"G-giant orange rat?"

"Their words, not mine, though honestly, you'd probably have a bit of trouble shaking that image around here. Anyway, you weren't quite as discreet as you may have wanted to be. You're in here for your own safety as much as anything else."

"That...was awfully nice of you, considering how I was..."

"I was willing to give you a chance. You can't reach an understanding unless you try."

"Well...thanks," mumbled Elecmon, feeling a bit embarrassed; for a scary human, she had gone to quite some length to keep him out of danger, and he couldn't deny that no one at Emperius would have done the same. None of them cared about how he felt... "At the very least, can you untie me and get that band off my arm?"

"Well, I can't do anything about the band," Ashley replied. "It was designed so only Datacarnomon could take it off, so you'll have to wait for him. As for untying you, I can do that, but first..."

"First what?"

"First, I need to expend some of this big-sister energy I have," Ashley said with a frightening grin. "Isaac's a bit too big for tickle-torture, and that was one of my favorite..."

_Aw, crap..._ thought Elecmon. _Not only am I a captive, I'm also an outlet for sisterly nostalgia...well, at least it's something remotely tolerable..._

(==========)

"I know I'm supposed to feel bad, but I still don't," Reyn asserted as he watched Cayden look over Talomon from the living room entryway. "If he hadn't tried to ambush us, we might have caught on a little sooner. I still don't get why Cayden wasn't afraid of him, when I was his age I would have been petrified to see a dinosaur."

"I'm still trying to get around the fact that we just saved one of our mortal enemies," Salmandmon sighed. "Of course, nothing about this mission has been even remotely close to normal, so I guess this is par for the course."

"I can't believe we actually did save him. For that matter, I can't believe he lasted long enough for us to even have the opportunity. I knew digimon were made of stiff stuff, but that's beyond anything I've seen before."

"Believe it or not, same here. I've seen all manner of injury in my time with Libertius, but that's about the worst I've come across with a survivor. And earlier presumptions aside, I don't think what did it is native to this world...it's probably still out there."

"Talk about your scary thoughts. We're asking him when he wakes up. Oh, speaking of good timing..."

Talomon was indeed stirring from his makeshift bed, which was basically a wicker basket with some pillows in it. Weak and disoriented, he appeared to not know where he was. "Huh? What the..."

"Oh, you're awake!" Cayden stated, sounding more relieved than anything. "You're in the house. You shouldn't move."

"I'll do what I want." Talomon tried to sit up, but Cayden gently pushed him back down.

"You have to rest! You were hurt really bad, and Mom and Dad said you have to keep from putting too much pressure on your back or the stitches might break. Oh, and there's everything else, too."

Talomon glared at Cayden. "Why do you care, human?"

"Because." It was an answer that left no room for argument, so Talomon simply didn't respond. "They said a lot of stuff...broken ribs, arms, legs, and a back that looked like Freddy Kreuger had a go at it. I dunno who Freddy Kreuger is, but he must be a pretty bad guy to do something like that. What happened to you out there?"

"Butt out," Talomon snapped weakly. "Don't concern yourself with matters above your head, human. This is just a spat between digimon-"

"Just a friendly disagreement, huh?" Reyn sniped from the doorway. "You were halfway to murdered when we found you, and probably shouldn't have been doing something that would get you to the other half. If you hadn't attacked us, it probably would have come to our attention sooner. If that thing that did that to you is still out there, who knows what kind of damage it's going to cause."

"That's the point, idiot. We're trying to wipe you out! That's the purpose of our invasion!" Talomon tried to sit up again, and was again forced back down. "Gah, cut it out, kid. Anyway, why would I try to sabotage them? That would be suicide. I'm a valued part of the organization."

"Yeah, I'm sure they're waiting outside with flowers and get well cards. Who doesn't care about a guy they just tried to kill hours before?" Talomon clammed up, more stung by that comment than he expected to be.

"Look, whatever it was that tried to ice you, it's still out there," Salmandmon explained. "And it's not just after humans, it's also pursuing digimon, including - perhaps especially - your comrades. We don't want any of that to happen. It needs to be stopped, and you can help us and yourself by telling us what it is."

"Fat chance. You and the lizard can't do much more than I could-" Talomon drew a sharp breath as Cayden ran a hand over a particularly tender point on his stomach, and the young boy apologized quietly and rubbed his head soothingly. After getting his breathing to normal, he continued, "It's a lot bigger and nastier than me, and I can be pretty nasty when I have more of my blood in me. Now let me go."

"We stand more of a chance than you think," Salmandmon said with a smirk. "And you're not going anywhere. The way you are now, a Baby-level digimon could beat you up. You tried to push yourself through a serious injury, and your body is going to make you pay for it. Trust me, I know from experience. You should be more concerned with fully recovering."

"I don't even see why you care," Talomon repeated. "I'm your enemy. We've been at odds. I remember I got you good last time we met, fire lizard...I would think you'd just have ended it while I was down."

"We could have, but we didn't. Can't gloat about getting back at someone if they're dead. Look, we're going to search for him whether you want us to or not. But if we don't find him, he's going to come after you again, and like I said, you don't stand a chance the way you are now. If you put any value into your life at all, you should make this easier for us."

Talomon appeared ready to reply bitingly, but seized up as a cramp ran through his stomach. Cayden was right there, gently holding him and trying to soothe him. Talomon appeared amazed that he was even willing to get close, much less attempt to be friendly. When the pain subsided, he looked over at the fiery pair, more subdued than before. "You two are fools to try to pursue him. He'll be looking for the others who failed here before. It's Ashinkaimon. Good freaking luck."

Reyn and Salmandmon exchanged looks. "We'd better go..._now,_" exclaimed Salmandmon with deadly urgency.

Reyn nodded seriously. "Don't have to tell me twice."

(==========)

Normally, being stuck inside didn't usually bother Iris. She was pretty good at keeping herself entertained, and rarely did she get bored under normal circumstance. However, circumstances were about as far from normal as they got right now, and she was going nuts. She wanted to be outside, looking for something that might threaten to shatter the town to pieces. Even cooped up inside, she felt she had to be on call constantly, so she couldn't focus on anything else. It might have been better if Shockavimon could have been inside, but she didn't trust her dad not to burst in randomly, even if he was supposed to be at work.

She was halfway to crazy when she got a sudden nasty feeling. It was impossible for her to pinpoint what exactly was causing it, but she somehow sensed that something was not right. A moment later, her sense was confirmed when she heard the sharp, pained yowl of a cat not far from her house.

_Shockavimon, what's going on out there?_

_I don't know! But whatever it is, it sounded like that cat didn't enjoy it!_

_No kidding. I'm coming out, Shockavimon! Keep an eye out!_

Iris crept downstairs, looking for any sign of her mother. She saw nothing, heard nothing. _Did she go out? At this time of night, under these conditions?_ She slipped out the door unseen, and ran in the direction of the sound.

It wasn't far; the thing was right in the middle of the road. And what she saw chilled her to the bone.

The creature in front of her was like something out of a nightmare. Its lower body was stretched out of proportion, four legs stick out from it like it was a table. The upper body bore four arms, each tinged with three fingers ending in lethal black claws. And the head...wide horns stretched out above a horrid face, the skin stretched skeletally tight.

Iris screamed in terror, which drew the creature's attention. It turned its body and faced her down, its ghoulish red eyes penetrating into her, speaking just one guttural word: "_Perish..._"

"Iris! Get away from there!" Shockavimon flew in from above, snapping Iris out of her terrified shock. "We've got to go get help, right now!"

"But..." Iris looked around quickly while backing up from the creature. She finally spotted the source of the sound she'd heard earlier; a motionless figure, covered by the shadows. "We can't let it kill whatever's over there! We've got to fight!"

Shockavimon wanted nothing better than to hightail it out of there as fast as possible. However, she couldn't bear the thought of leaving someone in need, either. "Okay! But we've got to be careful!"

Iris and Shockavimon glowed yellow as their forms converged, and Bolteaglemon returned to life. "Your time is finished, mystery creep!" she shouted boldly. "Spark Wave!"

Bolteaglemon fired her electric attack at the creature. The shots dissipated harmlessly against it, not even registering to the creature. The creature raised its hands, revealing the pitch-dark growths in the centers of its palms, which stood out even in the darkness against its black skin. "_Torment Wave..._"

A cloud of darkness spread in a square between the creatures arms, the growths on its hands the corner-points. The darkness seemed to solidify, forming something akin to a hole in space. In a rush, a dark wave of energy seared out from the hole, enveloping Bolteaglemon. She screeched loudly as pain tore through her, etching itself into her whole body. She went down on her knees as the attack ended, panting roughly, dark smoke rising from her body. Dimly, she registered something glowing brightly behind her.

In a rush, something burst through the darkness and slammed into the monster, driving it back roughly. It leapt backwards as the thing tried to counter, landing near Bolteaglemon. She was finally able to recognize the form of Blazereptimon. "Are you all right, Bolteaglemon?"

"No," she groaned, standing shakily. "Watch out...that thing's powerful..."

"Yeah, well, I'll show it," growled Blazereptimon, his body alight with flame. "Solar Wave!" He launched a furious blast of flames over the demon. The creature appeared to remain unharmed, though driven backwards a bit. "What? Come on!"

"Take this!" another voice shouted from their right. "Saur Blaster!" The rapid-fire attacks from Mecharexmon struck it cleanly, but were likewise ineffective. "What the hell is this thing? Our attacks should be doing something, at least!"

"You're not gonna believe this...this is that project we got intelligence about! This is the thing they called Ashinkaimon!"

"That's Ashinkaimon? Who the hell was brain-damaged enough to dream that up?"

"Who knows, but it's a synthetic digimon created for evil, it's not gonna be an easy kill!" shouted Blazereptimon. "Hit it while I'm attacking! Solar Wave!"

"Saur Blaster!"

Blazereptimon shot forth his flames as Mecharexmon fired his charged cannon attack. But for all their efforts, the attacks did nothing to Ashinkaimon.

"Rgh...there's gotta be a weak point somewhere!" growled Mecharexmon.

"Where?" roared Blazereptimon in frustration. "We had to have covered every square inch of that guy with that last attack!"

Bolteaglemon took a step backwards. "Wha-what's it doing now?"

Ashinkaimon had opened its mouth impossibly wide. "_Perish..._" it said again. "_Veil of Abomination..._" Before any of them could react, a black mass flooded the area, blocking out the view of everything except Ashinkaimon and the three fighters.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but soon enough Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon fell to the ground. "What's...happening?" heaved Blazereptimon. "I feel so...drained..."

"He's making us too weak to fight..." groaned Mecharexmon. "We'll be sitting ducks..."

_Ashinkaimon's absorbing their energy!_ thought Bolteaglemon urgently. _But...but he's not absorbing mine!_ _Now's my chance to help! But my attacks aren't any more effective...I need to evolve! Now! I won't let him win!_

The yellow glow returned, enveloping Bolteaglemon. She began to shift into her next form. The changes were rather subtle overall, mainly an increase in size and wingspan and the addition of armor, consisting of a breastplate and gauntlets. A spear also appeared, attached to her back.

_Excellent...this form can do the job!_ she thought. _Ionavimon...time to take him down!_ She quickly ran at Ashinkaimon, who was completely immobile, his focus far too divided to pay attention to it.

Ionavimon stared down the creature and found it, the opening in Ashinkaimon's mouth that revealed a dark, pulsating orb. It was practically invisible to any normal being, but Ionavimon's hyper-sharp vision spotted it easily. _That must be its weak point! It can't be hit because it's inside him! But now I've got a chance!_

Without hesitation, she grabbed the spear from her back. "You're finished, Ashinkaimon!" she shouted at the unreceptive monster. "Shock Spear!"

She threw the spear directly at the orb. It sailed in, piercing the weak point and thrusting all the way through the back of Ashinkaimon's mouth. Soundlessly, it collapsed, and shattered into data, leaving only the spear behind.

As the source of the energy draining attack dissipated into nothingness, Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon felt their strength slowly begin to recover. "Oh, man...that was close," said Blazereptimon, slowly getting to his feet. "We really owe you one."

"Call it even," replied Ionavimon. "If you guys hadn't come when you did, I wouldn't have even had the chance to do that. But why didn't I get drained like you two did?"

"Wish I knew..." Mecharexmon grunted. "Coulda used that myself...hang on, some of the data is around, I'll try to upload information about it into my database." He fell quiet for a moment, the only sound a soft whirring from somewhere inside his head. After a short moment, he let out a loud, derisive laugh. "You gotta be kidding me..."

"That's not quite the reaction I expected," cracked Blazereptimon. "Care to clue us in?"

"According to the data, Ashinkaimon's attacks aren't compatible. If he hits you with Torment Wave, his Veil of Abomination won't work, and if you've under the latter, he can't hit you with the former. What idiot would launch a creature with such a critical design flaw?"

"I never would have guessed that," Ionavimon said with a shake of her head. "But come on, there's an injured creature down there." She sprinted over to the fallen creature and knelt down by it. "It's...a digimon? A Felismon?"

"Felismon?" echoed Mecharexmon. "I remember that the digimon fought that one a while back...why was Ashinkaimon attacking it?"

"As punishment," Blazereptimon informed them. "They were supposed to kill us back then, and they didn't...so Ashinkaimon decided to teach them a lesson. We already came across one of his victims back at my house."

"We should bring Felismon there as well then," said Ionavimon. "She looks like she's been pretty badly injured...I don't know if she'll survive without treatment."

"Bring her over. I'll meet up with you when I get back."

Ionavimon nodded, and took off into the air. Blazereptimon checked on Mecharexmon, who still looked worn out. "Hey, you all right?"

"I'll be fine...just gotta shake it off."

"Don't overexert yourself, okay? Don't kill yourself trying to do too much...that wouldn't help us at all."

"Heh...you think so little of me." Mecharexmon straightened up. "I know when I gotta call it quits. Don't go fretting about me."

"Good." Blazereptimon turned to leave, then stopped. "If you're feeling all right...if both my memories serve me, there were five digimon who escaped from us that day...I've only accounted for three of them. Talomon is at our house, Felismon is en route, and Skylar called up earlier to tell me that his brother's got Dorumon with him for some strange reason."

"Make that four accounted for. Ashley cold-cocked Elecmon in the bushes outside our house. Pretty sure it was just his bad luck, rather than an ambush. I helped her put it at her mercy before I left."

"Are you trying to make me feel sorry for Elecmon? That's gotta be against some Geneva convention code."

"She said she wouldn't torment it too badly. She wanted to make it see the error of its ways."

"I would object, but I've seen her in action. She could turn an Al Qaeda cell into a convent of nuns."

"And I would pay admission to see it. That leaves one of them unaccounted for, right?"

"Right. If I remember correctly, it was a Goburimon. Since you're the one with the sensors, I'll leave it to you to see if you can figure out where he is."

"I'll see what I can do."

(==========)

"Agent Conover, the captive is ready for interrogation," said a secretary, poking his head into the room where Emil's desk was stationed. "Agent Katran's asking for you."

"Yes, I figured he would. I'll be down in a minute." Emil rubbed his eyes and tried to wake himself up as best as possible. For the first time since the beginning of the crisis, they'd had good fortune in one of the monster encounters, managing to capture one that had been sneaking around. It wasn't one of the ones they'd seen before, but that wasn't important at the moment; what was important is that they had a chance at some concrete answers, something they'd been woefully lacking since the start of the whole mess.

As he was preparing to get up and do, another agent ran into the room. "Agent Conover, sir! I've got a report! It's about the fire lizard incident from yesterday!"

"Oh...can it wait? I've got other business to attend to."

"Well, sir, this is going to blow your mind. I really think you should hear it now."

Stressed out and about to confront a potentially dangerous situation, Emil was very close to telling the agent to butt out. But he had asked for any information related to any sightings, and the other agent was just doing his job. He sighed. "Let's hear it, quickly now."

"Well, sir, it's very strange. We were sweeping the area, looking for someone who might have seen the creature pass by. And we actually found someone who did, but he saw something even weirder."

"Can you please hurry it up?"

"Right, sorry. Well, this guy, he says he saw a person walking down the road a few minutes before the incident, just a kid, like no older than 15 or 16. But he also saw a, well, these were his words: 'a weird lizard thing, the color of fire, walking like a human, just walking alongside the guy and talking to him.'"

Emil blinked several times as his addled brain struggled to process what he'd just heard. _Good lord, does it ever stop?_ "Was it _the_ fire lizard?"

"No, that's what got me kinda weirded out. He said it was about half the kid's size, like three feet tall or around that. Other than that, he looked kinda like that one you guys caught sight of, but not quite. He said he did see that one, though, just a little while later - probably just after the incident that woman reported!"

Emil put a hand up to his head. He was getting very sick of the twists and turns popping up pretty much wherever they pleased. "So...a human...and a lizard...they were just...walking? No animosity, no arguing, no physical altercation, no nothing?"

"No. He said they actually looked quite civil."

"Any details on the teenager in question?"

"Sorry, no, the guy said he was too focused on the lizard thing. All he knew was that he was male and definitely not an adult."

"And then a few minutes later, the fire lizard from before walks past him the other direction?"

"Runs, actually. The guy said it was tearing down the sidewalk like a bat out of hell. And he said it was bleeding a bit, too - there was a stain on the walk near his house. That jibes with the report we got from the woman that he was injured in some way. He said they were oddly similar, but didn't get enough chance to see the big one to really be more sure of anything. What do you make of all this?"

"Jesus Christ, I don't know. This is more than I can handle right now, I need to take care of other business. Thanks for the information...I'll see where it takes me."

The other agent nodded and left. A minute later, Emil did, as well, heading for the stairs. _A human...and a monster...walking together? A teenager, at that...if there are people getting along with them, how does that change things? Is there more to some of these monsters than meets the eye? Maybe this one will help offer some insight..._

(==========)

"He's in there?" Elliot asked a police officer, pointing to a door in the hallway.

"Yes, sir. If you'll forgive my asking, why couldn't we have done this down at the station? We wouldn't have had to move him..."

"Didn't want to risk him breaking through the one-way mirror."

"That is not a good reason and you know it."

"Since I don't actually have to give you a reason, it's the best one you're going to get. This room should do the trick, though. It's completely enclosed, and the door's plenty sturdy. It'll be as if not more secure. You have him restrained in there, I assume?"

"Of course. You act like we have no idea what we're doing. I applied the restraints myself...he didn't make it easy for me, but it wasn't as bad as when we had to get that little bastard's club away from him."

"Good, good..." Elliot looked around and frowned. "Where's Emil? I thought I asked someone to call him, he should be here for this..."

As if on cue, Emil hurried down the hallway and up to the interrogation room. "Sorry...got waylaid on my way down here concerning a sighting. Is he in there?"

"Mm-hmm." Elliot stared at the door as if it was bothering him. "Our first up-close-and-personal encounter with one of these things...I won't lie, Emil, it does make me nervous. Who knows what it's capable of?"

"I feel the same way, Elliot. I triple-checked my weapon on the way here...the worst thing that could happen now is a misfire."

"Still, this is necessary. We've got to figure out a few things...we've been flying blindly so far, and I've had enough of that."

"Yes...I have a few questions that have been bothering me lately, as well," added Emil.

"You do?"

"Yeah...I've come across a few things that...well, let's just leave it at 'this crap isn't making any sense whatsoever.' Hopefully, we can get something from this thing, whatever it is...if we can't, I'm going to seriously consider having a nervous breakdown."

"Hm...well, we're not going to get to ask them by waiting out here. Let's go." Elliot opened the door and entered, Emil following close behind.

The room was only very dimly-lit, but both of them could see the goblin-like creature well enough, as well as the death glares it was giving them. It had been tied tightly onto a chair, one of three in the room stationed at a small table. "The officers found him hanging out near Pine Park. The worst he managed to do was smack a couple of them around a bit before one of them got in a good hit and knocked him out."

"I suppose you think you're big guys now that you beat up on me?" snapped the creature. "Four on one is never fair!"

"It was only four because we wanted you alive," Elliot assured him, somewhat testily. "If we'd had a kill order on you, you'd have easily been bested by one, I'm sure, unless one of your buddies managed to get to you in time. Consider yourself lucky."

"Yeah, lucky," snorted the creature. "Instead of being put out of my misery, I'm forced to endure detainment. Everyone should be so fortunate." Emil noted that it was actually fairly well-spoken despite its appearance; he imagined more grunting and broken sentences.

"Hm, we can take care of that soon enough," Elliot mumbled with a glower. He sat down in a chair opposite the creature. "Let's just get straight to the point. What's with the invasion of our world out of the blue? Just get bored over wherever you came from and decide to have a little fun tormenting people down here?"

"We're not as simple as that," the goblin creature snapped back. "We're here to wipe you off this planet and take it for our own!"

"Impressive. I expected you to be a little more tight-lipped."

"Bah, what's the point? You knowing isn't going to help you. Emperius is guided by divine destiny; we can't lose no matter what!"

"'Divine destiny,' huh?" Elliot smirked. "I remember that concept...hell, we used it ourselves a couple hundred years back. Tried to justify our own imperialism by claiming so. 'Course, now we're a little more intelligent than to think that we can justify genocide for the purposes of expanding our realms."

"It's no loss in the long run. Humans are an inferior species, not worthy of having domain over anything. We'd be doing this world a favor by exterminating you."

"A blind judgment, I'm sure. And why do you need this world?"

"What makes you think we need it?"

Elliot paused; this was not the answer he expected. "Hold on. You're saying that you're trying to destroy us and conquer this world just for the sake of destroying us and conquering this world?"

"That sounds about right. It's the privilege of the strong to do as they wish with the weak!"

Elliot needed a moment to gather himself after this. "Unbelievable...our rationales might not have been heroic, but at least we has some...I suppose this means that an accord with your leaders would be all but impossible."

"It would be futile for you to try. You are worth no more than the dirt under our feet. The chance that they would consider an audience with you is laughable."

"And you agree?" asked Emil, speaking for the first time.

"Of course!" snorted the creature.

Emil nodded, half-lost in thought. "I figured as much...but I gather that that sentiment isn't universal, is it?"

Elliot snapped his head back to give Emil a withering look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Emil ignored Elliot for a moment, concentrating fully on the creature. "Well? Any intention of replying to that?" The creature was glaring at Emil, but refused to speak for the first time. "Hm, perhaps you think you can preserve some of the secret by being quiet about it...in that case, allow me to speculate. There are a number of monsters who follow the same beliefs you've just espoused to us - they agree that they have divine right to come in and take over without any solid justification, and they're on the side of this 'Emperius' group...and then there are some who don't agree with you, perhaps out of respect for this world, or just a respect for living creatures in general, and they fight against you to make sure you can't achieve your goal. Am I right, or am I missing something?"

The creature refrained from speaking for a while; when it finally did, it sounded highly contemptuous. "You know more than you should, human...there are certain...heretics that refer to themselves as Libertius who try to deny our divine right, and they do indeed battle against us. How you know of this is beyond me...I would not have suspected that they could have survived long enough under our assault to come to your attention."

"So, it's true..." Emil muttered to himself, losing himself somewhat in thought. "I knew something wasn't adding up...this changes everything..."

"Well, how many more of you are there?" snapped Elliot, clearly annoyed at the change of subject. "How many more monsters can we expect?"

"Even if I had the inclination to tell _you_, human, I wouldn't be able to. Few soldiers are aware of the full scope of our ranks. I came with part of a select scouting group that was trying to figure out what your greatest weaknesses were. We should have been able to gather information without opposition...but apparently, we weren't told of the group of heretics and humans that were out for us."

"Heretics _and_ humans? There are humans working together with the monsters?"

"You mean you didn't _know?_" the creature cackled, a gleeful smile forming on his face. "Hee hee hee...you pathetic creatures aren't even aware of what's going on in your own world! That you still think you can resist is ridiculous!"

"Was there a black canine in that group?" Elliot growled, his patience long gone. "Answer me!"

"Why, yes, there was! A heretic called Blackcanismon. He wounded me quite badly...do you know him? Because I would like to have my revenge on him..."

Elliot slammed his fist onto the table, startling both Emil and the creature with his suddenness. Before anyone knew what had happened, he'd stormed out of the interrogation room furiously, nearly slamming the door into Emil as he tried to follow. "Damn him! How dare he..."

"Elliot! Elliot, calm down, what's gotten into you?" Emil asked hurriedly, trying to slow down his partner and not succeeding.

"What's gotten into me?" Elliot shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing looks from a pair of agents far down the hallway. "What the hell do you think's gotten into me? My son's been lying to me! He brought one of those goddamned things under my roof, and knew the whole time what he was doing!"

"Elliot, calm down! You're making a scene!"

But Elliot seemed to plow right through Emil's objections. "He's gonna have a LOT to answer for! I've put up with a lot of his crap, but this went too far!" He pulled open the door to the stairwell, only to run smack into a lab technician.

"Sir? Agent Katran, sir!" the agent squeaked as he tried to gather himself, clearly unnerved by the angry looks Elliot was giving him. "Um...I was told to call you into the lab...Rudy, he's...he's got something...you might want to see, Agent Katran."

(==========)

(==========)

I just realized I hit the six-digit mark in the word count. Holy smokes...I've never written this much for a single work ever. And I'm not even CLOSE to being done. I've got some good-sized chapters coming up soon, too, so it's only gonna get larger. Where it stops, even I don't know.

What kind of idiot would launch a synthetic digimon with that kind of design flaw? Well, that would be me! I'm just full of bad ideas, good thing I use them all for the bad guys. If you're wondering where the heck these other digimon came from, I recommend you cast your memory back to Chapter 9. That's probably all the hint you need.

This is my favorite chapter so far. Everything came together well in this one right from the start, which made it really easy to rewrite and solidify. And I really like the interplay between the various characters. Especially Ashley and Elecmon. Bit of a vicarious thrill there, I'll admit - I'd love to just be able to logic someone into submission. Alas, most people I meet don't make that possible.

Thanks to reviewers! I'm always happy to see that people like what they're seeing. Hopefully I can keep up that level of writing. Certainly not easy - I don't know how those professional authors do it.

That's all I have for now. Tune in next week for the next installment!


	15. Chapter 14: Confrontation

Last chapter for two weeks. I'm a-going out camping again, won't have computer access for the entire time. Shortish chapter again, but it does its job. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 14: Confrontation**

"Rudy, I swear to you, this had better be a matter of life or death, or I'm going to have your head for wasting my time!" roared Elliot as he stormed into the lab. Emil was following quickly, desperately trying to calm down his good friend, but with no success.

"I'm not wasting your time, I swear!" Rudy cried meekly, shrinking away; he never liked Elliot's temper. "Listen, this isn't my fault, I promise you-"

"Out with it!"

"V-very well, sir. The compilation got finished - much faster than I thought they would, these computers are something else-"

"RUDY!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'll get to the point! I found a match in the database. It's similar to human DNA!"

This information had a calming effect on Elliot, though Emil had a very nasty feeling that it was going to be one of those calm-before-the-storm moments. "Well, that's something, at least...although it kills my bug bomb idea. Is that all?"

"No, sir...I, well, I ran it against some existing profiles...for something to take advantage of...like I said, this isn't my fault, I didn't know what was in the system when I ran it-"

"Stop making excuses and tell me what's going on!" Elliot pushed Rudy out of the way and looked at the screen. Emil felt a sudden sense of dread, and a moment later it was verified; like a time bomb hitting 0, Elliot's fury exploded, nearly knocking Rudy to the ground. "What the hell is this?"

"I-I-I d-double-checked it, s-sir. F-four times, to be sure!"

With a loud curse, Elliot crashed out of the lab, knocking over a table as he did. Emil watched after, thunderstruck; he knew Elliot had occasional anger issues, but never in his life had he seen him this outraged. And he still didn't know what had really set him off.

"Agent Conover..." Emil turned to Rudy, who was still shaking violently after the encounter. "I'm sorry...I should have had you leave first...but we have to talk, fast. This could be a volatile situation."

"It already is, apparently. What's going on, Rudy?"

"Agent Katran...I think he's going to attack his son."

(==========)

Feigning despondency once again, Derek made his way down the stairs, keeping an eye out for his parents. Seeing no sign, he started to proceed, but a moan from the living room caused him to pause.

"Derek...is that you?"

Taking a deep breath, he changed course and headed for the living room. His mother was laying on the couch, a wet cloth over his eyes. Derek knew what that meant. "Another migraine?"

"Uhmm...Derek, you're not going out..."

It was all Derek could do to keep from yelling at her. Taking a deep breath in, he said, "Mom, we've been over this dozens of times. I don't want to stick around here. It's confining, it's boring-"

"It's safe..." Myra mumbled. "There are monsters out there...they could attack you, and if they did..."

"Mom, I've never encountered a monster out there at night. I'm sure they're sleeping like most of the rest of the city. Come on, don't do this to me." He started to go, but Myra grabbed his hand and held him back.

"Please...just...please...tell me where you're going. I need to know...if you don't come back...I...I need to tell them where..."

Derek's patience was running out, but he forced himself to cool off. His mother was much more understanding than his father, and she had been having a bad time lately with Elliot off working so much...he sighed and turned back around. "I'm just going up to the Undevelopment, okay? They've cleared the area, so it's gotta be safe."

"Okay...please...be careful out there..."

"I will, Mom. Now will you let go already?"

Reluctantly, Myra let go, and with plenty of relief, Derek made it out of the house without further incident. He sent a telepathic message to Blackcanismon to meet him at the edge of the city; they needed to play guard duty.

(==========)

Emil stared at the screen in amazement. "Unbelievable...it matches Derek's DNA profile?"

Rudy nodded. "Yeah...I had no idea Agent Katran put his son into the database. I guess it might have made sense to him, but, well, I think it's kind of creepy."

"How...how can you possibly have such a complete match?"

"You be surprised how far genome mapping has come, Agent Conover. Certain agencies have computers that are capable of analyzing and sequencing a genome completely within hours. In a few years, I wouldn't be surprised if you could purchase your own complete personal genome map for a nominal sum! And the government will have access to each and every one...it can be scary if you think about it."

"And you've checked this over repeatedly..." Emil shook his head, trying to balance yet another load upon his already stressed mind. "But this makes no sense! There's absolutely no way Derek is one of the monsters..."

"He's not. For one thing, he's not made of binary code."

"But...but what's going on?"

"I have no idea! I didn't know what was going on from the start, and this just makes it worse!" Rudy moaned, rubbing his temples. "Look, there's no possible mistake here. I looked at the pure profile, and I just about had a heart attack. The match is perfect, 100% across all known pathways. Gene for gene, hell, base for base, these profiles line up perfectly!" He scrolled through the screens again, as if trying to convince himself he was wrong somehow. "This just doesn't happen, Agent Conover! The chance of two _humans_, two like creatures, having the exact same DNA sequence is astronomically small! Even identical twins have differences! Two different species...it shouldn't even be thinkable! But here we have a human and a creature from who-knows-where, their DNA written in completely different languages, yet they can be translated to be equivalent!"

"Which might lead someone to conclude that there's a causal relationship," Emil finished, finally understanding the matter as it stood. The full force of the implications should have hit him like an atom bomb, but he was beginning to feel desensitized under the constant volume of steadily-increasing surprises that were bombarding him. "No wonder Elliot is in conniptions...I would be, too."

"But there's absolutely no precedent for something like that! I mean, I've heard of cloning before, but this is completely different! I can't think of a single way this could possibly be achieved with any of our current technology! And chance...the probability is so astronomically small...how can we just accept that?"

"I guess...well, I couldn't say. This whole matter is so complicated, I couldn't begin to make heads or tails of it. At this point I'm doubting anyone on this whole planet had anything to do with it. It just wouldn't make sense, there's no way it would be so complicated if that were the case. But that brings its own set of problems."

"Listen, Agent Conover, I don't think Agent Katran is thinking straight. I'm worried about what he's going to do. We have only a single case of coherence, and any scientist worth his salt knows that a single event doesn't indicate a larger pattern. We can't prove that any monsters beyond this dog of his are connected to Derek in such a way, and we can't prove that he's even aware of that kind of connection. Someone could have stolen his DNA, or he donated it without knowing what it was for, or it may even have been stolen off this database for all we know! There's a wide range of possibilities, but I think Agent Katran has already made up his mind without knowing all the facts! With his mind and mood how they are, who knows what he could do?"

Emil raised his hands up to calm the frantic techie. "Calm down, Rudy...it's late, and Derek is probably out right now. Elliot will have a hard time finding him unless Derek's told someone where he went. I'll give Myra a call, she'll be able to help me on that."

"Okay..." breathed Rudy, willing himself to calm down. "I'll try to see if I can look into this phenomenon a little bit more. If we can figure out where the coherence came from, maybe we can find a way to figure out what started this whole mess. Maybe if I had more samples, I could figure out more."

"Maybe we can get you one from that creature we've got downstairs. Though I'm not sure I'd want to get within arm's length of it, tied up or not."

"That would help, but I don't know if it would come fast enough." He just shook his head as he looked back at the screen showing the impossible. "It just doesn't make sense...it's as ridiculous as anything I've ever seen in my life. This is like...I could convincingly prove that Derek was a big black dog and a human at the same time."

Emil had been on his way out as Rudy had said that. He froze in mid-stride, the statement burrowing into his mind. It was as if the whirlwind of confusing within him had stopped dead, and everything was landing in a specific place, fitting together fluidly and forming an absurd, and yet entirely fitting theory. All the conflicting information, the oddness of the last few days, suddenly had a shape.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's...it's absurd..." Emil replied distantly, running through everything in his head. "It's absolutely, completely, 100% inconceivable...and yet...what if? It might explain everything...how they evaded detection...why they recurred when others didn't...why they seemed to know exactly where they were going...why they behaved so differently from our expectations...!"

"Um...what exactly are you talking about?" the perplexed technician asked.

Emil didn't answer; instead he grabbed his coat off the chair and made for the door. "Rudy, I'm going after Elliot. I think you're right, he's got a certain idea, but it's almost certainly the wrong one. And if I'm right...I need to find him before he does something that could be catastrophic."

"I don't understand-!"

"I can't take the time to explain it right now. If things work out for the best, you'll know soon enough." Emil gave Rudy a deadly serious look. "The chances are at best a hundred trillion to one that I'm right...but if even that slight chance works out in my favor...we may stand a chance against those buggers after all."

(==========)

"Derek, would it trouble you to provide an explanation as to our current peregrination to the Undevelopment?" asked Blackcanismon. "I was under the impression that the government personnel had not yet vacated the location."

"Well, that's not what I heard," Derek answered seriously. "Isaac called me earlier, and said that the place was empty. They probably didn't have enough personnel to cover everywhere, and since there haven't been many sightings there lately, they backed off to cover other areas. And that bothers me...any digimon that appears there won't be seen for a long time, and who knows how much havoc they'll cause? We have to make sure the place is safe."

"It seems like a potentially precarious endeavor, in my sentiment. Still, I will defer rebuttal."

"Glad to hear it...I think." They were just reaching the point where the torn-up ground met the trees. Neither of them could see any people around, though the ground was rife with all sorts of vehicle and shoe tracks. "Yeah, they've cleared out. Well, maybe we'll get lucky and there won't be any action out here."

"I do not presume that our fortunateness of late would lend itself to that particular conclusion."

"That's just paranoia...or it isn't," Derek rapidly revised as he saw bright lights heading his direction. "Well, that's a new one...a car off-roading it, or a digimon?"

"I cannot recall any specific digimon that bore such an appearance..."

"Then it's a car...and it's heading right for us!" Derek felt panic begin to climb; the car might not see them until it was too late to stop. "Dammit, run for the forest! It won't be able to hit us in there!"

Boy and dog took off into the woods, running haphazardly away from the threatening vehicle. It was at least a full minute before Derek finally stopped, leaning against a tree to catch his breath. It was only then that he realized Blackcanismon wasn't there.

"Uh-oh..."

He retraced his steps carefully trying to see if the dog had tripped (as absurd as that sounded), but after a while it became clear he hadn't been following Derek. For a moment he thought the worst...then...

_Derek?_

_Blackcanismon! Where are you?_

_My precise location is unknown. When was the cessation of your sprinting?_

_Uh...I only ran for about a minute._

_Ah...I believe I can confidently proclaim I outstripped you in celerity and outlasted you by a half-minute._

Derek groaned loudly. _You need me to go searching for you?_

_Entirely unnecessary. My olfactory organs have been primed for that particular task. I have misgivings about our pursuer, however. Trouble appears to have a bead on us._

_You're right about that. My dad might have sent someone. I'm going to see...if it was just coincidence, we can stay out here, but if that was Dad or someone associated with him, we have to run._

_Remain ever vigilant, my friend._

Derek took a few deep breaths and gathered himself. As quietly as possible, he crept back towards the edge of the woods, hoping to find some clue as to who was out there at that time of night. It took him several minutes, but he finally caught sight of the silhouette of the car. As he made it past the tree line, he could clearly see the make of the car, which only confirmed his suspicions. _Blackcanismon! It's Dad's car! We have to get away!_

"Don't even think of moving!" Derek jumped and wheeled around, knowing who it was before he even saw him. "Dad!"

"About time I finally found you!" Elliot shouted furiously. He had a pistol in his hands and was pointing it right at Derek. "You're coming with me right now to explain yourself! Don't even think of trying to escape, or I'll shoot you!"

_He's...pointing a gun at me? What the hell?_ "Dad, just calm down...what's the matter?"

"YOU! You knew that dog was a monster when you brought him under our roof! You knew that, and still sheltered him and endangered all of us! And now I know why...you're the one who's behind all this, Derek! You created these things! You started the monster attacks! What else have you been doing behind my back?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA! What the holy hell are you talking about? I didn't create any of those things, and I definitely didn't start them attacking!"

"Don't lie to me, Derek! I have proof of your involvement!"

"You've completely lost it!" Derek started to move, but Elliot raised his gun level to his chest, and he stopped dead.

"I don't care if you are my son," growled Elliot, "I will do what I have to do to stop this invasion and protect the people of this city, and that includes killing you!"

"Villain!" From the darkness, Blackcanismon leapt up and swatted the gun out of Elliot's hands. The shocked agent staggered backwards as he stationed himself between him and Derek.

"Don't you even dare lay a hand on him! He hasn't done anything to you!" Derek felt chilled by Blackcanismon's anger; he wasn't even speaking in his normal manner. "I don't care what becomes of me, but so help me, if you even think of touching one hair on him, I'll cut you down where you stand!"

Elliot was momentarily frozen by the sudden appearance of the snarling canine. He recovered soon enough, and attempted to re-establish control. "You...monster! You must have been the first one Derek made...of course, you had to have been, you were the first one I saw!"

"You really are insane! Derek most certainly didn't create me!" roared back Blackcanismon, rage overshadowing disbelief.

"There are only two options - he create you, or you created him! And I know you can't have created him!"

"Dad! Blackie! Look out!" Derek's shout drew the attention of both of them as he hit the ground, just diving under a whipping chain that was flying across the open air. It slammed into Elliot's side, throwing him to the ground and driving the air out of his lungs. It took him several seconds to recover enough to catch sight of the scene in front of him; Derek and Blackcanismon were gone, and a shadowy creature and a titan with a chain and an iron mask squaring off, the battle having moved into the trees...

(-)

"Such a dishonorable opponent, Skullmeramon," Darkwolfmon hissed, taunting the larger creature. "Ambushing those who are clearly distracted...how shameful!" He'd drawn the foe into the trees, where he knew Skullmeramon would not be able to effectively use his chain. "Then again, I don't suppose your kind has any shame, dressed like that."

"Ah, nuts ta you!" retorted Skullmeramon, charging forward and trying to strike Darkwolfmon. His fist hit only air, Darkwolfmon phasing out under it and reappearing behind him.

"Keep swinging, I think you might have a chance to land in the same continent." He phased out again after another hook was sent his way, and reappeared behind Skullmeramon ready to strike. "Shadow Wave!" He sent the dark energy flying at Skullmeramon; it struck him, but had no appreciable effect. "Hm, you're stronger than the others I've faced...probably not smarter, though..."

"Shaddup!" Skullmeramon pulled his fist back and sent it hurtling directly into Darkwolfmon's chest. He went flying, just barely managing to phase into a shadow before slamming into a tree. He reappeared once more, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. "Damn...speaking of stupid..."

Skullmeramon had headed towards the clearing, intent on giving himself more advantageous battlefield. Darkwolfmon gave pursuit, but couldn't get there before the foe had achieved his goal. Skullmeramon had his chain out and a malevolent grin on his face as Darkwolfmon moved to engage him again.

A bullet sailed past the battling pair, narrowly missing both of them. It was enough to disrupt the combat as both looked back to see Elliot standing not far from them, holding his gun shakily in front of him. "I...will stop you!" he gasped, clearly in serious pain. He pulled the trigger again, and got only a click; the gun had jammed. "No..."

"Hah!" Skullmeramon laughed, tossing his chain right at the gun and knocking it out of Elliot's hands yet again. "Pathetic human! Your tiny weapons won't protect you this time!" He laughed madly, swinging his chain and readying another blow.

"Nightmare Tangle!" The shadowy tendrils grabbed Skullmeramon from behind. With a growl, he ripped his way out of them, and flung his chain at Elliot once again. In a near-panic, Darkwolfmon leapt in front of Elliot, taking the full force of the blow and getting thrown to the ground. He pulled himself back up, but he was definitely feeling the worse for wear, and starting to doubt whether he could truly beat Skullmeramon on his own.

At that moment, the part of himself that belonged solely to Derek, the part that felt the real impact of the danger Elliot was in, pushed itself full force into Darkwolfmon. Almost involuntarily, he turned to the human and growled, "It's too dangerous, Dad! You've gotta get away!"

His words had the opposite effect; Elliot simply froze where he was, his eyes opening wide. _Did...did he...no...it can't...he couldn't..._

_Dammit, I think you broke him,_ Darkwolfmon angrily chastised that segregated mind as Skullmeramon swung again. He pulled Elliot down under the deadly whip, then got back to his feet. "That's it! You care to attack me, fine...you attack those I care about, and it's a whole different story! Prepare to die!"

Darkwolfmon glowed black again, and started to change to his next form. He shifted from a half-solid body to a fully solid one of roughly the same size, a dark-furred lupine with deep, crystal-blue eyes. Clothes formed on his body, a dark blue sash wrapping around his body and short dark green pants on his legs, and tape wrapped around his hands and wrists. A rapier formed, its sheath strapped to the belt of his pants.

"I'm supposed to be impressed by that?" guffawed Skullmeramon. "That's funny! Flame Chains!"

"Perhaps not..." the new creature growled with a slight British inflection, ducking under the chains and suddenly blitzing Skullmeramon, connecting on several blows and knocking the monster back into the trees. "But I don't much care about impressing you, seeing as you'll be dead in less than a minute!" He drew his rapier and held it in front of him defensively. "Remember the name of Ebonlupimon...it will be the last you hear!"

"Yeah, right!" Skullmeramon countered. "You won't last! Metal Fireball!" He fired his attack right at Ebonlupimon, but the canine was too speedy, quickly jumping and bouncing off a tree before slashing down at Skullmeramon's arm. The rapier opened a long furrow in Skullmeramon's bicep, causing it to shout out in pain. Semi-blindly, he punched out at the attacker. Ebonlupimon took the moment of opportunity to leap up onto Skullmeramon's chest and plunge his blade deep into the unprotected flesh. Another shout was all Skullmeramon got before he disappeared into a cloud of data.

"Farewell, foul creature of the abyss..." Ebonlupimon muttered, wiping the blood off his rapier. He turned back to Elliot, who had gotten to his feet but still bore the same stunned expression. "And as for you...well, now you know exactly what there is between us. Are you satisfied, or do you need me to reveal more truths that you can't possibly accept?"

"You...you...you can't be...you can't be my son!" Elliot managed to stammer out. "You-you're a freak...a, a monster..."

"Rather harsh words, I feel...considering that this 'freak' just kept your life from ending at least three times in the last five minutes, to say nothing of being one of the few that has kept this entire city from being leveled outright." Ebonlupimon sheathed his weapon, not worried about Elliot attacking at this point. "The truth is the truth. I am your son, at least in part."

"N-no. You're one of those creatures-"

"Again, in part. Have you not figured it out yet? Not all the digital monsters seek the destruction of this world...not all of them hate humanity. We have fought, time and time again, to save this world. You have gravely erred in labeling all digimon, and the others of us, as evil...it has only hurt your cause, rather than helping it."

"That's...that's..."

"Elliot!" The voice startled Ebonlupimon, and he was about to dash off when he caught sight of the figure running up to them. It was Emil.

"Elliot! Thank goodness you're all right, I was so concerned when you left...like that..." Emil faltered as he caught sight of Ebonlupimon. "Wh...who in the world...wait...you, you must be...Derek and that dog?"

Now it was Ebonlupimon's turn to be stunned. "Emil...so...I suppose the secret is out now. You are correct...I am a hybrid of the human Derek Katran and a canid digimon known as Blackcanismon. You just missed a rather spectacular fight between myself and a somewhat malevolent digimon known as Skullmeramon."

"A fight between...so it's true. You've been working for our side."

"Emil..." croaked Elliot weakly. "What are you saying?"

Ebonlupimon nodded. "Your insight has remarkable clarity. I have been working on your side for some time. Though, how you managed to deduce my true nature...I'm afraid that I must color myself perplexed. I would hardly have imagined that to be a viable conclusion for anyone to draw."

"It certainly wasn't easy. It took a lot of coincidences and a lot of confusion. But I started to get the feeling, after a while, that not all these...digimon, was it? That not all of them fit my expectations for what I thought I knew. It was the only conclusion I could draw. Your...unique abilities were a different matter entirely."

"I see...you have taken it remarkably well. This idiot," and here Ebonlupimon nodded towards Elliot, "practically saw it happen and still refuses to accept the truth."

"He...didn't have the benefit of my insight."

"Clearly," responded Ebonlupimon with just a hint of amusement.

"Mister...Ebonlupimon, was it?" A nod prompted Emil to continue. "If I may be so bold...you're not the only one of your kind, are you? There are more of you who can...well, who are hybrids of human and digimon, are there not?"

"Wh-what? You mean there are more of these things out here?" Elliot gasped.

Ebonlupimon nodded. "I cannot for the life of me figure out how, but you have clearly made the necessary connections. There are five of us who have achieved this singular capability. I believe you have seen them all before, but did not recognize us for what we really were."

"I see...the ones we all saw that night..." And then Emil was struck by another moment of inspiration. "Of course...what didn't I see it before? Acting like she was hiding something all the time...sneaking out when I wanted her to stay in...not to mention all the disappearing food. Iris...she's another one, isn't she?"

Ebonlupimon laughed quietly. "Emil, I must say, I find the high regard Derek holds for you to be entirely justified. You've deduced perfectly. I do hope, however, that you will react in a slightly more positive manner than certain other individuals in this vicinity. I could hardly begin to tell you how much she has worried about your reaction when you would finally discover the truth. I dare say she would be quite refreshed to learn that her fears were entirely unfounded."

"Even if I had objections, what could I do at this point?" Emil shook his head resignedly. "She's clearly far deeper in this than I have ever been, and perhaps...no, certainly part of the reason why this crisis hasn't been far more horrifying in magnitude. No, I don't have any illusions that I could or should stop her...for all our sakes, I'll make sure she knows she has my full support."

"That is most fantastic. I would certainly love to chat further, but I must beg your leave...duty calls, you know." Ebonlupimon shifted back to Darkwolfmon on that note; Emil watched the change, transfixed. Darkwolfmon chuckled a bit. "I see you are not fully versed in our ways yet...hopefully, everything will become clear soon enough. Tah." And he phased into the shadows, leaving only Emil and Elliot and the darkness.

(==========)

Darkwolfmon reappeared within the city limits moments later, and shifted back to Derek and Blackcanismon. "Well...wasn't that fun," Derek spat bitterly. "I think he took it rather well. Can't believe this...he thought I was behind this? What a nutcase! I think he's got it in for me or something!"

"Indeed. I cannot fathom what possessed him to make such specious claims."

"I just hope he hasn't been spreading this around. It would not make things easy for us."

Blackcanismon nodded. "Definitely. And I think it is imperative that we air warnings to the rest of our compatriots. If they remain oblivious to the certainty that our secret has been divined by one involved in the higher workings of this city, the danger might be radically compounded."

"No kidding. It may be lucky for us that Emil figured out what was going on, maybe he can mitigate the damage. How the hell did he figure it all out on his own?"

"I profess ignorance, but perhaps our activities have lacked the covertness we expected of them."

"Maybe. We should still warn everyone anyway. Someone's gotta still be awake, it's not even that late. Let's find a phone and make some calls."

(==========)

Emil's first order of business once they were left alone was finished was to check on Elliot. "You look injured...how bad is it?"

"My body is fine," Elliot grunted, averting his gaze from his long-time partner. "My pride...can't say the same. I'm shocked. Ashamed. Horrified."

"You've no reason to be any of those," Emil stated firmly. Thinking on that a moment, he clarified, "Well, maybe shocked. But not ashamed or horrified."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Elliot suddenly lashed out angrily. "Why shouldn't _you_ be? You saw it yourself! My son...your daughter...they've...they've joined these things! They've turned into monsters!"

"And for what cause?" Emil replied calmly. "Only to ensure the safety of this city, and perhaps the entire world! You haven't heard, Emil. You don't know what I know!"

"How can you be so calm about this?" shouted Elliot. "Don't you understand?"

"Yes, I do, a lot more than you do. Elliot, you know as well as I that there are two sides to every story. You've only got one side...I've just gotten the other. We've been making a serious mistake...we've considered all these creatures to be the same, when in fact they're not. The creatures that we've been working to pursue have been the ones who were making it so they were the only ones we could go after. These aren't our enemies, Elliot...they're the heroes who've been fighting behind the scenes for us, probably the only reason we're all still alive right now. And look what we've been doing to them."

Elliot stared at Emil like he'd proclaimed to be the reincarnation of Elvis. "I...what are you saying? I don't understand-"

"Elliot. I need to know if you're with me."

Elliot blinked. "With you?"

Emil nodded. "I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure that the people who are working with us don't end up being our targets. I'm going to do everything to make sure everyone knows who our allies are. And I want to know if you're going to be helping me. If you are, I couldn't be happier...if you're not, then I will do it all myself, if that's how it's going to be. But I understand the truth now. They've been with us from the start...and we are going to need their help to the very end if we want to survive. What do you say?"

Elliot didn't respond. After a minute, he got to his feet and turned back towards his car.

"Elliot? Where are you-"

"I'm...I'm going home. I need to sleep...I haven't slept in days." Elliot took a half-glance back to his partner. "I can't give you an answer right now...I can barely think straight as it is. I need some time...time to come to grips with all of this. I don't even know if I can, but...well, I just don't know. Good night, Emil."

Emil sighed and shook his head as he watched his partner drive off. "I sure hope you can, Elliot..." he said to himself quietly. "Because I'm sure this is only the beginning."

(==========)

(==========)

Revelations abound! And Emil gets his moment, kind of. At the time I originally wrote this chapter, I'd done a rather lousy job of establishing his character up to that point, making him seem kind of foolish and wimpy compared to Elliot, so this was supposed to be kind of his saving grace. I think he probably got the biggest benefit from all the rewrites I did, character-wise. He's still kind of a more nervous sort than Elliot, but he gets more face time than he originally did and it's not such an out-of-the-blue thing that he takes everything much better than Elliot. Most of those sections centered around Emil in previous chapters weren't in the original draft of these early chapters, and I think their inclusion made everything from Chapter 8 to here much better than it used to be.

Yep, this is what I was building towards starting at Chapter 8, if you remember my little hint. I'd originally planned a couple more chapters before this payoff than there were, but I ended up discarding some ideas or choosing to use them later because they didn't flow as well, and some that were good were just incorporated into existing chapters. I think it worked out fine in the end, but of course you all will be the judge of that.

Well, I gotta go pack. Adios!


	16. Chapter 15: Making Connections

And I'm back again, with plenty of reading for your pleasure. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 15: Making Connections**

"Looks like Felismon will recover," Treylor informed Reyn as he left the digimon's side. "She was hurt pretty badly, but thankfully not as badly as Talomon, and it doesn't look like anything important was damaged."

"That's good to hear," replied Reyn, relieved. "Iris will be pleased to know that."

"And what about you?" Treylor looked inquisitively at his son. "Iris told me what happened out there...are you sure you're all right after that?"

"I won't deny we were a little woozy at first. But I think we've gotten over it. Ashinkaimon didn't get a chance to do very much, thanks to Ionavimon."

"I don't know...I'd still like to check you out, make sure there weren't any lasting effects."

"Dad..."

"Fine, fine. I get it, you're a big boy and all that. But if you feel out of the ordinary at all, please, let me or your mother know. I'd hate to see you get into the same situation as that reptile you brought in."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. "Don't worry, Dad, if I need a doctor, you'll be the first person I see," Reyn answered as he went to answer the door. It was Iris and Shockavimon. "Oh, hi, Iris, Shockavimon. I didn't expect you to come back tonight."

"Well, things, ah, changed a little bit. Can we come in?"

"Sure, sure." Reyn moved out of the way. "Come by to see Felismon?"

"Partly. How's she doing?"

"Dad says she should be fine. And Alisin can't stay away from her - you know how she is about cats."

"Ah, yes, I remember that. She used to beg night and day for your parents to get her a cat."

"Still does every now and then, she tries to catch them by surprise." Something about Iris' tone bothered Reyn. "Are you okay? You sound like something's bothering you."

Iris sighed. "It's been a long, long day for us, but that's nothing compared to some other people. I need you to get Salmandmon. We all need to have a little chat about something important. Can't wait until tomorrow."

Reyn nodded. "Okay. Let's go up to my room."

(==========)

With the four of them sitting around Reyn's room, Iris wasted no time getting to her explanation. "You know that my dad and Derek's dad work together in the city's government offices. Well, it seems like Derek's dad got suspicious about Blackcanismon. Derek was trying to pass him off as a normal dog, but I think Elliot stopped buying it. Whatever the reason, he told Derek that he got a sample of Blackcanismon's hair, and tested it. As you might expect, he found out that Blackcanismon was a digimon, though I don't know that he even knows the term yet."

"That doesn't sound good," commented Salmandmon. "What happened to Derek and Black?"

"Nothing, thanks to a lucky coincidence. I was going to see Derek earlier, and his dad told me enough to insinuate that he knew what was up. Probably a good thing he didn't know what I was up to, either, or he would've been a lot more tight-lipped. I caught Derek and Blackcanismon before they could get back and warned them, so they were both okay."

"So, why is this big news?" asked Reyn, not getting it.

"Well, on its own it's not, but it's important you know because it really hit the fan today. You remember that Goburimon you guys fought against?"

"Yeah, Mecharexmon said he was going to look into it. What happened?"

"Well, I don't know all the details, but in a nutshell, he was captured and interrogated by my dad and Derek's dad. And the Goburimon kinda sorta told them that Derek had known Blackcanismon was a digimon for a long time. Apparently, that set him off pretty bad. And there was something else, too, but my dad wouldn't spill on that, so I can't really tell you the whole story."

"I don't like where this is going!" Salmandmon exclaimed. "What did Derek's dad do?"

"Well, Dad found out that Derek was going out to the Undevelopment for whatever reason, so he went out there. When he got there, he saw a creature and Elliot in kind of a standoff. No weapons, fortunately, but tense enough anyway."

"Was it Darkwolfmon?"

"No, it was his next form. Dad said he called himself Ebonlupimon, so I'm going with that. Anyway, there had been kind of a battle before he got there, and Ebonlupimon had let slip what he really was to Elliot. You can guess how that went over."

"Pretty bad?"

"Yeah. He told my dad the truth, too, but it sounds like he already kind of suspected what was going on. Turns out he had already been getting the impression that not all the strange creatures that had been showing up were enemies. Said there were a couple anecdotes about Andrexmon and Jetdramon that started him thinking that. Though it was you two careless dummies that made him suspect this combination thing."

"What?" Reyn and Salmandmon both replied at the same time.

"That's right!" Shockavimon informed them with a look of severity. "Turns out you two have been walking out in the streets without a care in the world. You didn't really think you'd never get spotted, did you? Most of these houses have windows, you know!"

"Damnation!" Salmandmon swore. "One little walk to ward off stir craze and the whole world gets a look at you!"

"Well, it had to happen sometime," Reyn sighed resignedly. "I knew we were taking a risk, but I thought it'd be people outside that would catch us, rather than inside. Least we could try to explain the case to them if it was like that. So your dad knew about the merging...how'd he take it when he found out you were doing it, too?"

"He took it amazingly well. Shockavimon and I had a long chat with him before we came over here. It sounds like he's gonna worry about me for the rest of my life, but I already knew that. Best thing is, he's given me his full support, which means I don't have to be cooped up anymore. Better result than Derek got from Elliot...Dad said he didn't sound like he wanted to accept the truth."

"Shame," Salmandmon said dejectedly. "Doesn't sound like things have been great between them before. This is just gonna make it more complicated."

"Well, we're here to offer our support. And speaking of the rest of us, that brings me to my last point." Iris took a deep breath. "Dad wants all of us to come to the government center tomorrow. He says he wants to learn more about what's been going on. And he wants the digimon to come with, as well."

"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone!" Salmandmon half-shouted. "Did I just hear what I think I heard? He wants us to just waltz into a building full of people who've been on our asses from day one? Has he lost it completely?"

"I know how it sounds offhand. But Dad said he's not looking for us to get killed; on the contrary, he wants us there so he can show everyone that we're on their side. If that works, then we don't have to worry about the human side of the equation anymore, and can focus all our energy on taking out invading digimon."

"I think we can trust what he says," Shockavimon affirmed. "He's met me, and I think he got a favorable impression. And I think he understands a lot better than other people what's going on."

Reyn and Salmandmon thought on this a moment. "I'm not totally comfortable with it..." Salmandmon said finally. "But if everything goes well, we've got a lot of help on our side, and that can only make things easier. Guess you gotta take risks to reap the rewards. All right, I'm in."

"Same. It'd be pretty silly for me to back out if Salmandmon's up for it. Besides, I trust your dad, he'd go ballistic if anyone tried to hurt us."

"Excellent. We're supposed to meet at 10 AM tomorrow morning. I'm going with Isaac to make sure he isn't late, so I'll try to meet up with you when we get there." Iris stood up and moved to the door. "I've got to go talk to Skylar...he doesn't know about this yet. See you tomorrow, and keep hoping for the best."

(==========)

The lobby of the government building was busy and populated. Many people were milling around, talking amongst each other or preparing further business to take care of. Behind the desk, a pair of secretaries were talking and laughing amongst each other. It was general office building fare, almost to the point of being generic and cliché.

All eyes turned, all conversation ceased, when the door opened and a group of teenagers and monsters very tentatively walked in.

There was a long moment of tension as the agents and fighters just stared at each other. Not even the sound of rustling paper could be heard. None of the observers could have imagined the flurry of telepathic messages going between each pair as they stood in the doorway like deer in the headlights. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as neither side was quite sure what to make of the other, until Emil rushed into the room to greet them.

"Sorry, sorry..." he blustered, composing himself in from of the group. "I got a rather important call at the last minute...really couldn't take myself away from it..." He gave Derek an odd look, but said nothing more. "Well, come on. Let's go to the lab, I want to make some confirmations of some tentative guesses I have." He looked around at the other agents in the room. "Don't you all have work to do?" Some semblance of normality returned to the room, though the humans and digimon certainly noticed many pairs of eyes following them as they passed through the lobby and further into the building. The rest of the building was likewise very office-like, though they had left out the cubicle dividers, so everyone could see everyone else.

"They'll get used to you," mumbled Emil, sounding annoyed. "Most of them aren't field agents...haven't seen anything like you guys yet. I apologize, it must make you nervous."

"Very," replied Skylar. "But we'll have to get used to it too. What did you want to test? You've been awfully mum about the whole thing."

"I think it would be good for you to see for yourself. It will take some time, though, and I want to use that time to learn more about the situation as a whole. The information I have right now is very fractured. I'd be pleased to get any information I can."

(==========)

As the group left for the upper floors, Agent Lexis Redford excused himself from his desk and exited the building. Instead of heading to a patio designated as a break area, however, he walked several blocks away from the agency building and into an alley. Once sure he was out of sight, he pulled out his cell phone and hit one of the speed dial options. There was only one ring before the other end picked up. "Talk, Agent Redford."

"It is as I feared it was, sir. There are humans who have sided with the monsters."

"I see. What confirmed it?"

"It came in a most unexpected way. A group of humans and monsters walked right into the agency building today. And one of the agents met with them and escorted them elsewhere in the building."

"Unbelievable...what a display of contempt. I knew we couldn't trust the local agency to properly deal with this. Have you had any word of how long this has been going on?"

"Not for certain, but I met one of the humans some time ago. The monster was with him then, but I took it for an ordinary canine. They are intelligent, I must give them that...some of them have learned to blend in perfectly."

"Any sign of where the sinister business is?"

"Almost certainly. Agent Conover's daughter is among the humans who have appeared to side with the monsters. At best, she is under some power of one of the monsters, or being held as a hostage...at worst, she has joined them of her own free will."

"I see. If we remove her from the picture, their allegiance might change."

Lexis' eyes widened behind the phone. "Sir! Please forgive my insubordination...I wish to destroy the monsters as soon as possible, but I do have serious misgivings about killing a man's daughter to get to him!"

"Goodness, that was not my intention at all! I was not suggesting you kill the daughter, Agent Redford. The monster she is closest to should be the target. I believe that she will be more vulnerable with it out of the way."

"Ah, yes, of course. Forgive me, sir, I should never have thought otherwise."

"Do not concern yourself with it. One last point of business. I am of the opinion that it is time that we take over this mission entirely. We have wasted enough time trying to push the local forces into greater action, and this only goes to show that they cannot do the job as it must be done."

Agent Redford gave an absent and unnecessary nod. "I agree, sir. I will make the necessary arrangements before striking out against the monster."

"Very well. Keep up the good work, Agent Redford."

(==========)

Ignoring the stares of the employees as they passed, Emil led the group up a couple flights of stairs and into a conference room. Ten chairs had been set up in advance, as he had requested. He bid them all to sit down, and then began his inquiry. "I'd like to thank you all for coming...I know this isn't the most comfortable place for you all to be in, but I'm hoping that by the end of the day it'll be better for you guys. So, just to start off, I'd like to know the background of this battle between these factions...what were they, Emperius and Libertius or something like that?"

"Y...yeah," Salmandmon replied, stunned. "How did you know that?"

"We happened to have one successful interrogation of one of these digimon creatures. He didn't do much besides spout radical nonsense, though, so I don't know much more than that."

Datacarnomon gave Emil a quick rundown of the history of the war between Emperius and Libertius. Emil nodded periodically, his understanding quickly becoming more and more complete. "So, you've been at war for a while now."

"A few years," Datacarnomon affirmed. "Too long for my liking or anyone else's, but clearly we can't just pack up and leave Emperius to its own devices."

"Of course. So when did our world become involved?"

"Well, we've known about your world for a while now...at one point, we were preparing to make a diplomatic effort between our worlds, but the rise of Emperius derailed that. Not too long ago, Emperius made a public declaration: they intended to enter the human world and exterminate the 'inferior' inhabitants, in order to create a glorious world of their own."

"That sounds too eerily similar to things humans have done in the past..."

"Well, you're not doing it in the present, at least. Needless to say, all remaining efforts to make contact with your world were ceased instantly, in order to try to preserve the separation of the worlds and keep Emperius out. Meanwhile, the war continued. Up until just before this whole thing started, it seemed like Emperius was tiring and Libertius was gaining the upper hand. Then...well, disaster. There was a gigantic battle that we weren't prepared for...they sent more at us than I thought they even had. We got our asses handed to us."

"Sal has considered the possibility that a miscreant was posing as a sympathizer in order to sabotage the operation from the interior," Blackcanismon ventured.

"A mole, huh? Well, that would make sense." Seeing Emil's blank look, Datacarnomon quickly explained, "What he's saying is that someone from Emperius, or someone who was swayed to their side, was in the ranks of Libertius, feeding them information. And that person was the one who gave us faulty information about the battle where we were caught off-guard. Libertius' scouting is normally solid...I think this is a distinct possibility."

"That sounds horrible. If you'll forgive me for interrupting, I'm curious about that tattoo you all have. Is it related to your organization?"

"Tattoo?" Datacarnomon asked, confused.

"Whatever it is...the one on your hand?"

"Oh...OH!" Datacarnomon answered, a bit surprised. "I'd completely forgotten about this thing..." Glancing around furtively, he could tell the others had also forgotten. "This isn't something we got voluntarily...it appeared as soon as we found out that our evolution abilities were sealed."

"That went way over my head."

"Oh, yeah...I guess I should explain a little." Datacarnomon gave Emil a brief overview of evolution, skipping most of the specifics. He hoped Emil would be satisfied with the limited amount of information, and to his relief he seemed to be.

"Fascinating...so there are different average power levels digimon could fit into. I was completely unaware of this...we'd been treating all the creatures as the same, that sounds like it was a serious mistake. How strict are the definitions?"

"Er...not that strict, to be sure. Clearly, as a general rule, higher levels are populated by stronger digimon, but it's not impossible for a lower-level digimon to beat a higher-level one. It's just more difficult."

"So, I assume, when you say your, uh, evolution is 'sealed,' you mean that you have somehow lost that capability to change forms...well, under your ordinary circumstances."

"Yeah, you're right," Datacarnomon replied, pleased that Emil was catching on quickly. "We're still not quite sure what happened. It happened during that last battle, but no one ever saw what it was that caused the effect. It's something I've never heard of actually happening, though there were a couple stories about it."

Emil nodded. "My condolences...perhaps there's something we can do about that for you."

Salmandmon shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but don't make it a high-priority concern. As the situation stands now, we have some way of dealing with the situation, and there are more pressing concerns that need to be attended to."

"So, I'm curious...Derek, you and Blackcanismon, when you were...together. I saw you change form. Does that mean that you can do that evolution thing when you're combined like that?"

Blackcanismon nodded. "Indeed. The mechanism is perhaps distinctive from that particular process in subtle manners, but the requisite processes and essential results are similar enough that it is not unsatisfactory to refer to them as analogous. There was significant question as to this particular aspect of our recombination previous to the discovery of this potential, but unequivocally, our capabilities in our synthesized form are remarkably similar to that of the average digimon."

"Uh...does that mean you weren't sure about it at first?"

"None of us really know the true extent of what this kind of reaction will do to any of us, or what the capabilities of our combined forms are," Datacarnomon explained. "We've never heard of this kind of reaction before, so it's as new to us as it is to you."

"I understand. So, getting back on track...after you had your evolution sealed, you came here?"

"Yeah. We kind of figured we couldn't do anything else back in the digital world, so we wanted to take our chances over here. We thought that, at the very least, we could warn your leaders of the impending danger. You may have noticed our rather sudden entrance into this world...that is, if you weren't completely blind and deaf."

"I figured that digimon were involved in that once they appeared," Emil said with a nod, then his expression changed. "Though...did that cause any harm?"

"Well, it MAY have weakened the barrier between the two worlds," Salmandmon admitted. "But that might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. If what we think is true, Emperius already had the capacity to come here, so even if we hadn't entered, it wouldn't have mattered in terms of the strength of the barrier. But by coming through beforehand, we created a localized area of weakness towards which any digimon trying to enter would automatically gravitate...the path of least resistance, if you will."

"The path of least resistance...so you're telling me that unintentionally, through your actions, you made it so that most if not all the invading forces would automatically congregate here, thus effectively limiting the scope of the invasion, at least in terms of surface area. Am I right?"

"Oh, you're good," Salmandmon said with a grin.

Emil smiled at the compliment. "So, you arrived here. But how did you all find each other? I don't think it's likely that it was coincidence."

"Finding each other wasn't, for sure," Skylar affirmed.

"Far from it!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "We just came into this world, and, BOOM! Like that, we got together!"

"Maybe someone else should explain..." said Skylar as Emil clearly failed to make sense of that.

"Back to me, then!" Datacarnomon volunteered. "Our original intent was to get to this world, find some way to figure out where all your leaders were, and travel there to warn them about the impending trouble. However, certain unexpected circumstances arose before we got much of a chance to do that. I'll defer back to Skylar momentarily..."

"Well, if you insist," Skylar agreed with a shrug. "Each pair of us had a connection long before the digimon arrived on this world. We've had dreams about each other...in some cases, we've even helped each other out through these dreams. I don't know how far back they go...probably as far back as I can remember. In any case, once the digimon arrived on our world, that connection grew exponentially stronger, to the point where it created a sort of psychic magentivism."

Iris blinked. "Psychic wha?"

"Psychic magnetism...didn't I tell you about that?"

"Oh...yeah..." Iris shook her head, wondering if she'd just misheard what Skylar said. Something told her she hadn't, however.

Emil nodded again. "Fascinating. So it didn't take long for all of you to get together, I gather."

"A matter of hours," confirmed Salmandmon. "Of course, some of us had a harder time of it than others, due to, ah, circumstances beyond our control." Reyn rolled his eyes, but said nothing. "At the time, we didn't even imagine what it was going to lead to. Even that didn't take very long, though; Reyn and I first merged the day after we arrived."

Emil grinned in spite of himself. "I thought you'd been at this for a while. I probably should have seen it before."

"Well, it wasn't something any of us were going to advertise," Derek noted, "especially not to you and Dad. We did our best to keep our activities as quiet as we could - though, clearly, we couldn't hide all the time, not when there was serious danger about."

"Have you...noticed anything else since that time? Any other personal peculiarities?"

No one spoke for a moment, at least out loud. After some quick mental conversing and hinting between them, they all decided to go for it. Iris took the role of spokesperson. "After merging together a couple times, we all noticed that we could...communicate telepathically with the digimon we merged with."

Emil dropped the pencil he was holding. "Are you serious? That's...that's unbelievable!"

"It's come in handy in a few cases," said Shockavimon. "We were pretty psyched when we found out. It's nice to always be able to know where your partner is when there's danger about, though if we can stick together more we won't have to worry so much about that."

Emil nodded again, seeming ready to move on to something else. "There was something else...oh, right. You said you were looking for information on contacting our leaders. Did that situation change when you found out you had this ability?"

Isaac shook his head. "Nope...we've tried many ways to contact the White House. Snail mail, e-mail, and I even put in a couple telephone calls. We got a response the first time, and since then, they haven't even bothered to answer back."

Emil frowned. "Now, that is strange. I would think that they'd at least listen to what you had to say before dismissing you..."

"We're not sure what's going on," agreed Datacarnomon. "But we keep trying. I think we'll be able to get through eventually."

"I see...well, if there's nothing else to speak of at the moment...I'd like to bring in the field agents we have now. We need to have them recognize that you are not threats, but allies. For that, they need to know what you all look like."

"Man, more staring, huh?" groaned Salmandmon.

"It's for a good cause, Sal," said Breezedramon. "Say, the cause of keeping us alive."

"We'll try to make it as painless as possible," Emil assured them. "Let me put in the call."

(==========)

They spent a very long time in the government center, far longer than any of them would have liked. Emil refused to explain why he was keeping them there for so long, only repeating "we want to make sure" over and over again. That, and the constant stream of people passing by for no better reason than to stare and ask questions, was beginning to grate on most of them. Salmandmon and Reyn decided to separate from the group and hang out around the door to the lab, thinking that they might get some privacy there. No such luck there, however.

_Next thing you know, he's gonna make us combine right in front of those guys,_ complained Salmandmon telepathically as he glowered after a trio of retreating government personnel. _Why can't we just go already, and come back when he's ready to show us what he has to show us?_

_I don't know, but I'm sure he has his reasons,_ rationalized Reyn. _Don't be too hard on them, Salmandmon...I did warn you that this was about how they would act around you guys._

_Doesn't stop it from being annoying._

_I hear ya. I don't like it much either...I'm almost as much the sideshow as you, considering our...abilities. I guess I'm taking it better because I'm more used to how we act._

_Maybe...hey, I just remembered something I wanted to ask you. How'd you become friends with Iris and Derek?_

_Why curious about that all of a sudden?_

_Well, just...I'm kinda curious as to whether there's any link between you guys. You know, something to explain this whole thing, why you all ended up in the same place, why you shared this unique connection with us. It bugs me that there's nothing I can really find to make sense of that._

_Oh...well, I doubt it'll be of any help, but sure. Iris was the first person I met here when I'd just moved...it was a hard move for me, and I was having some trouble adjusting, and she just helped. Derek...that one was a bit more interesting._

_How so?_

_Well, it was a while back..._

-_2 1/2 Years Ago-_

"_What is it?" I asked him as he arrived in the park. "Come to harass me more? Want to stomp on the firebug or something?" Probably a little too harsh, but I wasn't very happy with Derek._

"_That's not necessary. Look, I came to apologize."_

"_Iris browbeat you into submission, huh."_

"_...While that may be the case, I did want to come over here."_

_I scoffed a bit. It wasn't my best behavior, but I had reason to be disbelieving. Derek had not been the most friendly person to me; in fact, he had made some comments about my...interest in heat and fire, comments that had made me very angry. I found out later that when Iris heard about it, she reamed him out good and forced him to apologize, using arguments that had definitely made him want to apologize; at the time, I only knew what I was observing now._

"_Look, at least hear me out. I...it wasn't my place to say things like that. I shouldn't have said anything."_

"_No, you shouldn't have. I'm unusual, I get that. I don't need to have it pointed out to me everywhere I go, dammit."_

"_No, I guess not. And I shouldn't have made jokes about how you were going to burn down your house...I had no idea you were in a house fire when you were little. I should have considered that it might have been a painful topic for you."_

"_Is that what this is about? You could have chosen your targets better."_

"_Huh?"_

"_That wasn't a pleasant event, but it's not something that bothers me anymore. You shouldn't be unhappy because you thought you opened up an old wound...you should feel bad because you've been making fun of someone, especially someone who hadn't done anything to you. That's what bothered me, and that's what you should be apologizing for."_

"_...You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I have no right to be making fun of someone for being strange when I'm strange myself."_

"_Shouldn't matter if you're different or not. We're all strange in some way."_

"_That's true. I'd like to try to become your friend, if you're willing to give me another chance."_

"_...I guess I can do that. You're Iris' friend, so there must be something good about you. I'll forgive you for making fun of me if you don't do it again."_

"_Deal."_

_-Present Day-_

_We managed to get along after that, for the most part. He's not the easiest person to talk to, but he never has been, and I've gotten used to it. That's about all I can tell you._

_Huh. That tells me...absolutely nothing._

_I did warn you about that. You don't have to wrack your brain trying to find these connections, they're probably not going to be found in the first place._

_But doesn't that bug you?_ Salmandmon seemed almost incredulous. _I mean, there has to be something! This kind of thing doesn't just happen! Not to humans, not to digimon, not to anyone! I mean, it's bad enough that we don't have anything in common except for Libertius, now I have to try to wrap my head around none of you having anything in common either? That this was all...just...random? That somehow, the fact that you're all similar ages, the fact that you all live in the same place, the fact that you all know each other, is just pure coincidence?_

Reyn didn't respond for a while. _I...don't know what to tell you. It's weird, definitely, but lately everything's been weird...I can't concentrate on those things when our lives are in near-constant peril. Maybe it's different for you because you come from a background where this kind of stuff is routine, but I don't have a lot of space in my mind for the extras._

_I see...well, I guess I just have to live with it, but it still bugs me._ At that moment, Rudy opened the door to the lab and looked at the two of them. "It's all finished, Reyn! Get the others and come on in here, what you're gonna see in here is absolutely unbelievable!"

(==========)

"You kept us here all this time just to show us a DNA test?" Isaac grumbled. "If I'd have know that, I would have bugged out right then and there; what did you keep us around for, then?"

"Call it a sort of desensitization process," explained Emil. "By keeping you in the building, near people, they'll get the picture that you're not harmful to this world or its inhabitants. You have no idea how hard it is to convince others of that fact."

"Some of us do," Derek whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Ah...that's true..." Emil's brow beaded with sweat as he changed tack quickly. "Anyway, come over to the monitors, I've got them set up so you can see what I'm talking about."

"Or what you haven't been talking about," cracked Salmandmon as they proceeded to the indicated monitors. "Wow...this looks like a mess of letters and not much else. What's so exciting about that?"

"Well, do you know what this 'mess of letters' is?"

Salmandmon shook his head. "Not a clue."

"That's a DNA profile," explained Skylar. "The letters A, C, T, and G represent the nitrogen compounds that compose life on this world: Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine."

"Huh..." Breezedramon gazed at the display, almost hypnotized by it. "That's a weird way of doing that kind of stuff."

"Excuse me, weird?"

"I believe he is alluding to the fact that the underlying composition of digimon consists solely of a binary determination," Blackcanismon added, "and not a quaternary system."

Emil nodded. "That is true...however, you are not so far away from this as you seem. Rudy did a translation of the binary code that we received from the samples we got from you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, translation?" interjected Salmandmon. "What are you talking about?"

"Sal, think about it," Datacarnomon jumped in before Emil could answer. "It was already mentioned that their computers operate on a binary system. But since the outputs aren't in binary, then it would be logical to assume that the computers automatically translate their outputs from binary to their system. It would be easy to do the same with our DNA, too, as long as they had a sample they could input into the computer."

"Oh...I get it, now."

"So, that feather you took from me," Shockavimon recalled, "That was to get a sample of our code? But what would be the point of that? What did you find out?"

"Well, we found out that, when translated to our more complex ASCII system, your binary code composition was turned into the same four letters as the ones we use to represent our DNA." Emil pointed to a larger screen with those four translations. "A, C, T, and G."

"Wow, that's cool," marveled Breezedramon. "I'd never have guessed that."

"So, we translated your code to our system, and we have the results on those monitors in front of you. Take a look."

They sat in front of the monitors, and took a look down the walls of text in front of them. Isaac was the first one to speak up: "Hey, Mr. Conover, I think you screwed up. These two on this monitor are the same thing."

"Yeah, same here," Skylar added. "I think you need to do this again."

"No, there's no mistake here." Emil walked over to Iris' monitor. "The one on the left is the human profile. The one on the right is the translated digimon profile. I think you've already noticed the peculiarity about them."

"No way!" Reyn and Salmandmon shouted in unison.

"That's what I thought when I saw it as well. But Rudy swears that no mistake was made."

"But...I don't see how that's possible!" Skylar cried. "Are you trying to suggest that we have the same DNA? Do you know how unlikely that would be? The probabilities are almost infinitely stacked against it!"

"Not to mention that we definitely don't look the same," added Datacarnomon. "I mean, I'm a freaking robot, for crying out loud. You're telling me that my basic composition can be translated to the equivalent of a human's?"

"That's exactly what we're suggesting!" Rudy had finally returned to the lab, a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. "The probability for such an event is astronomically small, but there's no denying it! Each set of DNA is exactly equivalent to the other!"

"That's wild..." Isaac breathed. "I thought that our merging ability was some unique variant of DNA evolution, but that wouldn't make sense given this. DNA evolution requires two different sets..."

"We've hit upon an alternative theory!" Rudy gushed. "The idea of total compatibility, coupled with the manifestation of unprecedented abilities in both of you, suggest a symbiotic relationship! Two creatures with an intricate bond, coexisting in such a way that it benefits both organisms in ways that others can only dream of! Think about it for a moment! Each pair of you has gained abilities that are only present between the two! Despite being completely different types of creatures, you've got a bond that no one else can rival! It's completely feasible that this bond arose because the two have 100% compatibility with each other!"

"100% compatibility...symbiotic relationship..." Reyn echoed in wonder, looking back at the screen in front of him. He scanned over it again, and convinced himself that he wasn't seeing things. "I always felt some sort of deep, intricate bond with you, Salmandmon, but I never imagined it was as deep as the very core of our beings!"

"Neither did I...if you'd have told me this two weeks ago, I'd have just laughed," Salmandmon admitted. "But it's kind of hard to disagree when something like this is sitting in front of you."

"This must be what got Dad so riled..." Derek recalled. "He said that either you created me or I created you...he must have found out that our DNA converted to the same codes..."

"His conclusions remained erroneous, however," Blackcanismon pointed out. "His interpretations were that the entire situation was created and guided by your will. It would be fortunate should the revision of those unsupported claims be forthcoming."

"It's like we were meant to be together," said Iris.

"Yeah, like the two of us are two halves of a whole, and we can't reach our full potential unless we're together," agreed Shockavimon.

"I didn't even realize something like this could have been possible," Datacarnomon said again, still amazed. "I'm a robot...and yet my composition equals yours..."

"I'm as floored as you are, bud," asserted Isaac. "This sort of thing doesn't happen to normal people."

"Does this mean we're the same person, Sky?" asked Breezedramon.

"Somehow, I doubt it," Skylar replied, "but it definitely means that we've got some connection between us that others don't have...even can't have."

"I'm a government agent, not a scientist, but I would be very surprised if this didn't account for the abilities you all possess," asserted Emil. "The coincidence is simply too great to ignore. I think we should explore this further, see what else it brings us."

"Ugh, Dad! We've been inside all day long!" protested Iris. "Can we just hold off for a little while? I really want to just go outside and take a walk or something!"

"Ah...well, I suppose it would be better if you're..."

"In a better mood?"

"You said it, I didn't," Emil stated with a wink. "Well, all right, you've all put up with a lot, I suppose you've earned a break. It's probably better that you do it while it's still light out, anyway." He looked at his watch. "Should we meet back here in, say, an hour? I won't keep you too much later, I just want to see if Rudy can design some tests..."

"Yeah, that sounds all right," agreed Isaac. "I think Datacarnomon and I should scan for bad guys, too. We've been inside all day, so we haven't quite been keeping up."

"I've got some business to take care of, too," added Derek. He didn't elaborate, but Blackcanismon nodded as if he knew what was up.

Reyn shrugged. "I don't have a problem with that." Salmandmon agreed, adding, "I just need to get away from strangers for a while."

"I'm just glad to get out again," Skylar chimed in. "It'll be nice to clear my head for a bit, and Breezedramon's as well."

Iris gave her father a hug. "Thanks, Dad. We'll be back in a while."

"Just be careful out there," said Emil with a fatherly smile.

"I will," Iris agreed. As she left the room with Shockavimon, she overheard Isaac say, "Hey, Reyn, betcha ten bucks that there'll be something out there when I do my scan."

"Ooh, tough one. Murphy's Law usually doesn't work if you try to use it to your advantage."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Boys." Then an odd thought struck her. _Wait...since when has Isaac ever made a bet like that? Or, for that matter, ever made a bet?_

(==========)

"Everyone, in position."

"Sir, are you sure this is safe? We're putting ourselves into direct contact with one of these monsters..."

"Only I will be in contact with them. You are only to stay back and provide support should I call for it. This monster is small, so I should be able to get the upper hand...but we have seen that all of them are dangerous, so be ready at any time. But don't be reckless. Don't come until you get my signal."

"Understood, sir."

"Excellent...we'll be victorious today. This time, nothing can stop us."

(==========)

"Are you sure we should be going this far away?" Shockavimon asked. "We're almost 20 minutes away as it is. Maybe we should turn back."

"We'll turn back soon. I just want to be somewhere away from everything for a little bit." Iris sighed lightly, her mind casting over the events of the past couple weeks. "It seems like so much has happened since we met...it feels like it's been a lot longer than it actually has."

"I know what you mean," Shockavimon agreed. "It seems like I've been in this world forever. It's really strange...I kind of miss the digital world, but at the same time, being with you...I feel like this is where I belong."

"I'm glad you feel that way," replied Iris, smiling down at her partner. "It would be so much harder if you felt out of place, I think."

"I believe it." Shockavimon looked up to the sky and sighed. "It makes me feel so nervous to think...if we'd never had this kind of opportunity...I don't know how long any of us would have lasted here."

"I don't like to think about that, either," said Iris. "Thankfully, for all of us it didn't happen that way."

"If it hadn't, who would have defended this world? Do you think you could have handled it, even if you'd known about it?"

"Something tells me that's not likely. I'm not sure anyone would have..." Iris trailed off, her look becoming concerned. Shockavimon knew that look. "What is it?"

"I...I don't know...something's wrong..."

"Freeze!"

Iris and Shockavimon stopped instantly. "What's going on?"

"Turn around slowly! Keep your hands in the air!"

They slowly turned around. A government agent had his gun leveled at them, a triumphant grin in his face. Iris saw the man and recognized him instantly. "You...you were one of the agents in my dad's building. What's going on?"

"The name's Lexis Redford, and I'm just doing my job, girlie," chuckled the agent. "I had a feeling your dad might go soft, and with him having some significant influence, we can't risk that happening."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm with the Department of Defense. This scourge that we're dealing with, your little monsters...they've given us more than a little trouble. I thought that I could urge the locals stationed here to pick up on the fight, but when you little rats came around, they bought your act. So now, we're taking charge."

"But...we're trying to help you!" protested Shockavimon. "We've been taking out a lot of the monsters that have come through!"

"It's a nice little ploy, isn't it? You pretend to be on our side, and then when you gain our trust, strike! Well, we're smarter than that! It's time to end this!"

"Please! Don't do this!" cried Iris.

"Relax, little lady, you won't have to live under the threat of this creature any more!" Lexis pulled the trigger. The gun issued a loud report, the bullet striking Shockavimon square in the chest. Iris screamed as the avian was thrown back and went down hard.

"Easier than I thought," said Lexis calmly. "Come with me, girl, you won't have to be troubled by this fiend anymore."

"You..." Iris was breathing hard, her head spinning. She could almost feel herself losing control.

"Hurry up, girl." Lexis's voice took on an air of impatience. "Don't keep me waiting, we've got business to take care of."

"You...you...HOW COULD YOU?" she screamed. Lexis leapt back, struck by the sudden rage Iris had fallen into. "You BASTARD!"

Almost like a dream, Iris raised her hands, not even aware what she was doing at this point, only thinking of avenging her fallen partner. Without warning, without even so much as a conscious thought, she felt an odd energy gather around her, and a stream of electricity burst from her fingertips. Lexis was struck directly, lifted up into the air by the bolt, and thrown to the ground, unconscious.

Dumbfounded, Iris put her hands down. _Oh...oh, my God...what...what did I just do?_

A moan from nearby snapped her back to her senses. "Shockavimon!" She bent down next to the bird digimon, who was clutching her wing over the wound in her chest. "Ow...Iris...are you..."

Iris sat Shockavimon up and examined the wound. The bullet had gone all the way through; she could see an accompanying opening in the bird digimon's back. "Hang on, Shockavimon! It's gonna be okay!" Iris held her partner close and remembered what Skylar had told her about transferring energy between their partners. She focused hard, fighting back tears, whispering to her partner to hold on, as she felt the unfamiliar feeling wash over her.

_Just stick with me, Shockavimon...you're getting better..._

Shockavimon wasn't sure what was going on, but she felt the wound begin to heal under her wing. She took her wing away and watched in amazement as it closed up before her eyes. The injury in her back also healed up fully. "Iris? What's going on?"

"I...helped you..." Iris replied listlessly. She had managed to keep from completely draining herself, but the energy transfer combined with her recent assault had taken its toll. "Are you...all right, Shockavimon?"

"Are you?" she replied fearfully. "You look so pale! What happened?"

Iris shook her head and got to her feet. "I'm fine, but we have to get out of here! We have to tell my dad..." She stumbled and barely managed to catch herself. "Oh, wow...that takes a lot out of you..."

"Easy! Be careful, Iris!" Shockavimon finally noticed the agent's body on the ground. "What the...is he...dead?"

"I don't know," Iris replied as menacingly as she could through her fatigue, "but right now that's the last thing I care about. Come on." Iris started to run, but stumbled again and almost fell. Shockavimon quickly ran over to give her support, and began trying to think of options she might have to assist her partner.

(==========)

"No communications for over five minutes..." one soldier mumbled. "Something's wrong. You heard the gunshot, right?"

"Yeah, I did," the second replied with plenty of concern. "You heard the other sound, right? What was it?"

"I don't know...sounded like a girl screaming."

"No, I mean after that. That...weird...I don't really know how to describe it."

"Oh, yeah, I heard that one, too. Who knows what that could have been? But I think it's time we checked on him."

"But that's defying orders-"

"If he's in trouble, he'll thank us for defying orders. Come on!"

Both soldiers ran up the path, not seeing any sign of anyone for almost a minute. Then the first one stopped suddenly, eyes bulging out. "Holy...Agent Redford!" He pointed to the ground in front of him, where the agent lay unmoving. The second ran over to his side and checked for a pulse.

"He's got a pulse! It's unsteady, but it's there!"

"What the hell happened to him?" asked the first. "Do you see any wounds?"

"Nothing so far, but it looks like he got tossed a bit..." the second soldier reported, checking for signs of breathing. "That strange sound we heard...whatever it was, it must have done this to him. Could it have been a monster?"

"I don't see any signs of any monsters other than the one he was after," said the first soldier, looking around on the ground. "And it looks like he got that one...there's blood on the ground."

"Enough for it to have bled out?"

"I don't think so."

"It might be around still...you should clear the area."

"Me?" the first soldier protested.

"I've got more medical training than you do! If he gets worse, I might need to do some emergency intervention!"

"All right, all right!" The first soldier began scouring the vicinity for the creature, while the second radioed for help. "Yes, we need medical attention at the rendezvous position right away for Agent Redford...injuries? I don't know, there aren't any marks as far as I can see, but whatever it is, it hit him bad..."

(==========)

Iris sat in one of the government center's break rooms, shivering slightly, not from cold but from the recent activity. Shockavimon sat next to her, staying very close, trying to make Iris feel better. They both had Skydramon to thank for getting back as quickly as they had; he'd shown up just in time, as Iris was finding herself unable to walk any further.

The others were back at the center as well, crowded solemnly into the break room, none of them saying anything. They were only listening to Emil and Iris talk about what happened.

"Agent Redford..." Emil muttered. "I never liked him much, but I thought he was a capable person. I'm shocked...just a mole for the Department of Defense, trying to monitor us...I just don't understand it. Why would they do something like that?"

"I can answer that." A voice from the door made them all look up. It was Elliot.

"Elliot? When did you get back?" Emil asked.

"Not long ago. Like I said, I had to come to terms with things." He gave just the barest of glances towards Derek and Blackcanismon. "After that...well, I had to do a little digging."

"About Agent Redford?"

"I overheard him talking on the phone a couple days ago...saying things that were kind of odd. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but...well, perspective changes everything. Doesn't matter, what I found out was pretty serious."

"What was it?" Isaac asked.

"Well, first I found out that Agent Redford was personally sent by Jonah Wheeler from the Department of Defense."

"That asshole?" Reyn spat.

"The very same. Originally, he was just supposed to investigate that anomaly in the sky. But once the monsters started appearing, he was told to monitor our reaction and make sure we were proceeding in the way Wheeler wanted us to. If we didn't, he was to take over." Elliot scowled as he said this, as if insulted by the notion. "He seemed an awful lot like a power fiend to me, which is probably why he was so eager to agree. And my guess is that Wheeler wants the credit for how the monsters are 'dealt with', because I know I've heard people talking about him as a candidate for the next presidential election."

"I can't believe this!" Isaac shouted. "We've been trying to get into contact with this guy the whole time...he probably hasn't even read our letters!"

"Of course he hasn't," Reyn huffed. "Toldja we should've gone with Homeland Security."

"Another time, Reyn."

"We need to get more information from Agent Redford," seethed Emil. "I'd like to have a go at him for trying to harm my daughter, too. Where is he now?"

"I don't know," replied Elliot. "Iris, did you see him go anywhere?"

"Well...he wasn't exactly in a position to go anywhere when we left..." Nervously, Iris explained the strange occurrence that happened to her after Shockavimon had been shot. Naturally, this was an enormous shock to everyone, including Shockavimon, who had been somewhat out of it as it had occurred.

"But...how?" Reyn finally managed to ask. "I mean, you weren't even merged, how did you manage to do that?"

"I don't even know," replied Iris, shaking her head. "It just...kind of happened."

"Perhaps," Blackcanismon suggested, "it is yet another manifestation of the symbiotic relationship we share. The powerful connections at our core levels result in a transferrance of abilities from digimon to human, and from human to digimon. In strengthening that connection, each individual's power increases."

"And as the power increases," concluded Skylar, "the shared abilities become more diverse. Originally, it was just a light attraction between two individuals. Then, we got the first level of merging, and with it, the telepathic links and energy transfer. And then the second level, and now it appears that we have gained the powers that we're aligned with."

"And more," added Salmandmon. "I noticed lately that I feel a lot stronger than I used to, and I've seen Reyn in action; he's definitely more fit than the first time we met."

"And I'm getting tired less, as well," added Breezedramon. "I've been able to fly for much longer periods than I used to. In fact, I've never felt so good in Rookie form as I do now."

"So, you think we'll all be able to do the same stuff?" Reyn asked eagerly.

Emil nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, you've all gained the same abilities up to this point. It wouldn't make sense now for some to manifest more than others. If I had to guess, I would say that if you experiment - in a SAFE place," he emphasized as he caught sight of Reyn's excitement, "you will discover them eventually."

"I sure hope so," said Skylar seriously. "It sounds like we're in even more trouble now than we were before. We're being hunted again, just like before. And after Iris' encounter, they'll probably be after any human found with a digimon. We may be forced to defend ourselves without having the chance to merge."

"That's certainly the worst case scenario..." Isaac mumbled. "You guys may end up better off than me with that, I dunno what I could end up getting from this kinda thing."

"Maybe you'll get the power to fire bullets from your mouth. Then you'll actually be doing something useful when you're shooting off your mouth."

"Cram it, wind-boy."

"I rest my case."

"I think it's best for all of you to get out of here and get home," Elliot said. "I don't know how many of the new personnel we've gotten are also DOD, or if they've got even more hiding in the shadows of the city. We'll try to get everything sorted out as much as we can, but I don't know how reasonable they're going to be, so it may be best if we do it while you're not around. And if more of these digimon creatures show up, I'd rather we didn't have any unnecessary distractions."

"That does sound like a good idea," agreed Isaac. "But what about Rudy's tests?"

"We can put those off," said Emil. "You go get some rest. Reyn...if it's not too much trouble, I'd like Iris to go with you. I'm probably being paranoid, but I would feel so much more comfortable if she was with someone else, rather than being alone at home."

"Yes, sir."

The group exited the break room, Reyn half-carrying Iris out as she was still feeling quite weak. "So, I guess you made up with your dad, huh, Derek?" commented Skylar as they made their way to the elevators.

"To a point," Derek replied sullenly. "We at least worked out our differences over this situation. It doesn't alleviate the years of tension between us...but, well, it's a start."

"Well, if he can get over this, he can get over anything, right?"

Derek shrugged. "Maybe..."

(==========)

(==========)

I'm kinda surprised at how long this chapter is. It didn't feel nearly that long when I was writing it. And for the record, I highly doubt this would actually happen if two people have the exact same DNA, but hey, it's fantasy, just run with it.

Anyway. Fifteen chapters and I finally dropped the S word. No, not that one, that already made a cameo appearance a few chapters ago. Now that it's out there, expect to see me reference symbiosis a lot more. Why'd I wait so long? Well, to be honest, I'm really bad at coming up with titles (as I'm sure you could guess by looking at the lackluster chapter titles), and this fic was originally not titled at all. Once it was clear I was actually getting somewhere with the story, I just basically ran with Symbiosis as a filler for whatever I could think up later, and when I couldn't think of anything to change it to, Symbiosis it was.

More first-person. At first glance it doesn't appear to impart anything especially novel or telling, but it's supposed to be a bit subtler this time, and I'm hoping that as future chapters go up, it becomes clear why it's important. That's all the hints I'm giving for now.


	17. Chapter 16: City Under Siege

Welcome to Chapter 16. Enjoy your stay!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 16: City Under Siege**

All was quiet that morning around the city. Not a single business was up and running, no people could be seen in the streets. The city was left with only a disturbing empty feel for company, but that was soon to change.

In the small protected area where Reyn and Salmandmon had first merged, a wavy pattern emerged into space. After a few seconds, the Rift opened up, and a form began to emerge. Metal-clad feet caught the creature's short fall as the Rift disappeared behind him, leaving the space as if nothing had ever happened.

"Huh...so this is that other world..." mumbled the creature as it straightened up, adjusting its helmet, which had been knocked askew, and readying his assault rifle in front of him. It was a Commandramon, and it looked psyched for a fight. "But where is everyone? I can't meet up with a platoon if there aren't any around!"

Piping down, he walked out of the trees and into the trees. The sounds of approaching military craft were becoming steadily louder. "All right! Time to head into action!" He tromped off towards the source of the sounds, keeping a low profile in case enemies appeared nearby. Peering out from an alley near some very tall buildings, using his camouflage abilities to keep himself from being seen, he caught the awesome sight coming down the road.

A large group of military vehicles was coming down the street. Soldiers were leaping out of armored vehicles, a few tanks were rolling out, planes and helicopters roared overhead. It was music to the military digimon's ears. He hissed at a soldier that was passing. "Hey, soldier!"

The soldier straightened up, having heard a voice that he couldn't place. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. Commandramon realized that he was still hidden. "Oh, sorry!" He dropped the camouflage and saluted the soldier. "Well met, comrade! I'm ready for action! What unit needs my assistance?"

The soldier just stared. Commandramon tilted his head, wondering if he had made a mistake. "Er...you _are_ army outfit, are you? I mean, you're dressed like a soldier...I'm sorry if I assumed wrong..."

Every soldier had been ordered to shoot and kill on sight any monster they laid eyes upon in the city. Most had no qualms about this, considering all their training not to question any orders they received; however, as always, there were a few who resisted for some reason or another. This particular soldier belonged to the latter group; he had received letters from a cousin of his, a helicopter pilot who had been sent in to the city earlier. The letter described how one monster had gone out of its way to save him from certain death. So, he already had reason to doubt the claims of his superiors.

He only had further reason to doubt when confronted by Commandramon, a creature half his size, fully armed but clearly not attacking him. He wasn't about to fire on a non-hostile, even if it wasn't human. "No, you assumed right, I'm army. But listen, you don't want to be here. This group has been brainwashed into thinking that all foreign creatures are enemies and has a broad termination order on them!"

"Are you serious?" Commandramon gasped, but he got confirmation right then and there when he heard a shout. "I see one! Fire at will!"

"Go!" the soldier whispered hoarsely as shots began firing. "Don't let them get you!" Commandramon immediately got the hint and dashed away, as more shouts sounded and bullets ratcheted into the alley. They narrowly missed him as he leapt up walls and over barricades, running away from the troops in the big city.

He didn't stop until he was back where he had started out. Bent over, panting, he wondered how he was going to deal with this unforeseen problem. He failed to notice the two individuals who were watching him at this very moment...

_So, that's Commandramon, huh?_ Reyn pathed to Salmandmon. _You weren't kidding...he really does look like an army brat. Even down to the weapon - the M-16 is standard US military issue weaponry._

_Wonder whose side he's on?_ Salmandmon wondered. _I'm sure there's a way to find out, but I don't want to risk having him attack us if he's against us._

_Hm...I think I can find a way around that..._

_Reyn, you've got that look again. What are you thinking of doing?_

_Oh, nothing of any major impor-_ Reyn cut off their telepathic transmission and shouted out, "A-ten, HUT!"

Practically on reflex reaction, Commandramon straightened up and stood at attention. "!"

Reyn stifled a laugh with some difficulty. _Is he programmed to react like that?_

_It would be so much funnier if he was. Reyn, you really shouldn't take advantage of people like that._

_Relax, Salmandmon, I'm not gonna abuse it...much. I'm just gonna use it to get a little info._ "About face!"

Commandramon complied with the military order, turning 180 degrees to face the emerging Reyn. "Hm? You don't look like a soldier..."

"Trust me, I am. Now, what outfit are you with, recruit?"

Commandramon hesitated. "No outfit yet! I met up with a platoon of soldiers a few minutes ago to fight against the Emperius menace, but they sent me away!"

_He was trying to join a human army squad? _Reyn pathed in part disbelief and part hilarity. _Talk about having guts! Well, at least we know he's on our side._ "Well, now you're with me, Commandramon."

"With all due respect...you don't look like someone I've served under." Commandramon was definitely a bit suspicious, and his grip tightened on the assault rifle.

"Really? Well, perhaps you'll recognize my compatriot," Reyn responded as Salmandmon climbed out of hiding as well. "He's a hard one to forget, I'll wager."

"Elite Commander Salmandmon!" Commandramon saluted Salmandmon. "It's been too long, sir! I heard nothing of you after that ill-fated attack on Emperius! You know this human?"

"Yes...and for now, Commandramon, you will hold him on equal standing with me," ordered Salmandmon, giving Reyn a warning look as he said it. "First off, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

"Sir! Libertius suffered heavy losses recently! I was not around when it happened, but nearly the entire force was taken captive by Emperius! They marched in and simply took them all!"

"Dammit!" shouted Salmandmon. "They must have decided to take action while Libertius was reeling! I was afraid of that! Continue!"

"After that, I went on an infiltration mission, sir! I snuck into the Emperius base, undetected, and discovered that they had a way to travel to this world! I decided to arrive and give the humans support! But I was told by a fellow server that the humans have been tricked into thinking Libertius is the enemy!"

"That's half-right, I guess," said Reyn. "What they've been tricked into thinking is that _all_ digimon are the enemy, not just Libertius. But they keep focusing on us for some reason. However, there are humans who are aware that we are on their side, and we're giving them all the support we can."

"Will I be with you, then?"

"Of course, soldier!" Then an idea hit Reyn. "Hey, Commandramon. You said you went into Emperius' base and found out how to travel to this world. Did you by any chance figure out how to go back, as well?"

"Sir, yes, sir! I was infused with an energy that allows me to replicate the Rift that I emerged from! It will allow me to travel to the digital world should the need arise!"

"Excellent!" Salmandmon exclaimed. "Reyn, this could be the chance we've been looking for! If we can replicate that energy, we'll be able to go into the digital world and take on Emperius on their front!"

"It's worth a shot. Commandramon! You're going to follow us to a place where we can analyze that stored energy of yours! Just follow us!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Reyn and Salmandmon nodded to each other, then merged together. They had been well aware that the army would be showing up that morning; all of them had. Knowing that they would likely have to deal with some military units, they wanted to be prepared for anything. Commandramon looked shocked at this. "How the hell did you two do that?"

"I'll explain later," answered Burnreptimon. "Follow!" Commandramon obeyed as Burnreptimon led him towards the agency. The sounds of planes and helicopters overhead, the rumbling of idling Humvee and Jeep engines, and the loud grating sound of tank movement were painfully clear to Burnreptimon as they neared their target area.

"I see some of them!"

"Don't just stand there! Fire at will! Don't leave any fiend alive!"

"I hate when they do that," grumbled Burnreptimon as he raised his Heat Field and stood well in front of Commandramon, and was pelted with drops of liquid from the melted bullets. "I wish those guys would just back off!"

Fortunately for both of them, support was on the way. "Dervish Bolt!" Ionavimon shouted over the trees as she loosed a very restrained wave of electricity, giving it only enough power to stun the soldiers. Many were struck, and fell to the ground, unconscious but relatively unharmed. "Burnreptimon, watch out!"

Something sailed through the air at Burnreptimon and Commandramon, landing a few feet from them and exploding with a loud BANG! Burnreptimon felt an abnormal energy flow through him, something he'd never felt before. Oddly, though, he was unharmed. However, when he looked back, he saw Commandramon on the ground, motionless.

"Damn! Commandramon!" Burnreptimon knelt down over the soldier, checking for vital signs. He was alive, but there was clearly something wrong with him. "Great...I'm gonna have to carry him. Guess that means..." Burnreptimon glowed red and evolved, once again becoming Blazereptimon. "Ionavimon! I've gotta get him to a safe place!"

"Head to the lab! Maybe they can help him! Dervish Bolt!"

"On it!" Blazereptimon picked up Commandramon, heaved him over his shoulders, and ran in the direction of the agency, stepping over the stunned soldiers as Ionavimon worked to reduce the active force in their way.

(==========)

"Sir! You're back! What-"

"No questions. I want information on the Braun situation. Right now."

"Y-yes, of course! I've compiled everything here! I don't know all the details, but I can summarize everything for you."

"Do so immediately."

(==========)

The sniper laid on top of a damaged building, trying to take aim at the red reptilian target. The creature was known to be able to block bullets he knew were coming, but he didn't know about this one. Still, it was hard getting a clear bead on him the way he was moving around; getting locked in would require absolute concentration and focus.

"Nice day, isn't it?"

That didn't help. Startled, he pulled around and stared at the boy who was standing behind him, grinning in such a way that could only be unnerving. "What in God's name are you doing up here, kid? This is a dangerous area!"

"Nonsense. It's beautiful out. Why, a perfect day for a tornado, wouldn't you think?"

"A tornado? Around here? I mean, there isn't even a cloud for mi-" The soldier stopped as he heard a loud blowing sound in front of him. He turned again to see nothing less than a towering whirlwind, reaching all the way to the ground and tossing vehicles out of the way. "Holy..."

"What did I tell you? Perfect tornado conditions."

The sniper turned back to the boy and his ghastly smile. "What...no...it can't...you...did you make that thing?"

"An astute observation. I think that's your cue, Breezedramon."

Before the sniper could make sense of that, something behind him shouted "Wind Sphere!" He felt something smack into his back, and he was thrown forward, his gun flying from him. The boy picked it up. "Glad we were able to get this away from you. Don't you know guns are rather dangerous?" he commented as Breezedramon joined him.

It was all too much for the guy to take. The kid working together with the monster to disarm him and protect other monsters, after having bent nature to his will...he fainted dead away.

(==========)

"Huh, I didn't think I hit him that hard."

"Nah, I think it was just the shock that made him keel over. Shame, I was looking forward to chloroforming him."

"I'm just glad he didn't try to jump off the building. Also, it was really funny how you were so condescending."

"Yeah, I know. It felt great, too. Now I get why Reyn and Isaac do that so often." Skylar looked at the sniper rifle he'd taken for the man. "I wonder if one of the agents can't use this, in case some digimon attack at some point."

"We should fly down and hand it to one of them. We gotta get this dude on the ground anyway."

"Good point. Let's merge, then!"

A few minutes later, having dropped off his passenger and cargo, Jetdramon sailed back up into the sky. Having dealt with the one sniper he'd been able to find, his attention turned to the planes up in the sky.

It was easy for him to draw the attention of the planes, as he was the only one high in the sky, and he soon had one on his tail. "Come on, fire at me!" he taunted, though he knew the pilot didn't have a chance of hearing him. "Show me your stuff!" He pulled the polearm off his back, readying it for some action. He heard a missile fire off behind him. "That's more like it! Gale Voulge!" He swung the weapon, sending a blast of energy at the missile. They collided in midair, causing an explosion safely out of harm's way.

Jetdramon made sharp turns, easily breaking the plane's tail; the fighters were some of the most highly maneuverable planes on the planet, but they had no chance of keeping up with Jetdramon's flying abilities. He got another plane to start dogging him and expend its ammo trying futilely to blow him out of the sky. "Go ahead, guys, I can keep this up all day if I have to!"

(==========)

Back on the ground, even without the sniper's scope trying to latch on him, Blazereptimon was far from safe. Standing in front of him, blocking his path to the government building, were two large tanks.

"Man, they didn't waste any effort coming after us," he cracked to no one in particular. He set Commandramon on the ground and readied himself as both cannons aimed towards him. As they fired, he let loose a Solar Wave. The wave collided with the shots, exploding them before they could get close enough to do any harm to him or his charge.

He prepped himself for another shot, but the cavalry arrived before the tanks got another shot. Energy blasts hammered the barrel of the left tank while shadowy tendrils latched onto the barrels of the right one, trying to bend it out of shape. He heard Mecharexmon's voice cutting through the commotion. "Blazereptimon! You okay out there?"

"I'm fine, but I've got a friendly with me that isn't! He may need some help that we aren't equipped to provide here, unless you can scan him and deal with it!"

"I might be able to cook something up to help us out! I'll drop by when I can!"

"Right! Watch yourself!" Blazereptimon grabbed Commandramon's unconscious body and sprinted off past the disabled tanks.

(==========)

"There's the bird!"

"Quick, get her before she can drop more of the soldiers!"

Bullets ripped through the air, only to be stopped dead a few yards short of Ionavimon. "Nice try, but I'm not gonna just make it easy for you!" she shouted in response, letting loose another stunning burst of electricity.

Taking full advantage of the magnetism-inducing properties of electricity, she'd devised a shield that would protect her from enemy fire. It would have been tough keeping it up if she'd needed to use full-power attacks, but with her only needing low-power bolts, she was able to multitask.

Her keen eyes spotted another group coming towards her. "Man, I got all the guys after me. You'd think they'd get the hint by now." She took them down from a distance, not even letting them get set enough to shoot.

"Are you all right, Ionavimon?" She heard Darkwolfmon say from nearby. She didn't know where he was, but she didn't have to.

"I'm fine. They're certainly spending a lot of time trying to shoot me down, though."

"But of course. You're the one who's actually rendering the humans incapable of attack. The rest of us have our hands full with the machines."

"Well, I'm the one who can do it more safely."

"True. Let us know if you need any help."

"Thanks. You stay safe out there, too!" She grinned as she saw another platoon run right into a trap she'd laid - her Charge Field ability, which worked like a proximity mine, shocking anyone who got close to the epicenter. "I don't know if I'll need any help, they're not making this very difficult."

(==========)

As much as he'd griped about it before, Blazereptimon was now grateful for Emil's insistence on letting the agents get familiar with them. The guards at the doors of the government building weren't taking many chances, but they knew him by sight now and were able to let him in immediately. Once inside, he wasted no time getting upstairs and towards the tech station. "RUDY! Hey, we need some help, pronto!"

Rudy, as usual, was quick to the response. "Blazereptimon! Who is this now?"

"He's called Commandramon, he's on our side, and I don't think he's in good shape! They lobbed some kind of bomb at us while we were heading back this way. Didn't even rattle me, but he went down like a rock."

"Oh, my. I don't know that we can do anything for him."

"I figured as much. Mecharexmon should be coming in to lend a hand. What the hell could it have been, though? I mean, I caught the brunt of it, but I didn't even feel a twinge."

"Hm..." Rudy thought for a moment. "This is kind of crazy, but maybe it's a weapon modified to only damage digital matter."

"Huh? Wait, they've only known about these things being digital for how long?"

"No longer than I have, which means days at best. Either they've had something prepared for a while, or they've been working round the clock on this. For obvious reasons, I don't think the first option is even close."

"I find it difficult to believe...something more must be up."

"Well, it's only a guess and I've got nothing to prove it, but it's entirely possible that it was modified from some gadget designed to destroy computer data - I mean, actually wrecking the signals rather than just hacking in and making files inaccessible or overwritten. It's a different kind of data on the face of it, but there are enough similarities that the necessary chances might be pretty minimal."

"You'd think they'd test something like that before bringing it out into a serious battle. Well, whatever it is, it got him good, and I don't like that. This guy could be the key to changing how we fight this war."

At that moment they both heard a loud "OW" from outside the lab. A couple seconds later, Mecharexmon ducked under the door frame, rubbing his head. "This building was _not_ designed for a guy of my size. What's up?"

Rudy explained what he had just suggested to Mecharexmon. The dino nodded his head after hearing what he had to say. "I remember hearing something about that. Some online tech journal, or maybe it was a blog, whatever it was, it was talking about how these devices would actually disrupt computer signals. They would start at one point, and then spread out, kind of like a virus, but it's not a program, it's an actual physical mechanism."

"Never mind that, how do we cure him?" Blazereptimon asked impatiently.

"Oh, right. Yeah, I've got something that'll do the trick. Rudy, you're especially gonna love this one. Give me a moment on the computer."

A couple of wires appeared from Mecharexmon's head and arm; using his free hand, he hooked them up to the computer. Noticing this, Rudy asked "Couldn't you do a wireless interface?"

"At this point, too chancy. Wireless signals can be disrupted - another bit of rather new technology - but wired connections are still pretty safe." He began entering something into the computer. "What I'm going to do is create a program on your computer by transferring my thoughts to it. This program will have all the software required to run a type of machine I made up, and carry the schematics for the machine itself, as well. Once the program is completed, I'm going to transfer he data back to myself, through my arm, and use a program I gave myself to ground the machine in reality. It should only take a few minutes."

"That is so ridiculously impossible!" Rudy exclaimed. "How in blazes did you come up with something like that?"

"Trust me, it wasn't easy. It required a hell of a lot of ingenuity and intelligence, as well as throwing out all sorts of basic principles like conservation of mass and energy. That said, I've tested it, and it works, so I'm not complaining."

Suddenly, Rudy's pager beeped. Like a shot, he was off to the phone, dialing frantically. "Jeez, what the hell would he be like after a few cups of coffee?" Blazereptimon mumbled.

"I don't think I'd want to find out," Mecharexmon said.

"Of course, I'll tell them right away!" Rudy hung up the phone and gave the two symbiotes a dreadful look. "Some soldiers just got in the building! They're sure they saw creatures enter, and they're holding the first floor hostage!"

Blazereptimon scowled. "Damnation. Well, there's only one good option I can think of." He started glowing red, returned to his Burnreptimon form, and then separated back into Reyn and Salmandmon.

"What are you doing?"

"Going down as the only one of us who won't get shot on sight," Reyn said coolly. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Be careful anyway," mumbled Mecharexmon absently. Reyn waved a hand dismissively as he left the room and headed downstairs.

The shouts from the soldiers on the first floor were audible even from the stairwell. Reyn cautiously opened the door, checking to make sure that no one was about to turn a gun on him. But the soldiers weren't paying attention to the stairs; they were more focused on the people in the offices near the rear of the building. Reyn moved close to the large office space, staying in the hallway to avoid drawing attention.

"None of you are going to talk?" roared one soldier, clearly in the throes of outrage. "None of you want to save your wretched lives? These are monsters we're talking about! You're sabotaging your country!"

"Hand them over now, and no one will get hurt!" A second soldier ordered, less ferociously than the first. "Refuse to comply, and there will be serious trouble!"

"If you don't side with us, you side with the monsters!" exclaimed the third. "And if you side with the monsters, you are this world's enemy and must be destroyed!"

_How long have they been giving this ridiculous spiel?_ Reyn thought with a shake of his head. _Well, whatever, I'm gonna turn up the heat on 'em._ He concentrated on the weapons the soldiers were holding, hoping his practice over the past couple days was going to pay off. It took a few seconds for anyone to react, but when they did, they really did.

The first soldier yelled and dropped his gun, then started rubbing his hands against his shirt. "Sonuvabitch! My gun just burned my goddamned hands!"

Reyn was heating up the other guns, but the other soldiers didn't need as much prompting; they threw down their guns the moment they heard why the first had. "What the hell is going on?" asked the third.

"Hell if I know!" the first roared back. "Must be those monsters! Where are the bastards?"

"The...the guns!" The soldiers looked down as the second pointed, gaping; the metal was bubbling, seeping all over, red-hot and deadly. This was enough for the soldiers, who tore out of the building, passing by Reyn without even so much as a look, shouting about monsters and demons.

Reyn just shook his head and sighed. _Some soldiers they are. You'd think they'd never seen a gun melt before._

He walked back up the stairs leisurely and entered the tech center, where Mecharexmon was putting on an impressive display. A beam of energy was being emitted from his gun arm, fired into a large light-shrouded form next to the left wall. The light was beginning to fade as he entered, revealing the form of a large machine that resembled an MRI.

"We must construct additional pylons," Reyn cracked. "Dude, you've been playing way too much Starcraft."

"There's no such thing." Mecharexmon walked over and hammered the machine with his hand. "Looks good to me. Just place Commandramon in there. You should be able to get a full analysis on him, figure out what's wrong, and use the machine to fix it. The computer I connected to before should have all the software for the scans and such. I've gotta go, we still have to get those guys run out of town."

"Godspeed, Mecharexmon," replied Rudy. "Reyn, did you take care of everything down there?"

"No, I decided to just let the guys shoot the entire place up. Come on, Salmandmon, let's help out Commandramon." With some difficulty, the pair picked up Commandramon and placed him on the platform connected to the scanning machine. Rudy took control from that point, getting the platform slid inside the machine and then working on the computer to set up the scans. Soon enough, a loud whirring sound indicated that the scan was active.

"...This is the first freaking time you've ever seen one of these things, and you're operating it like you've been working with it for ten years," Salmandmon said with almost sickly amazement.

"Oh, well, Mecharexmon explained the principles to me while he was making the machine."

"He had no more than five minutes!"

"Well, he did a good job explaining everything quickly."

Reyn just shook his head. _Dude, he is some kind of savant. He's like those people who can tell you the day of any date 8 million years in the future._

_I have no idea what you're talking about,_ Salmandmon responded, still somewhat bewildered.

The machine stopped, and Rudy looked back, concerned. "The scan failed. There's some sort of interference coming form Commandramon's body. Any idea what that's about?"

"Um...oh, right! I think the metal on Commandramon's body has special properties that allow it to cloak like his scales. They supposedly interfere with radars and other scanners. Sorry, I totally forgot about it until now."

"Well, that's a problem. How are we supposed to get him scanned?"

"Oh, that shouldn't be too hard. Just get him out, we'll handle it." Rudy nodded and complied, sliding the platform out of the machine as Reyn and Salmandmon went over and examined the unconscious dinosaur.

"What are you talking about, Sal?" Reyn asked. "Isn't this stuff connected to his body?"

"Well, yeah, kinda. It's connected to his body, but it's not part of his body." Seeing Reyn's blank look, he continued: "I knew a Commandramon once a pretty long time back, and he explained it all to me. They can be outfitted with different types of armors, in order to better suit their combat environments. Since the legs are considered especially vital points, they're completely covered in metal. Their legs have plugs that connect the armor to their bodies; if the armor gets damaged, it can be removed and the leg can be treated for wounds."

"P...plugs?"

"Yeah, plugs. You know, sockets that can connect the armor to the body."

Reyn gave Salmandmon a very strange look. "The fact that you can say that and find it normal disturbs me greatly."

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad. Look, I'll show you." Salmandmon ran his hand along the leg, and eventually found a small seam. "Ah, there we go...a little pull and...there!" With little fanfare, the armor separated, and he opened up the metal casing to reveal a healthy leg, with some small holes where the armor went in deeper.

"I'm sorry, but that is just wrong," Reyn insisted.

"Right or wrong, we don't really have a lot of other options here. Come on, help me strip him down."

"Should I set up a webcam and start hyping Hot Lizard Action?"

"Reyn, come on, he's _dying_ here. Jokes later."

"All right, all right, I'm on it."

(==========)

Slowly, painfully, Commandramon stirred. The first thing he noticed was that he was in some sort of chamber. The second was that he had been disarmed and his uniform had been removed. He felt a mild stirring of panic as he wondered if he'd been captured.

"Hello?" Commandramon felt an absolutely hammering wave of pain even from speaking that one word. Though the pain he could hear a disembodied voice, almost as if over a microphone. "Please don't talk, Commandramon, you'll disrupt the scans."

"What are you talking about? What scans?" The pain was devastating, but his panic was beginning to overshadow it. He'd heard all sorts of nasty stories about what happened to captured soldiers, and he didn't want to be the target of any of them.

The microphone again, but this time it was a voice he recognized. "Commandramon! I order you to relax and stay quiet! Do you understand?" Swallowing, Commandramon stayed quiet and motionless. "Good mon. It should only be a few more minutes."

Commandramon stayed quiet, trying to will the pain away, confused by the loud sounds from the chamber around him. He'd never seen such a machine, and he had no idea what it was for beyond the aforementioned scans. But even if it was on his side, he knew that he didn't like being in there. Thankfully, the loud noises soon ceased, and he felt the platform beneath him sliding out into the light.

Reyn and Salmandmon were in conversation with Rudy when Commandramon got out. None of them looked very happy. "Well, you're awake, at least," Reyn said darkly, turning to Commandramon. "Whoever's in charge of making those bombs had better not ever come across me, at least if they want to live."

"I can't believe they would make such a horrible thing!" Salmandmon raged. "There's defending yourself from threats and then there's cruelty for the sake of cruelty!"

"What is it?" Commandramon asked through clenched teeth.

"The bomb is a modified version of a data fracture bomb," explained Rudy. "It's supposed to disrupt computers on our side, but it's been changed to cause serious problems in your kind of data. It disrupts the data in your body, causing it to go haywire and stop functioning properly over the entire body, ending in progressive system failure. The whole process takes several hours, but as you can tell, you can feel the effects almost instantly. I can only imagine what it's like...feeling your body slowly break down, suddenly realizing you can't move, maybe you feel parts become numb or even disintegrate-"

"Rudy!" Reyn snarled. "You're scaring the hell out of him!" Rudy seemed to snap out of a reverie and looked down at the digimon; indeed, Commandramon's expression had gone from confused to absolutely terrified.

"Ah...sorry, I probably should have been more aware of that. That's the bad news, though. The good news is that this machine can solve the problem, and give you protection from further such events. That means the bombs won't work against you anymore. It'll take some time for the program to work its magic, but once it's done you won't have to worry about those bombs anymore."

"How the heck can it do that?" Salmandmon asked.

"Beats me, but it's possible Mecharexmon designed it that way. He did have an inkling that it was a modified data fracture bomb. Commandramon, we're going to have to send you back into the machine...are you all right with that?" Commandramon nodded, the motion almost imperceptible since he couldn't move much for pain it caused. Rudy grinned eagerly. "All right, then, let's get you started..."

(==========)

The battle had raged on for nearly three hours, but finally Darkwolfmon phased into Emil and Elliot's office with good news. "It appears they are calling for a retreat, Elliot."

"Finally. Any word on casualties?"

"I have heard of no confirmed military deaths. Ionavimon's jolts spared most of them anything more than minor damage. There were a few major injuries, mostly attributable to those in damaged vehicles. Our efforts to minimize injury appear to have been mostly successful, though. The same cannot be said for most of the machinery, save for the jets."

"Well, we can't win them all." Emil looked at Darkwolfmon with a bit of concern. "How are you faring out there? You all have to be wearing down by now."

"I certainly am feeling the effects of our exertions. Thankfully, it appears we may have a moment to rest before the next assault."

Elliot nodded. "Good. We can't have you overdoing it out there. Otherwise, we lose our best defense."

"Indeed. I'm taking care not to push my limits too far."

"Thanks, Darkwolfmon. We'll let you know if anything of any importance arises."

"Very well." Darkwolfmon faded back into the shadows, and reappeared up in the lab where Reyn, Salmandmon, and Commandramon were.

"I don't feel right sitting here while there's a battle going on," grumbled Commandramon for the umpteenth time. Stripped of his armor, he had been given some human clothes to wear while he was recovering, but he didn't look at all comfortable in his position. "I should be out there, giving assistance to the others..."

"You're not going to be fighting until your body's fully repaired itself," scolded Salmandmon. "You're still weakened! You'd be an easy target out there!"

"I know...but still-"

"Agh, you army brats can be so annoying!" snapped Salmandmon as he clocked Commandramon on the head. "Always wanting to fight whenever you're conscious enough to be able to want anything! Don't you know the meaning of relaxation?"

"Hey!" Commandramon growled as he rubbed his head. "That's not gonna help speed my recovery!"

"Oh, come on, that can't have hurt."

"Can you two stop wrestling?" Reyn asked lazily. "I'd rather we didn't all enter the next fight injured."

"You weren't out there quite as much as the rest of us, Reyn," Darkwolfmon said wryly. "When you keep hopping in and out of the lab, you get more rest than the rest of us."

"This is important, Darkwolfmon. Commandramon may hold the key to advancing against Emperius."

"Doesn't mean he needs constant supervision."

"Have you even met him?" Reyn smirked. "It's either check on him every so often or tie him down so he doesn't try to sneak out and join us. Besides, after that Jeep sideswiped us, we needed a breather."

"Yeah, how's your chest, by the way?"

"Intact, but sore. How are the others?"

"Tired, but upright. The army's retreated for now, so we're taking a moment to gather ourselves. Good thing, too...three hours of constant activity is bound to be taking its toll, and we don't know how much rest we're going to get."

"Yeah, I agree. I tried to get Ionavimon to come in an hour ago, but she refused. She looked exhausted...I hope she gets in all right."

"They'll probably be all right." Darkwolfmon said before he separated into Derek and Blackcanismon. Derek continued as if nothing had happened: "Ionavimon looked tired, but she seemed to be fully alert. Jetdramon's the one I'm more worried about, he's spent three straight hours expending energy on those jets of his. He acted like he was just fine, but that's gotta be exhausting."

"How did you even get up there to check on him?" asked Salmandmon.

Blackcanismon sighed. "Consider yourselves immensely fortunate should you be denied the experience of manifesting yourself on the ventral portion of an airplane's wing."

"Yeesh..."

The door to the lab opened, revealing Isaac. He looked quite tired, but plenty excited. "Hey! They've got some chow downstairs in the cafeteria! You should get some while you've got the chance!"

"Sounds great to me!" exclaimed Salmandmon. "I'm starved!" He hopped to his feet and ran for the door, nearly knocking Isaac over as he passed. "Hey, watch where you're going!" Isaac howled as Salmandmon made for the stairs.

"You okay, Isaac?" Reyn asked as he too went to the door.

"Fine. Really rough out there, though! It's a shame we had to wreck so much stuff that could be used in less idiotic battles, but at least it looks like they're backing off for now. Could get worse at any time, though."

"Well, we've managed so far," Derek observed. "We'll just have to adjust if it gets worse. Isaac, move so we don't _have_ to push you down to get out."

"Yeah, yeah." Isaac got out of the doorway and glanced over at Commandramon. "Hey, you coming with us?"

Commandramon shook his head. "If I'm unable to fight, I shouldn't expend the rations of those who are."

Reyn frowned at Commandramon. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not like we're not in any danger of running out of food, that's for sure. When's the last time you ate?"

"Uh...recently?" Commandramon's stomach growled, giving away his lie, not that he sounded believable in the first place. "Okay, two days."

"Two days? Jeez, you really shouldn't deprive yourself like that. It's not healthy! Come on, you're coming downstairs and eating something." Reyn waited as Commandramon hesitated. "That's an order, soldier!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Commandramon relented, getting to his feet and joining the departing group.

(==========)

"Ohh, YEAH! I really needed that!" Breezedramon moaned pleasantly after he finished stuffing himself. "Nothing like a good meal!"

Skylar rolled his eyes over his more modest portions. "For being such a little guy, you sure eat a lot. How do bunches of you guys survive?"

"Canalbalarianism."

"What?"

"Er, nothing."

"You guys are gonna make me lose my appetite," Iris groaned as she watched Datacarnomon and Isaac fool around. The robot was putting food in its mouth, removing it, and giving it to Isaac to eat. "I don't care if he's a goddamn robot and doesn't really eat it! That's just...UGH!" She scowled as Isaac nearly fell on the floor in a fit of laughter, while Datacarnomon chuckled quietly.

"Must you torment my partner so?" Shockavimon snapped to the robot. "Honestly! What's the point?"

"Hey, it was his idea," replied Datacarnomon with a smirk, pointing to Isaac. "If she finds it bothersome, she'll just have to get over it." Datacarnomon reconsidered as she saw Iris begin to pummel Isaac. "Or beat him into submission, I guess."

"Derek, there exists a distinct possibility that it will be necessary to stonewall me in order to prevent my continued bingeing," burped Blackcanismon. "This sustenance is succulent beyond my ability to describe."

"Now that has to be a first," chortled Derek. "You, speechless?"

"Somehow, Blackcanismon, I think your self-control is a bit better than Salmandmon's," commented Reyn. The lizard was on his fourth helpings of almost everything and growled at anyone who tried to directly tell him that he was overeating. "Christ, even Breezedramon knew when to stop. He's gonna weigh a half ton when he's done."

"Uh, sir, he's sitting right next to you," stated Commandramon nervously. "I'm fairly sure he can hear you."

"Ah, he's too busy stuffing himself to care." Indeed, Salmandmon wasn't paying much attention to anybody who wasn't trying to get between him and his food. "This is the way he eats at home, too. If it weren't for Mom making only a limited amount, he'd probably stuff himself just as much."

"As long as he doesn't explode, there's no harm in it," Derek reasoned.

"I suppose, but I don't want to end up fat when we merge again. Commandramon, the food doesn't do you any good if you don't eat it."

"I'm eating," Commandramon replied defensively. He had downed some food, though he still seemed reluctant about it.

"Not nearly enough," insisted Derek. "It's been two days, and you have to be starved. You should be filling yourself up, not picking at your food and feeling guilty about eating."

"But I should be doing something to earn my keep. So far, I've done nothing to help any of you guys out. I've been nothing but a burden."

"So, make up for it when you have the chance." Reyn patted Commandramon on the back. "You'll recover soon enough, and when you do, you'll be able to help us out and make up for it. So you shouldn't be worried about it."

"But what if I don't perform up to your expectations?"

"I doubt we'll have to worry about that, Commandramon. You're doing so much for us already, I think our expectations for you have already been surpassed." Commandramon seemed to be bolstered by this, and began to eat faster.

"Nicely done, Reyn," said Derek approvingly.

"Thanks." Reyn finished his meal and contented himself with watching Iris continue to whale on Isaac, who desperately tried to fight her off. "Hey, I think I know the reason why Isaac's never gonna have a girlfriend..."

(==========)

Reyn had lost track of time in the general mayhem of the lunchroom. Eventually, his eyes traveled up to the clock; it read 3:00. "That's weird..."

"Something up, Reyn?" asked Salmandmon.

"Yeah, it's been almost two hours since the retreat. I figured we'd hear some reinforcements arriving by now. I'm a bit worried that I haven't, actually."

"Can't just look on the bright side, can you?"

"Murphy's Law, bud. Anything bad that can happen, will happen. And for the record, Murphy was an optimist."

"Some optimist. Where is everyone?"

"I think they're just floating around, killing time. Until there's some activity, there isn't a whole lot for us to do."

At that moment, a calamity sounded from somewhere in the building, loud enough for Reyn and Salmandmon to hear it. "Speak of the devil...that might be our cue, bud. Let's pick it up!" They headed off towards the source of the excitement, which was in the story above them. A group of agents was looking out the window, anxiety permeating the entire group. "What's up?" asked Reyn.

"Just look!" an agent said, pointing out the window. Reyn and Salmandmon did look, and saw what had gotten everyone's attention. There was a wave of distortions in the air over the city - distortions signaling the arrival of Rifts.

Salmandmon sighed as he saw these, his small hands clenched tightly into fists. "Looks like we're up again, Reyn. Different foes, same deal."

"Toldja. Murphy's Law. Let's get it on."

(==========)

"Unbelievable. This kind of performance is unacceptable."

"I'm very sorry, sir. I would have said something sooner, but-"

"Do we have time to change course?"

"I think we do, sir, but we will have to hurry. It's a very dangerous situation."

"I think I could guess that. I'm off. If anyone asks, you know what to tell them. It's time I took a more direct role in this."

(==========)

(==========)

Ooh, mysteriousness! Eh, who am I kidding, you can probably guess where that's going. But I'll leave it how it is anyway.

This chapter has a little of everything: some more action, a bit more descriptively generalized than usual (next chapter won't have that problem nearly so much, and there'll be plenty of it), a dash of comedy here and there, and plot advancement. Commandramon is like the prefect army brat digimon, I just had to use him somehow. Since I needed a way for them to get to the digital world (spoiler alert, but it's not like you couldn't guess that would happen eventually), it was the perfect excuse. And I get to use him to give you creepy mental images to boot (or maybe just me; I'm not afraid to say, I'm a little squicked out by the whole idea of the plugs...).

By the way, they totally do have technology to disrupt wireless signals. I think it's something reserved for police departments to use in times of crisis; I don't know how widespread they are or how often they're used, but they do exist. At the very least, they have more basis in fact than my data fracture bombs...yeah, that idea was pulled right out of my ass.

Thanks to reviewer The Silent Insomniac. You probably won't have to wait long to see the answers to your questions...at least, the start of them, perhaps.

Now, back to writing. At least, trying to write. Some later chapters for this are giving me fits...it doesn't help that I've had a bit of a creative block. That shouldn't affect the next few chapters, though, so same time next week.


	18. Chapter 17: Intensity

Sorry about that unexpected delay. Actually, it was pretty lucky that the last chapter was even posted - it was literally the last thing I was able to do before my computer thought "this gig sucks" and decided to blow a capacitor. I lost a week of time to write, already bad news since I've hit some stumbling blocks with later chapters. Hopefully some inspiration will strike (and strike right this time - I spent two days earlier this month frantically writing a completely unrelated short story off of a burst of inspiration. Talk about sidetracking...)

Anyway, I think I've yakked long enough up here. Story time!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 17: Intensity**

"Okay guys, listen up, I've only got time to say this once, they're coming through right now. There's at least a good hundred of these guys out here, and they're not going to spare anyone they come across. Our only saving grace is that they'll probably be looking for us first, so maybe there'll be less damage if we make ourselves noticeable." Blazereptimon looked over at Ionavimon and Jetdramon. "I trust you to can handle the air?"

"You can count on us!"

"We'll take 'em down and then some!"

"Good. Mecharexmon, you've got the most firepower of all of us. We got reports of at least two large gates opening near the Undevelopment. I'm gonna leave them to your big-ass arm cannon. Try not to waste much time getting over there."

"Gotcha. I'm gonna swing by my house quick and get everyone to evacuate, and then I'll be on my way. We're gonna win this thing! They won't even know what hit 'em!"

Blazereptimon nodded. "See to it that you're punctual about it this time. Ebonlupimon, you and I will take care of anything smaller on the ground. If you see anything causing a lot of havoc, take care of them as fast as possible."

"They will rue the day they decided to screw with us," replied Ebonlupimon with a nod. "We'll deal them a blow they won't soon forget!"

"All right, everyone! Let's take 'em on! Don't let any of them through!"

"Right!"

The symbiotes dispersed, spreading to meet the threat that had just arrived. Blazereptimon found himself alone, running quickly, trying to find an enemy to engage, when the thought finally hit him: _Wait a second...when did they all start listening to me?_

(==========)

Jetdramon and Ionavimon took stock of their opponents: a flock of Birdramon and Saberdramon, a swarm of Kabuterimon and Kuwagamon, and one very imposing Megadramon. "Great, more bugs," Ionavimon spat as she took hold of her spear.

"Well, they're not pulling any punches this time," commented Jetdramon, drawing his own weapon. "Shall we?"

"But of course!" Ionavimon swooped in first and unleashed a Dervish Bolt as far as she could. Lightning erupted from her wings and scattered over a wide area, this time at full power. Several enemies were struck hard, though most at least survived the blast.

Jetdramon followed up with a blitzkrieg of Gale Voulge attacks, cleaving a trio of Kuwagamon and a Birdramon into oblivion. "Too easy!"

"Don't get cocky, Jetdramon!" snapped Ionavimon as several Birdramon and Saberdramon raised their wings and unleashed their Meteor Wing and Nitro Arrow attacks, targeting Ionavimon in particular. She was forced to wildly dodge in between the fiery shots, suffering numerous singed feathers. The fiery rain went all over below her, starting a few small fires.

A bunch of Kabuterimon fired their own Electroshocker attacks at Jetdramon. One struck him head on, knocking him backward. "Yeow! That smarts!" he yelled angrily, trying to shake off the lingering tingling sensation that permeated through his body. "You'll get it for that one! Jet Stream!" He loosed his damaging beam of wind energy at the Kabuterimon, dealing two out in one blow. "Right, who wants to mess with me next?"

A loud buzzing from behind answered that question. Jetdramon turned to see a Kuwagamon almost on top of him. "Crap!"

"Lightning Talon!" Ionavimon struck the beetle with a devastating, electrifying kick, causing it to screech in pain. Jetdramon took the opportunity to finish it with his voulge. "Thanks, Ionavimon!"

"Quit goofing off and stay sharp!" snapped the bird by way of response. "Heads up, here comes the big fella!" Megadramon had its open arms aimed right at the pair. "Rocket Attack!"

A pair of large missiles fired from the dragon's mechanical hands. The missiles collided in midair, resulting in a large explosion that threw all the airborne digimon away from it. "Yikes! That's a tough customer!" commented Jetdramon. "We'd better get rid of him, fast, or he'll do a ton of damage!"

(==========)

"Saur Blaster!" Mecharexmon's rapid-fire cannon took out a pair of Meramon on the street before they even knew he was there. "That'll teach ya to invade our world, you flamey bastards!"

He had only almost reached his street, and yet he'd encountered half a dozen digimon already. If that was any indication of how many he'd run into on his way to the Undevelopment, he wasn't looking forward to this trek. However, a scream from nearby drew him to a much more serious situation. _Oh, no...was that Mom?_

He dashed towards the house as an unpleasant sight unfolded in front of him. Alphonse and Lilith were backed up against the house, trembling in fear at the monster in front of them. The creature was draconic in nature, with dusky grey scales, long curved horns on its head, and a ragged black cloak covering its shoulders. Its hand was raised in front of it, allowing Mecharexmon to see the pentagram mark on the back of it. Mecharexmon soon recognized it as Malicedramon, a Champion-level demonic dragon digimon.

It was gleefully stationed in front of its prey, leering malevolently at the humans. "Enjoying your final moments? You should be thankful...I'm feeling merciful, so I'll make sure your death is only excruciatingly painful for a little while."

Mecharexmon knew he couldn't let this go on for long; Malicedramon could get stronger by taking in the fear of its prey, and there was no doubt that the humans were scared enough already. So without further hesitation, he dashed forward, running at top speed right at his foe. Inattentive to his surroundings, Malicedramon didn't notice the charging saurian until he was almost on top of him. He quickly tried to counter, but failed as Mecharexmon delivered a flying tackle, throwing them both to the ground.

Malicedramon snarled at the intrustion. "You pest! Get out of my way! Doom Blast!" He unleashed a powerful dark energy blast which tossed Mecharexmon ten yards away. He quickly picked himself up and targeted the dragon with his cannon, but Malicedramon simply smiled evilly and held his hand out at Alphonse and Lilith, charging another deadly attack in their direction. "So much as fire one shot, and they die."

Mecharexmon hesitated. He knew Malicedramon wasn't bluffing, but he couldn't drop his threat, lest the demon let loose his attack on them anyway, or just as bad, onto Mecharexmon himself. His mind raced to figure out a way to outflank Malicedramon, but the answer came of its own volition.

"Shock Rush!" A creature came out of nowhere, slamming directly into Malicedramon from above and throwing him to the ground. This one was a large, orange-yellow-furred bipedal mammalian creature with long ears and a wild mane. Mecharexmon identified the newcomer as Entruenmon, and quickly figured out where he must have come from. "Thanks! I didn't think I could end that well!"

"You can make it up to me later!" replied Entruenmon. "Let's just get this guy taken care of!" Malicedramon was getting to his feet, and he looked furious.

"Right!" The two dodged to the side as Malicedramon roared "Nightmare Eye!" and fired a black ray of energy at them. It hit the side of the house, where the two adults had vacated only a few seconds before. Mecahrexmon wasted no time. "Swarm Missiles!" The shoulder compartment opened, and a dozen small missiles shot out, all targeting Malicedramon. The target desperately shot another Doom Blast to try to take them out, but the resulting explosion got him anyway. On his knees on the ground, he was an easy target.

Mecharexmon aimed his gun. "Saur Blaster!"

Entruenmon raised his arm and pointed his hand at Malicedramon. "Generator Beam!"

The two attacks struck at the same time, tossing Macliedramon back and causing him to skid along the ground on his back for several feet. He looked to be barely conscious, but this didn't stop Mecharexmon from striding forward and placing the barrel of his cannon right next to Malicedramon's chest.

"This...is for even threatening my family."

He let loose a blast from his gun at point-blank range, obliterating Malicedramons' chest and splattering viscera everywhere. As the creature dissipated into data, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Damn...that was just too close." He turned to Alphonse and Lilith, who were now looking at him with nearly as much fear as they had for Malicedramon. "Are you all right?"

"D-don't hurt us!" Lilith cried out, her voice almost a squeak.

Even despite his relief at knowing they were unharmed, he couldn't help but feel a prickle of annoyance. "Oh, for crying out loud, I just saved your asses, why would I want to hurt you? You need to get out of here, it isn't safe."

"How can we trust you?" demanded Alphonse. "What's to say you're not going to do something worse to us?"

Mecharexmon growled impatiently; he had to get to the Undevelopment, he didn't have time to come up with a story that didn't give everything away. He didn't need to, though, as someone else took care of both for him. "Don't worry, Mom, Dad. That's Isaac and his goofy robot partner, they won't hurt you."

_Ashley!_ Mecharexmon wanted to scream in frustration as she came out the doorway. The parents just stared at her, then looked back at Mecharexmon. "How the hell did she know that?" he said almost imperceptibly.

Of course, that was still loud enough for Entruenmon to hear. "How the hell did she know that? Kid, you are a LOT less sneaky than you think you are. She's been following you almost routinely since you started leaving at random times. She knows about all of you guys."

"Wh...what? How do you know all that?"

"She talks to me. Maybe if you tried the same you'd have caught on before now."

Mecharexmon groaned. "Ergh...great, just what I needed, there's no way this is going to be easy to explain." He turned back to the three humans. "Look, I can't stick around, I've got to head off a couple giant creatures before they level everything. Go to the local government building. It should be safe for everyone there. Someone there can explain everything to you."

"I'll escort them there," replied Entruenmon with a nod. "You just get rid of the rest of those Emperius guys."

"Thanks." Grumbling a bit, he turned back in his intended direction and stomped off. Right now, the threat of two creatures a hundred times his size was looking pretty good compared to having to face those two later.

(==========)

Normally, even Blazereptimon wouldn't have laughed at a four-on-one disadvantage. But the group surrounding him now didn't exactly stir a lot of fear in him...especially considering that he'd pretty much jumped into the middle of the group while they were arguing incessantly.

In front of him stood Blackgargomon and Gorillamon; behind him were Darkrizamon and Hyougamon. None of them were attacking; in fact, they appeared quite stunned to see their enemy appear right in the middle of them. "You all gonna do something, or are you just gonna stand there and gape at me? Come on, you know I'm not on your side, what are you waiting for?"

Not one move from any of them; they seemed to at least have the good sense to know when someone was trying to draw them in. Fortunately for Blazereptimon, he knew how to override good sense. "Hah, I thought so. You wusses don't have the guts to go after me. What made you think you were superior to humans? They put up better fights than you clowns."

It worked like a charm. Blackgargomon and Gorillamon, enraged at the insult, raised their weapons and fired. Blazereptimon snickered and jumped into the air just as they fired, their attacks hitting the other two digimon standing across from them.

"Hey! Whaddaya think you're doing?" yelled Hyougamon. "I'm not the one you're supposed to attack!"

"Well, maybe if you moved out of the way, dumbass!" Blackgargomon countered. "Hell, you wouldn't know common sense if it shot you in the chest!"

"Moron ape!" flared Darkrizamon. "How did a dimwit like you get into Emperius? You're not superior to a loaf of bread!"

"At least I do something!" retorted Gorillamon. "You didn't even attack!"

All four seemed to have completely forgotten about Blazereptimon as their argument escalated into physical violence. He sighed and folded his arms as he watched the pitiful display. "Jeez, talk about easily distracted. You'd think they'd be a little more concerned about me."

"What the...oh, don't tell me those guys are at it again." Blazereptimon looked behind him; two more digimon, a Strikedramon and a Leomon, were walking towards him. The Strikedramon groaned. "It never fails. Every single time those guys get together, the result is the same. I dunno why they even let them go out together."

"So I take it they've given you lots of trouble?" Blazereptimon could have attacked, but decided to play it safe; neither one seemed particularly interested in a fight. Perhaps they didn't recognize him as an enemy. "They were arguing when I got here, too. It seemed like it was getting pretty ferocious."

"They've been nothing but pains in the ass," growled Leomon. "Can't do anything as a team, always trying to one-up each other, sabotaging each others' missions...basically screwing things up in every possible way. It's painful to watch, even worse if you have to break it up."

"Really?" Blazereptimon feigned surprise. "I would think that they'd be pretty easy, considering how poorly-directed their attacks are." Errant shots were popping out of the brawl, generally flying harmlessly into the air, though a few trees fell victim to them.

"They're so single-minded that they won't break it up even on threat of death," explained Strikedramon. "You literally have to drag them away from each other. We generally reserve that task for the Ultimates." He paused for a moment, then continued, "You know, I bet Emperius would give you a medal if you took care of them right now, even if you are on the other side."

_So much for not recognizing me as an enemy,_ thought Blazereptimon. "I'm half-considering just leaving them, but I think they could end up doing actual damage if I don't stop them. Have to say, though, it's odd hearing that from someone who I expect is from their side."

"You can do with them what you want. We're not going to stop you." Leomon sounded distinctly pissed. "This entire operation offends my warrior's sensibilities. I have an affinity for battle...pointless slaughter is not battle."

Strikedramon nodded. "Yeah, it's just stupid. There's no point in taking over this world. Hell, there's no point in taking over the digital world. They've said as much to us, it's just a show of power. When I started with this outfit, I thought there was some point to it. But it's just a waste of time and energy. Besides, this world looks kind of interesting...I kinda want to see more of it before I have to head back. Oh, hey, watch, this is gonna get fun."

Blazereptimon turned back to the battle as Darkrizamon sent a fire attack into Gorillamon's cannon. _Well, that can only end in tragedy,_ thought Blazereptimon, and he was vindicated two seconds later as an explosion ripped through the cannon, engulfing all four enemies and vaporizing their bodies. _For a loose definition of tragedy, I suppose. Shame about the pothole they left behind, though._

"A fitting end," Strikedramon said wistfully, putting his clawed hand over his chest in a gesture of mock sympathy. "Emperius will mourn their loss. I hate to miss that party, but we're gonna run. I wanna have a run at Emperius before they figure out I've turned against them."

Blazepretimon nodded. "Yeah, I should do the same. Good luck to the two of you, and try to stay alive."

"And the same to you," replied Leomon.

Blazereptimon started off again, feeling relaxed at the short break. It had been pretty nonstop fighting up until that point, and he had certainly welcomed the short respite, but he knew he had to keep up the attack. The odd part was, the area he was currently in was almost completely devoid of digimon. _Weird...I expected to see more of them around here. Did someone else come through here?_

A few minutes of walking and running later, he realized he was near his own home. _Uh-oh...I said I would check on them earlier, but I never did. I'd better hurry and make sure they're okay._ He sprinted towards the familiar brick abode, but as he neared he was certain he heard the sounds of battle. "Oh, crap!" He turned around the corner of the house and saw a startling sight.

"Panther Claw!" A large cat creature clawed at the Dobermon in the Kessiliks' yard, knocking it to the ground. It had yellowish-orange fur with brown stripes along the length of its body, along with rings around its legs and tail that were engraved with what appeared to be runic text. "Watch your head, Raptormon!"

"Thanks, Panthermon!" The other digimon ducked as a Cyclonemon leapt at him from behind. Raptormon was a saurian digimon, looking like, well, a raptor, only with long blades extending off of his elbows, knees, and head, and a ridge of sharp spines on his back. "Slicer Kick!" He kicked across Cyclonemon's back, easily cutting through the hide with his deathly-sharp claws.

_Panthermon? Raptormon? Where did they come from?_ thought Blazereptimon in confusion. _Wait a second...they wouldn't...would they?_

He didn't have time to dwell on it, as another digimon appeared to take charge, and it looked furious. Blazereptimon recognized it as Asuramon. "You traitors! How dare you fight against us! You will pay with your lives!"

He launched an array of fireballs at Panthermon and Raptormon, hitting both square and tossing them backwards. Asuramon's wrath turned on the downed creatures on his side. "Cyclonemon! Dobermon! Get your pathetic selves together and finish them!"

"Jeez, Asuramon, could you sound any more like a cliché villain?" Blazereptimon stepped up and faced down all three foes. "If that's how it is, I'll play the cliché hero. You'll have to go through me to get to them!"

"What are you waiting for?" roared Asuramon as Dobermon and Cyclonemon hesitated, giving the other two the time they needed to gather themselves. "I'll deal with this fool, take out the others!"

"Careful, buddy, with a temper like that you'll have a stroke in no time." Blazereptimon's claws erupted in flames. "That is, if I don't kill you first! Inferno Claw!" He blitzed Asuramon, slicing upwards with his deadly claws. The burning slash cut through Asuramon's chest, leaving long furrows in his skin. The fiery humanoid howled in pain and anger.

"Miserable wretch! You'll pay for that!" Asuramon launched two fists at Blazereptimon, who coolly leapt above them and landed behind him.

"Yeah, yeah. I might be more worried if you could actually hit me." As if on cue, Asuramon lunged and delivered a sock to Blazereptimon's mouth, sending him sprawling. He was up again in no time, rubbing his jaw. "Ow. Okay, I guess you can hit. But I can hit back!" He charged Asuramon again, and the two traded blows. Now he was starting to feel overmatched, as Asuramon's four arms were catching all his blows and making it difficult to block.

Dobermon and Cyclonemon, meanwhile, were paying the price for their hesitation earlier. Panthermon quickly had Dobermon against the ropes, and in just a minute the dog digimon fell and was deleted. Cyclonemon took a little more time, but with two foes to face he couldn't keep up and was quickly defeated by means of Raptormon's Cutter Claw delivered to his neck.

Asuramon finally laid a powerful blow to Blazereptimon's chest, again leaving him in a heap several feet away. "You can't stop us! We have destiny on our side!"

"I never believed in destiny," growled Blazereptimon, standing slowly, holding his side. Asuramon was tougher than he expected, but he was aware that he had back-up on the way. "Guess I won't be convincing you any time soon, though."

"How foolish you are. It's time to end this!"

"I agree! Cutter Claw!" Raptormon slashed violently at Asuramon's back, flaying it many times over. Asuramon screamed as he felt himself being opened up. Blazereptimon didn't waste time, delivering an Inferno Claw right into the digimon's gut, his hand squelching all the way through. Asuramon succumbed, his data dispersing into the air.

Blazereptimon bent down, hands on his knees, panting hard. "Man...that was brutal."

"Right, you're one to talk," Raptormon grumbled, wincing as he poked at a laceration just under his rib cage. "You're not the one who had to fend off about a dozen digimon with just you and one other Champion."

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was kinda caught up in a storm of them myself. Nice job, though, that's no mean feat to take on that many."

"Tell me about it!" Panthermon chimed in. "We're lucky they weren't all here at the same time, otherwise we'd all be mincemeat by now! This place isn't safe...we need to get everyone out of here."

Blazereptimon grinned. "So, finally changed your allegiances, huh?"

"Hey, my priorities changed when Ashinkaimon nearly iced me. I'm not stupid enough to keep following a faction that sends its own guys out to kill you if you screw up. Who knows if I'd get away next time?"

Raptormon folded his arms in front of him (Blazereptimon wondered how he managed to keep from slicing himself on those elbow blades) and gave a fierce sigh. "I'm still not thrilled about this, but hey, I'm no idiot. They don't care about me, I don't care about them. Their loss if they don't think I'm worth keeping around. At least here, I've got someone who's concerned about me." He cast a furtive look back at the house.

"I'm sure Cayden would be honored to hear that. Listen, Panthermon's right, it's not safe here. It would probably be better if you guys went to the agency building, off in the commercial area of the city. I'll go back there and give them a heads-up of your arrival, so they don't think you're an enemy and open fire on you. They'll have someone out there to get your attention."

"All right, we'll make sure they stay safe," Panthermon said.

"I'm counting on you guys." Blazereptimon took off in the direction of the agency, watching for any sign of enemies. If he could help it, he was going to make their trip as safe as he could. After the close call at his house, he wasn't wanting to take any unnecessary chances.

(==========)

The air assault was dropping quickly under Jetdramon and Ionavimon's relenetless assault, but one particular foe was proving very difficult to outmatch. "Darkside Attack!" Megadramon sent a bolt of dark energy at Jetdramon. The dragon kicked up his jets to avoid it, and the bolt swerved to follow his new course. _Damn, it's seeking. Wait, maybe I can use that to my advantage..._

As Jetdramon swooped and swerved around Megadramon, Ionavimon continued to take down the smaller foes. Despite their ranks having been thinned, they still had her outnumbered, and she was starting to feel the fatigue setting in. "Dammit, how many more of you are there? Dervish Bolt!" She launched another bolt from her wings, finally downing a pair of Birdramon that had been bothering her for a while.

A loud buzzing behind her got her attention. A Kabuterimon was just a couple feet from her, trying to grab her. "Ah! Shoo!" she cried out as the thing grabbed her arm.

Then, out of nowhere, something blasted through the insect's skull. It didn't even seem to react as it dissipated into data. Ionavimon was left wondering. _What the...where did that come from?_

(==========)

"How can you _not_ have used one of those before?" Rudy asked incredulously. "That was a perfect shot! And from that distance..."

"It's really not as hard as it looks," replied Commandramon, reloading the sniper rifle. "I've practiced with false rifles before. You just need to be careful. You need precise aim, a very steady hand, and some knowledge about bullet trajectory. I can't believe someone just left this lying around here! And with several rounds, too! Why weren't they using it before?"

"I've never seen it before. We don't usually have those kinds of weapons around here...maybe one of the agents found it and brought it in? But damn, if our snipers were even half as good as you, everyone would be scared to death to tick off the United States!"

"Er...I'll take your word for it." Commandramon didn't have any clue what the human was talking about there. He positioned himself once again at the window, carefully aiming the rifle. "Keep it down, please, I need to concentrate." _If I can't help out there,_ he thought resolutely, _the least I can do is give support from here._

(==========)

A Saberdramon not too far away from Ionavimon screeched and disappeared as another shot sailed through the air and through its skull. _I don't know what's going on,_ she thought, _but damn if I'm not glad it is!_

Jetdramon, meanwhile, succeeded in guiding the Darkside Attack into Megadramon's body. The loud roar of pain surprised Jetdramon. "Jeez, I didn't think that looked _that_ strong." Not wanting to waste an opportunity, he swung in and followed up that blow with one of his own. "Shear Claw!" The dragon roared again as Jetdramon's claws raked through its hide. Jetdramon pulled back, a little discouraged that his attack didn't even penetrate deep enough to bleed more than a slight trickle.

_This isn't working...I'm not doing enough damage to him. It's worse than with Aquilamon, we didn't have the same magnitude of size disparity then. I'm gonna have to find another way to wipe him out._

He swooped around the front of Megadramon, the dragon swinging all over trying to find him like he was a fly in a tent. Suddenly, he got some inspiration. _I wonder...if those rockets are as strong as they first looked..._ Giving himself a little distance, he signaled to Ionavimon.

Ionavimon wasn't as fast as Jetdramon, so she timed her approach as Megadramon was distracted. "Make it quick!"

"Get ready! I'm going to try to get him to attack with his rockets!"

"You WHAT?"

"Work with me here! Try to attack the open arms before they shoot out!"

His reasoning was quickly apparent to Ionavimon, but she wasn't confident that Megadramon would bite. Still, she didn't have any better ideas. "Just be careful! If he doesn't use that attack we'll be in trouble!"

"Don't worry, he doesn't look like he's got much in the way of smarts!" Jetdramon and Ionavimon flew a little further away to give themselves more time to react, then Jetdramon made his move. "HEY, UGLY ROCKET-BOY! YOU COULDN'T HIT THE BROAD SIDE OF A SHAKKOUMON WITH THOSE PATHETIC MISSILES OF YOURS!"

"Real mature, Jetdramon," groaned Ionavimon as Megadramon whipped around (or did as good of an impression of such as he could) and snarled at them. He bought the ploy, bringing his arms forward in a gesture of attack.

"Now! Jet Stream!"

"Dervish Bolt!"

The two attacks struck at the open hatches on Megadramon's arms, just as the missiles were starting to emerge. A pair of massive explosions engulfed Megadramon, the tortured scream being the last thing that came from him.

"Hah! We did it!" shouted Jetdramon. "Take that, you overgrown flying snake!"

Ionavimon sighed in frustration. _He's got too much of Breezedramon's personality and not enough of Skylar's._ She glanced around, trying to assess the situation. It looked good for them; with the mysterious assailant's help, only a few digimon remained in the air. "I think we're almost there, Jetdramon."

"Yeah, it's looking good." Jetdramon scanned the area. "Hey...I think there's a disturbance down there. Something's attacking some house." He leaned forward a bit and narrowed his eyes, then yelled out suddenly, "Hey! That's my house!"

"Jetdramon!" Ionavimon called out futilely as he rushed down to take care of the trouble at the Jascalts' house. "Dammit, he's gonna get himself killed if he's not careful..." She sighed, then went to take care of the rest of the air attackers.

(==========)

Mecharexmon clenched his jaw as he stood down the two foes at the Undevelopment. One was a massive dinosaur, Darktyranomon; the other was a slightly smaller but still formidable bull digimon, Vajramon. "Heavyweight fighters, huh? Well, let's see how you like my firepower!"

"You won't live long enough to try!" Vajramon charged him, clearing the space in less time than Mecharexmon expected. He swung he blade down across the ground and towards Mecharexmon, kicking up large chunks of land. The cyborg rolled out of the way and fired his cannon at Vajramon's side, powerful blasts railing against the hide and drawing blood.

Darktyranomon was not about to go ignored. He launched a fierce blast of fire breath at Mecharexmon, sweeping along the ground as the smaller dinosaur tried to evade. He soon nailed Mecharexmon, searing him good before the smaller dino fired his cannon right into Darktyranomon's mouth. That put a stop to the fire attack, leaving Mecharexmon singed but stable.

"You little pest!" Vajramon reared up and tried to stomp on Mecharexmon. That was a big mistake, as Mecharexmon quickly shifted to his clawed arm and raised it right underneath the incoming foot. "Plasma Claw!" Vajramon's foot came right down onto the claw, and he yelled out in excruciating pain as a burst of energy traveled up his leg. Mecharexmon extricated his claw from the creature and converted it back into a cannon, charging his shot and letting loose at Vajramon's head. The bull just managed to duck under the shot, causing Mecharexmon to curse loudly; he knew he wasn't going to get many of those chances.

Darktyrnaomon appeared to have recovered, and was now making his move towards Mecharexmon. _I gotta play these two off of each other...I'm outmatched, but if I can get them to do some collateral damage to each other, I might get a shot to make this easier._ He ran towards Darktyranomon, firing a couple bursts with his cannon to warn the dino what would happen if he tried to flame him again. It seemed to work, as Darktyranomon didn't open his mouth and instead tried to slam him with his tail. His lack of mobility made it a challenge just to aim the tail, and Mecharexmon didn't even have to dodge the first two swings as they careened well over his head. Trying to draw the dino, he headed back towards Vajramon, who was limping and enraged.

A large rock slammed into him, throwing him to the ground. "Ouch...damned bull. You weren't supposed to do that." He heaved the rock off of him and returned fire with his cannon, only to find it blocked by Vajramon's sword. He could tell Darktyranomon was almost within range, and he was still a little too far from Vajramon to put him at risk. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran forward as he fired, putting himself dangerously close to Vajramon's reach.

Vajramon didn't take the chance to attack, though, instead choosing to keep blocking the shots with his swords. And it kept his attention off of Darktyranomon, who didn't seem to realize how close he was to Vajramon. It had come together perfectly; Darktyranomon whipped his body around, swinging his tail well over Mecharexmon's head and straight into Vajramon's flank. With a pained shout, the bull was hurled to the ground, hitting his head as he landed.

Mecharexmon took the opportunity immediately. He charged a shot and fired just as Darktyranomon turned to face him again; the blast pierced his chest and went right through his heart. Even as the dinosaur disappeared in an anguished roar, he readied another shot and fired it at Vajramon's head. The bull didn't make a single sound as a hole was blasted into his skull, ending his life. All that remained was the heavily panting Mecharexmon.

"Man...now that was a hell of a battle. I hope there aren't any more of those anywhere in the city...maybe I should go back and make sure...I can't fail here, I have to make sure everything goes right..."

(==========)

Mystimon grabbed the sobbing, panicky boy by his shirt collar and lifted him up. "You didn't really think you could escape me, did you? Pathetic human child." He brought him over to the edge of the house, holding him off the top of the 25-foot drop. "Since you took all the time to drag me up here, I'll let that be your death!"

With an annoyed grunt, he threw the boy off the roof. For a brief moment he delighted in the agonized scream of the child, but that was quickly cut short as something swooped down and caught the boy, robbing Mystimon of his victory.

"What? How dare you defy me!" Mystimon raised his hand to attack the savior. "I'll send you to your death as well! Blast-"

He never finished. In a brief moment, his body was cleaved in two, ending his life and his attack. Jetdramon swung up and watched him disappear, snarling at the swirling data. "Let that be a lesson to you, you damned monster! Don't mess with my family!"

With no more enemies visible in the area, Jetdramon swung down and landed in front of Benny and his rescuer. "Are you all right, Dorugamon?"

"I'm fine. I'm worried about Benny. He can't be all right after that." The boy was sobbing into Dorugamon's fur, shivering madly after his fall.

Jetdramon leaned down close and put a hand on the boy. He heard a soft shriek from Benny and tried to calm him tenderly. "Shh, hey, buddy, it's okay, no one's gonna hurt you anymore."

Finally, he saw Benny peek out at him, wide-eyed and still very much afraid. "Are you...are you a good guy?"

Jetdramon smiled. "Yeah, I am. Don't worry, I'll be sure none of those bad guys gets to you. You just gotta stay tough, okay?"

Benny nodded mutely and went back to shuddering into Dorugamon's fur. Jetdramon straightened up. "Dorugamon, what happened here?"

"A couple of those creeps...they came around and tried to attack us. I killed one of them, but Mystimon was too strong for me to go up against. Benny freaked out and somehow got on the roof..."

"Is everyone else okay?"

"I don't know...they're in the house, and I didn't have a chance to check on them before Benny got attacked. I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. You saved Benny, that's all that matters now. I'll check on the others."

Abandoning common sense, Jetdramon ran into the house. "Hey! Is everyone okay?" He turned into the kitchen and then froze, finding himself on the wrong end of a knife.

"Don't take another step! I will kill you!" It was his sister, Kirsten. Her boldness surprised him a bit; he'd never seen anything like that out of her before.

"Holy crap, Kirsten, cut it out! I'm not here to hurt anyone!"

"What the...how do you know who I am?" She lowered the knife as the realization started to sink in. "No way...you can't...Sky?"

"Erm...yeah."

"..._You_ are gonna have to do a _lot_ of explaining."

"Later. Are they..."

"Dad's okay, but Mom's hurt, I dunno how bad. Sky, where's Benny? Where's that creep that broke in and tried to kill us?"

"Fine and finished, respectively." Jetdramon went past her and into the next room, where his father Marcus was tending to Corrine, who had a large gash along her stomach. Marcus looked up as he entered and immediately went towards Corrine. "What the f-"

"Later!" Jetdramon examined the wound as Marcus backed away quickly. It was a shallow wound, but long enough that it worried him. "She's gotta be treated right away."

"Hey!" Marcus shouted as Jetdramon picked up Corrine carefully. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Dad, it's okay!" Kirsten assured him. "He's on our side!"

"You two, get out of here now," Jetdramon ordered. "Benny's outside with Dorugamon. Go with them, get to the local government center. That's the only safe place in this whole city right now. I'll bring her there as soon as she's taken care of."

"Okay..." Kirsten said quietly. Marcus just remained silent.

Jetdramon ran out of the house, to Dorugamon. "Listen, you're gonna have to take everyone to the government center."

"The what?"

"Just go to the commercial district-"

"The what?"

"Agh...go to where all the big buildings are."

"Oh, okay."

"Right, there's one over there that we've been using as an outpost today. I'll let them know that you're coming. I've got to get Mom to the Kessiliks so they can treat her, but I'll try to beat you back there."

"All right, I got it. Don't let them get you."

(==========)

Ebonlupimon's rapier sliced through the Dokugumon, defeating it with a final swipe. He'd lost count of all the digimon he'd defeated by this point; all he knew was that it was more than he'd ever seen at once before. "They're just everywhere!" he mumbled to himself.

He nearly ran into a Kokatorimon as he turned out of the protected zone. "Oh, hell!" he groaned as he leapt away, out of the way of the Petrifier attack. "I hate guys like you! Shadow Bolt!"

Holding out his hand, he gathered dark energy into a small area, much like with his Shadow Wave attack as Darkwolfmon. However, this one condensed even smaller, and let loose as a short, high-speed projectile that pierced Kokatrimon's chest, then released the energy, enveloping Kokatrimon from the inside out. The cloud of data that emerged signaled Ebonlupimon's victory.

"How many guys did they send out here?" he said aloud, though he knew no one was going to answer him. He stood still for a moment, letting his sensitive hearing try to guide him in some direction. A loud shout from nearby was picked up, and he instantly dashed in the direction of the commotion. After a minute of running, he came upon a strange sight: Grits and Reggie, being mildly menaced by a bewildered Sepikmon.

"Aye, don't be hurtin' us!" bawled Reggie, kneeling on the ground with his hands over his head.

"Now, see here," slurred Grits, clearly too drunk to be afraid of Sepikmon, "you can just stop attacking us right now, because I'll be on you so fast you'll think you were a little old lady!"

"Right..."

"All right, you two can just back off," Ebonlupimon said calmly, getting in between the feuding pair. "I think I can take care of this on my own."

Sepikmon and Reggie just stared wide-eyed at him, but Grits seemed utterly unfazed by the fact that he had just been interrupted by a wolfman. "Hey, I don't think we were talking to you! So you can just butt out and get your furry ass outta here!" Ebonlupimon rolled his eyes; Grits must have been hitting the bottle more than usual. "Hey! I'm talkin' to you, wolfy! Pay attention!"

"Sepikmon, I'm surprised at you," said Ebonlupimon, a chastising tone in his voice. "I know you're all for the eradication of this race, but you could at least give them a fair blow. I mean, what chance do these two have against you?"

"You're interferin' where you shouldn't be interferin'," replied Sepikmon angrily. "Get outta my way and let me terminate 'em."

"Sorry, can't let you do that." Ebonlupimon pointed his rapier at Sepikmon. "However, if you have no intention of backing off, I can finish you and be done with it."

"Bring it! Spirit Boomerang!" Sepikmon threw his boomerang at the three. Grits ducked (or more accurately, fell) while Ebonlupimon leapt over it. He slashed downward as he was in the air, letting loose an energy blade that left a furrow in Sepikmon's mask. "Hm...this might be tougher than I thought," Ebonlupimon said aloud.

"Hey!"

Ebonlupimon landed and ducked, the boomerang whipping back over his head; he actually felt it brush his ears. "Nice try, but I think most of us are familiar with boomerangs by now. Necro Claw!" Ebonlupimon pounced on Sepikmon, slashing at the creature's stomach with claws infused with darkness energy.

"AHHHHH!" Sepikmon shouted painfully as he stumbled backwards and fell. "It hurts! It hurts!"

Ebonlupimon sighed. "And here I thought this would be a battle. Sepikmon, I think it would be wise to take my suggestion that you go back to the digital world. You just are not cut out for this kind of work."

"Owowowowowowowow!" Sepikmon simply stayed on the ground, howling in pain. Ebonlupimon shook his head and turn to the pair of humans. "You two are simply pathetic. You were afraid of this numbskull?"

"'E's scary!" Reggie protested.

"He's a moron. Grits, take Reggie back to your apartment. Stay in there and don't go out until your lives depend on it."

"Hey! I never toldja my name!" Grits slurred.

"I'm psychic. Go." Grits took a step forward and promptly collapsed onto the ground again. "On second thought...Reggie, you take Grits. I think he needs more help than you do."

"You ain't gon' hurt us?"

"If I was going to hurt you, I would have done so long ago," replied Ebonlupimon impatiently. "GO."

After a couple false starts, the two finally started stumbling off somewhere; Ebonlupimon just hoped it was a safe somewhere and not a place with readily-accessible alcohol. He turned back to Sepikmon, whose cries had decrescendoed to low moans. "So much for the fabled toughness of Emperius, I see. Don't you think it's time to consider whether this is really worth it to you?"

"Ugh...jus' don't hurt me anymore...I'll go..." Sepikmon groaned.

"A wise decision. Go now, and stay away from Emperius." Sepikmon nodded painfully and activated his gate. Ebonlupimon watched as he disappeared through the gate, shaking his head. After the stress of the day, he'd welcomed the brief moment of levity the preceeding event had offered. "If only they were all that easy. Well, back to work..."

(==========)

"Air signals...all clear. Surface signals...all clear. I think that's it, we got 'em all!" Mecharexmon leaned back and disconnected himself from the computer. "About goddamn time. This has been the most action I've ever seen in my life!"

Ionavimon, the only other one to have returned thus far, slouched back on her seat. "Finally! I don't know that I could have gone back out there, I'm completely exhausted!"

"Well, you'd better rest up, because I doubt it's ending here. Still, I'll be glad for a break, this has been taxing in every possible way. We should let the others know."

"Just let 'em come back when they come back," replied Ionavimon. "I'm not up to playing messenger right now." In order to prevent any argument on that point, she de-evolved and separated into Iris and Shockavimon.

"Well, if you're gonna be that way..." Mecharexmon shrugged and followed suit, returning to Isaac and Datacarnomon. "If anyone asks, I'm blaming you," finished Isaac.

Iris didn't respond; she just stared at Isaac. "What? What's up with you? You're the one who made the suggestion, I'm not taking flak for-"

"Isaac, shut up and tell me what's up with your arm."

"Huh?" Isaac looked down and did a double-take; his right forearm was encased from just under the elbow up to the wrist in metal. "Holy crap! That's never happened before!"

"Did something go wrong with our separation?" Datacarnomon asked in a panic. "Nothing's ever happened before!"

"I don't know...RUDY!"

Rudy, ever attentive, rushed in in seconds. "What's up-oh, my!"

"Yeah, that was kind of my reaction, too," Isaac commented, still in a half-daze. "I'm going in the scanner, see if you can make anything out of this."

"Of course!" Rudy hurried over to the computer as Isaac laid down on the table. He felt himself being moved into the scanning machine he had created. It was a strange experience, in many ways. He had a little time to mull over what had happened. It was funny; he hadn't even noticed the change until Iris pointed it out. Isaac thought he would have noticed a chance that was that drastic, especially in his own body. An unfamiliar sensation came over him as the scan proceeded; it felt to him like his arm was reacting to the scans.

"Isaac, are you feeling anything right now?" Rudy's voice came in through the intercom. "Go ahead and speak."

"Yeah, something. How did you know?"

"We're seeing some unusual displays out here. Please bear with me, I want to check a few things..."

Isaac wondered what he was talking about as he felt nothing for a short time. Then, unexpectedly, an odd feeling ran through his whole body, not painful but not entirely pleasant either. "What was that?" he asked, not knowing if he should be speaking or not.

"I'll explain in a moment. I'm bringing you out now..."

Isaac felt the table slide out of the machine, returning him to the light. He sat up expectantly. "Well?"

"Amazing, amazing, amazing..." Rudy repeated over and over. "Simply amazing, it's...well, let's start simple. The arm. Whatever that thing is, it's fused completely to your body, practically a part of it. That might explain why it took you a while to notice it - Iris told me about that. You can even feel sensation in it." Rudy poked the metal with a pen, and Isaac indeed noticed that it reacted like his arm did before. "It basically appears to imitate your natural arm in every way, including being fused to the surrounding tissue. As you might expect, it's not going to be removable."

"I can live with that if it's not gonna kill me, I guess. What else?"

"It only gets stranger from here! The most noticeable change is the arm, but your whole body has some unusual traits. The scan found the presence of a superconducting metal alloy all throughout your nerve cells...I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely not a normal staple of the human body! Have you noticed any changes in your response time? Or maybe increased sensation?"

"Not a bit..." Isaac replied, somewhat dazed. "But then again, I guess I haven't really be paying attention. This is wild..."

"There's more. The scan detected large quantities of other metals in your body as well - metals that weren't identified as anything from this world! We're not talking your average elevated heavy metal blood concentrations, either! The levels are simply massive! I can only think that they have to be similar or the same as the metals the Datacarnomon is composed of!"

"I think you've officially graduated to cyborg," Datacarnomon remarked. "That must be a result of the merging."

"I wondered what was gonna happen to you," said Shockavimon, looking curiously at the modified arm. "You didn't have something like fire or electricity to get. Kinda cool, though if it spreads you're gonna have a lot of explanations to give."

"I wonder if you're capable of doing something like Andrexmon? If you've got free metal, you could probably use it to some end. Maybe you can download stuff from computers and use that."

"You really think so?" Isaac immediately brightened up at that prospect. "Awesomesauce! I can't wait to try it out!" He went over to the computer and immediately began typing something up, completely ignoring everyone else.

"That's single-minded for you," Iris cracked, rolling her eyes. "He's gonna be incommunicado for a while...Let's go, Shockavimon. I want to get something to eat."

"Sounds like a plan to me," agreed her partner as she fluttered down off the chair and followed Iris out of the room. They headed downstairs to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was mostly empty, unlike earlier when there had been quite a few people eating in there. Those who were there were mainly family of the symbiotes, and Iris didn't feel particularly comfortable with that; Reyn's parents were okay with everything, but Isaac's parents and Skylar's father weren't so much. She could practically feel Marcus' eyes digging into her as she passed through to get her food.

_He is totally creeping me out with those looks,_ Shockavimon pathed.

_You and me both. It's like he's gonna come after us or something..._ They took a table far away from those accusing eyes, trying to ignore him but finding it challenging.

"Just ignore him...he's being a pill."

Iris looked up to see Kirsten next to her. She sat down across the table from Shockavimon and Iris. "He won't believe anything they tell him. He's actually denying that Sky's been involved in anything that's happened. It's like he thinks we're all making all this up...I dunno who he thinks he's fooling, besides himself."

"So, you're okay with everything?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I knew Skylar was hiding something pretty big, even after we found out about Breezedramon. I just didn't know what it was. Kinda crazy at first, but really, it's kind of cool, everything he's done for us."

"How'd you know he was hiding something in the first place?"

Kirsten grinned. "Hey, a big sister always knows."

Iris considered that for a moment. "Good point...Isaac's sister knew as well..."

"Yeah, but Ashley found out faster and more sneakily. I mean, damn, I never even considered following Skylar to see where he went...well, okay, I did, but only after Benny did it already, and I guessed he'd be a bit more careful after that."

"I'm still wondering how the heck she got past Data's sensors," Shockavimon said with a shake of her head. "I know he was using them at least some of the time, probably most of the time; she can't have escaped detection that easily."

"She told me she had a way, but didn't say anything. Anyway, it's weird...I guess I just felt like he'd been acting kinda funny lately. Not just in the way of hiding something, but...I dunno, just the way he was, like his personality or something."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess he's just been more relaxed, or something. He's always been kind of uptight...not that he wasn't nice and everything, but he's usually kind of stiff and quiet. The only times I ever saw him get riled up were when he got super annoyed with one of us. But lately...he's been laughing more, acting more laid-back, getting more agitated...just more emotional, I guess. It's not really a bad thing, but it's weird."

"Huh..." was all Iris could say. _Come to think of it, I think I've seen something like that too...I wonder when that started._

"Maybe it has something to do with Breezedramon," suggested Shockavimon. "All the time I've known him, he's been kind of the wild man of our little group - loud, sometimes obnoxious, easily excitable, really just kind of fired up all the time." She chuckled. "Maybe he's rubbing off on Skylar."

That also struck Iris as peculiar, and gave her an idea. "I wonder if it's not mutual?"

"Come again?"

"You know, maybe while Breezedramon's rubbing off on Skylar, Skylar's rubbing off on Breezedramon. Has he acted any different lately?"

"Uh..." Shockavimon hesitated briefly. "Now that you mention it...I guess he's been a little less nutty. Not enough for me to have noticed offhand, but if I thought about it a bit...the last couple of days when we got together, he seemed a little more down to earth than usual. What are you thinking?"

"Wait, are you thinking that you guys coming together or whatever it is is changing your personalities?" Kirsten ventured.

"It's possible...the changes can't have been really obvious. You would have noticed something earlier if they had been. It would have had to have been subtle, gradual."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I didn't see it right away, it just kind of came about. Do you think it's happening to all of you, though?"

"Well, I don't know. I can't think of any way I've changed...but I haven't really thought about it, either."

"Huh. Um, sorry to change the subject, but where is Skylar, anyway? I wanted to talk to him, and kinda say sorry for nearly knifing him earlier."

"After what happened, I don't think he'd blame you. I haven't seen him lately...he's probably still out there, making sure everything's safe. Isaac says they should all be gone, but it's good to double-check."

"I guess that makes sense...I just hope he's okay..."

The three were silent for a while, just eating. As she was finishing, Iris seemed to tense up. Kirsten saw it instantly, and for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of, it bothered her. "Everything okay, Iris?"

"No." Iris couldn't shake the bad vibes she was getting. She stood up quickly. "No...something's wrong. Something's really wrong."

A moment later, Isaac came crashing down into the cafeteria. "Iris! Finally found you! We've gotta move! They've sent in reinforcements, special forces!"

"Dammit!" Iris shouted angrily. "They never learn...what are our options?"

"Getting out of the building isn't gonna be possible, they've closed in too much! We found a place to hide away up near the top of the building. It's kind of cramped, but we don't have any other choices!"

"Let's go, then!" Iris and Shockavimon ran after Isaac towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Kirsten shouted, quickly standing up and running after. "I'm coming, too! I don't want to stay down here around a bunch of army creeps!"

"Fine!" Isaac shouted back. "Just come on!"

The four of them reached the stairwell, and Isaac roughly yanked open the door. As they ascended, Iris couldn't stop thinking about the rest of the group, who were still outside and very exposed. She wished she could do something, but all she could do was hope that they knew of the danger and knew how to avoid it...

(==========)

(==========)

If you wanted action, this is the chapter to get it. I used up a lot of battle ideas in this chapter, but it was worth it. By the way, if you're wondering where the random sniper rifle came from, I recommend you take a quick trip back to the previous chapter. You should catch it pretty quickly. I almost made an in-chapter reference to Chekhov, but decided it was probably obvious enough already.

I know Elecmon already has canon evolutions, but I came up with the one I gave him during a completely unrelated digimon thing and I figured I might as well use it for something. This isn't the only one in the line, either; maybe I'll get to put the other ones in later on.

I made a couple eleventh-hour alterations to the chapter. Hopefully they don't stick out. You ever write something, get down the line, and then come up with an idea that practically requires you to put in a reference earlier in the work? Because that happens to me all the time. One reason I have trouble writing these longer stories. There may be times when I edit an earlier chapter to add something in, though I will try as hard as I can to avoid that (I'll try to work it into chapters I'm already writing if possible). If that ever happens, I'll be sure to make a note of it when I post the chapter.

Anyway, I've got to get back to chiseling away at this writer's block. Barring any unforeseen computer malfunctions, I'll be back with another chapter next week!


	19. Chapter 18: The Catch

Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a chapter last week? Oh, wait, I'm the one who should have put it up. Went out of town for a wedding on Friday. I actually meant to put one up on Thursday, but I had to scramble and run a bunch of errands after work and just plain forgot. Ah, well, guess it happens sometimes.

This week's chapter is brought to you by the Greek letter epsilon, because why not. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 18: The Catch**

All had been quiet for a while, as far as Blazereptimon could tell, so he decided to take the down moment and check with his comrades. Jetdramon was the first one he came across. "You see anything more up there?"

"Hah! Not a soul! We're just too good for 'em!"

He couldn't help but smirk. "Careful, you're starting to sound like Isaac."

"Am freaking not!"

"Settle down, bud. Just tryin' to keep you humble. You seen Ionavimon around lately?"

"Nah, I lost track of her when I brought my mom back to the government center. Hey, you been back there? I'm kinda worried about her."

"Nah, haven't had the chance. You're the first symbiote I've seen since we split at the outset. Where is everyone?"

"Haven't been watching...probably ducking out on us or something. I can fly up and give a once-over, if you want."

"That's probably...hold on." Blazereptimon stopped himself as he picked up the sound of footfalls from nearby. Jetdramon heard almost as quickly, and they turned to see Ebonlupimon dashing up, looking very close to panicked. "Jeez, what's going on?"

"The reinforcements are here! They've got lots of special forces, they're advancing from the north and west and they've already surrounded the government center! We're gonna have a phalanx on our tails in short order if we don't scram!"

"Damn! Their timing couldn't suck any more!" complained Jetdramon. "Why'd they have to horn in now?"

"Doesn't matter, we need to escape like yesterday!" Blazereptimon ordered. "They're coming from the north and west? Then we go southeast! Come on!"

"But Ionavimon and Mecharexmon-"

"We don't have time to search for them! They'll figure it out fast enough, Mecharexmon has his sensors and Ionavimon'll sense their electricity! Let's move it!"

No more argument was raised, and the trio tore off for the southwest part of the city. Needing to keep a low profile made things especially tough for Jetdramon, who couldn't risk flying up and becoming an unwitting target; he was forced to run rather than fly, and found it very tough to keep up with his much more agile comrades. Blazereptimon and Ebonlupimon didn't want to get separated from him, but slowing down even for a second seemed more dangerous than they could risk.

It was several minutes before Blazereptimon and Ebonlupimon found themselves on the very edges of the city, mostly hidden by trees. They finally took the chance to rest and recuperate.

"Looks like we...might have lost them..." Blazereptimon heaved, leaning against a tree. "Man, I don't...think I've ever run so hard...for so long in my life..."

"I certainly hope...that we didn't...lose Jetdramon..." panted Ebonlupimon, who had gotten down on one knee. "And I hope that...we're safe here, because...I don't think I'll be able...to run much more..."

A few seconds later, Jetdramon stumbled up next to the pair, looking significantly more worn than either of them. "Holy crap..." he groaned, collapsing onto the ground. "You guys...are WAY too fast..."

"Man...well, we're out of the woods for a little bit, I guess. So to speak. I hope we don't get forced into a showdown, I'd hate for this to come down to a 'it's you or me' type of deal. This just wouldn't be worth any lives, it's just a stupid misunderstanding."

"Well, we have to be prepared for every possibility...and the unfortunate truth is, that's a possibility that's looking ever stronger. Still, I'm with you...I'd prefer to avoid bloodshed."

"Dammit! If they'd just freaking listen to us in the first place, this wouldn't have happened! Why'd they have to be so stubborn?"

"Dunno, but I'm concerned. We're gonna have to get back in eventually, there's no way Emperius is just gonna sit there and wait for the heat to get off our backs. How are we gonna manage that?"

"Let's NOT," Jetdramon answered sharply. "Let them get their asses handed to them if they're that set on it! Maybe they'll start to appreciate our efforts a little more!"

"Jetdramon!"

"You're quite the chivalrous one, aren't you? Still, I guess there's a point in there, they'd probably be a lot less willing to turn down our help if they had to face our struggles..." Ebonlupimon's voice trailed off, and his eyes went wide. "Damnation...we ran straight into a trap."

"What?" Blazepretimon and Jetdramon turned the direction Ebonlupimon was facing and got a nasty shock: a battery of soldiers, thirty at least, holding weapons leveled right at them.

"You three, don't make any sudden moves! If you try to attack us we'll wipe you off the face of the earth!" The soldier in lead was a lot more willing to get close than the rest of the group seemed to be. "Looks like we have the upper hand now! You should have known better than to mess with us!"

"We haven't even done anything wrong!" Jetdramon protested. "We got rid of that whole bloody mess of monsters over the city-"

"Shut up! You're not fooling us! We know you were the ones that wiped out the troops from before! Don't try to deny it!"

"Uh, hello? We were only trying to keep them from murdering us!"

Blazereptimon sighed. "Jetdramon, you're not helping."

"We deliberately avoided causing any fatalities," Ebondramon stated cautiously. "I would hardly say we wiped out anyone, it was just a defensive effort."

"Save it! You aren't going to screw with any of our heads! I'd give orders to shoot you now if my boss wasn't insisting on seeing you die with his own eyes! So don't think you're getting out of this one!"

Blazereptimon gave the others a look that plainly said to remain silent. The last thing he wanted was an accidental provocation. _This is bad...I can't use my superheating bullet shield without seriously hurting Jetdramon and Ebonlupimon, and I don't want to do anything that will kill these soldiers...but it's looking like I'm not going to have much choice very soon..._

(==========)

Iris, Shockavimon, and Kirsten followed Isaac up so many stairs that they were beginning to lose count of how many flights they'd escalated. By the time they reached the 14th floor, none of them was in much shape to continue, even though they all knew they had to.

"I hope you know what the heck you're doing, Isaac," Iris panted heavily. "If you dragged me all the way up here for nothing, what I did to you at lunch is gonna look like a light tap."

"You know me better than that, Iris. I got a scan of the building and found a secret room on this floor. Rudy said it was built to hide informants whose cover got blown and needed a place to hide out. Data's already in there, as well as the other digimon and some of the kids who got freaked out."

"How well will it hide us, though?"

"I'm not sure, but Data thinks it's pretty secure! It's not like we have a ton of options! Come on, let's get there before they find us yapping up here!"

Despite not having recovered much from the brief rest, they pushed on, following Isaac through a rather winding path in the hallways. All too soon, they stumbled into what appeared to be a dead end; however, Isaac wasted no time pulling up a secret panel in the wall and hitting a key code combination which opened up the practically invisible doorway to the secret room. A couple of the children and digimon jumped up in alarm as the door slid open.

"Sorry! I should've said something. Come on, let's get inside and shut this thing up." Isaac replaced the breakaway panel as the others quickly slid into the room, then went through himself and slid shut the door, cutting them off from the outside world. "Right, then...guess there's nothing to do but wait now..."

Iris sat back against a wall and breathed out slowly, tiredly. She took a quick look around at the group gathered inside. Datacarnomon had situated himself in front of the door, listening for any activity that might threaten them. Kirsten had sat down next to Benny and was trying her best to calm the quietly crying 5-year-old, Dorumon doing the same from his arms. Ashley was in a corner, looking furious, Elecmon on her lap trying to play statue, more afraid of Ashley than the soldiers. Cayden and Alisin were in the center of the room, whispering quietly to each other and to Talomon and Felismon. Commandramon was against the wall, nervously fidgeting with his assault rifle, looking extremely uncomfortable without his armor.

_It's a mess in here..._ Iris pathed to Shockavimon. _Too many little kids...they shouldn't have been involved. I wish there was some way to get them away from this..._

_You and me both, Iris. I wish we were all out of this, but this has to be hardest on them. Should we try to bring them elsewhere?_

_No...we might not back in time, and there aren't any other real safe areas. I'd never live it down if I let them get hurt._ She looked around slowly at the youngest of the refugees. _I just hope we get out of this safely..._

(==========)

Every moment of waiting made the tension rise. Blazereptimon was half expecting them to start shooting at any moment, despite their apparent orders not to, and was trying to think of a way to more carefully project his protective barrier so that it wouldn't hurt anyone while trying to stop the threat. Unfortunately, he didn't have a whole lot of control over the projection of his Thermal Zone attack, so it wasn't going well.

"What's the matter?" And it didn't help that the lead soldier was openly taunting them, almost daring them to make a move. "Run out of little tricks to get away? Thought we couldn't deal with scum like you? Weren't you supposed to be the big smart monsters?"

"You don't get what we're actually doing here." He made his reply as measured as he could under the circumstances. "We don't want to harm any of you if it can be avoided."

The soldier gave a snort, his disbelief clear. "The world will be much better off when you creeps are wiped out. I can't believe Wheeler's making us wait for him, we should just be able to shoot you and be done with it. But no, he won't believe you're dead unless he sees it for himself."

He felt a sudden bubbling of anger at the name, but willed it down. "Right. I don't suppose that clown would be satisfied with a video feed."

The soldier glared at him. "You'd best think twice before cracking wise like that-"

"He's here!" From behind the cluster of commandos came an entourage of secret service agents, all flocked around a single man: Jonah Wheeler, a gray-haired man of fifty with an air of perpetual snideness and self-aggrandizement. Even seeing the man's face brought Blazereptimon to a low boil.

"At last, something's gone right," the man started in a sickeningly leering tone. "You've been a real thorn in our sides for a while, but that ends here. We're going to send a message to the rest of your little freak show."

"You haven't even the slightest idea what you're talking about, you clod," Blazereptimon snarled back. "You haven't helped anyone in any way from the start of this, and now you're taking out your guns on those of us who have! The only message you're sending is that this world is ripe for the picking!"

"Oh, please, spare me your mind games. Even if you are about to be executed, it just makes you look pathetic."

"Don't patronize me! You're going to cause a disaster! You can't get that into your tiny little brain?"

"I don't see any disaster on the horizon. I see me being hailed as a hero for sending you creeps to your graves. The only thing that's going to happen is me being the savior in the hearts and minds of the people."

"You ass!" Jetdramon roared. "This is all it's about for you? Some stupid little glory thing? There are people's lives at risk here!"

"The risk is from you, and don't try to pretend like it isn't. You're the ones who are causing all the trouble, it only makes sense that once you're finished, everything will be back to normal."

"You're messing in matters you know nothing about!" Ebonlupimon barked. "This isn't some silly little game for us! There is a whole organization out there whose goal is to exterminate the human race just as a display of their power! We've been putting our lives on the line to keep them away! What happens when the next wave comes? You'll be slaughtered! You don't stand a chance!"

"Next wave? Please. You don't think we've arrived at the conclusion already? You have to be the ones bringing them here, and then sending them away just as the heat gets put on them. Why else would they just disappear, not leaving any trace behind? A dead beast leaves a body. That's an immutable rule."

"They aren't like this world's creatures, you idiot! If you took the time to learn anything at all about digimon, you'd know that!"

"Emperius is acting on their own, and if they're allowed to do as they please, you won't last a month!" Blazereptimon felt like he was talking to a particularly irritating brick wall. "Think about how many close calls we've had here! It'll be a lot worse if nothing on their level is standing against them!"

Wheeler looked at the three of them with an odd expression, then smirked and gave a quiet laugh. "Even if I were to buy your story...who cares?"

"...What."

"So maybe there's something else out here that's going to come after us. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I gain the affection of an adoring public. If and when something else happens...well, there'll always be another scapegoat out there. It's just a matter of finding him and railroading him."

"Are you...are you serious?" Jetdramon shouted angrily.

"You're willing to throw away people's lives just for our own reputation?" Ebonlupimon yelled.

For what it was worth, even the soldiers behind Wheeler seemed to be stunned by that declaration. "Sir! We can't be so callous about the well-being of our country!" the lead soldier said nervously. "Our mission is national defense, not a campaign ad!"

"Don't look at it so narrowly. Think of it as giving me the attention and power I deserve after all these years."

Blazereptimon clenched his fists so tightly it was almost painful. "You're even worse than I thought. I knew you were a corrupt, power-grubbing, incompetent fool, but I never thought that you were actually _evil_. You're willing to condemn millions of lives, even this whole world, just to put yourself at the top of the pack? You're just as bad as those monsters we've been fighting!"

"A shame you can't see it my way. Not that it matters, you won't be walking away from this. Oh, but I do thank you for letting me know about the potential for future problems. It will make me look like a genius when I predict that we're not doing enough to defend ourselves and that we will be in trouble again...they'll never disagree with a word I say again. Now...I think we've chatted enough. I'd like to see some blood on the ground before I leave this place-"

"Enough! I order you to stand down!"

(==========)

The room was deadly quiet for having so many people inside. Even the little kids weren't making much more than whispers, scared that even the slightest noise might give them away. There was not a peep from outside the enclosure, which was possibly almost as disconcerting as if there had been.

After a long, tense period, Ashley whispered something to Elecmon, who hopped out of her lap and slunk over to Isaac. A quick tap to the boy's knee got his attention. He didn't say a word, but pointed up near the door, where there was a panel protruding slightly.

_What the...Data, didn't you say that there's no automatic control mechanism on this side of the door?_

_Yeah, it's all manual over here. Why, what's up?_

_There's another hidden control panel on this side._ Isaac motioned to the spot Elecmon pointed. _If it's not for the door, what's it for?_

_No clue. I could scan it and check out the code. Give me a little boost._

Isaac stood and picked up the robotic dinosaur bodily, grunting a bit. _Try not to dilly-dally, you're not light!_

_Oh, you can handle it._ Data pulled off the panel covering the keypad. With his right hand raised to the mechanism, the second claw opened at the tip and emitted a small strobing light that he waved over the keypad. _Hm...I've got the code, but it's hard to tell what the function is. It doesn't connect to the door and the code is different from the way in._

_Well, that's not much help. Can I put you the heck down now?_

_Sheesh, Ike, you can't be getting tired already. You've got more muscles than any of the rest of you humans, you should be handling me fine. You just need to exercise more._

Isaac briefly contemplated just dropping the robot to the ground, but that carried the risk of drawing attention to them. So he just set him down and vowed to take his revenge later. _So could you tell anything about it at all?_

_Not much. It's not like I've got some magical scanner, it can only tell me a limited amount of info. What I do know is that the signals didn't seem to be sending to the same spot that the other panel was, so I doubt it's connected to the door. Other than that...hang on a sec._

Datacarnomon quietly shuffled over to the door. By the time he was certain of what was going on, the sounds could be heard by the rest of the people in the room: the soldiers had made it up to the 14th floor. No one needed any reminder of how quiet they had to be.

The voices became slightly louder, suggesting they were nearing the location of the secret room. "...don't know why you're dragging us here, it's just a dead end."

"Maybe not. Agent Redford said something about a secret room, and it was supposed to be on this floor. If they're hiding anywhere, it's in there."

It was all Isaac could do to keep from swearing aloud; the double agent had screwed them over pretty badly on this one. A couple of quiet gasps from the younger kids only made him feel worse. He quietly willed them to miss the hidden panel, but no such luck. "There it is! Hidden panel that pulls away. Now we just need that code...did Redford say anything about that?"

"No, he didn't, but there's gotta be someone in the building we can get it out of. I'll radio down, maybe a few mild threats of treason charges will be enough to get someone to start blabbing."

_Ike! We're probably gonna get caught! Are we gonna have to merge?_

_Maybe, but I don't want it to come to that! We should try that code you found, maybe it's a locking mechanism!_

_That's a stretch and you know it!_

_You have any better ideas?_

_Rrr...no. Fine, I'll relay the code to you._

Isaac wasted no time, punching in the code exactly as it was transmitted to him. Upon hitting the last digit, the occupants felt the entire room shudder roughly. Isaac barely managed to stay standing, and not until he safely had his balance did he feel an odd sensation...

"Bro?" Ashley chanced a few words. "Are we...are we going down?"

"I...think so..." Isaac looked around, seeing a lot of confused faces. "That's weird...there was nothing in the building plans about this being an elevator."

"Maybe that was the point," Iris suggested. "A more secret secret than anyone could find out on their own...maybe designed for something kinda like this."

"If that's true, then they really did think of everything," Commandramon mumbled. "You humans have got some amazing ingenuity. I can't believe Emperius isn't more afraid of you."

"Heh, well, we're pretty good after all this time, but I think we're a ways from being able to say that." Iris was somewhat surprised to hear this out of Isaac; he normally wasn't one for much modesty.

"Is th-this even safe?" Cayden asked nervously. "M-maybe it just goes back to the bottom of the building..."

"That wouldn't make much sense," Isaac replied. "It'd be really shortsighted to make it go back into the building. If someone in here was in that much danger, they'd have to be given a better escape route."

"Looks like we might find out," Elecmon said as the room shuddered and slowed to a halt.

Datacarnomon once again leaned against the door. "...No signs of humans on my sensors. Or anything else of note...I think it's safe for us to leave."

"Yeah, let's go. I don't like this place," Alisin said quietly.

Isaac pushed on the door and pulled it to the side once he felt it click onto the rails. A dark hallway greeted them, empty and foreboding. "Wild guess, but I think we're in some kind of basement of the government center."

"What the hell is up with this place?" Kirstin asked bewilderedly. "This is some fifties spy movie crap, why would they actually build something like this?"

"My dad told me once that Braun used to be a haven for government informants who snitched on organized crime all over the country," Iris explained. "Maybe they decided that they needed some extra innovation to keep the informants safe."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ashley asked impatiently. "Let's get a move on!"

There was no argument from anyone else, so Isaac and Iris and their partners led the way down the dark and slightly damp stone hallway. The lighting was about as minimal as it could get, just a couple of dim LED bulbs every now and then, barely enough to see very far in front of them. Datacarnomon kept his scanners on high alert, but no figures came to greet them.

It wasn't more than a couple minutes before they came across another door, this one appearing to be a very heavy metal sliding door. It was also guarded by an electronic lock, a rather odd accent for the location. "How many layers of security did they think they needed down here?" Datacarnomon asked idly.

"Well, we can get through them, so no use griping about it." Isaac hefted up Datacarnomon again to scan the key code, then let him down and punched it in as it was relayed to him. With a loud creak, the door gradually shifted to the side, the area beyond releasing a gust of dank, repugnant air into the hallway.

"Bleach! Gross!" Alisin complained, holding her nose.

"Smells like a sewer!" Dorumon wrinkled her nose. "Pee-yoo!"

"I think it is a sewer!" Isaac exclaimed unpleasantly. "Bah! Some escape route!"

Iris and Shockavimon chanced a look beyond the doors. It certainly looked like a sewer in some ways, and smelled like it in every way, though it was far larger than any sewer she'd ever seen. "Who on earth would design a sewer this large? It looks like something out of a video game, and those are hardly accurate in any way."

"I'm thinking maybe this wasn't designed solely for sewage," Isaac grunted, fighting mild nausea from the stench. "I can see a bunch of gaps near the water line...I think maybe this was built as part of the escape route, and they just ran the sewer lines through it for convenience. If you're this desperate to get away from something, I guess you just live with it."

"We're seriously going to go through here?" Kirsten asked, aghast.

"You wanna stay behind for those soldiers?" Datacarnomon asked.

"No thank you," Ashley replied heavily. "I guess there's not much other choice. If I catch anything, though, I'm blaming you, little bro."

"How different that is from every other day of my life. Come on, let's get in so I can shut this door."

The group crowded inside the sewer and spread out a bit on the walkway. There wasn't any type of railing or other handhold between the walkway and the rushing sewer water, forcing them to step carefully along the mildly slippery path. It was fortunately not very narrow, giving them a little leeway to walk, but none of them were terribly comfortable with it. Additionally, there was not a lick of light, at least not until Iris and Shockavimon teamed up to manifest a rather large ball of electricity that gave them more than enough illumination.

"So, where exactly are we ending up?" Felismon asked.

Iris shook her head. "Not sure. I've never been down here before, heck, never even knew about this. There's got to be an exit somewhere, I just don't know where it is."

"Great. So we could be wandering down here for ages," Talomon spat.

"No need to be a pill about it. For all we know there's several exits. We may not be safe even upon getting out, though...who knows how many soldiers they've got here."

"Wait a second!" Cayden shouted suddenly. "There was supposed to be a sewer entrance northwest of where all the big buildings were! I remember some kids in school talking about it! It was inside a building that was closed up or something, and people aren't supposed to be able to get in!"

"Well, that helps," Isaac said with a grin. "Good memory, Cay. So we just have to go a couple miles and keep kinda northwest."

"As long as we can figure out where northwest is," Commandramon said.

"I think Data and I have that covered."

"Yeah, no sweat," agreed Datacarnomon. "I always know which direction we're going. If we head this way along this tunnel, we're going pretty much due north. I imagine the tunnel branches west somewhere down the road."

"So let's head down that way! What are we waiting for?"

"All right, Iris, don't go nuts." After a bit of a scramble to get everyone walking without crowding each other off the walkway, they started heading north through the sewer escape system. The rank and and slightly slimy and slippery path had everyone wishing they didn't have to make the trip at all, much less spend at least a couple miles' worth of walking time down there. But the misgivings didn't really reach their apex until, upon just reaching a bend in the sewer path, Cayden voiced a rather nasty thought.

"Hey...do you think there could be digimon in the sewers?"

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks at that and looked back at the boy. Until that moment, the question hadn't even crossed their minds.

"Uh...well, I don't know," Iris said finally. "Are there any sewer-loving digimon?" Her reply was a chorus of disgruntled affirmatives that left her dreading the thought more than she was comfortable with.

"Some digimon revel in filth like this," Commandramon explained. "Buggers like Garbagemon, Roachmon, and especially bad are Sukamon and Numemon, and they come in several flavors each."

"Never use the word 'flavor' when describing those guys," Talomon said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "I made the mistake of biting into one of those little bastards once, I couldn't eat for a damn week. Shoulda known better than that for something that attacks with its own crap."

"None of them are very pleasant," Elecmon added ruefully. "I wouldn't want to meet 'em in a well-lit, well-ventilated area, much less in a place like this. But if there were digimon down here, you'd have scanned for them when you scanned for the rest...right?"

Iris and Isaac looked at each other with a gathering sense of dread. "Uh..."

"Oh, for God's sake..." Ashley put a hand on her head. "Little bro, you're gonna drive me nuts. All those gadgets of yours and you can't even frickin' use them right?"

"Hey, I'm trying, aren't I?" Isaac shot back. "It's hard to remember absolutely everything! I knew that the airspace and the grounds were clear, and, well, who thinks of the sewers when they think of hiding places?"

"You couldn't just check the whole underground, nitwit?" Dorumon hissed. "Forget the sewers, there are plenty of digimon that can burrow underground and ambush you without a second thought! You've gotta be thorough with digimon!"

"All right, all right, I'll remember that for next time!"

"I'm trying to check our current positions right now, but it's difficult," Datacarnomon informed them. "There's a lot of foreign material that makes getting good signatures hard, and that ball lightning isn't helping, it's giving me some interference."

"Maybe we'll be lucky and not find anything, not that that's saying much here," remarked Talomon with disgust. "Yeesh, it smells worse than a Sukamon gamer con in here."

"Worse than a Garbagemon's trash can," agreed Felismon.

"Worse than a Roachmon Hotel," Dorumon chimed in.

"Worse than Numemon perfume," Shockavimon ventured.

"Oh, yuck!" "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" "Okay, yeah, I can't top that..."

"Is this really necessary?" Kirsten asked illy. "I don't even know what you're talking about and it makes me feel sick. I'd rather suffer in silence-" she stopped short as Commandramon slipped on a slick spot and she grabbed him to keep him steady. "Whoa, are you okay?"

"Fine..." Commandramon used Kirsten to help steady and balance himself. "Rrgh...I don't even wanna know what I'm stepping on here. What I wouldn't give to have my leg armor back on...too many biological agents..."

"Yeah, you're probably all gonna wanna boil your feet once you're out of here. Heck, I'm wearing shoes and I probably...uh...ah, Iris, Isaac! That water is bubbling!"

"What?" Before anyone could react, something splashed up from the water, jumping right at the group. A rapid volley of attacks wiped out whatever was behind the attack, but it was too little too late for Kirsten and Commandramon, who'd gotten the worst of the splash.

"Blaagh! My clothes are all...ish!" Kirsten desperately tried to wipe her hands clean on whatever dry spot she could find. "Ewww! This is the most disgusting thing ever! Benny, no, don't touch me!" Benny had tried to run for her when he saw her get splashed, held back only by Dorumon and Elecmon.

"Ulk...I got some in my mouth..." Commandramon was down on one knee, appearing very close to retching. The clothing he'd been given while waiting for his body to recover was pretty thoroughly soaked. "Those were definitely Numemon...they did that purposefully, they try to make their foes as grossed out as possible so they can distract them long enough to attack..."

"That's disgusting!" Cayden shouted.

"No kidding," Talomon spat, shaking his leg to dry it off. "They're some of the worst ever. I can't believe Emperius even accepted them. They're not even that strong, they're just vile."

"Well, that proves that there are digimon down here," Datacarnomon remarked dejectedly.

"Lucky us," Felismon huffed. "Sewer digimon are more disgusting than the sewers themselves. If they're just Numemon they'll be disgusting and annoying, but probably not too dangerous. But I'm gonna guess there's something larger we'll have to deal with."

"What's the worst thing that we could run into?" asked Alisin nervously.

"I think we may already have found it." Datacarnomon was ahead of them at the turn, and as the group came up near him, they could clearly see what he was talking about. Sitting against the wall, apparently asleep, was a humanoid-looking crocodile, green-and-blue armor covering its chest, head, knees, lower legs, forearms, and tail. Its hands had armored knuckles covered in what appeared to be fangs.

"Well, that puts a new spin on 'sewer alligators,' huh?" Isaac cracked.

"That would be Gharialmon," Shockavimon informed the group. "One of our Armor-class guys. Kinda weird to see him down here...he's more of a swamp and lake kinda guy. But his scales are totally slime-proof, so maybe that's why. He's stronger than he looks...I think we'd better be ready to fight."

"Maybe he'll stay asleep?" Benny murmured.

"With our luck?" Indeed, just as Ashley said it, the gator yawned wide, giving everyone a disturbingly clear view of his long, sharp teeth. He slowly looked around him, then froze as he saw the group standing not too far away from him.

"Hwuh?"

In two seconds, the croc was on his feet and in a battle-ready stance. The digimon leapt up to the front to protect the humans of the group, staring down the larger creature defiantly. There was a tense standoff, the only sound being the running of the water alongside the path. Then, surprisingly, Gharialmon dropped his fists. "Ah, ta hell with it. I can't beat all y'all."

Somewhat surprised at the unexpected anticlimax, Datacarnomon managed to compose himself. "Well, then, I don't see a lot of point in fighting. Pull back, guys."

"Wait, does that mean you're not with Emperius?" asked Shockavimon.

"Well, I was, kinda, but I gots ta thinkin' a while ago that there ain't much sense in 'em, doin' all this fer nuttin, but I weren't keen on riskin' my hide by tellin' 'em." Gharialmon spoke with a very strong Texan accent, a trait which the humans found remarkably apropos. "B'sides, I seen what happened ta all a'them up above. They ain't gonna win and like I says I ain't wantin' ta get my hide tanned."

Isaac nodded. "Fair enough...no reason for us to do anything to you if you're not interested in hurting us."

"You sure about this, little bro?"

"I know what I'm doing, Ash. Er, so, Gharialmon, how'd you get down here in the first place?"

"Eh, I broke inta some buildin'. Why, how'd all y'all get down here yerselves?"

"Uh...we took the elevator," said Iris.

Gharialmon cocked his head, uncomprehending. "Elevator? 'Zat how they do it round here?"

"Well, not usually. Why here, though?"

"Ah, well, I went down here with a buncha Numemon. Ain't no brains in those critters, I tells ya. They's s'posed ta climb up the pipes, get inta humans' houses that way. Sneak attack kinda thing, all co-vert, ya hear? But they's too big ta get through those tiny pipes a yours."

"Oh, gee, that sounds _wonderful_," Kristin snapped. "Big slime creatures crawling up toilets. These Emperius guys are really thinking big."

"Well, they think all y'all humans're holed up in yer houses an' such, an' the Numemon were s'posed ta kinda drive all y'all out where they could getcha."

"That's actually a brighter plan than I would have expected," Elecmon remarked. "But I don't see any Numemon around here, besides the ones we just blasted."

"Me neither. I told all'a them, I weren't gonna do this no more, an' they got on my tail and chased me off. Now I dunno where any'a them are, and frankly don't give a damn. They's more trouble than they's worth."

"Well, I don't want to deal with them right now," Iris insisted. "I just want out of here. They're not going to be able to cause any trouble down here, so I say let them rot."

"I think they'd like that, actually," Datacarnomon cracked. "So, Gharialmon, do you think you could take us to where you got in? We're trying to get out of a bit of a pickle, and it'll be much faster if we go with someone who's been around. In turn, we won't get on your butt for being one of the enemy's ranks."

"Don't see why not," Gharialmon said with a shrug. "I ain't too keen on this place m'self. Emperius'd make me a purse if they knew I was helpin' all y'all, but ta hell with them. They's plumb loco, tryin' ta pull a stunt like this."

"No kidding," mumbled Commandramon, still shuddering in revulsion from the earlier splash. "You wouldn't happen to know how many Numemon are down here? I want to know if I'm gonna get ambushed and contaminated again."

"Oh, they did that ta you, too? Tried that same trick on me, only I'm not so slime-able, yanno? I dunno how many'a them there are, but it's a buncha them, fer sure. Here, lemme help ya out with that..."

"Wait, get me, too," Kirsten said, hurrying up next to Commandramon.

"If that's what ya want." Gharialmon put his hands together then slowly brought them apart, forming a ball of water in between that grew in size as his hands got further apart. Once it was a decent size, he pulled his hands away and mentally guided it over Commandramon and Kirsten. It suddenly broke its tension and splashed down over the two of them, soaking them thoroughly but greatly reducing the amount of disgustingness on both of them.

"Pfth...could you give me a little more warning next time, Gharialmon?" Kirsten spat out some water and wiped her eyes. "I wasn't totally ready for that. But thanks."

"No problem. Now let's get all y'all goin' here."

Isaac nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. Lead the way, Gharialmon."

(==========)

Wheeler turn on his heel, absolutely enraged that anyone was trying to usurp his authority. "Who the hell do you think...you...are..." The rage paled as fast as he did as he saw the Secret Service agents flanking the sharply-dressed older man, whose scowl was quite reminiscent of a volcano about to blow.

"Perhaps you've figured out the answer to that question on your own," the newcomer snapped coldly, "but just to be absolutely sure: I'm one of the few people in this country that outranks you, Secretary Wheeler."

Anthony Monroe, President of the United States, a man in his late fifties, hair white with age and the stress of politics, yet still with the pit bull-like gaze that gave him an almost unexpected air of authority. He stood tall, certainly taller than Wheeler, and with the same no-nonsense essence which reminded everyone why he was elected in the first place.

Wheeler mumbled something no one could hear, which was certainly not enough for the President. "Speak up, Secretary Wheeler."

"I...apologize for the outburst, sir," Wheeler said, stiffening up more than a hair. "I was not expecting it to be you...I was under the impression that you were still in the Middle East."

"And as I would well have liked to be, instead of cutting short the summit and leaving things unresolved _yet again_, because of such abysmal failures in dealing with this crisis that I could no longer afford to stay out of it."

"B-but sir! We have captured these monsters! We were just about to take care of them when you stopped us! I was doing fine-"

"You were doing no such thing, Secretary Wheeler. I put my trust in you, Jonah, because I thought you were a capable person who knew what he was doing. But in this time since this crisis has started, you have not given me one update on your progress, updates which I explicitly demanded you provide on a daily basis. Instead I hear from your staff that you have been ignoring all contact regarding the crisis from the people directly involved, never once bothering to check for yourself whether it could be beneficial or even critical to our success! And not only that, but when I returned, I learned that you had made an attempt on the lives of the people who have been keeping us ALIVE!"

"That's...that's insanity! They were lies, spread by the monsters themselves, trying to drop our guards and make us defenseless! You can't honestly believe that-"

"You do not get to tell me what I do and do not believe! Had you bothered to read or listen to any of the communications, you might have some idea of the truth...but you didn't even bother, and for what? Did you think they would hail you as a hero?"

"I...I ordered all of that destroyed! It was junk-"

"Again, had you even bothered to read it, you would have known better. You should know that all communications to and from the White House are monitored...very little could ever be destroyed. It was all there, for me to plainly see. And what I saw was an effort by you to slaughter the only reliable defense we have had since the start of this!"

"You would believe these...these...freaks over me? You're really getting that soft and deluded? When the public finds out about this, they'll...they'll have your head!"

The President didn't say anything at first; instead, he fished out a high-tech cell phone from his pocket and tapped a few things on the screen. After a few moments, he held it up for Wheeler to see.

"The public already knows more than you do, Jonah."

Though the screen was too far away from them to see, they could hear what was being presented on the video. Blazereptimon and Ebonlupimon looked at each other in stunned recognition; it was a video from when they had defeated Boogeymon. The President didn't wait for a response from Wheeler before bringing up another video, of the battle with Ashinkaimon, and after that, one of Jetdramon's rescue of the helicopter. It was almost as much a shock to the symbiotes as to Wheeler, and Blazereptimon found himself wondering exactly how much footage there was of their battles.

"It took little more than a simple YouTube search to find these and more. It has been all too clear from the start who has really been on our side, and yet you foolishly plowed ahead under a veil of willful ignorance, willing to sacrifice their lives and who knows how many others just to pretend that you had done something meaningful. Your catastrophic mishandling of this situation nearly cost us more than we could ever afford, and that will not stand. The buck stops with you, _former_ Secretary Wheeler. You are hereby dismissed, and if you are not out of your office by noon tomorrow security will take you out."

He turned to the Secret Service agents around Wheeler. "Bring him back to his office, and see to it that he complies with my orders this time. Do not talk to the press or let him talk to the press, I will address them concerning his departure later. Don't let him out of your sight even for a minute. Do you understand?" Nods all around. "Good. Now get him out of my sight."

The agents had to pull the former Secretary of Defense to get him moving; he seemed to be frozen by a mixture of shock and fury, and wouldn't make a sound as he was led away. The soldiers who had captured the three symbiotes appeared somewhat uncertain and hesitant, as if trying to determine if they were about to be punished as well. However, the President didn't seem intent on doling out any more outrage, instead, he turned to the three symbiotes, his expression having gone from anger to contrition.

"As for you three...you have my sincerest apologies. Had I known how truly badly he was handling this, I would have been back sooner...as it is, perhaps I should have abandoned the summit altogether, and dealt with the matter myself from the start. His actions were inexcusable, and I am deeply regretful for all that he put you through."

"Eh...It's all forgiven, for getting those guns off of us," Jetdramon replied with more relief than his body could contain. "I don't think you could have had better timing...I thought I was gonna be aerated!"

"Jetdramon!" Ebonlupimon barked. "This is the President of the United States! Have a civil tongue!"

"Don't worry about it..." For the first time, Monroe allowed himself a relieved smile of his own. "I'm just glad I was able to keep a tragedy from happening. It would have been terrible for us to lose you."

"My sentiments exactly." Blazereptimon walked forward and extended his clawed hand out to the President. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Mr. President."

"The honor is mine, mister Blazereptimon. You have done so much for us, and you haven't properly been repaid for it. It is a travesty, and one that I intend to fix as soon as I possibly can."

"We're very grateful for that, sir," Ebonlupimon said. "Having you on our side is definitely a very great boon to us."

"I will do all I can to help. I've gotten parts of the story from staffers and news reports, but I'm afraid it's still rather fragmented. Is there anywhere I can go to be filled in?"

Blazereptimon nodded. "No one better than us to give you the full story. I know exactly where we can go."

(==========)

"Um...Gharialmon, are you sure this is the right way?" Dorumon asked quietly.

"Now don't be pushin' on me, ya hear?" the gator replied testily. "I ain't leadin' ya astray, it's just takin' a while ta get there!"

"All right, all right, sorry...I'm just nervous. I was hoping we'd be outta this place by now. It stinks and I'm afraid of getting ambushed by Numemon."

"Yeh, I'm a mite worried 'bout that m'self. No news ain't good news with those little bastards...they're sneaky, connivin', mischievous, revoltin'..." Gharialmon continued in this vein for some time, using progressively fouler language the longer it went on. Kirsten covered up Benny's ears to keep him from hearing; it was easier and safer than potentially irritating the creature.

"Ain't too much longer now," he said after a time, just before taking them one more turn to the right, where they could see a flat wall a respectable distance in front of them. "Ah, yeh, that's it all right. Just need ta get along here an'-WHAHA!"

A veritable tsunami of creatures burst out of the water and flooded the path to the exit. Now they could all see the Numemon clearly, not that it was a much better sight than not seeing the at all.

"There they are! The traitors and the tainted ones!"

"None of them will pass us!"

"We'll slime them to death!"

"Goody..." Talomon snarled, baring his claws. "Guess we've gotta fight our way out."

A volley of putrid projectiles sailed through the air at the group. The digimon quickly sent out bursts to stop them in mid-air, but a few of them made it through and there was a mad scramble to dodge them.

"Yeach! Wipe those little bastards out!" Ashley screeched, forcing Elecmon to grip his ears in pain.

"I just 'bout had it with all y'all little slimes!" Gharialmon snapped, raising his fists and forming water balls around them. "Hydro Blast!" He punched forward, shooting the balls of water at the Numemon. It smacked into a couple of them hard, deleting them, but barely made a dent in the mass. Another volley of offal swarmed them, keeping them on the defensive.

Isaac ducked a pile just as it got to his head. "There are way too many for just light attacks! Let's merge!"

"Gotcha!" Isaac and Datacarnomon merged back to Andrexmon form, and Iris and Shockavimon quickly followed suit. The three larger creatures took the offensive, blasting the mob in front of them while keeping them away from the rest of the group. But it was still slow going, and the stench of the projectiles striking them was becoming unbearable.

"Blach! I ain't too intolerant'a slime, but this stuff's gettin' me all gagged!"

"I'm tired of this!" Andrexmon roared. "Time for the big guns!" He stepped forward and shifted back up to his Mecharexmon form, the size of his body large enough that it forced him to crouch rather than stand at full height. He didn't care; all he needed was his blaster. "Time to taste energy blasts, you little slimeballs! Saur Blaster!"

The powerful chaingun attack ripped through the mass of Numemon with remarkable efficiency, and the air was soon filled with the deleted data of the slimy creatures as they were whittled down more and more. The others provided support where they could, though the cyborg dino's girth made it difficult to get anything past him. After several minutes, Mecharexmon held up his fire. "...I think I got 'em all. I'm not seeing anything more on my sensors."

"About time," Bolteaglemon sighed. "Gharialmon, do you think you could give us a quick wipe-down?"

"Yeh, I'm on it." Gharialmon soaked the two with the same type of attack he'd used to clean Kirsten and Commandramon not long ago. "That decent?"

"It'll have to do. Let's get up and out of here. Mecharexmon, shrink down or separate or something so we don't have to push you into the water to get past you."

"Some gratitude that is..." He did just that, though, splitting back into Isaac and Datacarnomon and leading the way up the ladder and through the manhole. It gave easily under Isaac's force, surprising him somewhat. "Huh, I thought that'd a little tougher."

"Probably getting a little extra strength from me," Datacarnomon cracked. "You can thank me later."

"Get a move on, you two!"

"Yeah, yeah." After a couple minutes, all the humans and digimon were up and out of the sewers. They were situated in a small, bare building devoid of windows, again requiring a little assistance from Iris and Shockavimon to be able to see anything. Once they had their light, it was easy to spot the door that presumably led outside.

"Jeez, talk about an ordeal," Ashley sniffed. "I don't think I'll ever smell nice again. You and your wacky ideas, little bro."

"You're safe, aren't you?"

"And in major need of a shower."

"That'll have to wait until we can get to safety," said Iris. "I wish I knew what it was like out there...I hope the others got away. Do you think the soldiers are still in the city?"

"No idea..." Isaac leaned against the door listening for any sounds, but he couldn't hear much of anything. "Data, I may have to take a chance and open it up."

"I've got a better idea, let's actually use my scanner and see if there are any people out there that way instead of becoming target practice," Datacarnomon replied somewhat gruffly. "Come on, Ike, think like a robot."

"Easy for you to say."

"It should get easier for you." Datacarnomon went quiet as he focused his scanners, but that didn't remain long. "Uh-oh..."

Kirsten moaned. "Oh, god, not 'uh-oh.'"

"There's a few figures coming this way...almost certainly human. Don't know if they're friend or foe, but they know something's here..."

Isaac scowled. "It never ends. You guys stay quiet, if they try to search the building...well, Data and I will do what we can."

Everyone went deathly quiet. They could very faintly hear the sounds of activity outside the building, but it was hard to make any sense of it. Then, a loud knock at the door. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" Everything was quiet for a few moments. "If you're in there, please hear us out. We're not trying to hurt you."

_That's hard to believe,_ Iris thought, but she decided to take a chance. "Prove it!"

There was a bit of commotion on the other side, and then another voice spoke up. "We're supposed to find a Iris Conover and her friend Shockavimon, and an Isaac Wherrels with a...Datacarnomon. Do I have that right?"

Isaac and Iris exchanged surprised glances. Whatever the soldiers had called the digimon before, it hadn't been by any proper name. That they even knew required them to have spoken with someone in the know, and they hadn't been at all eager to find out before. "And what if you do?" Isaac asked cautiously.

"We're supposed to bring you back to the government center. The President is there...he's told us that you aren't our enemies. We're supposed to make sure you get back safely."

"The President?" Isaac said happily. "Score! Someone finally paid attention to all the crap we sent!" The relief was not limited to himself; indeed, just about everyone was heartened by the news that they had a major ally on their side.

"Better late than never, I guess," Iris said. "We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Isaac opened the door, revealing a small group of soldiers. None of them looked at all unfriendly, though they were clearly somewhat bewildered. The one in front looked inside the building cautiously. "There's more than just you four...are those also friendlies?"

Iris nodded. "Yes. They're on our side. You don't have to worry about them."

"Understood. Let's get you to the government center. I'd rather we weren't exposed for any longer than we have to be...if what I've heard is right, those things can appear just about anywhere and anytime."

"That's about the long and short of it," Datacarnomon sighed. "I won't argue against hurrying it up. We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open for anything unusual."

"All right. Let's get moving, then."

(==========)

(==========)

Hooray for last-minute rescues! Of course, you probably saw this coming, especially after the tidbits in Chapter 16, but so what. The video evidence was a kind of last-minute addition, which I thought could fill in some holes in the logical fabric of the story. I really am glad I put it in there. And yes, I went the Independence Day route and made up a president. Trying to avoid actual people unless I'm making a snotty reference.

You might wonder why the heck Wheeler is so chatty rather than getting down to business. It's because he loves to hear himself talk, especially when it makes him sound like a hero. Ego three times the size of Texas, you know. Plus, he was probably savvy enough to realize they hadn't actually killed anyone, so figured he was probably safe confronting them. And then you might wonder how the heck he got a cabinet position in the first place. To that I say, he did a fairly good job pretending he wasn't something he was. Like Larry Craig. Look it up if you don't get it.

All right, this time I'm actually going to put something up a week from now. Promise.


	20. Chapter 19: Grave Danger

Lots of reading for you this week. I hope you like words.

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 19: Grave Danger**

"...Once we'd gone over all the communications, it became pretty clear what was really going on. Especially the videos. I was impressed with how often you all managed to be captured on screen, especially since it didn't seem like you were that eager to be detected."

"We'd talked about revealing ourselves to try to convince people we were on their side, but after people started pursuing us, we decided it was too risky." Reyn shook his head. "I can't believe so many people saw us anyway. Are we really that bad at being discreet?"

"This is the world we live in now," Skylar said with a sigh. "Just about anyone can record video, and a YouTube account is free. At least it turned out to be helpful."

"Indeed, it would appear that the aggregate of evidence supporting the hypothesis of our beneficence to the populace was very much favorable to our continued survival," agreed Blackcanismon.

"It's still quite an experience to have seen you in person...or persons. Um, I'm not quite sure..."

"Don't worry about it, neither were we initially," Derek said with a slight smile. "It's just easier to think of it as just us. One person when we're together, two when we're not."

"I see...what exactly is it like? I can't even imagine..."

"It's kinda hard to describe. It's like both of us are still there, but there's another person in there, too. Like we're both a part of him and distinct from him at the same time."

"I noticed something weird, though," Breezedramon piped up. "When we were Jetdramon, I didn't notice myself as much as when we were Skydramon."

"What...exactly are you talking about?" Derek asked.

"I assume," explained Blackcanismon, "that he is attempting to convey upon us the observation that the synthesized mind asserted a presence of amplified magnitude than in the lower-level classification, and the individual minds became increasingly marginalized."

"That's kind of unrelated to anything important here," Reyn said quickly. "Let's focus on more critical stuff."

"Something bothering you, Reyn?" Skylar asked.

"It's...nothing. I just don't want to veer too far off track."

The president nodded. "That's fair enough. I think it's something that would be hard to explain anyway, like trying to describe color to a blind person."

"Didn't you use that like in reference to your opponent during one of the debates last year?" asked Skylar with a grin. "Concerning him and morality, if I remember correctly?"

"I may have. In any event, I have to thank you for your efforts in spite of the obstruction you faced from Jonah. I can't imagine it was easy, thinking you didn't have us on your side...if I had been in charge like I should have been, I would never have allowed that to happen."

Salmandmon nodded. "You're on our side now and we know it. That's what counts. In situations like this, it doesn't pay to dwell on things like that."

"You're right. I have to say, I feel that much better knowing that you're veteran soldiers in your own right."

"No surprise there!" Breezedramon chimed in. "And Sal's one of the best, too!"

There came a knock at the door, and Emil and Elliot entered the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've gotten word that the others are about to arrive," Elliot informed them. "I figured you might all want to meet up and get up to speed."

"About time!" Skylar said. "That lunkhead was probably holding them up again-"

"All right, ease up, Sky," Reyn interrupted. "No need to be hostile. Mr. President, could we have a few minutes to gather ourselves?"

"Certainly. Take whatever time you need."

"Thanks. We'll try not to take too long."

The group left the room, and started heading down the stairs. As they walked, Reyn remembered a question he'd had. "Hey, uh, you guys said you captured a digimon a while back. What happened to it? Is it still here?"

"I'm afraid not," Elliot said gruffly. "The little bugger disappeared sometime after our interrogation. I thought it had escaped at first, but after seeing how those digimon you defeated went..."

"You think he was killed?" Breezedramon half-shouted.

"The bindings weren't undone, so that's what I think. I'm almost certain Redford did it sometime after we left. Probably on Jonah Wheeler's orders."

"Damn. I would have at least offered him the chance to live and reform..."

"I don't think he would have been all that receptive to the idea," Emil sighed. "He sounded pretty adamant about what he believed."

"Not much we can do about it now, at any rate," Derek finished. "Let's focus on what we can do."

(==========)

"Oh, it's so nice to be back inside somewhere that doesn't smell like a port-a-potty," Ashley breathed as the group re-entered the government center. "I swear, I was this close to freaking out out there..."

"Don't even, you never freak out."

"Sure I do, little bro. I just never let you see it. Hence why I was only close."

"It is nice to be relatively safe," Kirsten said. "Though I don't know how safe we are, those things could probably bash down walls like nothing."

"Well, we've got all our firepower here, so we'll have the best chance of overcoming them," Iris countered. "It's safer than anywhere else right now."

"Good point..."

"Hey, about time you guys got back." The group was met just inside by the other three symbiotes as well as Emil and Elliot.

"Sky!" With a shout, Benny rushed forward and grabbed his older brother in a death-grip hug, almost knocking him over. Cayden and Alisin did something fairly similar to Reyn, though with a little more self-control.

"Now how come you never reacted like that, Ashley?" Isaac griped.

"Because I'm an OLDER sister. I'm not allowed to."

"Hey, there, easy now," Reyn said, leaning down to embrace his siblings. "I'm glad to see you're okay...phew, where the heck have you two been?"

"Nasty awful sewers!" Alisin said.

"Yeah, they were disgusting and there were these nasty creatures down there and they tried to attack us!" Cayden added.

"There were? Man, I had no idea...then again, I had no idea there was a sewer that you guys could walk through, either."

"It's a long story," Isaac grunted. "Glad to see you guys were all right...hope you enjoyed not having to go through what we did."

"You just wait, you'll be thankful for your little trek," Derek said tiredly. "Come on, let's get everyone settled in."

"Settled in where?"

"We've gotten several rooms cleared out in back for anyone displaced by the attacks," said Emil. "And for the other digimon fighting on our side, as well. We want to make sure you all stay safe. Come on, let's take you back, you're probably all exhausted."

(==========)

People were still moving a few things around as they got to the rear of the building, but the rooms were mostly empty, giving them a chance to settle in. "No one's really gotten themselves situated yet, so you can go pretty much anywhere you'd like," Elliot explained. "There should be enough room for everyone, but let us know if we need more."

"Oh, yes, and ah, Commandramon, was it?" Emil added. "Rudy dropped something off in the room on our right, said it was for you."

"Oh, that's probably my armor. I need to get it back on so I can get to full fighting strength!"

"You need to relax, buddy," Talomon said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, my enemies may arrive at any time, I have to be ready for my deployment orders!"

"Let's leave the deployments to us for now," Reyn said.

"Oh, hey, there's more of you guys? Man, it's just gettin' to be a little party in here." The group turned to see a Strikedramon and Leomon standing in the doorway of one of the rooms. "Oh, hey, weren't you some of that group they sent out as scouts? I was wondering what happened to all of you."

"What the...where did they come from?" Isaac asked.

"I met them out when the big wave came, watching a bunch of doofuses blow themselves up. They're about as tired of Emperius as we are, and apparently they got themselves mixed up in a little bit of confusion."

"Eh, it wasn't all that much. We just helped out some little old lady who was being harassed by a few wimps from Emperius. She invited us in to thank us for helping out, 'cept she kinda forgot she'd already called some people for help...yeah, that was a moment, thinkin' I was gonna get shot up until she pretty much whaled on those soldiers all granny-style and such."

"I have never seen seasoned soldiers so petrified as she made them," Leomon chuckled.

"Yeah, she had them make up with us, and then we got called out here to kinda get all gathered up. They wanna know how many of us there are, so that we don't get gunned down by accident. Oh, hey, Gharialmon! I wondered where you got stuck!"

"Jus' baby-sittin' a bunch'a slimes an' all. Yer sidin' with this lot fer good, then?"

"I see no reason why not," stated Leomon. "It's a just cause, and they've been good to us. Besides, this is an interesting world...I wish to see more of it."

"Well, they ain't gonna let me back after all this...mind if I bunk with ya?"

"Hey, the more the merrier! You little dudes wanna hop in, too?"

"Eh, I don't see why not," Dorumon said. "We're all in this together, aren't we? Though...is Benny gonna be okay without me, Skylar?"

"He should be. We should probably get him to Mom and Dad anyway."

"No!" Benny cried. "I'm scared, Sky, I wanna be with you!"

"Hey, hey, Ben, I got stuff to do. You don't have to be scared, no one's gonna let any bad guys in here to get you."

"A-are you sure?"

"Positive."

"If they do, will you become the big blue dragon again and stop them?"

_Now how did he know that?_ Breezedramon asked telepathically.

_He probably guessed after what happened with Mystimon. He's a perceptive little guy._ "Of course. And then if you're good and don't go wandering off on your own, maybe I'll give you a little sky ride later on. Okay?"

"Okay! Be careful, Sky!"

"Heh, no question about that. Kirsten, could you bring him to Mom and Dad? How is she, by the way?"

"She's doing fine. Fortunately, it was a pretty mild cut, and Reyn's mom took care of it quickly. C'mon, Benny, we need to go see Mom, okay?"

"Regrouping sounds good right about now," Reyn said. "Cayden, Alisin, you two go with Ashley, find Mom and Dad and Wally, okay?"

"Are you gonna be staying in now, Reyn?" Cayden asked.

"I can only hope, but it's not entirely in my control. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Ash, you okay with some impromtu babysitting?"

"You don't have to worry about a thing, Ryen. I've dealt with Ike for fifteen years, these two are always a cake walk compared to him."

"If only I could say the same about you," Isaac shot back. "And make sure Mom and Dad get a grip, too, I think they're still weirded out by all this."

"Who wouldn't be?"

As finally the group dispersed, Reyn turned to the symbiotes. "Well, what say we get into one of these rooms and catch up? I think we'd best get everyone up to speed with everything that's happened."

(==========)

"Sounds like we all got really lucky here," Iris said finally after the stories had all been told. "The President himself...that's support we can really trust."

"Yeah, lucky for us he wasn't like that Wheeler asshole," Salmandmon spat. "Can't believe he would do something like that...I've seen a lot of evil, but that's near the top of the list!"

"How could we have known, though?" Isaac said. "I mean, Reyn's impressions aside, I wouldn't have expect it to be that bad."

"I hate to say 'I told you so...'"

"You do not and you know it."

"So this impressingident is an important guy?" Breezedramon asked.

"More like _the_ important guy. If we want to get things mobilized here for a defense, he's the one we need on our side. And it sounds like we've got him."

"He sounds really curious about digimon, too," added Reyn. "We should probably find some time to fill him in on that. He was asking a bunch of questions I couldn't answer. Like the whole evolution thing. I still don't think I get that completely."

"It's less complicated than it sounds," Datacarnomon said. "Our bodies are designed to react to stored energy, and if we so choose, we can use that energy to initialize a change in our bodies that allows us to make more efficient use of it. And if we've gotten help from some kind of catalyst, it becomes even easier."

"Easy enough, but how does that explain us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you guys are designed that way, but we aren't. We don't have any of that kind of energy thing. At least, we didn't before, we probably do now."

"Hm...that is curious. I hadn't thought about that."

"It could have been energy transfer," suggested Shockavimon.

"Hm? You mean like that thing Reyn did when I got injured and Iris did when you got shot?"

"Kind of, but I'm thinking more of a passive thing. All our pairings, we were all drawn to each other, right? I'm thinking that when we went through and met our equals, we already had a link between ourselves. It just got stronger when we were in the same location. In a way, we created the underlying basis for our merging without even trying."

"That's possible..." Salmandmon mused. "And if that link was already there, maybe that's why we appeared here in the first place, instead of any other location. There wasn't any programmed destination in the TTM, so it would have been random...except for our pre-existing conditions. We were already drawn roughly to where our other halves were."

"So just by being on contact, we already had all the necessary components," Derek surmised. "But if that's the case, why didn't we just merge immediately?"

"Perhaps our symbiotic combination is precipitated by a willingness to accept the fundamental changes that would occur to our physical forms," Blackcanismon ventured.

"But I wasn't thinking about that when Salmandmon and I first merged. I mean, I wouldn't have even known."

"But you did say you wanted to help out Salmandmon any way you could," Iris reminded him. "Maybe that was enough."

"Ah, that's true. And I'm guessing that once we'd all gone through it, it was just that much easier because we were aware of it."

"And, and you probably had more stored energy after that," said Datacarnomon. "In fact, I'd venture that that's the reason you manifested your own offensive abilities. You're still human, but you have that trait from us...it makes merging easier, it gives you special abilities, and it's probably what's made you humans stronger than you were before. Makes me wonder what's going to happen if we reach higher forms..."

"So that makes enough sense...though it doesn't explain our next forms while we're merged."

"Permit me to hypothesize. The initial combination requires a mechanism imparting the formation of the base individual. However, upon centralization of this principle, further advancements follow a more general rule of progression. Elevation to secondary forms involves activation of energies due to normal physical responses for digimon."

"So once we combine, it works like it does normally for digimon?" Skylar asked.

"That sounds like it makes sense," Datacarnomon agreed. "I mean, we evolved under circumstances that would get many normal digimon to evolve. Stressful situations that were more serious than we'd faced before, powerful enemies we couldn't defeat without a little extra burst...that's generally how it goes."

"I think I get that. We evolved to protect my mom and brother. For Andrexmon, it was when he was underwater and his life was in mortal peril. It happened to Skydramon when he was chasing after a falling helicopter. Then for Bolteaglemon, it was when Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon were in danger from Ashinkaimon. And Darkwolfmon became Ebonlupimon when protecting Elliot. It fits the pattern you're talking about."

"It's making more sense now," Skylar said thoughtfully. "Evolution requires more energy than we tend to have regularly...getting us pumped enough to reach the next form requires excressictional circumstances."

Iris jerked. "What did you say?"

Skylar stared at her, slightly irritated. "I said that getting enough energy requires exceptional circumstances! Honestly, Iris, are you having trouble listening, or are you just not paying attention?"

"Sorry...I've got a lot on my mind." But Iris was certain she hadn't misheard this time.

"But wait, higher energy states are less stable for digimon," Breezedramon said. "Wouldn't that be the same here as well?"

"I'd expect so, but why?" Datacarnomon asked.

"Well, I was just thinking. Our energy goes back to more stable levels when we devolve and stuff. And it would be the same for the ascymbiotates. But if the energy has to get split up, wouldn't we not be able to hold it all in separate forms?"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"I think he means that if we tried to split up while higher than our base forms, we'd end up with a lot of energy that neither of us could hold," Salmandmon said. "Which would have to go somewhere...and probably fairly explosively."

Derek's eyes widened at the thought. "Yikes. We could destroy something without intending to."

"And leave ourselves vulnerable afterwards, possibly. It depends on how much energy we would end up losing as a result."

"What else are we going to have to remember about this?" Isaac asked. "It seems like a lot of the ideas are similar to your guys' normal evolution, but with a lot of different details."

"Yeah...I'm surprised I've got as good a grasp on it as I do," Datacarnomon admitted. "And it's odd how you guys don't...unless part of it is that we're more used to the whole concept than you are. It is part of our everyday lives, and clearly not part of yours."

"And we didn't change very much from our first to second forms, did we?" Shockavimon added.

"Yeah, you're right. There were some changes, but a lot of them were less than I'd expect for an evolving digimon."

"Maybe that's our contribution in the works," Skylar suggested. "Our part of the combined DNA may keep your forms more static than a regular digimon. And so when we change, it's less dramatic from a visual standpoint, and has more to do with our abilities, and possibly armaments. We don't have a weapon as Skydramon, but we do as Jetdramon."

"Doesn't explain us," Salmandmon cracked.

"Well, maybe you don't get weapons. From what I've seen of you fighting, you get a lot more physical than the rest of us. You may just have those flying fists of yours. But I'm guessing you'll hit a lot harder and faster."

"This is all a lot to absorb...and yet, I feel like I'm getting the hang of it pretty well," Iris said. "Maybe it's just because it's part of my nature now, like I'm somehow attuned to the knowledge. I guess it's good to be aware of it, maybe that'll help us out down the stretch."

"I think so. Understanding what you're capable of is important for a digimon. It can very literally mean life or death...whatever you don't know by instinct, you learn about early in life, because you need to know what you can do and what others can do. Heck, even Breezedramon knows that."

"Hey!"

"Probably a lot more we could stand to learn," Reyn said quietly. "There's a few things I wished I knew..." then he shook his head and seemed to snap out of a reverie. "You know what, I think we should probably get back to the President. He's gotta have a lot more questions, and now that all of us are here, we can try to explain them a bit better."

"Don't you mean, now that _I'm_ here?" Datacarnomon teased.

"Well, that's part of it. Come on, let's get a move on, guys!"

The group quickly got themselves into order and made their way out of the room. Iris was the last one, lost in thought at how odd it was for Reyn to be the one taking charge...

(==========)

The symbiotes spent a fair amount of time giving the president a synopsis of all that had happened since their arrival, as well as enough of the background behind the attacks as he needed to grasp the situation. When they had finally finished, he was quiet for a long time, struggling to process everything at once.

"I knew this was going to be complicated...but goodness gracious. I couldn't have imagined something like this in my entire life."

"I don't think even most of us would have not that long ago," Salmandmon said. "There's a lot we don't know about your world and you humans still. And I think the people who wanted more information were more interested in peace than war. It's this lot that's causing all the trouble that had other ideas."

"And as usual, they're the ones who make the first impression. I just hope seeing all of you helps counteract that effect, because I don't see any going back from this threshold. Knowing that you exist, and that there's some connection between our worlds...well, that's not the kind of thing that can just be ignored."

"I hope so, too, but we have to start with the current situation. I don't think Emperius is going to be happy about their lack of success here. It's only gonna get worse from here on out, unless we do something to counter it."

"Like what?"

"Eventually, we're going to have to go on the offensive. Libertius held off Emperius for a long time, but since they've been wiped out there's not really any force holding them back...they're free to do what they want for the most part. We have to put pressure on them. That'll also slow down their efforts here."

"I see...when do you think we will be able to do that?"

"We have the capability to do it now," Reyn jumped in. "One of the digimon that came our way on our side has the ability to go back, and with Mecharexmon's help we should be able to replicate it. The thing we have to figure out is when the best time is to make that attack. Right now, I'm not ruling anything out."

Before the president could reply, the door flew open and a soldier rushed in, out of breath and just as out of sorts. "Sir! Urgent report!"

"What is it?"

"We've gotten reports from some of the men in the field! Two odd fields have appeared to the south!"

"Dang, it's gotta be more digimon," Reyn said, standing up immediately. "We'd better take care of it."

"Do you think they're preparing for another big wave?" President Monroe asked.

"I'm not sure, but I hope not. They only reported two, which is a small number for a big wave, but maybe there are others..."

"Data and I can scan for more possible invaders," Isaac said. "You guys think you can hold out that long without us?"

"Tch. Who do you think we are?" Skylar replied in a huff.

Reyn nodded. "Make sure to check everywhere this time, Isaac."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna make that mistake twice."

"Come on, let's go!" Iris said anxiously from the doorway. "We don't want to give them time to cause damage!"

(==========)

"Heads up, guys, the high school's just up ahead." Blazereptimon checked his pace as they neared one of the athletic fields next to the high school. "You caught sight of them yet?"

"South field!" Ionavimon reported. "They aren't doing very much...I think maybe they've been waiting for us."

"We'd better watch it. Keep your eyes open for an ambush."

They reached the south field and faced down the opponents. The two figures standing in front of them indeed looked to be expecting their arrival. On the left was Marsmon, a humanoid with a feline head, a long cloak, massive gauntlets, and flames jetting off of his red body. The other, Suijinmon, looked almost like a mechanical centaur, with several cannons mounted on its shoulders and metal hands.

"Oh, man...they didn't go easy this time," Blazereptimon growled as he clenched his fists. "Two Megas...well, not like we can pick our battles. Be careful, everyone!"

"I only see four of them," Marsmon growled. "Suijinmon! Where's the fifth?"

"Not on my radar," Suijinmon replied. "We can hunt him down later. He should be a breeze after wiping out the others."

"Cockiness will get you killed," Ebonlupimon muttered, holding out his hand. "Shadow Bolt!" He shot the concentrated blast out of his hand at Marsmon, who quickly leapt to the side to avoid it. Before the dark canid could react, Marsmon bounded forward and walloped him with one of his gauntlets, throwing him back a ways.

"Ebonlupimon!" Ionavimo called out.

"Rgh..." He shook his head to clear it as Blazereptimon engaged Marsmon. "I'm fine...just need a moment..."

"Right, you're gonna get it for that!" Jetdramon roared, swooping down towards Marsmon. The sound of an energy blast caused him to pull up, just in time for a powerful shot to sail under him; he could feel the pulse as it passed by his chest. "Waugh!"

"Dervish Bolt!" Ionavimon launched her lightning attack at Suijinmon, trying to catch him before he could fire again. The attack struck, but Suijinmon shook it off, then aimed up at Ionavimon. "Giga Cannon."

Powerful bursts blasted from Suijinmon's cannons, and Ionavimon couldn't evade fast enough. She took two hard shots, and plummeted fromm the sky with a screech, hitting the ground hard.

Blazereptimon was knocked back by a glancing blow from Marsmon. He was panting heavily, barely able to keep up with the panther man, and he couldn't fall back on his fire attacks against a like-aligned opponent. Already it was looking bad. Marsmon came at him again, and with some effort he rolled under the blow and scored a kick to Marsmon's back. It wasn't very damaging, but it threw his timing off enough to hold him up a moment. As Marsmon turned back to counter, a black pool appeared under his feet.

"Nether Blow!" Ebonlupimon got back into the fray as the shadowy patch shot up bursts of darkness energy. Marsmon yelled out as they connected, and with some effort got free of the attack. He charged Ebonlupimon again, who ducked away in time to avoid another rattling blow. Blazereptimon came around back to take on Marsmon again, but Marsmon anticipated his arrival and turned just as he arrived, delivering a quick blow to the reptile's jaw. Dazed and disoriented, Blazereptimon had no chance to react as Marsmon followed up with a devastating blow right to his chest. The punch was strong enough to lift him fifteen feet into the air and throw him backwards almost a hundred fifty, tumbling hard when he landed.

"Jet Stream!" Jetdramon was giving Suijinmon a much harder time than Ionavimon had, his speed making it difficult for the robot to land hits with his cannon. He appeared to be preparing another weapon, but Jetdramon wasn't letting him have a chance to line it up, attacking whenever he had a chance between dodges. With all his attention focused on Suijinmon, though, he didn't realize that Marsmon had a moment to spare on him.

"Endless Surge!" Marsmon pounded the ground, sending a pillar of flame high up to envelop Jetdramon. The dragon roared in pain and surprise as the flames surrounded him, giving Suijinmon the moment he needed.

"You die now. Shattering SAM." Two slots in Suijinmon's arms opened up, releasing powerful missiles that homed in on Jetdramon instantly. He had no time to dodge by the time he realized they were coming, and took the full impact of both of them. The blasts threw him to the ground, where he hit hard, bouncing twice before coming to a stop, completely motionless.

Marsmon laughed forcefully as he and Suijinmon turned back to Ebonlupimon, who was moments away from panic. _Damnation! I can't handle one of them by myself, much less both of them! C'mon, one of you get back up, please!"_

"Three down, one to go...About time we proved ourselves superior to your tainted ones, eh, Suijinmon?"

"They should have sent us in first. Finally, we'll be able to invade without the resistance we should never have had."

"And what a victory it will be! Say your prayers, pup!"

With a triumphant cackle, Marsmon rushed forth, his fist raised to strike. Ebonlupimon tensed up, hoping he had the speed to dodge the blow-

BLAM Marsmon was hurled backwards by a blast of energy that came from behind Ebonlupimon. He looked back to see the imposing cyborg dinosaur, his cannon arm leveled in front of him. It quickly shifted to a different shape, and with no fanfare he fired again, this time sending out some kind of wave that radiated over the two Mega level digimon.

The shot had no visible effect as for as Ebonlupimon could tell, and Marsmon was laughing, albeit somewhat shakily, as he got to his feet. "What did you expect that to do? What A useless effort! I'll show you real power!" He started forward, then stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide and his mouth curling into a snarl. "Oh, you can't be serious!"

"Got a little cocky there?" Mecharexmon shifted back to his standard cannon. "Saur Blaster!"

Rapid shots burst forth from the cannon, a couple striking Marsmon with not much effect. The powerful fire creature jumped back and landed next to Suijinmon, who had already figured out his own handicap. "Damnable cyborg! We have to retreat until this wears off!"

"Agreed. We cannot risk falling here. They should put up no more resistance when we re-engage."

Both of them took off away from Mecharexmon's fire. The cyborg ceased his shots as they distanced themselves; he couldn't keep up with them and there was too much around them that could be damaged for him to fire haphazardly. "Rrr...I guess it was too much to hope they'd try to fight through it..."

"Thanks, Mecharexmon...I owe you one..." Ebonlupimon rubbed the bleeding spot on his skull, wincing slightly. "Ouch...that was more than I was expecting..."

"Don't worry about it. Is everyone else okay?"

"Ugh...okay is pushing it, but I'm alive at least," Blazereptimon said, finally getting to one knee, his ribs in agony. "Owwwww...Agh, damn, that was worse than Skullsatamon's blow. Man, I shoulda been more careful."

"Same here," Ionavimon panted, managing a sitting position. "Suijinmon just blew me out of the sky...I've never been hit that badly before."

The best Jetdramon could do was his hands and knees. "Uahhh..." he moaned. "So woozy..."

Mecharexmon shook his head. "Man, sounds like I got here in the nick of time. Come on, all you get close, let's see if I can help any."

Once everyone had dragged themselves into a small cluster, Mecharexmon knelt down and began to glow slightly. A circle of light formed on the ground around the gang, and they felt a calm, soothing energy wafting around and through them, easing their pain and fixing up their battered bodies. As the light faded, they were no less fatigued, but the worst of their injuries were gone.

"Holy...Mecharexmon, where the hell did you pick that trick up?" Jetdramon asked in wonderment, finally able to get to his feet.

"Same place I pick up most of my tricks. I figured we'd have some kind of trouble like this sooner or later...someone needs to be able to heal people up quickly. Unfortunately, I can't call it up at a moment's notice, so don't think I can just do this instantly when you're in trouble."

"I guess anything is better than nothing." Blazereptimon rubbed his chest, still kind of in disbelief at how much better they felt. "How the heck did you get those two to back off? They didn't have any trouble with us, and you're not THAT much stronger."

"I sealed their abilities. They didn't realize it until they tried to use them, and that gave me a chance to get the upper hand. Not enough, though...it's only temporary, and as crude as my program is, their bodies will acclimate to it and make it less effective on later uses. Best I could do on short notice, sorry."

"Don't be, you probably saved our lives," Ionavimon muttered. "But we're gonna need more than that. We did some damage, but not enough that they'll be weakened when we face them again. We need some way to make ourselves stronger or make them weaker...I don't know if we can do either."

"No, you're wrong." All eyes turned to Blazereptimon. "We can do both. Ionavimon, you're electrically-aligned. If you can charge yourself up, maybe from a generator or something, you could probably boost your strength for a little while. And I absorb heat, so I just need a strong heat source, and I know just where to find it."

"I know plenty of electricity sources. But do you really think that'll be enough to beat them?"

"Not on its own, but it'll help us hold them off. That's where the other part comes in. We can weaken Marsmon and Suijinmon easily using those data fracture bombs."

"What? No!" Jetdramon shouted instantly. "Are you nuts? Those things are horrible torture! They're pure evil!"

"I know exactly what they're capable of, Jetdramon, that's why I'm suggesting them. They do us no harm, but they would screw with Marsmon and Suijinmon, and almost immediately. If they have the same effect they did on Commandramon, and there's no reason to suspect they wouldn't, then they'd basically be sitting ducks."

"And we'd be monsters for even considering something so horrible! Weren't you the one who said whoever made them should burn in hell? We have to find another way!"

"We don't have time for another way," Mecharexmon interjected stiffly. "The only other thing I could think of is another program, and I can't just write it out of nothing. They're hardly desirable weapons, but we're pretty much up against the wall here. We have to succeed, and if that means something unpleasant, so be it."

"I hate to say it, but I think you're right," Ionavimon agreed. "At least we're using them for a good cause."

"I'll have to round off the support," Ebonlupimon chimed in. "I suppose we'd have to ask the military where they are. Hopefully they still have some."

"You people are all absolutely nuts!"

"Perhaps you'd like to try and face them on your own?" Blazereptimon snarled, getting into Jetdramon's face. The dragon blanched and looked away from the fiery gaze. "That's what I thought. Get used to the idea, because we're gonna need you for the deployment."

"What? You can't be serious! Get Darkwolfmon to warp 'em through his weird little shadow thing, that'd be a lot faster!"

"Trust me, I would have volunteered my 'weird little shadow thing,' but I can't carry objects through the shadows with me. Only my body could go through. We need someone who can get over there and get back as soon as possible, and those jets of yours beat out Ionavimon's wings in terms of raw speed."

Jetdramon groaned in defeat as he felt everyone's gazes fall on him. "I really, REALLY hate those things..."

"Look on the bright side, buddy. Since you're the one carrying the bombs, you're the one who doesn't have to hold 'em off. We're the ones who get the joy of trying to keep them from wrecking everything while we're waiting for you. You get the easy and fun part."

"Easy and fun my ass!"

"Good holy crap, would you quit whining and just grab the things already?" Ionavimon yelled. "Or would you rather we get killed out there because you got a bit squeamish?"

"Okay, okay, jeez!" Jetdramon took a deep breath. "I dunno how long it's gonna take me to get them. I have to figure out where they are and then try to find you guys after I do."

"Mecharexmon, how long will that seal last?"

"Given their level, I'd say forty minutes tops. Even that might be pushing it."

"Not a lot of time, but we'll have to make do. Right, then, we'll make the most of it. Ionavimon, you and I will go give ourselves a charge to help get a leg up. Jetdramon, you try to get the data fracture bombs as quickly as possible. Mecharexmon, I want you to run a scan of the city, get a bead on where Marsmon and Suijinmon are now so we can engage them as fast as possible. And if you have any extra programs you haven't finished but are close on, try to finish and upload them if you can. Ebonlupimon, I want you to work on a plan to split them up, we'll be better off if we're only facing one at a time. If you can think of any way to give yourself a boost..."

"I get stronger as the hour grows later. It should help, at the very least."

"Right. We meet back here in twenty, except Jetdramon. Let's get going!"

(==========)

Jetdramon didn't waste any time upon reaching the government center, making a beeline for the room the President had been waiting in. He was talking to some of his Secret Service guards when Jetdramon came into the room, whereupon all his attention was instantly focused on the dragon. "Jetdramon? What's going on, why are you back?"

"We've run into a bit of a hairy situation, and we're looking for some extra firepower. We need to use the data fracture bombs."

"Data fracture bombs?"

"Oh, right, you were out of the loop...dammit, that's just gonna complicate things. They're a weapon that was designed to be used against digimon. We saw one used during the campaign this morning, and I know there have to be more of them somewhere."

"That makes enough sense. I'm sorry, if I'd known you wanted to use them before, I would have been more prepared."

"I don't, actually," spat Jetdramon, "but apparently I'm outvoted here! And unfortunately they're right, it would be very useful...still, I hate them and would rather not, but it's not for me to say. Anyway, I don't know where they are, but someone around here's gotta."

"I imagine so...probably the best bet would be the higher-ranked military brass here." President Monroe looked to a government agent stationed nearby. "Find someone who knows about these bombs and get back to us pronto. We don't have much time to waste."

"Yes, sir!"

(==========)

The Kessiliks' house was dark and empty, which Blazereptimon saw as a plus given what he was about to do. He needed heat and he needed it fast, and there was only one way he knew of to get both.

Up in Reyn's room stood one of his prize possessions, a thermite reaction chamber. It was built specifically to be able to contain an extremely powerful exothermic reaction which gave off intense heat. Ordinarily it was little more than a novelty, but now Blazereptimon hoped it was the power-up he needed.

In a flash he started mixing up the components. He took great care to make sure everything was contained and that he avoided touching any of the mixture, lest his own body heat set it off before he was ready; after all, burning down the house wasn't likely to net him the boost he needed.

In mere minutes it was ready. Everything was in the container, and all it needed was the right amount of heat to start up, which he provided in an instant. The mixture quickly started burning and reached its peak in moments, hissing and popping madly. It was a sight to behold, so bright it was almost blinding, but Blazereptimon didn't need to see it, he needed to feel it. He plunged his hands down into the mixture, and immediately let out a sound somewhere between a growl, a hiss, and a purr as he felt the intense heat radiate into his arms and throughout his body. "Aw, yeah...that's the stuff..."

The pain and fatigue were being slowly sucked away by the wonderful heat, replaced by a growing charge and intensity that demanded his action. As alluring as it was, though, he needed more to stand against those powerful enemies. On impulse, he cupped his hands, pulled them up from the mixture, and slurped down some of the thermite. He hissed excitedly as it poured down inside him, filling his gullet with the potent heat and making it spread even faster through his body. Quickly he started to consume more of it, going as far as sticking his whole muzzle in the reaction chamber, only stopping when his brain reminded him that he was putting the room at a fire risk. He pulled his head out of the chamber, licking the excess liquid off of him. _Whoops...gotta remember that not everything in here is as fireproof as me._

He downed as much of it as he could, and all too soon the reaction burned itself out, its fuel consumed in more ways than one. Blazereptimon made sure everything was contained before bounding out of the house with his newfound energy. _I'll make sure they don't get away this time! You guys are going down hard! I'll tear you apart with my bare hands if I have to!_

(==========)

Iris didn't have very far to go to find a power source. While she had been seeking a generator, she quickly found another spot to get charged up, as she spotted a pair of downed power lines that were snapping all over the street.

"Well, now, those are pretty dangerous to leave lying around like this." She swooped down and landed next to the writhing lines. "Right, then, let's take advantage of the opportunity."

With a quick snatch, she grabbed one of the lines. Already she was feeling the powerful charge start to course through her, but the other line still beckoned, so she chased it down and managed to snag it after a little bit. The charge was, for lack of a better word, electrifying, and she could feel it lighting he body up, renewing her strength and giving her the edge she needed to keep fighting.

She stayed like that for several minutes, only breaking away when she saw Ebonlupimon approaching. "Ionavimon! I think people needed those power lines!"

"They were down when I got here, joker. Are the others ready?"

"They have to be, we've got to coordinate soon. Mecharexmon has a bead on Marsmon and Suijinmon. They've already split up, apparently...maybe they're trying to avoid both getting caught by Mecharexmon's ability seal. They must not know it doesn't have a very good repeat effect."

"Hey, I'll take advantage of what they don't know any day. I hate to leave these lines like this, though. Someone's gotta call the power company."

"Try to put 'em together as best you can, minimize the amount of sparking. But make it snappy, we don't have much time!

(==========)

A GI was quickly leading Jetdramon and the President through a private storage facility in the north of Braun. "When we needed a place to keep extra armaments for the offensive today, we commandeered some empty units here. It didn't end up being very useful...we didn't really get a chance to use what was here in the first place. But nothing's been moved out yet - we haven't really had the time. So much has happened so quickly..."

"We may end up needing it yet," the President said. "Don't make any hasty decisions. You're sure the data fracture bombs are here?"

"Not only the bombs, but components to make more of them. They were pretty rushed in the first place...we didn't have time to get many made before they were called into action."

"What a shame." Jetdramon's voice slathered sarcasm all over the pavement. "At least tell me there's enough for this."

"I don't see why there shouldn't be. We only used one of them anyway...ah, here we are. Unit 227." The GI pulled up the vertically-sliding door, revealing more than just a storehouse for weapons. "Whoa! Who are you? Identify yourself!"

"Easy, easy!" The man put up his hands and stood up, backing away from the data fracture bomb. He was rather short and somewhat portly, with a bald head and thick glasses. "I'm the technician who was hired to program the bombs, I'm supposed to be here!"

"So you're the rat who cooked this up?" Jetdramon roared. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Calm down, please," the GI said nervously, stepping a pace back from the dragon.

"N-no, it's not my design...I was just hired to do the work of implementing the design. What...what's going on? What is one of them doing here?"

"This one's on our side," the President said. "We're going to have to get you filled in. But right now, we need two of those bombs."

"But...you can't. They don't work."

Jetdramon's eyes lit up. "What? Don't tell me you dismantled them already!"

"Whoa, no, I didn't! But, they don't work! I got a report from the field, the one they used didn't even faze the creature they targeted! I've been trying to alter this one so that it would be more effective, but I'm not the original designer, it's very slow-going-"

"Quiet!" Jetdramon took a deep breath to calm himself down. "The bombs do work...just not against us, we're different enough from digimon that it just passes through us. But they work against digimon...friggin' hell, they're pretty much torture devices!"

"What do you mean?"

Jetdramon quickly outlined the effects of the data fracture bombs, with some difficulty given his tendency to opine on particular aspects. The President's expression became gradually more horrified, while the technician looked aghast from start to finish for the most part. "Goodness gracious me..."

"My word...if the UN ever got word of that, we'd be strung up for violating Geneva conventions in an instant," President Monroe muttered. "At least...I would hope so, as odd as that sounds. Monsters though they are, they should be classified like any other enemy combatant when it comes to humane treatment."

"Yeah, now you see why I hate those things. If I had a choice I'd be blowing this place up rather than trying to get them to use!"

"It sounds awful, and it has to be a critical design flaw," muttered the technician. "Something that takes hours to defeat an enemy leaves them open to do a lot more damage in the interim! I mean, it's horrible torture, no doubt about that!" he quickly added as he saw Jetdramon about to go volcanic, "I'm just looking at it from a design standpoint! If I had the original designer of these things with me to help, I could design ones that work much more quickly, and with less of the, uh, unpleasant effects. It would only take me a little time to reprogram the existing bombs..."

"I still don't-"

But this time President Monroe interrupted. "If they can be improved to minimize needless suffering, then do so. I know," he continued, catching Jetdramon's look, "but we need effective, capable weapons. If we don't have anything, we're leaving you all as our only reliable line of defense. At some point, we have to be able to defend ourselves as well."

Jetdramon sighed tensely. "...Fine. You've got a valid point. But you better make goddamn sure you can do that!"

"No effort will be spared. Now let's get you your payload."

(==========)

Four of they five symbiotes met back where they had left, the only absence being Jetdramon. Mecharexmon wasted no time getting down to business. "They've split up on their own. From the original battle location, Marsmon went south and east, Suijinmon went south and west. They're not too far apart, close enough that they can coordinate if they have to, but far enough that they won't both be hit by my ability seal if I used it again."

"We shouldn't rely on that anyway, we don't know if it'll even work again," Blazereptimon said, his voice betraying his agitation. "Well, they split, so we'd better as well! Let's make this quick!"

"Ebonlupimon and I can face Marsmon," Ionavimon said. "It's probably better that way, I don't know if I'm fast enough to stay out of Suijinmon's cannon fire and Ebondramon's probably the only one fast enough to rival Marsmon's speed."

"Makes enough sense to me," Mecharexmon said. "Suijinmon's probably got better defenses anyway, which is what I'm suited for. Marsmon would probably run rings around me."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!"

"Right! Good luck!" Ionavimon and Ebonlupimon took off for Marsmon's location, while Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon made for Suijinmon. The cyborg was quickly finding himself outstripped by the eager fire lizard.

"Come on, you big metal slowpoke, we have to hurry!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeez, I've never seen you this energetic! What on earth did you do to get yourself so fired up, if you'll excuse the pun?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little late-night thermite snack."

"The...you ATE thermite."

"Fire being, remember? It's not like it's gonna hurt me."

"Just don't make it a regular part of your diet. You keep acting like this and I might just have to shoot you."

"If you can catch me! Do I gotta light a fire under you, literally?"

"I said I'm coming!"

(==========)

It took only a few minutes for Ebonlupimon and Ionavimon to hone in on their enemy. Marsmon was just getting his abilities back, and he looked raring to go for another fight. "Back again, are you? You can't beat me and you know it!"

"You don't have your little robot buddy to back you up this time!" Ebonlupimon barked. "And we're not gonna be so easy to knock down this time! Nether Blow!"

A pit of darkness formed under Marsmon's feet, and he was quickly showered in a dark burst that clouded his vision and forced him backwards. Ionavimon swooped in for the follow-up. "Dervish Bolt!" The crackling electricity burst forth from her wings, giving the panther man a solid jolt.

Unfortunately, even those attacks didn't seem to do much apart from making Marsmon mad. "Corona Sanctions!" He brought his hands together and created a massive shockwave of flame, large enough to envelop both of the symbiotes. The intense heat burned through Ebonlupimon, and he clenched his jaw to endure the pain; Ionavimon felt the heat as well but managed to fly out of it before long.

Marsmon took the chance to try to take her out. "Endless Surge!" He gathered fire in his hand and slammed the ground, sending a rising pillar of flame into the air. He miscalculated her position in the sky, though, and this gave Ionavimon enough time to fly away from the dangerous flames. Ebonlupimon saw his chance as Marsmon was focused on his combat partner, and bounded forward. "Dark Rapier!" He managed to get in three slashes before Marsmon could punch him away, sending him sprawling. As he tried to get his bearings, the panther man rushed in to try to take a shot.

Ionavimon had started a dive as soon as she was out of the woods from the Endless Surge attack, and she was quickly very thankful for reacting so quickly, as it gave her just enough tie to reach Marsmon before he took Ebonlupimon's head off. "Lightning Talon!" She kicked forward just as she reached him, talons digging into Marsmon's back and causing him pain both from the lacerations and from the shock. Ebonlupimon got to his feet and a fair distance away as Ionavimon took a wave of heat to the face, forcing her to fly back up into the air or get pummeled.

(==========)

Jetdramon soared high above the city, bombs securely gripped under his arms. It didn't take him too long to spy both battles; being closer to Marsmon, he decided to take that one out first. "All right, time to take out the trash! Bombs away!"

He set the activation sequence on one of the bombs and let go. It sailed down to the ground, and he saw a burst of energy upon impact. "That better have worked!"

He didn't hang around to find out. He had a date with Suijinmon.

(==========)

Neither one realized Jetdramon was overhead until the strange black bomb fell into Ionavimon's field of vision. She backed away slightly, hoping against hope that this would work...

A burst of energy rocketed forth from the bomb, enveloping all three of the combatants. Ebonlupimon and Ionavimon felt it pass harmlessly through, their bodies non-receptive to the energy. It was immediately clear, though, that Marsmon has suffered a considerable setback; he was quickly dazed, stumbling around, not quite sure what had happened, and the flames on his body had died down to barely licks.

"Ebonlupimon, now's our chance!" She whipped out her spear and charged it up. "Shock Spear!" With a powerful wind-up, she hurled her spear right at Marsmon; the panther man didn't even make a real effort to move as it jammed into his chest. He let out a strangled gasp as the charge ran through him.

"My turn!" Ebonlupimon leapt high into the air, charging his own weapon with his own energies. "Dark Rapier!" He slammed the sword blade down full force into Marsmon's skull, driving it in all the way to the hilt. He didn't have to see Marsmon's stricken look to know that that was going to be a fatal blow.

The fiery digimon fell backwards, hitting the ground hard and dissolving into particles of data. Ebonlupimon fell to his knees, breathing hard and feeling the pain start to really sink in. "Bloody hell...I've never felt like this in any of my lives."

"Yes! We did it! We beat that overgrown pussycat!" Ionavimon looked almost as worn out, yet nonetheless ecstatic as she landed to pick up her spear. "That's one down! Come on, let's get over to help with Suijinmon!"

"Oh, please, no more...I don't know if I can even handle standing up anymore."

"C'mon, suck it up! While we're dawdling here, Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon are probably getting creamed! We have to make sure they don't die!" She picked up Ebonlupimon's rapier and threw it to him; with a somber groan, he caught it and willed himself to his feet, following after her.

(==========)

Suijinmon was more than ready for a fight by the time Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon got to him. "Oh, you're itching for more, are you? Fine, I'll end your lives right here and now if you're so eager to lose them."

"You are just a walking cliché factory, aren't you?" Blazereptimon cackled. "Fine, let's get it on! Solar Wave!" He launched a blazing wave of fire at the robot, catching Suijinmon by surprise with its strength.

"That wasn't...where did you get that kind of power?"

"More where that came from! Incendiary Ring!" A ring of flames looped around the robot and contracted, trying to trap it at the epicenter; Suijinmon escaped the worst of this, enduring part of the ring to avoid being caught. He fired off some Giga Cannon shots at Blazereptimon to counter, which he quickly leapt through.

Mecharexmon got in on the action then. "Swarm Missiles!" The launcher on his shoulder released its payload, which quickly homed in on the robotic menace and hit him with a large blast. Suijinmon growled and turned his Giga Cannon on Mecharexmon, landing several shots which threw the cyborg back and onto the ground.

Blazereptimon jumped in close and interrupted the attack with an Inferno Claw to the robot's side. Suijinmon paid him back with an Accel Arm that landed a glancing blow, but was still enough to send him sprawling, clutching his side. "Goddamn...whaddaya put in that thing?"

"I'll let you find out personally-" Suijinmon cut off as he seemed to take notice of something. "I see...I was wondering where your air brigade was. Thought you could ambush me?" He directed his attention towards the air, where Jetdramon was positioned right above them. "You're not surviving this time. Shattering SAM."

(==========)

Jetdramon dropped the second bomb right over Suijinmon, glad that this would be the last one of the things he'd have to use. _Maybe they can be made better, but these ones are still the same...if we'd had some other option-_

His eyes bolted wide as he saw the missiles heading his way. "WHOA!"

His jets lit up and fired him off up into the air, the powerful missiles trailing him stubbornly. "Jeez, why didn't they warn me?" he shouted to no one in particular as he wove around, trying to lose the bogies before they caused him to lose a lot more. Fortunately, he was far more maneuverable than his trails, and a quick loop brought him up behind the missiles, where a well-placed Jet Stream attack blew them out of the air.

"Phew...that was too close..."

(==========)

It took a few moments for the bomb to explode upon landing. As before, Blazereptimon felt a rush of something run right through him, not affecting him in any way. He watched Suijinmon carefully, trying to see if it had done anything.

It took a few moments for Suijinmon to start faltering. "Wh...what...what was that? I...I can't..."

Blazereptimon shook off his fatigue and pain as he saw his chance. "Mecharexmon! Quickly, let's end this!"

"Right!" Mecharexmon had finally gotten to his feet and now charged the robot, shifting his arm to his claw form. "Rragh! Plasma Claw!" He stabbed in his charged claws, burying them deep into Suijinmon's upper body.

"Inferno Claw!" Blazereptimon dug his own claws in right next to Mecharexmon's. The two reptiles strained and roared as they tore through the robot's body, shredding its insides and finally bisecting him. Suijinmon's devastated body collapsed to the ground and dissipated into data.

"Whoo...finally..." Blazereptimon dropped to one knee, panting heavily; he rush from his earlier heat was gone, leaving only a punishing exhaustion in its wake. "It's over...man, that was intense..."

"Man...I hate to say it, but after the bomb, that was almost easy..." Mecharexmon looked somewhat worn from the blows he'd taken, though having avoided the first round he was in better shape. "Maybe I should look into an attachment-"

"_Absolutely not!_"

Mecharexmon chuckled as Jetdramon swooped in irately. "Relax, bud, I was kidding. Thanks for the bomb drop, that really saved our skins."

"Yeah, well, let's hope we don't have to make a repeat performance. Oh, and hey, thanks for warning me that I was about to be blown out of the sky! Would it'a killed ya to gimme a shout about those SAMs?"

"Well, jeez, you were in perfect position to see them up there and we kinda had our hands full down here."

"No fights, you two," Blazereptimon growled. "Your base forms do that too much as it is. Oh, hey, here comes the rest of the gang." He got up too his feet as he watched Ionavimon fly in and Ebonlupimon basically stagger towards them. "Wow, you look like hell, Ebonlupimon."

"I feel way worse than that. I cannot wait to get back and get some freaking sleep."

"You sleeping at night? Now that's one for the books!"

"So is fourteen hours of fighting and running for my life. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not waste any more time yapping around here. They're probably wondering what's going on..."

Ionavimon nodded. "I'm of the same mind. We need to be fresh in case we've got early action tomorrow."

Blazereptimon nodded. "Right, then, let's report in and get some shut-eye. Lord knows we all could use it after today."

(==========)

(==========)

Info dump tiiiiime. Unfortunately I think it's shoehorned in a little - I would have liked it to fit a little more naturally in there. But that's how it is. I'd rather have it in there than not, and this is really the only good point left to have it.

This one took a long time for me to write. Not just in terms of raw length, I mean. The battle scenes in this chapter were just not coming to me; I had the basic ideas down but I just couldn't get them fleshed out properly for the longest time. I'm still not sure I like them all that much, but they're actually there, which is an improvement over the prior state. And the non-battle parts weren't much easier, but only because they were a lot more disorganized at first. Once I hit on that proper flow, it worked out a lot better.

For the record, this was initially two short chapters when I first conceived it, with the first having the initial battle and preceding info and the second having the preparation and later battles. I ended up merging them when it became clear that the second chapter ended up being too short for my liking. I could have padded it, probably, but looking at everything, it made more sense to merge the two. The downside is, now I have to go back and revise my story outline chapter numbers (_again_). It's probably futile to even put down future chapter numbers at this point, but I do it anyway, mainly because I don't write the story entirely linearly - I try to put down ideas as I have them so I don't forget about them, and in order to keep them organized, I put them in order of when they're supposed to appear in the story.

Unfortunately, things don't get a lot easier for me from here on out. I've struggled with writer's block recently - I've got the next four chapters pretty well established, but I've been getting stuck on some ones after that. It hasn't helped that all my inspiration has been for completely unrelated works, and they gum up my focus. In addition, I'm going to be strapped for free time in at least the next month, due to a big project at work that's going to require me staying extra hours and even coming in on weekends. I know I've already been pretty spotty on the updates, and while I'm going to try to keep that from continuing, I unfortunately can't make any promises. But I'm not a person who likes to abandon things I've started, and this story WILL be finished, even if it encounters a few delays along the way. I thank everyone for being patient and putting up with the blips on my end.


	21. Chapter 20: The Journey Begins

This is the final chapter of the first part of this story! Didn't have parts originally - they came into being when the file I was using to write the story became too large to have everything all in one place. So from here on, I move to the second. It seemed like a good place - you'll probably understand why after reading. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 20: The Journey Begins**

"I'll say one thing about this place, it does a good job with the food," Reyn said as he set his tray down on the table in the seventh-floor conference room. "This is better than cold cereal in the morning. I'm surprised they can afford their own cafeteria."

"Dad says they do a good job with money management here," Iris said with a yawn. "Are we early? What time is it?"

"It's about 8:35, if that clock is accurate," Shockavimon reported. "I think we're early. What time is everyone supposed to be here?"

"8:45 AM," Salmandmon recited automatically. "About 10 minutes from now. Everyone should know, Reyn said it enough yesterday."

"Ha, ha. Some people need the reminding."

"You think any number of reminders is gonna be good enough for Mr. Tardy?"

Iris giggled a bit. "Well, I think it's been working. He wasn't as late as he usually is last time we needed to all get together. Besides, I'm sure Derek's gonna bust his ass so he can get up here. Maybe Datacarnomon, too...nothing like a good kick in the ass from a metal dinosaur to keep you moving."

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Shockavimon replied. "I've never seen a person who was so bad about being on time. Amazing that he could be paired with Data."

"Yeah, well, he's been slipping, too. Remember when we were all meeting for that gaming session? He was the last one there, a good five minutes after when everyone agreed to meet."

Iris spent a few minutes pondering that as the idle chat continued around her. Then promptly at 8:45, Skylar pushed his way into the onference room, a tray on his hands and a dragon on his shoulders. "Looks like I'm here on time. No thanks to this load, I couldn't even wake him up this morning. Probably reading that book 'til all hours again. But man, I've never seen anyone sleep so deeply."

"I've never seen HIM sleep so deeply," commented Shockavimon. "He's usually the first one up and the last one down. That's annoying, though, so I kinda hope this is a trend."

"You had him on your shoulders the whole way?" Reyn asked.

"Eh, it's not that bad. I mean, I'm stronger than I was thanks to this whole merging business, plus it's not like I haven't carried backpacks this heavy."

"Oh, yeah, you're mister 'I never go home without all my textbooks even if there are six of them and I have no homework.'"

"You can talk when your grades are as good as mine are."

"Psh. I could spend my life studying and that'd never happen."

The group waited and chattered until, at around 8:55, the rest of their group made its entrance. "Do I even need to bother at this point?" Isaac asked.

"Hey, you're earlier than you usually are," Skylar grumped. "Not that that's saying much."

"Oh, clam, I tuned you out long ago," Isaac shot back. "Anyway, this time it was Data's fault. Derek will back me up on that."

"I told you, you told me the wrong time," Datacarnomon griped. "You said 9:45."

"I did not, and it's not like everyone else didn't say it, either. Hell, Reyn was saying it so much I thought he'd turned into a broken record."

"Come on, it's important that we all know what time we're meeting, isn't it? I just wanted to be sure everyone remembered."

"Is there a particular reason everyone is harping on an insignificant point of contention, or is your purpose this morning solely to exacerbate my irritation?" Blackcanismon grumbled.

"You'll have to excuse him, he didn't sleep well," said Dereek, sounding a lot brighter than his partner. "Man, I've almost forgotten what it was like to actually sleep in the dark. I feel a lot better than I thought I would after yesterday."

"Well, I hope you're all at least awake and fresh enough for this. We've got things to talk about."

"We do?" Skylar asked blankly.

"Yeah. Now wake up your dragon so we can get to it."

Breezedramon eventually responded to repeated prodding, and everyone got situated on or around the table. Reyn took a deep breath and began. "So, a few of us were talking last night...well, I guess it was just Iris and Shockavimon and me and Salmandmon. But anyway, we were looking to the future, and we came to a consensus that...well, we have the ability to go to the digital world right now, and I think we need to take advantage of it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Skylar burst out. "Wait a sec, that's nuts! We'd just be leaving this place to Emperius!"

"Well, what do you want to do, just wait for them to send more and more guys after us?" Iris shot back. "We've got to take the offensive sometime, otherwise they're just going to keep sending more and more guys that we're not gonna to be able to fight off!"

"And they're gonna be able to here?" Breezedramon jumped in.

"Well, they're not defenseless! They've got Talomon, Felismon, Dorumon, Elecmon, Commandramon, and probably Striekdramon and Leomon and Gharialmon, too! Plus, they've got those data fracture bombs, and they're even making them less horrible! This is our best shot and we should take it on!" She stopped and realized everyone was giving her strange looks. "What?"

"Er...nothing," Isaac said quickly. "Okay, I get what you're saying - we're not quite as defenseless as we look over here. But still, you're suggesting going to the digital world, and that has to be a dangerous prospect in itself."

"Yeah! There's loads and loads of vernicious digimon over there!" Breezedramon added. "We could be obeliskerated and disremembered over there! We're not strong enough to deal with all the digimon!"

"It's gonna be tricky for us because we can't evolve on our own, and if Marsmon and Suijinmon are anything to go by, the stronger digimon could be a real pain or worse," Datacarnomon agreed. "Not that we're not pretty darn good at what we do, but it only takes one mistake."

"Oh, come ON, you guys! We're never going to get anywhere unless we take some action! We can't keep waiting for them to come to us! I mean, Emperius is going to keep recruiting, and we're not going to get a whole lot more digital support here! We've got to take a stand! We can get stronger if we actually put some effort into it!" Iris stopped again, noticing more stares. "Okay, what the hell, guys? Stop staring at me and stay something!"

"Easy, Iris," Derek said quietly. "It's just...well, strange to hear you talking like that. You seem really different."

"That hardly puts me in unique company this morning. We had a rough day, that gets to you."

"It's not just this morning, though. You've been a little different for a while now. I mean, I'm not trying to criticize, it's just...you've been the quiet and cautious type for as long as I can remember, and all of a sudden you're a lot more, well, daring, I guess."

"I have no idea what you're-" Iris came to a dead stop. _Wait a sec..._

"You're one to talk about differences, Derek," Reyn cracked. "You're more sunshine and rainbows lately than I've ever seen you in your life."

"That may be putting it a little strongly," Isaac snickered.

"Hey, you try spending years and years not getting along with your parents. Dad and I have actually been able to reach some kind of understanding with each other, it's a real load off both of us."

"Nah, I think it started before that," said Isaac. "About the same time Reyn stopped being such a lazy slug."

"Excuse me!"

"Hey, truth's truth, bud, get used to it. I've never seen you so active in your life, you're actually working out and stuff. I've been trying to get you to do that for ages."

"Just because I'm not built like you doesn't make me lazy. And you don't even have to work that hard at it."

"Gotta work some. Being all brains is all well and good, but a good body helps make it that much better."

"I'll take your word for it," Skylar droned.

"I've just had a lot of excess energy lately! I gotta put it to some use when we're not fighting for our lives! You can't tell me you haven't felt it!"

"Not as much as you seem to have! And you're also getting way more into the whole take-charge thing than you did before! Heck, you might have shown some kind of leadership, even."

"Now you're just laying it on."

"I don't think so," Iris said quietly. "So...it's true..."

"Wait, you knew about all this?" Salmandmon asked.

"Not specifically, but in general...Shockavimon, you remember yesterday, we were talking with Kirsten..."

Shockavimon nodded. "Yeah, you're right...I've noticed it, too."

"I thought you might, if you had a moment to consider it. Amazing..."

"Hey! Care to let the rest of us into the loop?" Derek cut in.

"Oh, sorry. What it is, is that we've all been changing...not just physically, but mentally. We've started acting different from how we used to." Nothing but a sea of blank faces around her; she felt impatience creeping up again, but batted it down. "I'm not the only one who's noticed, either. Derek, you've, well, gotten more relaxed and upbeat, just in general, and Isaac's right, it wasn't just after you and your dad reconciled."

"Wh...really?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah. And Reyn, they're right, you've been a lot more active, and you've also kind of taken on a leadership role. You got us all ready for the military assault yesterday, and you've taken the initiative on talking with the President a lot. Heck, you were the one who organized this meeting."

"I...well, I mean...I wasn't trying to lord over all of you..."

"I don't think anyone's been complaining, exactly. We just kind of took to it automatically anyway. Isaac, well, you've been somewhat less overbearing than normal, and I heard you try to make an actual bet with someone at least once, which is at least once more than I've ever heard you do in your life."

"Hey, yeah, I remember that now. It just seemed kinda right, for some reason."

"Which is completely wrong for you, given what I know about you. And Skylar, you've been more emotional overall, and...well, to be honest, you've been stumbling over your words."

"WHAT? No way, I have not!"

Iris rolled her eyes. "I rest my case for the emotional part. Two weeks ago something like that wouldn't have gotten even a slight rise out of you. And I'm not kidding, it's been like five or six times, and that's just that I've noticed."

"But...that's ridiculous! How could I be doing that and not know it?"

"Well...the thing is, I don't think any of us have noticed the changes in ourselves, just each other. I mean, listen to how you all reacted...heck, how I reacted."

"But wait a moment, that's just nuts," Derek argued. "How could we not notice that we've been acting different? We should be the first ones to realize it!"

"But we weren't. And I think that's because it doesn't feel different to us. Think about it...it has to be the merging that's doing this, that's been the cause of everything else. We're becoming one with beings who are the same as us, and yet different from us...it's a union on a level that's basically unprecedented, even conjoining our minds...isn't it possible that that kind of connection could be altering us? Like we're taking in aspects of our partners, kind of towards a median point. It's like...like...oh, I can't remember that word, some sciency word involving flowing..."

"Osmosis?" Nine astonished pairs of eyes landed on Breezedramon, who seemed confused by all the sudden attention. "What?"

"Where the flaming hell did you come up with that?" Salmandmon practically shouted.

Breezedramon shrugged. "Iunno. Probably Sky. Don't see why you're all getting so conflusterated over it."

"W-wait a moment!" Skylar stammered. "You mean I've...I've really been jumbling up my words like this goofball?"

"Goofball? It's only because of me that you can create great huge tornadoes with your mind!"

"That doesn't change the fact that you're a goofball!"

"He's got ya there, Breeze," Datacarnomon chuckled. Breezedramon just shook his head and grumbled something about how everyone was against him.

"I've heard it a few times, Sky," Iris explained, "and what's more, you seem to be reacting more when anyone says something about it. Like just yesterday, you were explaining something and mixed up a word, and when I just asked what you said, you nearly blew your top. It's like you know, but you don't want to accept it."

"But...I don't..." Skylar just fell quiet, unable to process this new discovery.

"And it goes the other way, as well," Shockavimon continued on, looking around at the digimon, who seemed to have seen this additional revelation coming after what had just been revealed. "We're taking on aspects of our human partners. Sal's finally started relaxing of his own volition, and he's lightened up in other ways as well. B.C.'s not so unreadable anymore, and he's more understandable somehow, even when he uses his weird vocabulary it's clearer than it used to be. Data's more...well, I hesitate to use the word 'arrogant,' but if I had to pick a word it would be that one."

"You hesitate? That's gotta be yours!"

"...Maybe? I can't really tell myself very well, but maybe you're right. Plus, you're also not jumping to make bets all the time...maybe a blessing, that one. And Breezedramon's more serious than he used to be, and _that's_ a freaking miracle." Breezedramon gave an indignant huff. "Oh, cool it...wait, did Skylar say you were _reading?_"

"It's an interesting book!"

"You've never found a book interesting in your life!" Datacarnomon exclaimed, aghast. "You got bored reading training pamphlets, for frag's sake!"

"Whoa, guys, let's not go overboard here," Salmandmon stepped in before a row could break out. "No need to start fighting amongst ourselves again. Jeez, how did this even happen? I would have thought I'd notice something this big...but it can't just have happened over night, right?"

"Definitely not," Iris agreed. "I think if it had been more sudden, it probably would have been brought to our attention sooner. So I guess it's been a process that's been ongoing since we started merging, and maybe got a bit stronger when we hit our second forms."

"So how far do you think it'll go?" Reyn asked, his tone betraying his concern.

"Jeez, it's not a death sentence, Reyn," Isaac remarked.

"I'm serious. I want to know."

"How are we supposed to know?" Shockavimon replied. "This is brand new for us, too, remember. Maybe this is as far as we'll change, or maybe we'll change more. That's about as specific as I can tell."

"I doubt it would change us completely, though," Datacarnomon added. "More likely it'll taper off and stop entirely somewhere down the road."

"Oh? And where are you getting this information from, oh-so-wise one?"

"Just a hunch, you know?"

"Since when do you rely on hunches?"

"Given what we've just talked about, probably recently. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd think we'd notice if it was something really major, don't you?"

"Well...maybe..." Reyn shook his head. "I guess it's not worth worrying about at this point, especially since I doubt we could change it anyway." He didn't exactly sound convinced of that himself, but pressed on before anyone could point it out and extend the discussion. "I think we should get back to where we started - heading to the digital world."

"Right...I guess you guys have a point in that we've got some level of defense here, even without us being in the fray. But trust me, being in the digital world isn't gonna be a walk in the park."

"Yeah, you said that before, but we need to do something to stop Emperius, and just waiting around here isn't gonna do it," Iris countered. "Besides, we think we might have hit on a way to overcome that power hurdle."

"Perhaps you could provide to our multitude your overarching blueprint for success forthwith, instead of tantalizing us with mere prospects?" Blackcanismon asked.

"C'mon, B.C., you could probably guess," Salmandmon replied with a smirk. "Where else would one get lots of power on short notice?"

Breezedramon's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah! The Catalysts!"

"Catalysts?" asked Derek.

"Catalysts are ancient objects in the digital world that act as power conduits," Datacarnomon explained. "No one knows where or why they originated, but it was likely to be at the same time as digimon themselves came to be. The Catalysts provide a power boost to the digimon that touches them...and on first contact, the boost is permanent. For many digimon, this is a requirement for them to be able to evolve to a higher form; the energy required for the boost just can't be naturally achieved except under very specific circumstances. I think if we visited them and used their power, it could be enough to get our merged forms to a higher level...that'd probably be enough to at least put up a good fight against digimon like Marsmon and Suijinmon."

"Certainly, however, inevitably we shall face challenges we must surmount in order to even procure access to the Catalysts."

"Better than sticking around here and not being able to get more power at all. It's not like they could re-create the Catalysts here - we don't even know how they work, there's no way the humans could figure it out knowing as little about us as they do."

"Yeah, and besides, it's not like staying here is gonna be that much less dangerous, especially if they start throwing more Mega digimon our way," added Shockavimon.

"I guess I can't argue that," Isaac said. "Okay, you've convinced me. Guess sooner's better than later, huh?"

"You can count me in, too," Derek agreed. "Though I'd kinda like to know what we're in for a little better. These Catalyst things, what are they like? How much trouble will it be to get to them? That kind of thing."

"Easy enough," replied Salmandmon. "They're not exactly complex things - just glowing orbs of power aligned with a specific element. Don't ask me why it works like that - like Data said, there's a lot we don't understand about them."

"Is there just one of each type?" Iris asked.

"Oh, no way! One of each type, how stupid would that be? What if something happened to one? I don't have a count or anything, but there's a bunch of them of any given type. All we have to do is find ones that we can use."

"And how long will that take?" This time it was Skylar with the follow-up.

"Considering that we've all actually used them before, shouldn't be too long," Shockavimon said with a laugh. "I'd wager we could all remember where we found the ones we used. Even Breezedramon could do that."

"Oh, come on!" whined the blue dragon. "Why do you all go after me? I've been at your side this whole time, it's not like I'm holding you back!"

"Yeah, that's kinda why we do, bud," Salmandmon chuckled. "We've known you for long enough that there's no doubt what you're like - a big scaly goofball."

"Wait, you said you've used them before?" Isaac asked.

Datacarnomon nodded. "Yeah. Back when we could evolve on our own, we used them to break past a limit similar to this one. Evolving takes a lot of energy, and if you're a variable-state digimon you generally can't store enough in your base form normally to get to that Ultimate level. So we used a Catalyst to boost our energy in our base forms, making it so we could get past that hurdle."

"But you said they could only be used once-"

"No, I said the boost was only permanent the first time. Anyway, I don't think it's as important for us as it is for you guys. Or maybe we have to use it while merged. We should be able to experiment with that."

"Could humans even use them?" Reyn asked.

"Maybe not your average human, but I'm pretty confident that you guys will be able to. The alignment tends to be the most important thing, and you guys are pretty well aligned due to our symbiosis."

"It sounds promising...all right, we should start making preparations, then. If we can, we should leave today...the sooner we get that boost, the sooner we can come back if that's what we feel we have to do. Isaac, Datacarnomon, I'm gonna leave the set-up to you guys. Figure out how to extract that energy from Commandramon and make it so the ten of us can use it."

"Leave it to us. I think we can cook something up."

"Great. The rest of us should start making our preparations. And we'd better let the President know what we're gonna do, too...he's probably gonna need to make some plans of his own."

(==========)

As they left their meeting room, Skylar excused himself and Breezedramon and split off from the rest of the group. Ducking into another unoccupied room, Skylar sat and looked at the dragon with some concern. "It looks like something's bothering you, Breezedramon. What's up?"

Breezedramon drooped a little bit. "It's nothing...it's just the others."

"What's different about it this time? They've ribbed you before and you didn't seem to take it that hard. And you've done the same. I thought it was just something you guys did."

"It's not that it's different...it's just...I dunno..." the dragon flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Sometimes I think they don't think I'm serious."

"Uh...well, you don't always act serious-"

"Not like that. I feel like they don't think I'm serious about fighting against these guys, and protecting people from them. I mean, I know we all make fun of each other for our quirks and stuff, but sometimes it feels like I get it a lot more. I mean, I guess sometimes I talk funny, and I guess I'm a bit of a tornado head, but that doesn't mean I'm not totally serious about this!"

"Of course it doesn't. You really think that's a problem?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time. It's screwed things up for me before. It made a bunch of people hate me and stuff, and that really hurt!"

"Really? Wait, I think I remember something a little bit...wasn't it something to do with some bird digimon? Gah, I can't think of it-"

"Falcomon. Not just some bird digimon, my closest friend, or so I thought. And then...well, it kinda all went to pot before I even knew what happened."

_-5 years ago-_

"_I...I just don't know what to do, Breezedramon." It was bright and sunny that day on Pinion Peak, my old swooping grounds. It was a nice little down located high in some bluffs near the coastline, populated by winged digimon of all shapes and sizes. Far away from most anything that caused any sort of trouble, there wasn't much to dislike. Anyway, bright and sunny. Except Falcomon was being a gloomy gus. "Swanmon was like a mother to me. I can't believe...she's really gone. I just...I just can't get my mind off it."_

_Swanmon was a nice lady who unfortunately got sick and died just a few days before this all happened. It was sad, but Falcomon was really feeling bad because of it. I wanted to cheer him up, of course. It was only right - he was my friend, and that's what friends do! Isn't it?_

"_You just need to put your mind off of it! Think about happy stuff, like the time we outraced those Flymon! Or when we spent that scavenger hunt procrastinating and still beat everyone else!"_

_He looked at me with that same ol' gloomy expression. "I can't just put my mind off it, Breezedramon! She meant a lot to me!"_

"_Aw, Falcomon, all you need are a few good jokes! Come on, laughter's the best medicine, isn't it?"_

"_Breeze...please, just stop..."_

_I guess I probably should have stopped. "Hey, I know a good one. You know how Diatrymon looks like a collapsed building? Well, I was wondering, if it crashed, how could you tell? I mean, it's already a mess, so-"_

"_Would you just shut up?" Falcomon had never screeched like that before, and it totally rocked me. I pretty much fell off my perch and landed on my back, and I just stared at him from the ground._

"_I can't take it anymore! Your constant idiocy, your continual blathering, your...you just can't understand! You won't take anything seriously! You just go along on your merry way, not giving a damn about anything in the world except your own ignorant joy! You're...you're just so insensitive!"_

"_W...what?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My best friend for years, calling me insensitive? An idiot? Just for trying to cheer him up?_

"_I'm not your friend! No one's your friend! We can't stand being around you, we can't stand listening to you prattle on like nothing's ever wrong with your lovely little life while we have problems and issues to deal with! Sometimes we just need someone who'll listen to us, who cares about our problems! And you don't care! I hate you! Go away and stop bugging me!"_

"_But...b-b-but...Falcomon!" He just flew off without giving me another look. I was totally in tears. I mean, I couldn't believe it! He thought I didn't care about him? We'd been best buds for years, I thought he knew how much I liked him and cared about him! Wasn't I helping out? It hurt a lot, and I spent the rest of the day kinda bawling my eyes out._

_So then I asked some other people. And they said the same thing! Well, not exactly, they didn't say they hated me, at least not outright. But they said it was so annoying how I didn't care about them, and that they really didn't want to talk to me most of the time. I tried telling them I did care, but they didn't even listen! They just had me pegged a that one guy who hangs around and makes things worse for everyone else._

_I was crushed, really. I couldn't understand why they thought so badly of me. But I couldn't handle the thought of sticking around if they thought I was just making things worse. So I just up and left. Didn't say good-bye or anything, not that I think they would have cared. I wasn't really all that worldly, so it was kind of strange and confusing being all out on my own._

_Believe it or not, lucky coincidence, I happened to run into Datacarnomon out there. Never would've expected that I'd end up fighting alongside him one day. Anyway, we chatted a while, and I found out he'd had trouble in his past, too. He said I should try to make up for it, prove that I wasn't what they thought I was, then they'd know I was being honest. I think I gave him some advice, too, but I don't remember what it was and it probably sucked. But anyway, I set myself to trying to prove that I took things seriously. Not exactly an easy thing to do, because its hard to figure out what you do to prove that kinda thing. But when Emperius rolled around and they were looking for guys to help fight against them, I thought it was perfect! What better way to prove you're serious about caring about people than fighting against bad guys trying to hurt others?_

_-Present Day-_

"I remember that a little more clearly now," Skylar said solemnly. "I missed the actual event with Falcomon, but somehow I remember that he was the start of it...and I do remember some of those other guys...man, they were pretty nasty. I think your memories of them are a little generous."

"Eh...maybe. I don't like to remember. Anyway, I guess it bugs me that the other guys act like I'm just some comic relief goofball. That's not what it was supposed to be like! I really care about this, I'm totally serious!"

"Whoa, calm down there, buddy. I don't think that's the case. I mean, yeah, they joke about you, but they've never accused you of being a burden or not taking this seriously. On the contrary, I remember some dreams where they really expressed how thankful they were that you were there fighting with them. They wouldn't do that if they thought you were a drag on them or were just comic relief."

"You really think so?"

"Absolutely. They care about you and they want you by their side when the chips are down. And I think they wouldn't make so many jokes if they weren't totally comfortable and friendly with you."

"Thanks, Sky. That makes me feel better. I guess I just wish the others had seen it that way."

"They should have. They should at least have listened to you, or given you a chance to explain, or even explained themselves. You didn't get it, you were doing what you thought was right. And it was part of who you are - the guy who tries to be upbeat and carry everyone's spirits when things are tough. I've heard Reyn say a few times that we are who we are and we should be proud of it, not hide it because other people don't like who we are. So you should be proud to be a goofball!"

"I...guess so? I don't wanna be a downer, definitely!"

"Exactly. So keep that chin up and keep the jokes comin'. I think we're all gonna be able to use a bit of humor in our near future."

"All right!"

(==========)

President Monroe's head remained bowed as Reyn finished his explanation of their plans. "...I see. It sounds like a reasonable idea...of course, you can understand where I might have concerns about this course of action."

Reyn nodded. "Of course. They're things we're worried about as well. But I feel we will only struggle more as time wears on unless we become stronger...we just can't risk getting overpowered like that again, next time we may not be as lucky. Besides, we can also cut off their reinforcements from the other side if we get the chance...that could lower the burden on you guys."

"Well, if you feel this is the best option, I certainly won't stand in your way. I have the feeling you've a little better grasp of the matter than I do." President Monroe stood up. "If this is the case, I need to help set the course over here as well...would you please take me to see the other allied digimon? I wish to speak with them."

"Uh, sure, I suppose." None of the six were entirely sure what the president was planning, but all the same they took him down to the common room where the digimon were milling about. As soon as everyone was gathered and at attention, the situation was explained to them. Predictably, reactions were mixed to the news.

"I guess I understand, but do you really think we can hold out here?" Elecmon asked.

"Figures, the going gets tough and they decide to skip out on us," grumbled Talomon.

"Hush, you, it's not like it's going to get easier for them," Felismon chastised.

"You think maybe you could send us a little back-up while you're there?" Commandramon asked. "We could probably use a platoon or twelve."

The president help up a hand for silence. "If I could have a moment...given the nature of this situation, I feel we're going to need more firepower than our armies alone can provide. For that reason, I'd like to request that you join with our military-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Talomon shouted. "Hey, I'm not taking any orders from any humans! I'm my own mon, not a dumb pet or someth-" The raptor was silenced by a bat from Felismon's paw on his nose. "Hey!"

"You should be honored!" Commandramon exclaimed stiffly. "To be part of a platoon defending innocents against an unjust invasion, there is no more noble cause!"

"Maybe you think that, army brat-"

"Please, give me a moment," the President interjected. "I'm not looking for you to be taking orders from anyone. In fact, you'll be the ones giving the orders."

All eyes turned back to him, symbiotes included. Strikedramon was the one who finally broke the silence. "Really? You wanna put us in charge?"

"I know it sounds rather unusual, but I believe it makes sense. You know more about our enemies than we do; you'll be better able to guide our men as to the proper course of action against any one of them. And you'll probably be the best weapon against them in the end anyway. Your knowledge and strength will be vital, but I don't want to send you out there alone. So having our men back you up will be a way to help support you, as well as give them the best idea of how to deal with what we're up against. It's the best course of action for everyone."

"You think the soldiers will really be willing to accept that idea?" Derek asked uncertainly.

"I imagine there will be some reluctance, but anyone who puts up a fuss will have to answer to me. Besides, I don't think they'll be so eager to protest when they see what they have to go up against...they'll probably welcome some kind of insight into how best to fight the battles they'll be up against."

"That is indeed a wise strategy," Leomon said with a nod. "The better equipped you are to deal with these foes, the less you will require us to shoulder the burden. I will accept your proposal."

"As will I!" Commandramon jumped in, almost sounding annoyed that he wasn't the first to say it. "It would be a great honor to lead your brave soldiers into battle against our enemies! I'll make sure they come away victorious!"

"Thia ain't what I was expectin'...but hell, so long as they ain't Numemon, I think I can do that jus' fine," Gharialmon agreed.

"Well, heck, I'm not letting all of you have all the fun," said Strikedramon. "Count me in!"

"I guess this seals it...I'm really going against Emperius..." Dorumon said quietly. "Well, they deserve it after all they've done. I'll do it!"

"I've had enough of them making us all feel inferior," Elecmon declared. "I'll do whatever is best to defeat them!"

"This is a real turnaround from when I got here, but I like it," Felismon remarked. "I'm game...well, that's seven of us. Ball's in your court, Talomon."

Talomon was quiet for a few seconds. Finally he gave a small huff. "Hmph...well, if I'm gonna be the one in charge, I guess that's okay. Fine, you've got my bond, for now."

Felismon rolled her eyes. "Honestly, when are you gonna can the whole reluctance act? No one's buying it. We all know you're more eager to get back at Emperius than anyone."

"It's no act." But he said it a little too defensively for the rest to believe him.

The president nodded and smiled warmly. "Thank you all so much...I'm truly grateful for your help. I'll make sure you're all treated well and that the soldiers know who's in charge. We'll have units assigned to you as soon as possible. With you guiding us, we may just be able to weather this menace."

(==========)

"So, you're going over to their home turf..." Elliot sighed quietly. "I don't suppose there's much room for discussion. You're absolutely sure about this?"

Derek nodded. "As sure as we're ever gonna be, at least. We may be the strongest weapon we've got right now, but it's still not enough. This is the only way we're going to be able to ensure we can take these guys down once and for all."

"Ohhh...Derek..." Myra moaned, close to tears. "I wish you didn't have to go...I'm worried sick about you already...what happens if you can't come back? If you...if you..."

"I won't. I know it's not exactly an appropriate statement, but...don't worry about me. I'm not going alone, and I can handle myself."

"Mister and Missus Katran..." Blackcansimon started respectfully. "My vocabulary may be entirely inadequate to provide reasonable reassurance of your progeny's security, but I ensure you that the totality of my endeavors will be directed at his survival. His vitality in the whole of our intentions is paramount, and it promises to be an unmitigated catastrophe if the unthinkable should perchance occur. Therefore, I humbly request you provide in me your trust to his continued existence."

Elliot allowed himself a smile. "You certainly are an eloquent little fellow. I guess there's not really a lot of choice for me here. Derek, you watch yourself out there, and Blackcanismon, you keep his back."

"Thanks, dad. You don't let them get one over on you over here, either. It'd drive me crazy if we went to all this trouble only for you to get slammed in the meantime."

"Heh...I think I'm with you on that one. We'll hold down the fort until you get back."

(==========)

"Nooooo! Sky, don't go!" Benny sobbed, latched on to his older brother like a barnacle. "I'm scared and I don't want you to goooo!"

"I guess I should have seen this coming..." Skylar mumbled as patiently as he could manage as he tried to pry Benny off of him. "Listen, little dude, I'm sorry, but we've gotta do this. Otherwise things are probably gonna get worse than they already are."

"Oh, Skylar..." Corrine dabbed at her eyes a bit. "I hope you know what you're doing. This sounds very dangerous..."

"Yeah, it's probably gonna be dangerous and then some. But I'm not gonna be reckless. You know how I am, Mom...I know how to take care of myself."

"Yes...yes, I suppose you do."

"And he's got me, too!" Breezedramon piped up. "We'll be able to face all sorts of encanflinangerations when we're together!"

"Well, you've faced enough crap over here," Kirsten said resignedly. "If that didn't prove you could do it, I don't know what would. C'mon, Benny, you gotta get off of Skylar."

"No! Don't go, Sky! Please!"

"Benny, please...man, he's really not making this any easier." Kirsten managed to break Benny's death grip after a few seconds of struggling, then had to hold tight as he tried to squirm free.

Skylar thought quickly for some way to get Benny to calm down. "Hey, buddy, look at me. C'mon, eyes on mine." Reluctantly, the sniveling boy looked at him, eyes red from all the tears he'd shed. "Listen, I'll be back, and I'll be fine, don't you worry about me. I promise. Heck, I double promise. You remember that?"

"...R-really? Double promise?"

"Double promise. You know I don't break those."

"That's right, he doesn't!" Breezedramon had no idea what Skylar was talking about, but obviously it was working to help calm Benny, so he wanted to help out.

"O...okay." Benny sniffed a bit and rubbed his eyes. "I'll...I'll be waiting for you...please come back."

"Like I said, double promise." Skylar straightened up and took a quick glance around. "I...don't see Dad. He's not still being thick, is he?"

"He's...stopped denying the reality, but I think it's still kind of working its way through him," Corrine said. "I didn't think it would help to pile it on right now."

"Gosh, I hope we don't give him a psychicalantilogical breakdown."

"He should be fine, eventually. Well, I guess it's time to get everything prepared."

Kirsten stepped forward and embraced Skylar tightly. "You be safe out there, Sky. I want to see you again, too."

"Hey, I'm not in the habit of breaking little kids' hearts. I'll be back and we'll see this through to the end. That's a promise you can count on."

(==========)

"No. Absolutely not."

Isaac frowned at his father. "Dad, I'm not asking permission. This is happening whether you consent to it or not. I'm just letting you know so you know where I am, kind of."

"You are dreaming if you think I'm going to allow you to go to a...a world of those freakish things. It's bad enough that they're coming here, I will not allow you to go there, no way, no how."

"I don't think you're gonna win this argument, Dad," Ashley said, rolling her eyes.

"Dad, it's not up to you. We need to be able to stop Emperius somehow, and nothing over here is going to give us enough to do that. We've got the chance, we're taking it. It's not a question anymore."

"It's too dangerous, Isaac," Lilith protested, unable to manage more than a shaky whisper. "What if something happens to you?"

Alphonse had yet to give up. "This is lunacy. You're putting yourself in a position that's too dangerous. I won't allow it-"

Isaac had had enough. He stepped forward and raised up his metallic arm to Alphonse's eye level, stopping him short. "Do you see this? This isn't some little gadget I invented, this is part of my body. I remember how you used to say that I spent so much time around machines that I would become one someday. Well, guess what, that day was just yesterday."

"To be fair, it was just one particular machine that caused that," Datacarnomon cracked.

"This is beyond the point of you being able to say yes or no. Heck, this is beyond the point of me being able to say yes or no, but I wouldn't say no anyway at this point. We're doing this. Yes, it's dangerous, and yes, it won't be easy, but I think I'm equipped to handle it a this point. If you don't, well, that's your problem. You've been filled in on everything that's happened and happening, and if you don't get why I have to do this now then you're just gonna have to keep wondering. You understand?"

Both parents were quiet for a minute. Finally, Alphonse nodded stiffly. "I...I see. I guess, then...all I can really say is...be careful."

Lilith nodded slowly and tearfully. "Please be careful, Isaac..."

Isaac nodded. "You have my word, Mom, Dad. I'll make sure not to take any risks I can't handle."

"And I'll see to it that he lives up to that," Datacarnomon said. "He is pretty much the entire future of robots in this world, so losing him would be too horrible to contemplate."

Ashley stepped forward and caught Isaac in a tight embrace, surprising him with her vigor. When she finally broke, she gave him her regular snappy grin, though with a bit of teariness behind it. "Hey, you take care of yourself out there, little bro. Try not to end up like a tin can. Same goes for you, Dinobot."

"Hmph. Who do you think you're talking to? I'd do better out there than you would."

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one going. Enjoy it for me!"

(==========)

"At this point, I guess it would be kind of silly to think I know better than you do about this," Emil said heavily. "Still...are you sure you can handle this, Iris?"

"If I can't, I'll make myself handle it. They're not going to beat me, I'll make sure of that."

"Iris...please, if you have any second thoughts, please reconsider.…" Heather was holding back tears, though it looked like she might break at any moment.

"I'm not having any second thoughts, Mom. I'm determined to see this through to the end."

"But...it's so dangerous..."

"She can create lightning bolts with her mind," Shockavimon pointed out. "She's as dangerous as most of us. She's easily better-equipped than most humans, if anyone's able to handle it it's her."

"I know you're worried, and I know you're going to be worried, but I can't just sit around here and let everything come to me, you know? Sometimes you have to make things happen, and that's what's going on here. Besides, I'll have Reyn and Skylar and Isaac and Derek with me, and you know they wouldn't let anything happen to me. Not unless they wanted you to kill them, anyway."

"Then I guess there's not much else to say," Emil concluded. "Just be careful out there, okay? Don't push yourself too hard. And Shockavimon, you see to it that she stays safe, too."

"Absolutely. She means as much to me as she does to you, and you've got a fifteen year head start on protecting her. I need to play catch-up."

"That's the kind of attitude I like to hear. Thanks, Shockavimon."

"And hey, Dad, you'd better be careful, too. I doubt they're gonna stop making attempts to break through here just because we took a detour. You'd better make sure we have somewhere to come back to."

Emil nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't do anything less for my little girl."

(==========)

"I have to admit...ever since hearing about all this, I had a feeling that this was eventually going to happen," Minerva said resignedly. "There's not much point in arguing it...we'll be keeping you in our prayers and wishes."

"If you need anything before you go, let me know and I'll get it for you right away," Traylor added, as serious as Reyn had ever heard him. "Anything at all...I just want to help you out any way I can."

Reyn nodded. "Thanks, Dad, but I don't think I'm gonna need anything more at this point. Salmandmon says that we can get food and stuff while we're over there, and I don't think it's gonna help to drag along a bunch of supplies I may never use."

"Yeah, it's probably best to have as little load as possible," Salmandmon agreed. "Digimon don't usually carry much with them, so it's easy enough to find anything we'll need over there."

"Jeez...I can't believe you're going to a whole freaking other world," Wallace griped, shaking his head. "I can't even go on a road trip. At least I won't have to listen to you two bugging me all the time."

"Maybe you can use the quiet time to get a job or do something even remotely productive."

"Ha ha. You're such a laugh riot."

"I can't believe you're really going over there," Cayden said, sounding more curious than apprehensive. "What's it gonna be like?"

"It's gonna be a new experience for him, that's for sure," Salmandmon said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he comes back in one piece. Or at least no more than two."

"Hey! One only!" Alisin exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, if you insist."

"I dunno, I kinda like the sound of two pieces," Wallace said. "Maybe I can only be around the one without the mouth."

"Both of them will be able to create fireballs, though, so don't think you're out of the woods."

"It's nice to see that you can still act like brothers, even after all this," Minerva said with a shake of her head and a thin smile on her lips. "I just wish there was more we could do."

"There's plenty you can do, Mom. I doubt Emperius is gonna stop sending guys over just because we're leaving. There's gonna be more injuries before this is all over, and they're gonna need the kind of help you've been trained to provide. Just give them as much support over here as you can, and that'll be plenty of help for me and the rest of us."

Treylor nodded solemnly. "I think we can do that. Stay safe, Reyn. We'll be praying for your success."

"Yeah, definitely. There's no way I'm gonna let them stop me."

(==========)

The once-empty room in the back of the building was now host to a very large mechanical contraption, with a slightly raised platform on the floor big enough to accommodate all ten of the travelers. "Looking good, Isaac. Is it gonna work?"

"At least once. On such short notice, I didn't really have a chance to make it repeatable. But if they can get over here from there, we should be able to do the same, so getting back won't be a problem."

"As long as it gets us there, I'm satisfied." Reyn turned to the rest of the group. "This is pretty much the point of no return, guys, at least for a little while. Are you all ready to go? Anything you're forgetting?"

"We're not bringing that much, so I don't think that's too much of a problem," Skylar replied. "I'm ready to get over there and do what we need to do."

"Same here," Iris agreed. "The best weapon we have is ourselves, anything else is pretty much details at this point."

"No sense in putting it off," Derek finished. "Let's do this."

Reyn nodded. "That's what I like to hear. Can one of you digimon brace us for what we should expect with this whole transfer business?"

"It'll feel weird, but it shouldn't be harmful or anything," Datacarnomon said. "If it's anything like when we went through, we should be ready to go right away. Well, as long as we end up on the ground rather than in mid-air."

"Emperius did more work with their TTM than we did, we should be better oriented," Shockavimon reasoned.

"We should just be ready for anything," Salmandmon said. "No telling if we're gonna land in a safe and quiet spot or somewhere less hospitable."

"Right, then...let's get this going."

The ten got themselves onto the platform. An audience gathered near the entrance of the room, comprised of humans and digimon alike. Rudy was at the control panel, making the final preparations. "Are you all ready?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Excellent. I'm powering up the transfer matrix right now. It should just be a minute..."

Ryen nodded, feeling a mild sense of unease start to rise in his gut. Almost unconsciously, he put a hand on Salmandmon's shoulder and gripped it somewhat tensely, which didn't go unnoticed by the reptile. "Hey, you okay?"

"Fine...just, you know, a touch antsy."

"Don't worry. It'll be fine." Nonetheless, as Salmandmon reached up to hold onto Reyn, Reyn could feel him holding on pretty tightly as well.

"Hey, shove over, you big lunkhead."

"Hey, no pushing."

"Settle down, you two," Iris said, a little testily. Skylar and Isaac stopped moving around, but still gave each other nasty looks.

"We're ready to go!" Rudy stated loudly. "Prepare for transfer!"

It suddenly became very bright at the platform. Reyn barely had time to realize that it was actually happening before his mind went completely blank.

_Here we go-_

(==========)

(==========)

So, part one is wrapped up. More of a technical milestone - I'm not like making a whole new story link or anything, and updates should continue fairly uninterrupted right here, or as uninterrupted as I can make them (see last week's note). But the story's definitely getting to a new place, as are the people inside it.

The writing is a little more challenging for the next part. I'm going from a fairly condensed, familiarized location to a largely expanded novel one. I'm sure I will surprise no one when I say descriptiveness is not my strong suit, and having a wide area to cover only makes that more of a problem, since I have to describe many more locations than I did before. I'm hoping I can do a little better job of that in coming chapters, or at least make up for it by writing better in other aspects. Either way, it's going to be no simple task, but if it was easy I probably wouldn't be doing it in the first place.

That's all for now. Now I'm off to study for a big test which happens tomorrow morning. Hope you all get to sleep in!


	22. Chapter 21: Landfall

Hm, I think I may have missed last week's update. Blame work, which has kept me late several days out of the week, and a personal project that ate up about 20 hours of free time between the last two Tuesdays.

All right, time to start the next leg of this journey! And in addition, some new faces! Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 21: Landfall**

The bare metal hallways were only dimly-lit by an occasional overhead light. The ambiance was a perfect match for the mood of the stiff, angelic digimon walking through them, fuming and muttering obscenities behind her golden mask.

"Incompentent simpering fool...completely unable to do this job! Pissing and moaning about every little thing while passively ignoring all the big things, incapable of even the slightest touch of leadership...and would it kill him to add some lights around here?" d'Arcmon shouted to no one in particular.

"It would serve you well to refrain from disparaging our fearless leader," a cold voice stated from nowhere. d'Arcmon jumped in the air and whirled around. A Phantomon was gliding in through the walls, as was his wont as the commander's official guard.

"Phantomon! For the Ancients' sake, don't do that!" d'Arcmon hissed, a hand on her chest. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"That is why Craniummon hired me originally. That is the job I have still been charged to do. You have no authority to tell me otherwise."

"Grr...for your information, I will not hold my tongue about the commander. I mean every single word I say. Not like he gives a damn what I say."

"Do you really think that? He's trying to do everything he can to help us succeed. He strives to make our dreams a reality. Can it truly be painless for him to hear such toxic slander hurled in his direction?"

"Eat slime."

"Eloquently riposted, d'Arcmon. How could I possibly have considered you wrong, after hearing that?"

"Shut your trap. I don't care what you have to say, Phantomon. I will deal with him as I see fit, not as you do. Now buzz off and let me be to see him."

"...If you so insist. Pass."

d'Arcmon walked by without another word and continued through the halls. The lights got gradually dimmer as she progressed, such that by the time she reached the commander's door, the light was like a single lamp in a large room without windows. She shuddered a bit. _How can anyone function in this kind of light? Just another strike against him..._

She pushed open the door and was instantly greeted by a rush of heavy, smoky air. As if she needed yet another reason to be pissed off. "Damnation! Haven't you heard of ventilation?"

A huff from the corner of the room. The commander of Emperius, Havocravenmon, slowly got to his feet, barely visible though the haze of the air. The glow in the cylinder sitting on a small stand nearby was extinguished with a quick pinch of his fingers. "If you're that bothered by it, I'll clear the air."

He walked over to a vent along the back wall of the room and flipped a switch next to it. A loud whirring sound filled the room, quickly emptying the haze and giving d'Arcmon better visibility. The avian creature was just over eight feet tall, with a strong, muscular build, his body covered in inky black feathers save for his black-skinned legs and forearms. His head was very much akin to part of his name, with a long straight beak and deep purple eyes. Though normally armored outside the confines of his quarters, the protective gear was piled haphazardly in the corner near where he had been sitting; all he wore was an unbuckled vest and shorts, both predictably black in color.

With a loud, resounding clatter, the vents shut again, and Havocravenmon turned his gaze on his visitor. "Better?"

"Just barely." d'Arcmon met his gaze with a virulent glare. "Irresponsible oaf. You could suffocate like that."

"I'm sure you'd be first in line for the funeral march." It was an entirely earnest statement that d'Arcmon didn't have to respond to. "As I'm sure you're disappointed to know, I was fine."

"Maybe we should just leave you in here for a week, let you rot. Then maybe we'd get some good leadership. If you don't even care about your own well-being, it's no surprise no one else thinks you care about theirs."

Havocravenmon huffed again. "You're making a lot of presumptions about what other people think. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were out to incite a mutiny against me."

"Clearly you don't know any better."

"Yes, yes, I've heard that one before. As well as the other eighty or so barbs you've fired in my direction time and time again. It's not like you've been shy about expressing your opinions about me."

"So why even bother to point it out?"

"...No real reason, I suppose."

d'Arcmon let out a sound of heavy frustration. "Do you even care why I'm here? Are are you just trying to prove everything I think about you right yet again?"

"As if I could do anything else. You've been against me from the start, d'Arcmon, I long ago accepted that it was foolish to try to sway you otherwise."

"That's because I know you're the wrong person to lead Emperius! The sheepish masses may follow you blindly out of some misguided loyalty, willing to listen as you tell them what they want to hear. But I truly care about our divine mission! I do not want us to fail because incompetent leadership sabotaged our goals! I should be the one in charge here!"

Havocravenmon sighed; this too was a familiar line. "It is not my fault Craniummon picked myself over you to be his second-in-command. Nor is it my fault that he perished on the battlefield. I am not here by my own design, but I intend to make the most of it. If you dislike that, I don't particularly care. As long as you support the cause and are willing to fight for our goals, that is what matters." He shuffled back over to the cylinder standing in the corner. "Now, if you have something to tell me, then tell."

d'Arcmon was silent, and Havocravenmon turned to meet her gaze once again. "Are you really going to play this game, d'Arcmon? Most of us grew out of that as children."

"That cylinder has paxi in it, doesn't it?"

"For crying out loud, d'Arcmon, I'm not allowed some tranquilization in my own room?"

"A good leader doesn't smoke himself up with mellowers when he's got an important role to fulfill! You're compounding a problem that's already extremely serious by clouding your head with that crap!"

"No, a good leader doesn't allow excessive emotion to impair his judgment. My nerves have been on edge lately, and you damn well know why. I want to be sure I'm deciding by thought, not reaction. I'm more than willing to sacrifice a bit of visceral energy when it leads to victory in battle rather than defeat."

"You're amazingly ignorant."

Havocravenmon was beginning to get tired of this. "Did you come here solely to insult me, or do you actually have something worthwhile to report? I assume that's why you're here...you always do like to be the bearer of bad news, since good news is usually given by someone who actually supports me."

"Fine. It's bad news as usual. The large scale attack on the human world failed miserably."

Havocravenmon let out a rumbling sigh, feeling that familiar frustration well up within him again. "Casualties?"

"100%. None of them ever returned to base."

"Night...even Marsmon and Suijinmon..."

"Dammit, what does 100% mean to you? Of course they're included! They're part of the invading force, and they didn't return, so they're probably dead!"

"That wasn't a question. And I suppose we've no reason to assume it was a different cause from before?"

"Of course not, you idiot. The heretics that allied themselves with the humans stopped them again. The Ancients only know how they still manage to stand against us, but I blame you."

"Of course you do. Night forbid you search for a real reason." Havocravenmon walked over and sat down on his bed, head bowed in thought. "If we still can't beat them, that means we don't know how to fight them. They're different from the foes we've faced before...we need different tactics."

"Oh, and when did this shocking revelation come to you?"

Havocravenmon found himself having to calm down for the first time; the effects of the paxi were already wearing off under the stress. "Perhaps you may think it's obvious, but try telling that to our masses. They haven't been receptive to the idea that they can't just rush in headlong like the rest of our battles."

"Or maybe you just haven't done a good enough job painting that picture for them. So what are your brilliant and infallible tactics?"

Havocravenmon didn't answer right away. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted finally.

"Hmph. Some leader you turned out to be."

His ire broke through now, and he gave d'Arcmon a vicious glare. "And I suppose you have some magical solution? You know full well I have no more knowledge of these tainted ones than anyone else here! It's not easy to fight a force we've never seen before!"

"How hard can they be to defeat, though? They're mortals. They've got human blood in them, so they should be weaker than those of us with purity."

"And yet they haven't been, what does that tell you? Don't underestimate the power of a bond between two creatures. Remember the power that DNA evolution confers. If the humans are binding with digimon in a similar way, then they stand a chance of being markedly more powerful than you might expect."

"Don't patronize me, Havocravenmon. I damn well know what DNA evolution can do. They can still be killed."

"As can any living being, but it makes it that much harder." Havocrvenmon stood again and began pacing slightly. "I've been mulling over something, but I'm not certain that it's feasible...it could very well end up backfiring, or just be logistically beyond our means. And I don't think it would ultimately be well accepted by most of us."

"You have an idea and you're not sharing it. So I should assume you're trying to hold us back, then?"

"...Fine, if you're that eager. The tainted ones...I seriously doubt that they will be content to remain in their own world when we're over here. They will be arriving here eventually, I am sure of it. Perhaps...perhaps it would be wise for us to wait until they do before making another major strike."

"What?" d'Arcmon fairly shouted. "You want to draw them to us? Have you gone mad?"

"That wasn't my idea at all! You have to at least try to listen! I'm not suggesting we draw their attack. Now listen, there's little doubt that they'll want to go on the offensive at some point. That will require them to get to the digital world...they'll manage it somehow, I'm sure of it. That's the key moment. We can send out our scouts to scan everywhere, looking for any sign of humans or strange digimon-like creatures they don't recognize. When they see them, they'll report back to us. Then we go all-out on the human world. With the front line gone, the resistance should be minimal and easily overcome, and with any luck, they won't find out until we've overcome all other opposition, so we can focus fully on defeating them. We may not even have to...perhaps they'll be willing to join by then."

"Y...you would have tainted ones join us?"

"Why not? They are truly strong, you have seen that. Remember our cause, d'Arcmon. The strong should be preserved - that's one of the basic tenets of Emperius, and it applies to more than just pure digimon. Though they may not be the same as us, they would be invaluable assets if they turned to our side. And as reluctant as our ranks would be to let them in, they would probably prefer it to being deleted by them."

"What in the blue hells would make you think of this kind of crap?"

"Were you or were you not the one demanding I share every idea I might possibly think up? I did say I didn't think it was certain to work, or that we could even pull it off. That doesn't mean the concept itself is without merit, though."

"All that smoke must be affecting your brain somehow, you insufferable moron. Why would you even consider-"

"d'Arcmon, come on, think about it for a moment. These creatures, these...hybrids, I suppose you could say, have been winning every battle they've waged against our forces. Numbers haven't stopped them. Our strongest warriors have fallen to them. Clearly, direct attacks are not going to be able to overcome their resistance, so we must resort to other tactics. By bypassing them entirely, we ensure that they won't have a chance to put up a fight until we've given them nothing to fight for. When that happens, we can take one of two courses of action: throwing the full measure of our attack at them and finally wipe them out, or offer them the opportunity to join our ranks and fight alongside us as their one chance to survive. If by some miracle they sided with us, we would have a weapon unlike any the digital world has seen before. Our goals could be realized in two worlds faster than any of us might have ever imagined! Isn't that what we're striving for?"

d'Arcmon shook her head. "It never...EVER...ceases to amaze me how unbelievably obtuse you can be. I've had enough of this insanity. You can squawk about your stupid ideas all you want to the others...with any luck, they'll realize what a complete fool you are." With that, d'Arcmon turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Havocravenmon glowered after her until the door swung shut again, then turned and pounded a fist against the wall of his room. It made a resounding thud which echoed in the room. "Thanks for nothing, you lousy bitch," he snarled quietly, abandoning his effort to retain that calmness from the paxi. "You think I've been daydreaming up here for the last three days while you've been doing jack-all? If you're so night-damned brilliant, then you come up with something!"

He laid back on his bed, stewing about everything. She acted like he wasn't even concerned about the tainted ones. Of course he was concerned. After their forces had lost so many times in so many different situations, it was hardly something that could be ignored. But any practical solution still eluded him. What could he do? Stronger warriors hadn't worked; more warriors hadn't worked; scouting for information hadn't helped one bit. What else was there for him to bank on?

Not helping remotely was the critical fact that most of the rest of Emperius did in fact seem completely unconcerned. It was clear that the humans had some capacity to resist, but the idea of 'destined victory' rang so well with them that they refused to believe they could possibly be overcome. Those who had broken through what Havocravenmon considered the most ludicrous delusion he could think of were either just as clueless as he was or didn't even bother trying to think of one, instead blaming him for not having on, much as d'Arcmon had. Havocravenmon wouldn't have minded so much if they simply favored their own ideas over his - after all, there were bound to be flaws in any plan, including his own - but they couldn't even be bothered with their own ideas in the first place, which drove him crazy.

_Being either a leader or a follower requires a certain amount of give and take,_ he thought bleakly. _Right now, they're doing all taking and no giving. How am I supposed to lead effectively like that?_

Still, he wasn't completely lost. There was one person he could rely on to listen and respond respectfully and intelligently. The one who had stuck by him through all he'd faced and was there when he needed him most.

"Phantomon..."

In two instants, Phantomon had glided through the wall. "You called, Master Havocravenmon?"

"Yeah...I need to float an idea to you..." A bit hesitantly, he recited his plan to Phantomon, who listened quietly the entire time. "What do you think?"

"It is a solid start," Phantomon replied quietly. "However, the manpower requirement to scour the world in search of the humans would be more demanding than we could meet, even given limitless time for implementation. Especially given our most recent failed assault, which significantly hampered our numbers."

"You're right. Maybe it would be better to confine the search to Northern Tetraquaz...the barrier is weakest here, so it would be most likely for them to come through."

"Additionally, I would recommend we hold off such an invasion until we have re-established ourselves. It would allow us sustain ourselves more consistently, have a larger attacking force, and give us an opportunity to retreat if we ran into trouble."

"That makes complete sense. How is that process going, by the way?"

"Construction should complete in roughly a week. The move would require several more days. Of course, I can do what I will to streamline both processes."

"Please do. Also...I'd like you to hear me out on a back-up plan."

"Back-up plan?"

"Something for if something goes awry between now and then, or if plans have to change on a moment's notice. I could hardly count the number of possible complications that could occur, especially if our captives somehow managed to get loose and cause havoc or if the tainted ones show up before we get a chance to find them. I don't want it to be all for naught."

"You should not lack confidence in yourself, commander. You do a better job than they are willing to admit."

"I try not to, but I'm tired of having curveballs thrown at me. They've managed to surprised us once, and that's once too many in my book. I want every weapon we can possibly have at our disposal, so that we can take on anything. I'm not going to fall prey to the myth of infallibility or inevitability...maybe if I can keep from sinking into that, I can pull out the rest of Emperius."

"Indeed. Very well, then, what is this plan you speak of?"

"Well, I'll tell you..."

(==========)

"...yn...Reyn! Wake up!"

Reyn blinked his eyes open. He was in an unfamiliar place, lying on his back, Salmandmon standing over him. The sky was a bright blue, with a few passing clouds. He could hear the crashing of waves somewhere nearby. He sat up, shaking his head to ward off the remaining cobwebs. "So...this is the digital world..."

"Yep. On the face of it, not that different from yours...but then you meet the inhabitants. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah...how long was I out?"

"Not long. Just a minute or so."

"That's good. What the heck happened? I thought you said I'd come through just fine."

"I thought you would! I mean, I did. Do you feel okay? I don't think there was anything wrong with the transfer but if you're feeling weird or anything, tell me."

"No worries, I'm good..." Reyn looked around. They were up on a grassy cliff; he could see a large body of water extending past the edge of the land. "But where is everyone else?"

"Uh...well, I don't know."

"Wait, what? You don't know? How can that be? We all went through at the same time, and you said that when you guys went through you all came out in the same place!"

Salmandmon shook his head. "Look, I'm not an expert on the technology. I don't know why we didn't all come through together...maybe it had to do with how everything was set up, or maybe it's just how it works from the human side, or maybe there was some weirdness in the transfer due to the way the energy was extracted from Commandramon. Whatever the case, we're here, and no one else is."

"Ugh...I guess it's true, literally nothing can be easy for us. Well, where is 'here?' I hope it's somewhere where we can get to there, wherever that is."

"Relax, Reyn, I've at least got that one covered. This is a place called Cascade Cliff, way up on the northeastern end of Northern Tetraquaz."

"Northern what?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't know much about the digital world, do you? Tetraquaz is the smallest of the four continents on the digital world. It's kind of in two sections with a small connecting area, kind of like your North and South America if I think about it, but a lot larger and shaped a lot differently. I've spent most of my life in Northern Tetraquaz, though I was born elsewhere."

"Huh...you haven't been many other places?"

"I haven't really had the impetus to go many other places, to be honest. The Northern Lands are also the location of this whole conflict, the hub of the Emperius/Libertius war."

"Wait, you mean this whole thing's only taken place on one part of the smallest continent in the digital world?"

"Well, it's only been going on for a couple of years. And Libertius has fought against them for almost the entire time. They'd have spread a lot farther if we hadn't been against them."

"Oh, that makes enough sense. But you don't have any support at all? What about that Kaiserhaunlongmon fellow?"

"Well, the problem is, at the same time that Emperius has been on the rise up in the Northern Lands of Tetraquaz, there's been another huge conflict in the Southern Lands. And there's no force fighting against them down there...Kaiserhuanlongmon had to send the troops where the most serious situation was, and that was in the Southern Lands."

"He doesn't think invasion of the human world is serious?"

"He doesn't KNOW about the invasion of the human world. Or, at least, he didn't when we went there. Emperius made their declaration, but none of us knew they were capable of making the trip."

"Dang. So he probably still doesn't know very much. That means it's up to us. You said you knew this place?"

"Yeah, Cascade Cliff. I've been here a couple times just to meditate. We're on the northeastern edge of the Northern Lands...the Libertius base is in the northwest. Danged if I know where Emperius is set up, we've been searching for ages and haven't seen squat."

"Jeez...how the hell do you get here from there?"

"Well, there's transfer points all around the continent. Usually, you're within a day of any transfer point, and often less if there's more people around. We can go to any other transfer point pretty quickly from one. And I think I remember where the transfer point is from here, so we should be able to get somewhere else quickly."

"That's good. But where do we go?"

"I'm not sure. Part of me wants to go right to the Catalyst, but another part of me wants to make sure everyone else is safe before we do that. But that would take a lot longer, and if we get into any scrapes with people stronger than us, that could be problematic."

Reyn mused on that for a moment. "Well, I worry that we could get into trouble at any time, but the more we wander around aimlessly, the more likely that's going to happen. But if you know where the Catalyst is, we can travel directly there and minimize the amount of time we're forced to rely on Blazereptimon. That's probably the better choice, since we don't know where everyone else is. I hope they're even on this continent..."

"This is probably the place where the barrier is weakest. Like it was on your world, I think it's likely that we'd have taken the path of least resistance."

"Sounds good. Uh...you _do_ know where a Catalyst is, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I used it myself. It's in an easily accessible place, a temple to the south of here. We shouldn't have any trouble getting to it."

"Famous last words. I just hope it's as easy as you say. Man, I wonder where the others are...hope they're not in too much trouble..."

(==========)

_I am in so much trouble._

Skylar stood shivering in the snow, staring at the simple huts around him. They were either abandoned or the people inside were so dormant that they refused to respond to his knocking, but he couldn't get inside a single one of them either way. Which really bothered him, because he'd spent the last twenty minutes walking in freezing cold snow while a veritable blizzard raged around him.

It had been a rude awakening for him; instead of somewhere remotely comfortable, he was half-buried in snow and completely on his own. Even Breezedramon was nowhere to be found, not even by telepathy, and that was really bothering him. The bitter cold had hit him hard, and he'd hoped he could take shelter in one of the huts in the village to stave off hypothermia. That was looking far less likely now than it had when he'd first started walking.

_Dammit...it's freaking cold out here, and I can't get inside anywhere, and I'm gonna be in bad shape pretty quickly if I don't get a move on. Where are you, Breezedramon? Why aren't you here so we can fly somewhere warmer?_

There was one last chance for him: a castle that appeared to be quite some ways from the village, yet near enough that it could have been part of it. With as much fortitude as he could muster, he made the walk from the village to the castle, completely exposed to the elements and getting colder and number with every pace. Even when he finally reached it, he was faced with the arduous task of climbing dozens of stairs up to the actual doors.

_I'm done for if these don't open,_ he thought grimly, pushing against one of the doors. To his extreme relief, they gave, and he was able to slip inside.

The castle interior wasn't a massive improvement, but it was enough to get him some feeling back in his limbs. He sat back against a wall for a few minutes, trying to recover enough to look around. _Breezedramon...I sure hope you're not in as bad a situation as I am. Please don't be trapped out there in the cold..._

(==========)

The blue wind dragon in question was not trapped out in the cold as Skylar feared. He was, however, hopelessly confused. Breezedramon found himself popped out in the middle of a forest which was entirely unfamiliar to him. With Skylar nowhere to be found, and somehow unable to reach him through their usual telepathic bond, it had not been a very pleasant experience.

_This sucks! I wish I knew where I was! Or where Sky was!_

There wasn't any landmark to help guide him. He'd tried flying above the trees, but what laid in front of him seemed to be nothing less than an endless expanse of green - even the horizon betrayed no signs of where he might be located, ending in a flat tree line as far as he could see, no matter how high up he want - and Breezedramon could get pretty high.

_Man, this is so karma paying me back for not doing a lot of wandering and stuff before! I'd just have to end up somewhere strange and not know how to get around or where to find a Transfer Point or anything!_

He tried to fly around to get some better grasp of the proper direction, but he didn't seem to be making any progress. Eventually he gave up and swooped back down within the trees, hoping to encounter a digimon somewhere who might be able to help him out of his predicament. Plus, if Skylar was nearby, he'd be more likely to be at ground level, though Breezedramon was having his doubts about being that lucky.

_Hang in there, Sky, I'll figure out where you are! Hopefully before Emperius or any other bad guy does!_

(==========)

Skylar recovered faster than he had expected to. _One of the advantages of becoming a symbiotic partner of a digimon, I suppose...I certainly can't complain._

The interior of the castle appeared as dark and empty as the huts from the village, which made it somewhat challenging to get around. He looked into various rooms to see what he could see, but most were completely unlit, and what few lights there were came from torches well out of his reach.

_I wonder what happened here?_ he wondered idly. _What could have gone wrong for everyone to have disappeared like this-_

His thoughts were interrupted as he smacked into a wall headfirst. Clutching his head and wincing in pain, he felt along the wall for any opening. His hand ran over a seam, finding a handle just to the left of it. He pulled it open and found a room lit by a dim glow, but with no torches in sight.

"Hello?" His voice echoed through the room; if anything heard him, it didn't respond.

_Where is that light coming from?_ He entered the room, and found it to be a mite warmer than the rest of the castle. It was also giving him a strange feeling of importance, like there was something in there that he should be aware of. _I don't like to snoop, but it's not like there's anyone around to care at the moment...I'll just try to avoid anything that looks especially private..._

He wandered through the room, glancing around idly. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary at first; the side walls were lightly decorated with blue and green fabric, and there were some nice paintings on the back wall, but other than that it appeared mundane. His attention was drawn to something near the back of the room, something that looked kind of like an altar. _Curious._

He walked around the altar, stopping at the back. Kneeling down, he saw a glowing orb on a shelf under the altar, the source of the light in the room. _Very peculiar. Breezedramon mentioned that those Catalysts looked like glowing orbs...perhaps this is one of them? If he was here or I could reach him, he could tell me..._

With a sigh, he left the orb where it was. He took another glance around the room, and caught sight of another orb on the floor behind a pillar. His curiosity piqued, he walked over and picked it up. It looked clear and plain, but Skylar could feel the slight pulse of power in his hands as he held it. _Different from the other one, but this also has to be something more than it appears...Hm, I wonder..._

His eyes wandered back to the altar, just preceding the rest of his body. Now looking at the altar from above, he saw a hemispherical slot in the top of the altar; just by sight, he was fairly sure it was a match to the orb in his hands. _Well, if that's not telling...let's give it a shot._ He stuck the orb into the slot. Almost instantly, it lit up, shining a bright white. It forced Skylar to cover his eyes, which had become adjusted to the darkness.

When he finally got a chance to look at it without wincing, he could see something blowing around inside the orb. _What the...is that snow? That thing was empty before, I know it..._ He took a closer look, confirming his earlier suspicions. Tentatively, he put a hand on the orb, and felt an ethereal coldness emanating from it. _Is it reacting to the weather outside, maybe?_

He stared at the orb for a couple minutes, fascinated by the image inside; it was a wintery scene, mostly white with a bare tree and a small hut the only discernible features. Then he touched the orb again. The coldness was there, but so was something else. _I wonder...what would happen if I tried to change the weather in this thing?_

Without knowing exactly why, he gave it a try. He imagined a peaceful springtime scene and sent energy into the orb, trying to manipulate the scene inside. Almost immediately it reacted, the weather turning from white and snowy to green and grassy. _Cool, it changes when I want it to change. I wonder what it's all ab-_

A sudden rumble throughout the castle shook him. _Uh-oh! Did I do something wrong?_ he thought nervously. He backed away from the altar as a beam of light shot up from the orb. A section of the ceiling was parting, allowing the beam to go through and reach up to the sky. _Oh, boy...I don't know if this is a good thing or a very bad thing._

Outside, the beam reached the sky above the castle, hitting some kind of point high up in the clouds. An energy radiated over the sky, and incredibly, the clouds began to part. The snow ceased falling, and the temperature rose dramatically, quickly melting the snow on the ground. Grasses and other plants sprouted up quickly, as if they'd been waiting for the moment they could return. In just a few minutes' time, the weather had gone from a desolate snowscape to a beautiful sunny field.

Skylar was unable to see these changes as they happened, but he could definitely see the changes inside the castle. The room was brightening considerably, despite the lack of any obvious light sources; it had also gotten even warmer than before, and he could make out some plant life growing quickly along the walls. _What in the world...what just happened here?_

He decided to look around again, to see if there had been any other changes. As he walked back through the castle, he saw immediately that there were more torches well above his head, only now they were lit up and burning brightly, giving him a much better view of his surroundings than the first time through. The walls which had felt bare before were now covered in vines and other plant life. Even more strange, it was as warm now in the halls as it had been in the orb room.

_This is pretty cool...maybe the castle responds to whatever the orb shows inside. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing for me to learn about in the last few weeks._

Almost before he knew it, he was standing back at the front doors of the castle. Curious, he pulled one open and took a peek outside, and gasped at the sight. _Whoa! It's all...beautiful weather! It just changed like that! How...that orb! It's not just the castle that responded, it was the whole area! A weather control device...that's something I've only ever been able to dream about!_

Digimon were emerging from the huts that had once been shut up so tightly; though he couldn't see them too well from where he was, their movements were enough to tell him that they were pretty affected by the change. _I wonder if they'll be hostile to humans...Breezedramon said it would be hard to tell how they'd react. Maybe I should just slip away quickly-_

He didn't even have time to complete the thought before he saw a group of digimon rushing up the stairs to the castle; he hadn't even noticed them. They all clamored around him at once, shouting excitedly.

"You! You're the one who ended that horrible winter, aren't you?"

"He's a human! When did they get here?"

"He's a hero!"

"That's so cool! How did you do it?"

"Three cheers for the reborn king!"

_WHOA! HOLD ON A SECOND!_ "D-did you say king?" Skylar stammered.

(==========)

"You gotta be kidding me."

The Meramon guard shook his head. "I'm sorry...but it's true. The temple's been closed down. We don't know where the Catalyst was stationed, but it couldn't stay here."

Salmandmon couldn't believe what he was hearing. "They attacked the temple? Emperius has stooped that low?"

"Not exactly. It was more collateral damage. Emperius and some other organized group has a skirmish, with not a lick of foresight to be found. The temple was trashed, and worse, the foundation was damaged. It wasn't that stable to begin with...right now, it could collapse at any time, and until someone gets to repairing it, it's too dangerous to be around. The Catalyst was move so no one would have any reason to go in."

"Damnation! And you don't have any idea where they put it?"

"I was just assigned to keep people away from this a couple days ago. I don't know any more about where it is than you do. Sorry."

Salmandmon sighed. "Well, thanks anyway."

He wandered carefully back towards the rock where Reyn had hidden himself. He quickly ran through the explanation for why he had come up with bupkis, and Reyn's expression gave no mask to how he felt about it. "'We shouldn't have any trouble getting to it.'"

"Shaddup. How was I supposed to know about this?"

"Yeah, yeah." Reyn sighed in frustration. "I know I just said this, but it seems like nothing can ever be easy for us. What I wouldn't give for just one thing to be simple and straightforward. So now what? Do we go chase it down, or is it time to go searching for the others?"

"Or we could find the location of another one. If I'd have known about this I would have gone searching for that information beforehand, but I never had to use another one before. We might have to do some exploring."

Reyn sighed. "If that's the case, maybe we're better served finding some of the others first. We're wandering around for who knows how long, just the two of us with no support, and we can only merge up to a Champion level...it doesn't sound safe to me."

"We'll have to improvise. You know..." Salmandmon thought for a moment. "It's not much to go on and it could lead us nowhere, but I visited a village called Oroetem a while back, and there's supposed to be a Catalyst there. I don't know what kind, but it's at least worth checking out. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"I'm not gonna rely on luck after all we've gone through. But it's worth a shot. Let find a place to sleep, first, I'm exhausted."

Salmandmon grinned. "Already? That won't do. We're gonna have to build up that stamina of yours."

"What can I say, jumping across dimensions tuckers me out."

(==========)

The light was dimming in the forest where Breezedramon was, and he was getting ever more anxious. It felt like he'd been walking forever, and yet he still had no idea where he was or which way was out. And he was starting to get the strange feeling that he was walking or flying through places he'd passed earlier.

_What the hell is this place? I've never heard anyone talking about any gigantic forests before. Especially ones that confuse the heck out of you when you're trying to get through them. Man, I shoulda done a lot more exploring in my life. Maybe I shoulda been driven outta Pinion Peak earlier..._

In his musing, he'd somewhat lost focus on where he was going, and before he could realize what was happening, he'd collided in mid-air with another digimon. Carried by Breezedramon's greater momentum, the two went tumbling down to the ground and landed in a heap.

It took a few seconds before either one had gathered themselves enough to speak. "Oof...sorry, guess I shoulda been watching where I was flying..." Breezedramon grunted, deciding to break the silence first.

"Mmf...I'll forgive you if you get off my wings before they break," the other mumbled, sounding a bit muffled from the ground.

The two managed to extricate themselves from each other after a minute of fumbling, and Breezedramon got a good look at his incidental victim as he dusted himself off. It was a birdling digimon, about three and a half feet tall, somewhat reminiscent of Shockavimon but instead of being yellow like her, his body was covered with green feathers while his head, more eagle-like than the familiar electric counterpart, was mostly gray and white. _Hey, this must be one of those regular Avimon! Maybe he knows what's going on here._

"Hey, uh, sorry about running into you. I've been kinda distracted...you have any idea where we are right now?"

Avimon gave him a crestfallen look. "You mean you don't? Drat...I was hoping I'd finally be able to get outta this place..."

"Whoa! This forest is really that large?"

"Er...no...you don't know what's going on?"

"Not really. I've never been here before, and I've been trying to figure out which way I need to go to get out. I'm kinda trying to meet up with someone and I really need to hurry it up."

Avimon sighed. "Well, all I can say is I hope they're patient. It might not be any time soon that you're getting out...I've been stuck here for five days already, and I'm not closer to getting anywhere."

"Five days?" Breezedramon shouted.

"Ow, not so loud please..."

"S-sorry, but that's just crazy! What kind of damn place is this?"

"I've been kinda wondering that myself. Have you noticed anything weird when you've been going through here? Like, anything you wouldn't expect when just on a normal trek?"

"Er...I'm not sure what you're talking about. I mean, I feel like I've been going in circles, kinda, but maybe that's just me being a tornado head again."

Avimon shook his head. "No, that's not the case. I've got a really good sense of direction, but it hasn't helped me a bit in here...it's not that you're going in circles, it's that you're actually ending up going through the same places over and over again. The forest, it loops around...I haven't been able to find a way out yet."

"What? Wait, hold on, that's crazy. You can't just have something that loops around like that. You keep going in one direction, you gotta hit the end eventually!"

"That's what I thought, too. I keep going in one direction for almost a day...I probably covered more ground in that time than I ever have at once before. But I just kept going through the same spots over and over again...and I knew they were the same, too, because I was really looking for those landmarks after I thought I'd seen them a few times."

"But that's impossible!"

"Yeah, I know. But still, that's what it is. And it gets weirder. I tried to fly up and see if I could figure out where I was from above, and when I landed, I was in a different place from where I started, even though I hadn't moved to the side at all. And then when I tried to fly in other directions, every time I landed I was in that exact same spot, no matter which way I went or how far I went. All of it completely impossible, and yet here I am, five days later, unable to find my way out. I'd be hungry as hell if there weren't any fruit trees here...and I'd probably be dead of thirst long before now if there wasn't a little creek in here."

Breezedramon's mind was sufficiently boggled. "Wh...what in the world is this place?"

"No clue...and the strangest thing is, it looked pretty innocuous before I tried to go through it. I mean, I approached from a ways away, and it looked like an ordinary forest, not even that big, I mean I could see past it and around it and all that. But I start to go over it, suddenly my senses are totally shot, and I'm looking at infinite trees."

"You think it's some kind of trap?"

"Well, that'd be my guess, but I can't think of why someone would bother to create this kind of trap. And I haven't seen anyone else my entire time here, so even more weird."

"It's gotta be a trap! Who knows why, but probably someone who likes messing with people...and who can mess with their heads! Maybe we're looping around because our brains are warped or something!"

A shrug from Avimon. "Why not? It makes about as much sense as anything else these past few days. Any ideas on how to get away from it?"

"I wish! But there's gotta be some kind of clue around here. You think you can show me around a bit to where you've been? Maybe a new set of eyes'll help."

"I guess so. This place seems to restart no matter where you go, but I've got some idea of a few basic landmarks in the actual area. You'll probably want something to eat and drink as well."

"Well, that wouldn't hurt. It's been a while..."

"Not surprised. Here, let me show you around."

Breezedramon nodded and took off behind Avimon. _All right, this is gonna be trouble...I hope you're okay on your own for a little while, Sky, because I dunno when I'm gonna be able to get back to you!_

(==========)

(==========)

This ended up being longer than it used to be after I rewrote it about eight times. I'm not sure I like this chapter and the next two that much, but at least two of the three are better than they used to be.

As you saw in this chapter, I'm going to start introducing some sections centered around Emperius. They'll be scattered through the upcoming chapters, giving some insight into the group and especially the leader and main villain, Havocravenmon. I went a somewhat odd direction with him. Still not sure why.

The transfer not going as expected was mainly an excuse to not have everyone end up in the same place, allowing me to tell several different stories at once over the next few chapters. However, it's not supposed to be a complete hand wave - it's new technology, not well-tested, especially not with humans, so hey, you gotta expect a few bugs in the system. I mention this here because I'm still not yet sure if any of the characters are going to really realize that.

Let me know if you spot anything that seems incoherent. Everything in this chapter and a couple later ones surrounding Breezedramon was pretty much added in the eleventh hour; he basically got ignored originally, but I didn't like just having a complete gap there, so I've added in something for him to do. It's a part I still haven't written or even conceived completely, so I'm hoping I'm not going to make any continuity errors with it.

All right, then, onward to the next chapter! Well, if I don't have to spend 12 extra hours at work again...


	23. Chapter 22: Seeking Vengeance

This chapter is not a significant source of trans fats, cholesterol, Vitamin E, or calcium. This is because it is not something you eat. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 22: Seeking Vengeance**

Far up in the sky, Shockavimon was eying a city not far in the distance with some chagrin. It was a place she was all too familiar with and not altogether happy to see again...yet perhaps a good launching point for where they would have to go. She attempted to relay this information to her partner, but could tell almost instantly that something was off. She flapped back down to the ground, where Iris was looking at her with confusion. "Did you get any of that?"

"...Nothing at all. Were you trying to..."

Shockavimon nodded. "Yeah, telepathy. I'm getting the feeling it didn't work very well."

"That's weird. I felt like there was some kind of...I dunno, buzzing or something in my head. Maybe that's not quite what it was, but I don't know how else to describe it."

"Maybe the transfer had something to do with it. It might have made your mind a little unstable...you were out of it when we got here. If that's the case, we should be back in business as soon as it settles a little more."

"Well, I hope it's only temporary. To think, what would happen if we got separated? I don't know where anything is around here!"

"At least we're together. If we got split up from everyone else, it's not impossible...maybe even likely that one pair got split up somewhere. Or more. Who knows what kind of trouble they might get in?"

"I don't even want to think about that," Iris said with a shudder. "Well, what did you see up there, anyway?"

"Well, none of the others are within sight. But there is a city nearby...just to the west down the cliff."

"Down the cliff, huh?" Iris looked over the bluff; the city was situated in a deep valley, which looked a lot nicer than the barren vista they were currently situated on. The city, however... "Man, that looks...kinda slummy. Anywhere familiar to you?"

"Too familiar..."

"It took a moment for Iris to catch the hidden implications. "Oh..._that_ place, huh?"

Shockavimon nodded stiffly. "Hagrande. Definitely not a place I like to call home."

Iris was quiet for a moment. "Should we start elsewhere, then?" she asked finally. "If that's got bad memories for you, we can go elsewhere. There's gotta be another place somewhere around here to rest up and see if anyone's seen anything odd."

"No, it's okay," Shockavimon responded with a shake of her head. "Who knows where the next nearest city is? I'm not really that familiar with the outlying area...Hawkmon didn't really let me go a lot of places without him, and he mostly preferred sticking within Hagrande. I'd rather not be on the road for days trying to orient myself...we're not really prepared for a long journey of any kind. Besides, that was a long time ago, and Hawkmon might not even be around anymore...it would be kind of silly for me to run the other way on a mere chance."

Iris nodded. "Well, if you're okay with it, I'm certainly game. I think we should merge, though. I get the feeling I'd probably break something if I tried to fly off this cliff otherwise."

Shockavimon laughed, taking some much-appreciated levity from the statement. "I wouldn't even think of letting you try to jump, anyway. We kinda need you."

(==========)

"Ah, man...I hope your first time through wasn't as unpleasant as that," Derek mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Didn't know that was gonna knock me out so badly."

"Unfortunately, I certainly could replicated that exact statement, excepting the unpleasant reality of enhanced literality. Perchance might you require a period of rejuvenation prior to commencement of our travails towards my locale of familiarity?"

"Nah...I think I'm as good to go as I can be at this point. Besides, it's probably better to be inside than under this sun. Jeez, what I wouldn't do for a few clouds..."

"Temperatures in our locale tend to position themselves towards the elevated extreme of the spectrum. The Libertius compound certainly will avail of countermeasures to promote an ambience of temperance."

"So let's go. You lead the way."

Blackcanismon dutifully led Derek towards the base in question. Though Derek could not see it immediately, it was not long before they reached an overlook where the entirely of the base of Libertius was visible. Derek's eyes widened upon seeing it; he had expected something like a military base his dad had taken him to once on a melded business trip and family vacation, but what he saw was something like that magnified several times. The buildings were massive, and built to withstand what Derek had to imagine was just about anything short of a world-shaking nuclear explosion. The style was an unusual mix of modernism and old-fashioned design, almost making them look like futuristic relics. And there were so many of them, at least a few dozen, spaced out over a relatively wide area.

"This is your base? This is amazing! It's huge!"

"Individuals among our particular variety average a grander scale than yours," explained Blackcanismon. "Thus, our domiciles out of necessity must compensate for this peculiarity."

"I guess that's why. Man...this is way different from what I thought it would be. I'm glad I was able to see it...wish the others were around here for the same. Why'd we end up so close and no one else?"

"To my recollection, no particular mechanism designates a precise emergence location for transdimensional transfers at the current time. The technology is assuredly trapped in the prototypical phases, so the singular attribution must be awarded to pristine chance."

"Guess that's our good luck, then."

"Certainly. It presents itself as a suitable nexus for our future endeavors. It resides within relatively immediate proximity with a convenient Transfer Point, and possesses amenities which no doubt we shall avail ourselves of to ensure proper health and satiety."

"...You know, the scary part is that I have absolutely no trouble understanding you anymore."

Blackcanismon chuckled. "A capital occurrence. Perchance the opportunity to elucidate for you the mannerisms behind my eloquence for your eventual replication may present itself in subsequent periods of time."

"My english teachers would no doubt thank you. But let's worry about that later."

"Agreed. Let us continue forthwith."

(==========)

"Damn...this place is a dump. Don't remember it being so run-down..."

Ionavimon walked casually down the streets, eying her surroundings up and down. Hagrande had never been the most upscale of locales, but from what she could tell it was in worse condition than ever. The buildings were in various states of disrepair, a few of them even marked as condemned. The digimon in the streets were fairly ragged, and glared at her suspiciously as she passed through, clearly exhibiting the aura of an outsider. She felt her hand creeping up towards her spear more than a few times, wary of potential threats from any direction.

The sound of rapid footsteps behind her made her spin around, almost pulling her weapon before she saw the source. A group of small digimon, sounding apparently like children, were scrambling down the street; they passed by her without a care, chattering excitedly.

"C'mon, let's go!"

"Wait, hold on! We're never gonna get in!"

"They won't even notice us in the crowds!"

"We can't miss it this year! It's gonna be awesome!"

Ionavimon watched them pass by, heading down the street in the direction she had been going.  
Curious, she flew up to the balcony of one of the abandoned buildings and looked off into the distance where they had been running. It didn't take long; standing out among the rather dismal cityscape was a large building that looked very much more well-kept, looming like a monster in the afternoon sun. Though most of the view was blocked, she was fairly sure she could make out part of a mass of digimon crowding nearby. "Hoo...don't remember that, either. When did they get something like that here?"

"Hey! What're ya doing up there?" She looked down and saw a couple more kids, a Dracomon and a Ryudamon. "Mom says we're not s'posed ta go into that place!"

"I'm just looking around...hey, can you answer a question for me? I'm kind of new here. What's that big building over there and why are there so many people moving towards it?"

The Dracomon gave her a boggled look. "DUDE! How could you not know? It's the Coliseum! Only the funnest place ever! And it's double-awesome right now because it's the Gam Rona tournament!"

"Come on, we gotta mix in or they're gonna catch us and throw us out!" The Ryudamon pulled the Dracomon and they rushed down in that direction, leaving Ionavimon alone and perplexed.

"...Coliseum? I thought there was no way they were going to build something like that here..." she shook her head and sighed. "Pointless brutality and greed...if ever there was a reason to not be here."

"No kidding." Ionavimon jumped at the voice, which seemed to come out of nowhere. After a couple frantic glances, she looked upward and saw a black figure hanging leisurely on the side of the building, almost imperceptible as his color was so similar to the building's. He bore a rather odd similarity to Burnreptimon, other than being black all over and significantly larger. His hands and feet were planted firmly against the side of the building, their clinging properties ensuring he wasn't about to fall any time soon. There was a large black bag slung over his shoulder, the contents of which Ionavimon could only speculate. He chuckled a bit at her reaction. "Whoops, did I scare you there?"

"You really should be more careful about that," Ionbavimon replied testily. "Someone might not react so well to an unexpected voice."

"Eh, that's no fun. Besides, I like living on the edge...every now and then, anyway." He leaned forward slightly and peered down at her, a little more scrutinizing now. "Hmm...you're not a familiar one to me. Don't think I've seen one of your kind around here ever."

"Uh...just call me Ionavimon." She didn't feel like trying to launch into an explanation; he might not take so well to the idea of humans being around, anyway.

"All righty, then. The name's Blackreptimon. I'm just your regular guy, who just happens to know the seedy underbelly of this place pretty well. If you've got questions, chances are I've got answers."

"Don't believe him when he says that." Another voice, female this time, from up on top of the building. Ionavimon had to lean out over the railing, which she suddenly found to be unsettlingly unstable, in order to see that it belonged to a black-furred Renamon. "He knows the seedy underbelly because he's just another scale on it. He's as criminal as the rest of them."

"Oh, come on. I'm not as criminal as the rest of them. Only half. Well, maybe two-thirds at most. Besides, I'm nicer than most of them, too. I'm at least up front about my chicanery."

"An honest crook is still a crook." Renamon sighed. "But, I guess you've got a point...it could be much worse."

Ionavimon wasn't sure she was convinced, but she didn't really care enough to make a fuss over it. "Well, then, if you're the answer guy, maybe you can provide for me. What happened to this place? I mean, it wasn't exactly nice before, but it looks worse than ever."

"That would be the result of that eyesore," Blackreptimon responded heavily, pointing towards the Coliseum. "With special thanks to that idiot in charge, Valkyrimon. He got it fixed into his thick skull that this city would be made with a huge Coliseum to hold combat tournaments. So he pretty much drained everyone of their money to have it built, by hook or by crook. It's been great for the city itself, but unfortunately, he takes pretty much all of it and leaves nothing for the rest of us."

"Valkyrimon...now that's a real monster," Renamon muttered, bristling. "He's completely nuts...if you don't do things his way, you're in it deep. Cross him and you'd wish you were dead, if you weren't already."

"So why not just leave?" Ionavimon asked.

"And go where?" Blackreptimon responded with a sigh. "I'm already lizarda non grata most places...you got scales like mine, you aren't trusted anywhere. I'd have to probably pay a lot to get any safe harbor anywhere, and unfortunately, I don't have that kind of money. Might get it if I won a combat tournament, especially one this big..."

"As if you ever stood a chance," Renamon scoffed. "You're outclassed by just about everyone, except the few deluded newbies that think they're all that."

"I know that already. There's a reason I turned to illegitimate means, you know."

"This one's really big, huh?" Ionavimon asked.

"You don't know about it? Either you're really not into the combat tourney circuit or you've been living under a rock for years. This is the Gam Rona Tournament, one of the Big Eight in the professional lot. It's pretty much been Hagrande's claim to fame for the past four years. Everyone's invited to participate, but often they don't stand a chance against the biggest names in combat tourney. I'd probably get my butt kicked in the first thirty seconds."

"Quite right you would. I would be tempted to sign up just to show you a thing or two. Almost did, as a matter of fact..."

"You?" Ionavimon asked, unable to entirely mask her incredulity. "I have to imagine it would be pretty tough for a Rookie to get far."

Blackreptimon laughed again. "Don't be fooled. She's an utter terror. Most digimon in the city are scared to death of her. She'd probably win more by forfeit than by actual battle."

Renamon shot him a glare that he appeared to take no notice of. Then she turned back to Ionavimon. "Level is not everything in these tournaments. Lower levels often find decent success, and you'd better believe there aren't a lot of Mega-level champions. It's the ones who work hard that are more victorious. However, it requires a lot of training to be truly successful in the long term...for a tournament like this, six grueling battles in three days, newcomers rarely enjoy much in the way of victory. Still, I was tempted..."

"Well, then, why not do it? Even if you lose, you've had the experience. It might tell you something about what you're capable of."

Renamon growled slightly. "Because that jerk Valkyrimon would have my head. Female competitors are barred from any combat tournament in Hagrande."

"WHAT?" squawked Ionavimon in shock. "You can't be serious! That's absolutely idiotic!"

"You're not kidding," Blackreptimon snorted. "Pure insanity, it's more backwater than anything I've heard of in the last few centuries. I thought we'd grown way beyond this kind of asshattery, but apparently not."

"But what the hell? I know this city's not worth two damns, but this is beyond how I ever thought it would be!"

"Who knows what's wrong with that freak's mind? He's amazingly bratty if he doesn't get his way, and his way is usually the worse for females. He's always going off about how he's the perfect male specimen and everyone of the other gender is worthless and should submit to males just because of him. And guys who get caught going in contradiction to that get it just as bad for being 'traitors to their gender.' Word is he's got other bizarre ideas, too, mostly centered around his narcissism. But they don't get as much play because they don't make nearly as much impact."

"It's almost painful trying to live here with the kind of policies he's enacted," Renamon seethed. "Our success is met only with punishment and a command to serve men again. Anyone who even dares to see us as equal is told to get in line or suffer the consequences. The rest of the world sees the city as backwater and crazy, and the state of the city does little to counter that perception."

"That's worse than I ever expected..." Ionavimon shook her head, trying to dim down her anger. "I'm almost tempted to go in there and sign up just to prove a point."

"You know, I hear the guy in charge of setting up this tournament, Cherrymon, is a real pushover," Blackreptimon suggested. "You might be able to browbeat him into letting you join. Or better yet, use a little subterfuge. That's my specialty, if you're interested."

"If Valkyrimon finds out you ere involved, you'd probably be skinned and used as a purse," Renamon warned. "He already doesn't like you after that bribery incident."

"Bah, he's never liked me. Doesn't like anyone with a brain in their head. But you know..." Blackreptimon trailed off for a moment, as if getting lost in thought. "I think he's got something in store for this tournament. I've heard some rumors through the grapevine...they suggest that he's done more than just crimes against Hagrande."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I'm not entirely certain of this, but...you remember how, a couple weeks back, the Thunder Shrine was broken into and the Catalyst was stolen?"

"WHAT?" Ionavimon nearly screeched, startling both the other digimon. It was nearly catastrophic news; if that one was gone, it would make her life a hell of a lot harder, considering that she knew the other one was murder to get to. "How? Those are supposed to be safeguarded! No one's allowed to have personal possession of them!"

"No kidding! I can't remember the last time a Catalyst was stolen, if you don't count the one in Mechalopolis, and even that was supposedly kept in the city. But that's what happened, that I can confirm."

"That's nuts..." Ionavimon groaned in frustration. "I needed to use that, too! Does anyone know who took it?"

"Not officially...but..." Blackreptimon paused again, this time more for dramatic effect than anything. "I've heard rumors amongst some of my associates...the culprit's been suggested to be our very own Valkyrimon."

"It would have to be someone that evil," Renamon said darkly. "But what does he gain out of it? He's not aligned with that, he can't make any use of it."

"Well, it's not for his use. Word out on the street is that Valkyrimon isn't happy with the draw for the tournaments. The Gam Rona tournament is huge, but the others don't' attract nearly the crowds nor the participants that this one does. Supposedly, the plan is to up the ante by making the Catalyst the grand prize here. The amount of attention it will get, plus the suggestion of further such prizes, is supposed to make Hagrande's tournaments become the center of the combat tourney world."

"He's got some nerve trying a stunt like that!" Ionavimon fumed. "Does he think they won't know what happened when they find out what's being presented?"

"That would presume that he thinks in the first place. That said, he's got a way with words...one that clearly tells you that if you ask questions you won't be leaving alive. Plus, the fighters...well, power means a lot to a lot of them, so they might not ask questions if it means having to hear an unpleasant truth, namely that they have to give up something that could be very powerful for them."

"Well, now I have to join! If that Catalyst is the prize, then I have to get it back to where it belongs!"

"And using it wouldn't be a bad bonus, either, right?" Blackreptimon said with a knowing grin.

"That's what I was planning to do anyway. This is just an extra task that needs to be done. You said the guy in charge of setting everything us was a wuss, right?"

"Oh, he's just the biggest pansy in the digital world, is all. Usually all that's needed is a few threatening words, and he's putty in your hands. I oughta know. But he might still give you some trouble, so in case you need a little extra something, here..." Blackreptimon carefully reached into his bag and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper, then tossed it down to Ionavimon. "That should do the trick."

Ionavimon opened up the paper and read it over, then gave Blackreptimon a suspicious look. "This is signed by Kaiserhuanlongmon."

"That it is. A pity he's never actually seen it, but it's official-looking enough that that won't be noticed. Normally I charge for forgeries, but this one's on me if you manage to win."

"Told you he was a criminal," Renamon said.

"Aw, but I'm the nice kind of criminal, right?"

"...Fine, I suppose so."

Ionavimon held back a laugh; it was pretty clear that Blackreptimon had a little thing for Renamon, even if there was no sign of reciprocation. "I'm surprise you don't make more from that. You'd think more people would be looking for false licenses and such."

"Eh, not many people have anything to buy them with, and the ones that do usually don't bother." Blackreptimon sighed. "And some people are just too damn honest. There's no money in other people's moral shortcomings these days. You're stuck using your own."

"Which I'm sure you have no trouble with," Ionavimon cracked. "Thanks. I'm gonna take this place by storm, you just watch."

"Please do," Renamon replied. "There's nothing I'd like better than to see Valkyrimon have to chew on a humiliation this public. But watch your back...make sure he doesn't get to you first."

(==========)

Derek had been excited to see the Libertius compound, and he could tell Blackcanismon was at least as eager to reconnect with a group that he hadn't seen in nearly a month. However, when they got down there, they quickly noticed an unexpected aspect of the place that somewhat dampened their spirits.

"Jeez...this place is emptier than Charles Manson's soul," Derek remarked as they walked through the gates. Indeed, there were maybe two or three digimon anywhere to be seen inside the compound, a fact which he knew was off by Blackcanismon's worried expression. "What do you think happened here?"

"I must profess ignorance...indubitably, though, conditions have gravely deteriorated through the duration of our absence. I...certainly desire to not be informed of their extermination..."

"We should find whoever's in charge here, see if there's any information."

"I concur. Let us proceed posthaste to central command."

Blackcanismon led Derek into one of the largest buildings, proceeding at a slightly more rapid clip than before. Derek kept pace and they soon found themselves in front of a rather large doorway. He pushed it open, only realizing too late that he should have knocked.

On the opposite side of the room, he saw a white-and-red-clad knight sitting at what looked like a combination office desk and command center console. It took all of a half-second for the knight to realize someone had entered, and barely another to rocket out of his chair in shock. "B-Blackcanismon! You've returned! And...a human? What...how?"

"Assistance from a certain benevolent character provided a mechanism to facilitate our repatriation," Blackcanismon replied. "Gallantmon, what unfortunate events have occurred in our absence? The Libertius stronghold appears desolate!"

"Terrible, terrible events, Blackcanismon...but first, who is this with you?"

"Ah...hello, my name is Derek." Derek bowed low, trying to be as respectful as possible. "An honor to meet you, Sir Gallantmon. Sorry about the unexpected entrance."

"Please, all of that's entirely unnecessary," Gallantmon protested, sounding slightly abashed. "I hadn't expected to see one of you after Emperius started trying to...I hope you'll forgive us for them, they don't represent the majority of us in this world. We're much more eager to learn about you than destroy you, I promise."

"I believe it. Emperius is way too nasty to represent all of you. You've got a pretty sweet place here."

"Ah, yes, thank you, but you've chosen a rather dismal time to see it. When did you get here? Has Emperius been chasing you? I'd like to do as much as possible to keep you safe, but-"

"Pray, let your concerns abate, Commander," Blackcanismon interrupted reassuringly. "Derek's capacity to initiate assault against our opposition exceeds my own currently."

"What? But that's...how?"

"We are symbionts, and possess an unlikely ability to recombine to form a hybrid of strength uncharacteristic of either human or digimon alone. Alone, we have ascended in power, but combined, our strength is radically advanced. Utilizing this ability, we have managed to overcome the adversity Emperius has delivered unto us in the organic world."

Gallantmon was speechless for quite some time. "That's...that's...unbelievable!" he finally managed to sputter out. "How in the worlds did you manage such a feat?"

"We're not really sure how it's possible, though according to some of the smart guys on our side, it might have something to do with our DNA translations being the same. Don't ask me how that's possible, either. It's all kind of beyond me, and, well, asking questions is kinda second importance to staying alive at this point. Speaking of which...Blackie's right, this place is barren. What happened here?"

"Goodness...well, I suppose there's no avoiding it." Gallantmon sat back down and slumped over. After you left, Blackcanismon, I was trying to re-establish the Elite Guard...I'd become desperate enough to go down to the Kaiser himself and request assistance. And that was futile...virtually all the warriors he can spare are trying to quell the chaos in the south. But while I was gone, Emperius marched in and captured just about everyone."

"Everyone?" Derek and Blackcanismon exclaimed in unison.

"Just about. There were a few who managed to hide away and escape their clutches...maybe two dozen remain, barring the injured, who they mercifully left alone. But it was a statement of their confidence that we couldn't oppose them any longer...they didn't ruin anything, they just took the people. And they're being held captive who knows where...we're powerless to save them, and there's no chance we'll be anle to find enough people to mount an attack on them. Emperius is basically unopposed again."

"Not entirely," Derek said firmly. "We've held against all they've offered on our side. Maybe there's something we can do."

"I appreciate the thought, but we're so far behind, I don't know if we stand a chance. And the worst part is that they did it intentionally while I wasn't there...I might have been able to fight some of them off and save a few more, even at the expense of my own life. But they didn't want to have to deal with that."

"Commander, Salmandmon had suggested the possibility of an agent of espionage residing within the stronghold," Blackcanismon said. "My desire had been that such an impression was the offspring of paranoia, but I cannot escape the admission that I believed it so. Perchance could you elucidate us on the possibility of such a travesty?"

Gallantmon was hesitant for a moment, then nodded. "...Yes. There's no question that there was a traitor in our midst. After I came back to find it empty, he dropped in for a visit...pretty much laughed in my face, told me the whole story. It was him from the start, that caused all the trouble we ended up facing. And to think, I trusted him...we all trusted him so much, and he...just turned on us like that!"

"Commander? Please...enlighten me. Who was it?"

"...Blackcanismon. I'm sorry. I really am."

It took a moment for something to sink in. Blackcanismon's eyes slowly widened, and his expression dropped like a stone. "N...no...it...it can't be..."

"I wish it wasn't so myself. Glademon...it was him. He didn't die during that battle...he left with the enemy. I don't know when he turned on us...maybe he wasn't with us from the start. But he ruined our efforts to stand against Emperius...and he did it willingly, even eagerly. I'm sorry...I wish I didn't have to tell you. But it's the truth."

Blackcanismon went completely quiet and stock-still. Almost as if in a daze, he turned and trod out of the room, with nary a word or glance back towards Derek or Gallantmon. Derek almost went after him, but stopped himself. _Maybe he needs a little time to let it sink in...I'll let him be for a while._

"I was afraid of that..." Derek turned back towards Gallantmon, whose eyes were full of sorrow. "There's nothing I hate worse than to be the bearer of bad news, especially such news as this."

"I know what you mean. Man...he spoke highly of Glademon whenever it came up between us. I remember how much it hurt him to think of his death...but that would have to have been better than this."

"I couldn't tell you I knew their relationship personally, but I heard they were very close. I would have preferred to say nothing, but...well, lies hurt more than the truth."

"Yeah, don't remind me. Commander Gallantmon, I hate to shift so abruptly, but I'm kind of hoping I can get some kind of direction for us. You...wouldn't happen to know where Emperius' base is located, would you?"

"Don't I wish I did. We've scoured Northern Tetraquaz by air and come up with nothing. We tried sending ground patrols out early on, but they covered so little ground that it just wasn't worth the effort. We've even tried sending people to Southern Tetraquaz at one point, but there's virtually no chance that they're down there, the Kaiser's been able to tell me that much. They're on Northern Tetraquaz, but we've not seen hide nor hair of them, and we can't really check anymore at this point."

"Yeah, I can get why." Derek closed his eyes and sighed deeply, feeling the gravity of the situation weighing down on him. "Maybe it's just a pipe dream to think the few of us can do anything...but we're going to try anyway. We didn't come all this way for nothing, and I'm tired of these guys sending their forces after our families. So help me, I'll spend days beating them down if I have to, but I'm not just going to let them run roughshod over all of us. For our sake and yours as well...they shouldn't be allowed to just work freely over here, not when they're causing so much trouble for everyone."

"Thank you. I'm...deeply sorry that you got involved in all this."

"Don't be. If it wasn't for this, I might never have met Blackcanismon. He's a friend on a completely different level than any I've ever had before...what he's done for me has been nothing short of invaluable. And I also might have never been able to help save our worlds from catastrophe. I hate just sitting by and doing nothing when I see something bad happening in the world...for once in my life, I don't have to. It's a crazy lot of responsibility, something I've never had on this level before...but it feels good, in a way, to have it."

"I can certainly see why you and Blackcanismon are so close. Brave, noble, willing to go to great lengths for those in need...you truly are a hero."

Now it was Derek's turn to feel embarrassed. "Let's...hold off on the titles until we've succeeded."

(==========)

Up close, the Coliseum looked even more imposing than from afar. It wasn't a particularly tall building, but its sheer girth dwarfed every other building nearby. There were large gates at the front, currently wide open, allowing Ionavimon to see that they led into a central lobby inside where tickets were being hawked and fliers were strewn about. The sides of the building were flat and white, with a few ornate designs near the top. She'd expected something more stadium-like just from her conception of what "coliseum" brought to mind, but the exterior didn't seem to reflect that.

Inside, though, was a slightly different story. The entrance reminded her of a professional sports stadium, though she only knew from a couple experiences. There were ticket sellers, ticket takers, and plenty of scalpers which were currently ignored but which she suspected would draw more attention when the matches drew nearer. Speaking of matches, she was certain she heard something from the center of the stadium, even though a massive pair of doors barred her from seeing anything. From the chatter of the throngs nearby, she gathered that it was an exhibition match between some of the competitors for the tournament. Clearly, it was a good draw even though it was all for show. It almost made her nervous to think of what it might be like the next day.

She got through the entrance gates by explaining that she was registering to participate in the match. It got her not a few strange looks - she supposed it had to do with Valkyrimon's moratorium, or the fact that she was a complete unknown, either one would have made sense. they didn't stop her, though, they just directed her to a staircase nearby, heading downwards towards a sub-level. She almost laughed as she got to the stairs; the sign-up were in the same place a the fighter preparation area. _That probably wards off a few cocky newbies...I doubt you're as excited to go out there when you've seen your competition!_

She wasn't willing to be deterred, though, and strode down with her best air of confidence. It was fairly busy down there, with a number of fighters milling around, perhaps having exhibition matches coming up, of maybe just having finished them, Ionavimon surmised. Not a lot of them took notice of her, though a few did, and they lingered on her, looks of curiosity or contempt on their faces. They didn't look like pushovers, that was for sure. Nonetheless, knowing what was at stake, she carried forth, finding her target in the back, an ent digimon who looked rather nervous to be around so many much more fit individuals.

She marched up and leveled into his gaze; he was already cowering back a bit, his expression becoming even more agitated. She held back a smirk; Blackreptimon had been so right about him. "Hey, leafhead. I want a spot."

"Er...I'm...I'm sorry...I'm afraid there's an order in place, from the leader of the city...I...ah...he doesn't wish to have...someone of your...ah...particular...uh...characteristics, uh, fighting in the tournament. I can't, er, let you-"

"HEY!" Now that shout got some attention, as heads turned to see what was happening all of a sudden. "I don't give a rat's ass what that jackass birdbrain said. I'm competing in this tournament. If you need a higher authority to give you permission, the Kaiser's word should do fine." She unrolled the forgery Blackreptimon gave her and smacked it down on the counter. "Is that gonna do it, or do I need to start busting some heads?"

"Another big talker?" She turned her head to see an Apemon chuckling at her. "Just go home, girly. This is no place for a pretty face."

"This pretty face will kick your ass if you don't back off," Ionavimon hissed.

"You newbies drive everyone crazy, you know that?" A Mummymon grunted from behind Apemon. "You all think you're all that. If you're that special, you'd already be on the circuit! Leave this one to the pros for once!"

"She even needs permission from the Kaiser to compete!" A Gawappamon quacked tauntingly. "What a joke!"

"No, I need permission to keep that chauvinistic bastard from denying me access," Ionavimon replied steely. "If he really wanted this to be a top-tier tournament, he'd stop blocking people arbitrarily. Do any of your other silly war games do that?"

"Whaddaya mean, silly war games?" a Kangarumon responded angrily. "This is serious stuff! If you can't get that, then you shouldn't be participating!"

"Oh, I get that. Just because it's a silly war game doesn't mean I don't want to join."

"Pah. You're never gonna get anywhere," A LoaderLeomon huffed derisively. "We've been training for years, working our asses off to get good enough for this tournament. You couldn't hope to beat us if you've never been in a combat match in your life."

"Oh, really?" Ionavimon gave him a hard glare. "Maybe you're just scared to admit that you don't think you could take me. What's the matter, frightened of losing to a newbie?"

"WHAT?" LoaderLeomon roared, visibly agitated by the taunt, but he was held back by a GrapLeomon and couldn't lash out.

"She's certainly got the spunk," a Dinohumon said from the side of the crowd. "Truth be told, this place could use some female presence...none of the regulars ever turns out because they can't stand this place."

"Point, but she's still a newbie," an Andromon replied, unconvinced. "And you don't look all that strong...what makes you think you can keep up with the rest of us?"

"Yeah, you suck!" the Gawappamon added, leaping up and down.

"Tch. Always having to prove myself...you." She pointed at Gawappamon, who suddenly stopped jumping and stared blankly at her. "Throw a punch at me." Nothing; he seemed to have gone completely blank. "Come on, it's not rocket science. Take a shot at me."

"Don't do it, it's a trap," warned a Yasyamon.

Gawappamon snapped out of his reverie and clucked confidently. "Ha! Fine! Show you how a real champ does it!" He paid the warning no heed, and ran full-bore at Ionavimon, attempting to throw a hard punch to her chest. He quacked in surprise when Ionavimon stopped his fist in mid-punch, then kicked him in the stomach, tossed him up in the air, and drop-kicked him hard into the floor. His body made a delicious SMACK as it bounced off the concrete and came to rest some distance away.

No one said anything, apparently too stunned to respond. Finally, after a brief wait, Gawappamon sat back up woozily, holding his head and barely coherent. "Ooog...did someone get the number of that Trailmon? Stop the room, I wanna get off..."

Ionavimon simply turned and looked back at Cherrymon. The ent was visibly shaking now, now wanting a repeat performance directed at him. "So, have I passed the first test?"

Cherrymon swallowed hard, looking around at the other fighters, perhaps afraid he might touch off a riot. "W...well, we do, uh, have a few drop-outs, erm, a couple spots came open...ah, ah, and your papers, they look, er, real, ah, so, I, uh, v-very well, you can have a, a spot, just no telling, ah, Valkryimon..."

"Wouldn't dream of it. So, give me the rundown, then."

"Er, ah, yes, of course. The, ah, the, ah, the tournament. Ah, er, it's the, uh, Gam Rona tournament, ah, and, er, eh, there's, ah, matches, and, er, well, if you win, you advance, er, and, ah, if you lose, ah you get, erm eliminated, and, ah, well-"

"Oh, for crying out-grow a goddamn trunk, will you?" GrapLeomon burst out in frustration. He went up to Ionavimon and started rattling off the rules like he was in charge of the event. "It's a tournament of 64, single elimination, two battles per surviving challenger per day, which means three days total. The field will be cut to 16 the first day, 4 the second, and champion crowned the third. Battles are free-form, everything within your natural abilities is allowed. No battles will cause you any permanent damage, though you'll feel like it will while in the ring. Battles are won by knockout or concession, tap your fist three times to concede to your opponent. No leaving the ring until the battle is over and the bell rings. If you attack anyone seriously outside the ring you're immediately disqualified. During the tournament all fighters will be housed in designated fighter's quarters, and after all the matches of the day have ended you are to return to those quarters until next morning. Any equipment outside that naturally available to you is prohibited, as is the use of any performance enhancing substances. Did you get all that?"

Ionavimon nodded. "Loud and clear. Thanks. Where are these quarters you're talking about?"

"Just follow the rest of us, we'll be on our way there after the last few exhibition matches."

"All right."

"Don't think you're gonna get us going easy on you!" LoaderLeomon snapped irritably from behind; he was still sulking a bit after her taunt earlier. "You'll see what this is all about, just don't run home crying to your momma after we kick your ass!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna make it easy for you, either. Just watch out, or this newbie is gonna show all of you up."

(==========)

It took a long time for Derek to find Blackcanismon after finishing his chat with Gallantmon. He'd decided to give the canine a decent amount of time to cope with the news, but upon actually making an attempt to find him, found himself hindered by an unexpected inability to reach him by their usual mental link. With so few people around, he didn't find it any good to ask anyone, so he went off and explored by himself.

After nearly an hour of fruitless searching, he got an idea and checked out what he determined to be one of the living quarters. It was designed to be rather larger than someone of his size, but from his dim recognition of what size Glademon was, he suspected it was perfect for him. After a quick search, he heard sounds coming from one of the rooms. Sure enough, Blackcanismon was in there, sniffling and still crestfallen. Derek looked around the room; it was fairly nondescript, no obvious sign that it was Glademon's. But he suspected that Blackcanismon had a different sort of cue to remind him of the knight.

"Blackie? You okay?"

The canine looked up towards him, eyes still tinged with dampness. "Glademon...I told you that he was my closest friend..." he sniffed. "I was closer to him than almost anyone...and now...now I find out he's a traitor! He got my comrades captured! Killed! He almost killed me! How...how...how could he..."

Derek moved close to Blackcanimsmon, sitting down beside him and holding him close to comfort him. "I understand...I can't imagine anything hurting more than that. You didn't deserve that, and it's really low of him to have done something so treacherous to you."

"Derek, I...I have to find Glademon. I have to know why he did it...I know it sounds stupid..."

"Not to me, it doesn't. First thing we'll do after we've reached that Catalyst, we'll find out where he is. Okay?"

"Okay...thank you for understanding, Derek."

"Yeah...you're welcome." The two remained there for a while, not moving or saying anything, each just appreciating the company of the other. For one brief moment in time, it felt like they were all they had.

(==========)

Only after she had found her way to the fighter's quarters and was safely locked inside her room did Ionavimon take the chance to split back into Iris and Shockavimon. "Phew...well, this wasn't quite the adventure I had imagined..." Shockavimon said, slightly apologetically. "I guess it's gonna hold us here for a while...but it's worth it if we get that Catalyst and can bring it back to where it belongs."

"Right...man, you'd think for something so important to this place, they'd do a little better on the housing." Iris looked around the dingy room with a measure of disgust on her face. It didn't look like it had been cleaned very well, there was dust all over, the bedding was unkempt, there wasn't much in the way of amenities, and there was an off-putting smell, not terribly rank but not entirely pleasant. "I wasn't expecting the Ritz, but this is pretty half-assed."

"I don't think professional fighters care as much. Or maybe the more famous people get the better rooms."

"I dunno, from the outside the whole building looked like crap. Guess it's something we have to live with, though. You think it's a good idea for us to separate like this? I'm kinda worried someone might sneak in and find out, and it might not go over so well."

"I think it might be helpful for us. It's like when I evolve...well, I guess, back when I could evolve...anyway, I'd always revert to a lower form because it helped me be refreshed for when I needed to take a higher one. The same principle works for us merging, except split up we're at an even lower energy level. I think it'll help us be fresher for the battles, and we'll need all the help we can get."

"I guess that makes sense. Um...Shockavimon? Can I ask kind of a personal question?"

"Shoot."

"Well, you remember how Blackreptimon and Renamon were talking earlier about that Valkyrimon jerk. Well, I'm kinda wondering, maybe it's just coincidence, but do you think he's...well, the same jerk that was such a jerk to you?"

Shockavimon bowed her head. "Let me put it this way...I wouldn't bet Data against the idea. I mean, I obviously can't say for sure...we've yet to see him, and frankly I'm not eager for the displeasure. But I know he had ambitions of being in control in Hagrande, and probably further, and, well, there aren't a lot of digimon in this world with that kind of attitude towards women."

"You think he's going to know about us?"

"I don't see how he could not. But he might not want to draw attention to that...after all, I'm guessing not being able to keep me on a leash was one of those things that eats at him at night, and he wouldn't want anyone to know about that, not if he could avoid it. Still, we're gonna have to watch ourselves. We might just be able to get away with it because they won't know we're two separate creatures...he might just think of us as Ionavimon, and just be pissed that we bypassed his little rule."

"Yeah, I imagine he won't be happy to hear about that. But...you enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Iris grinned at Shockavimon. "I kinda felt it when we were merged...you're kind of looking at this as a sort of revenge, aren't you?"

"What? That's...no, no, I'm not..."

"It's all right if you are, Shockavimon. I'm not judging."

Shockavimon sighed in resignation. "All right, you got me. I know I said I was over it for the most part, but...well, I just feel like being here brings it back a bit. And I feel like he betrayed me, acting the way he did, after I trusted him and cared about him so much. So, yeah, this is kind of my way of trying to get back at him. I know it would drive him nuts, and that makes it just that much more satisfying than walking up to him and knocking his damn head off...though I wouldn't mind doing that, too."

"Hey, one step at a time. That's great, though. That gives us that little extra motivation...maybe we can really pull an upset and win this thing!"

"Yeah, I won't be happy with anything less than first place! That Catalyst shouldn't be here, and we're the ones to make sure it gets back to where it should!"

(==========)

(==========)

Another one in the bag. This was another chapter that went through some rather extensive revisions, and came out all the better for it. Not much more I have to say about it.

I'm out of town next weekend, so the next update will be in two weeks. Enjoy your Halloween!


	24. Chapter 23: Capture

Hey, that's right, I've got a story to update, don't I?

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 23: Capture**

_What the hell is with the buzzing? Feels like I've got Flymon flitting around in my head..._ Datacarnomon rubbed his head, which predictably had no effect. _And where the hell is Ike?_ He looked all around him, but no sign of the human was within his range of sight. Even his efforts at telepathic communication failed.

_God damn. I hope he's not hurt...did he even get through? Maybe he got thrown into some alternate dimension or something...gah, getting paranoid isn't going to help, I should just start with the buzzing!_ He clamped his hands on his head as it returned with a vengeance. _Side effect of the transfer, must be...maybe that's why we're disconnected from each other, too. I gotta start looking..._

Shaking his head to clear the last few cobwebs, he took stock of his surroundings. They were rather bleak and dreary, mostly desert and wasteland with virtually no vegetation or habitation. But as he turned around, he gasped.

_No way!_

Standing about three-quarters of a mile away from him was a huge steel wall. Behind the wall was the skyline of an enormous city, with what must have been dozens of giant buildings, all built in the same monochrome metallic gray. _I can't believe it! Mechalopolis! I know there's a Catalyst of our type here! Dammit, why couldn't Isaac have come through right next to me? We wouldn't even have to do any searching..._

He looked around again, as if that might help. _I probably should be looking for him, but...well, I don't even have a place to start. Maybe I can use one of the super scanners to give me an idea of where he is. I hope I don't run into anyone who...well, there's probably not a lot of people around to remember that, it's been almost a decade and not many people knew what happened to start. I should confirm where the Catalyst is, too._

With that thought, he started towards the city of Mechalopolis.

(==========)

As he neared the city, Datacarnomon noticed a difference in the cityscape that wasn't exactly comforting. There had always been some weaponry in the walls - the better to repel hostile intruders - but now they were packed to the brim with all sorts of assault weaponry. But more disturbing was that the buildings were also decked out in weapons, something that definitely hadn't been characteristic of the city when Datacarnomon had lived there.

Despite this, he didn't back away. He made for the main gates, which were guarded by two sentries, and Armormon and a Giromon. As he neared the entrance, he heard the Armormon shout loudly at him. "HALT!"

"Relax, it's cool, I used to live here-"

"Quiet!" Armormon shouted. "I haven't seen you around. Do you have anyone to back up your account?"

"Er...no, not really. But it was a while back, you probably wouldn't-"

"Shut your trap!" snarled the Giromon. "Honestly, the lengths some will go to to avoid the security checks. Just admit you're not a robot right now, and save us all the trouble of having to toss you into the brig."

"Not a robot?" Datacarnomon shouted incredulously. "First off, I'm a Datacarnomon! My kind are always totally robotic! And secondly, since when would being a non-robot matter? I'm not trying to live here, I'm just visiting!"

"We've had far too many subversives enter the city as it is. Everyone has to go through the security check."

"Subversives? That's a fine way to refer to organics. Robots are more easily corrupted than they are, you know...and how do I know that's not what's up with you?"

"I have no patience to argue with you, punk," said Giromon with a scowl. "Submit to the security check or bugger off."

Datacarnomon growled in frustration. "Fine, fine, whatever finally gets me back in." He stood in front of the Armormon, who produced a small hand-held device that bore a remarkable resemblance to a hand-held metal detector from the human world. As soon as he held it near Datacarnomon, the device started beeping madly.

"Well! No wonder you were trying to evade the security check!" Armormon shouted hostilely, pointing his weapon at Datacarnomon. "Don't move!"

"Wait, what?" Datacarnomon was completely bewildered by the turn of events. "What's going on?"

"You're under arrest!" shouted the Giromon, coming up behind him and poking his sword into Datacarnomon's back. "For being a non-robot trying to impersonate a robot to sneak into Mechalopolis to commit terrorist acts!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Datacarnomon protested, but he had not time to plead his case, as two Mekanorimon emerged from the gates and quickly flanked him.

"Good time," the Armormon praised. "Take him to lockdown, and make sure he's in the highest level of security. We don't want him getting out, who knows what kind of havoc he'd wreak on the city."

The two Mekanorimon nodded, then carted off the confused and angry Datacarnomon.

(==========)

_Oog...what just happened?_

Isaac felt a nasty pounding in his head as he started to come to. He opened his eyes, and saw little more than darkness. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to his condition; once they did, he finally saw that he was in a bare room with only one barred window letting light through, and not much at that. _That's not good._

He tried to get to his feet, and heard the scraping of chains as he stood. He looked down and saw that all four of his limbs were shackled to the wall by means of some pretty thick chains. _And that's really bad._

Shaking his head to try to clear the cobwebs, he noticed that Datacarnomon wasn't around. He tried to contact his partner through their mindlink, but got nothing. _And that's strike three. I'm in deep trouble._

He heard loud clanking footsteps coming his way. The door opened to reveal a tall, thin, blue-scaled creature with red and yellow armor on its head, hands, chest, knees, and feet. _Oh, joy, a Flamedramon and I'm chained up. I wonder if I can create a natural armor on a moment's notice..._

The Flamedramon leered in, giving Isaac a dark glower. "This is how it's gonna be, human. You're gonna tell me who you're working for and how many there are of you. You don't and I can end your worthless life right here. Get the picture?"

"L...loud and clear."

"Good. Now start talking. Who are you working for?"

"I'm not...working for anyone in particular. I'm just here to fight Emperius. They've been attacking our world, and I want to keep them from doing any more harm to anyone."

"What makes you think you have that right?"

"I...excuse me? I don't have a right to protect my own kind? They keep attacking us!"

"That doesn't mean you can just waltz into our world and start shooting us up at a moment's notice! Just looking to eradicate us all so that you and your precious weak humans are safe?"

"Wait, hold on a second! I'm not looking to attack just anyone!"

"Bullcrap. I've heard about the history of humans. You go after everything just to get at what you want, and damn whoever complains about the collateral damage. Well, you're going to learn that digimon won't stand for that! We'll take you all head-on if we have to!"

"Jeez, man, relax!"

"Shut up! How many of you are there? Out with it!"

Isaac snarled; he was done playing nice. "Burn in hell. I'm not saying anything more."

Flamedramon's eyes narrowed. "Do you need a demonstration of what I can do you? Keep in mind you get only one chance to see it."

"Go ahead. I'm sure you'd love not knowing what kind of forces are backing me up. Having no information is always the best strategy, is it not?"

It was a risky card to play, but it was pretty much his only option at that point, and luckily it had the effect Isaac was hoping for. Flamedramon gave him a look of death but backed off. "Hmph. You'd better get used to being stuck down here. And you'd better hope I'm in a good mood when you decide to start talking, maybe I'll let you live for a while." The dragon stomped out and slammed the door behind him.

Isaac sighed with relief. _That was pretty close...I might have been able to defend myself once, but that wouldn't have been enough._

He was in luck in one respect. The chains attached to the manacles on his arms were quite long, long enough for him to easily get his arms together. _I could blast them...but that would make a lot of noise, someone would have to notice. I doubt I could get myself totally free before they barged in and attacked. Maybe..._

His right arm shifted ever so slightly around the wrist, just above where the manacle was placed. A small device popped up from the opening. _Thank goodness for neural interface,_ he thought as he looked at the device. It was designed to be a laser that could be used to cut or weld, supposed to be used in his robotics rather than for this kind of utility, but it appeared to be his best shot for now.

_That is, if it's strong enough._

He pointed the device right at the base of the manacle where it connected to the chain. One mental command later, and the laser pulsed to life, crackling against the metal. He focused for several seconds, seeing a little bit of progress become a little bit more; however, about twenty seconds after starting, the laser abruptly died. _Goddammit._

The mental feedback he got told him the problem quite clearly; the laser had overheated. It was never designed for sustained operation, instead supposed to be just used in short bursts. That was going to take a lot longer than he had hoped.

_I guess I've got time, though...not like they're planning on coming back any time soon. At least, I hope not..._

That was incentive enough for him to not waste any more time. Fortunately, his failsafes were enough to prevent damage to the laser, and it was ready to operate again in just a couple minutes. He started back up again, this time making sure to cut the laser after ten seconds of continual operation. It was a touch more progress, but it would definitely take time.

(==========)

No building in Mechalopolis was larger than Central Command. Standing in the very center of the city, it dwarfed all the buildings around it, and for good reason. The Mechalopolis Military made their headquarters there, and it was quite a sizable army. The head of the army, and consequentially the leader of Mechalopolis, was among the most respected persons in the entire city.

Not that he felt that way lately.

Technodylemon, a robotic, bipedal likeness of an alligator with enough firepower to single-handedly level an aircraft carrier, stared out the window over the rest of the city. It was looking a lot more empty in recent days, something he wasn't terribly thrilled about. He liked all the hustle and bustle of activity, and it was rather depressing to the leader (or, as he felt those days, "leader") to see that wane.

He turned around as a Guardromon entered his office, already with a good idea of what was going to come of it. "Permission to bring in the subversive, commander?" it asked.

He nodded. "Go ahead."

The Guardromon saluted and exited. A moment later, a familiar face was rather unceremoniously dumped on the floor, along with the rest of him. The door slammed shut, and a loud whirring sound emanated from it, indicating that it had locked.

"Datacarnomon...it's been a while."

Datacarnomon, for his part, knew this place pretty well, even after almost a decade of absence. He wasn't at all thrilled to be there, though, especially given the circumstances surrounding his presence. So he contented himself with giving the best impression of a death glare he could muster for Technodylemon.

"Hmph. The silent treatment, is it?" Technodylemon wasn't intimidated in the least, mainly because he was several times the size of Datacarnomon and much more well-outfitted. "I'd think you could do better than that after nine years of self-imposed exile."

"Is that what this is about?" snapped Datacarnomon viciously. "Punishing me for ancient mistakes? I suppose nearly a decade of atonement isn't enough for some."

"I'm not interested in your 'nearly a decade,' Data. I'm concerned with the here and now."

"Don't 'Data' me!" stormed back the Rookie robot. "Don't like we're just old chums or something! I know you've got it in for me, some trumped-up BS about me being a robot impersonator!"

Technodylemon made a strange imitation of a sigh. "It would be a wise decision for you to keep your wild accusations to yourself, Datacarnomon. They might not be taken kindly. I haven't got it in for you, and I don't believe that you are an impersonator."

"Then what's with this crap you're putting me through?"

"Because you're in violation of an unwritten law of Mechalopolis."

"What unwritten law?"

"The unwritten law that states that only pure robots are allowed to enter or leave Mechalopolis."

There was a moment of highly tense silence. When Datacarnomon spoke again, his voice was low and dangerous. "I thought it was rather empty when they were carting me through the city earlier. Done away with all the androids and cyborgs, have you? Set a standard for what's 'robot' enough?"

"Their fate should be of little concern to you at the moment-"

"Yeah, because all I care about is myself. It was like that before I left, it can't _possibly_ have changed since then."

"Don't get that smart-ass tone with me. All I'm saying is that you have more important things to worry about."

"Yeah, like some abusive tyrant trying to screw me over by claiming I'm violating an 'unwritten' purity law. Which has probably screwed over thousands of innocent digimon in worse ways. And you still act all high and mighty!"

Technodylemon was tired of arguing with Datacarnomon already. He stomped over to a shelf in the corner of his office, grabbed a device, and hurled it directly at Datacarnomon. He barely managed to catch it before it smacked him in the face. "Look at that, why don't you, and tell me what you see!"

Perplexed, Datacarnomon took a peek into the device. It appeared to be a storage chamber of some kind, with a magnifying scope in the center. Small blobs appeared in the magnified area. "Cells from organic beings," he said, looking back up. "So?"

"So? Do you know where those are from? They're from you, Data."

"Give me a goddamn break. I've been housing with mostly fully organic creatures for years. How the hell am I supposed to avoid getting some stuff on me? Not like I'm going to scour myself daily..."

"It's not freaking surface contamination, Data!" Technodylemon rumbled, his patience expiring. "Do you honestly think we're concerned about that? I'm talking about organic material _within_ your body! Coating your circuits, infused into a number of your vital points, completely integrated into you...it's not incidental, Data, the chances of that are remote enough to be considered impossible. You simply don't fit the definition of a pure robot anymore...hell, I don't know how anyone would define you."

Datacarnomon stared at Technodylemon, not in disbelief. "You have to be joking around."

"This is a matter that is far too serious to joke about."

"But that's impossible. I've got foreign material contamination protection just like any other robot. I couldn't just pick up something like that. Not only that, but there's no means of supporting cells like that in my body! There's nothing for them to feed off of. This is completely ridiculous."

"I actually agree, but this is no myth. Of course, maybe they don't fit the definition of foreign..."

"...Did your rationality program get a fatal error or something?"

"Shut your trap. There's a very strange coincidence between this organic matter and your data. It required a little bit or work to figure it out, but we've figured out that they have the same network attributor. How do you explain that?"

_The same...oh, damnation,_ Datacarnomon suddenly realized. _Of course...the symbiotic merging. It could only be that...and it makes sense. He now has mechanical components in his body, it's only fitting that I'd have the opposite condition. But I can't let him know that I've been merging with a human, who knows how he'd react?_

"Any ideas?"

Datacarnomon shook his head. "No ideas about the strange contamination. Just wondering how many pages of your neural network turned out 404."

"Fine!" snapped Technodylemon, less bothered by the insult than Datacarnomon's flippant attitude. "If that's the way you want it, you're going back to confinement, and staying there indefinitely!"

"Fine. Throw me back in there."

Technodylemon radioed in for the guards. Two Guardromon entered the office and flanked Datacarnomon. "Take the subversive back to confinement. Make sure he has no means of escape." The Guardromon nodded and grabbed Datacarnomon, who appeared to have no desire to protest.

"Don't think you've heard the last of me," he warned Technodylemon before being taken out. "You're still stuck on an old version of me...I promise you, I'm not the mon I used to be."

Technodylemon watched the door close on Datacarnomon and his escorts. He heaved another imitation sigh, and went back to his earlier position at the window. _I'd never be so bold as to think I'd heard the last of you, Data...I only hope I'll have time to direct you to the right target..._

(==========)

Patience was never something Isaac was good at, and during the 40 minutes of on-again, off-again laser cutting, he was tempted more than once to just blast his way out of the chains. Only his knowledge that it would be practically suicide kept him from doing so.

_Note to self: make a more heavy-duty laser cutter for next time I'm caught in a jail cell and chained to a wall._

But it worked, even if infuriatingly slow, and finally he broke the chain enough to release his arm. He suppressed the urge to give a victory shout and went to work on the chain holding his other arm. Since the laser was attached to this arm, he had to aim for a point further down the chain rather than directly next to the manacle, making keeping everything steady trickier. Fortunately, his now-free left hand was able to hold that chain steady enough for him to finally cut through it another 40 minutes later.

Now feeling the urge to hurry along, he repeated the process with both leg manacles. They went a little faster than the arms, the chains seeming more degraded than the ones for the arms. _They really oughta keep those things in better condition,_ he thought almost amusedly as he got through the final one. _So much for getting used to being down here. Doctor Maiman rules otherwise._

He looked around. He was free, but the door was still locked. All the cutting through the chains would be of little use if he couldn't get out of the room. But here he had an inkling of an idea.

_Datacarnomon, I hope you're safe wherever you are. All those suggestions you made are gonna be put to the test here. Wish me luck._

(==========)

Flamedramon fumbled through the keys with the long claws on his gauntlet. "Blasted...would it have killed us to adapt some armor with actual fingers?"

His frustration wasn't really with his hands, but rather with his superiors. They wanted to make sure the human survived long enough to crack and tell them everything. Flamedramon didn't see the point - he was a human, therefore he was an invader, therefore he should be roasted - but it wasn't his call. Now he had to check on the human and try to get something out of him.

_Six hours. Even as pathetic as they are, that's not even close to long enough to break one._

Getting the right key, he unlocked the door and entered. "All right, you little-"

And then he stopped dead. The human was gone. The chains were laying against the wall and on the ground, the manacles and the prisoner nowhere to be found.

"What the-"

He never saw it coming. Before he could even react, he felt a massive pain erupt from his back. He was unconscious in only a few seconds.

(==========)

Isaac reappeared from nowhere, grinning down at the KO'd digimon. "Well, I think I've got the upper hand now."

The cloaking device and stun gun had both been Datacarnomon's ideas. And good ideas they had certainly been. Isaac was a stranger in a strange land, and neither of them knew how the locals might react to the presence of humans, so it was a logical course of action to connive something that would hide Isaac from sight. And the stun gun was a weapon that could allow him time to escape without killing a digimon.

The first thing he did was grab the key ring from Flamedramon and unlock the manacles around his limbs. Thus totally freed, his next action was to drag the dragon to an adjacent empty holding room and lock him up. _Can't have you running off to warn everyone, at least not right away._

He made a point of inverting the set-up he'd been placed in, attaching the short ground-level shackles to Flamedramon's arms instead of his legs. With so little arm movement, he wouldn't be able to do pretty much anything with his hands. As an afterthought, he went back and grabbed one of the empty unchained manacles from his cell, yanked off Flamedramon's helmet, and snapped it around the dragon's muzzle to keep him quiet. _Hopefully that'll get me a little more time. Now, then...one last thing..._

Isaac couldn't hold back a grin as he held out his arm. A scanning device emerged from the middle and started sweeping over Flamedrmaon, reading the core data and analyzing it. _Man, so this is what it feels like to be Mega Man,_ he thought triumphantly as the scan completed. It had only been natural, of course, for him to think of a program based on the weapon-copying ability of the popular video-game robot Mega Man; after all, robots were what his mind revolved around. He held up his arm and watched with glee as is shifted, taking on a form that resembled Flamedramon's.

_Okay, I gotta try this out!_ He pulled back his arm then thrust it forward, and a trio of fireballs shot out from the clawed hand, smacking against the wall with a loud FWOOSH. He cackled quietly, immensely pleased with the results.

Of course, as with anything, there were drawbacks, and he saw one of them after examining the system. _Hoo boy, what a power sink. I'll probably have to write something to fix that. Ah, well, can't be helped now, I'll just have to be conservative. Yeah, like that'll be a problem._

Satisfied enough, he shifted his arm back to normal and made for the door. As he was about to leave, he heard a pained moan and looked back. Flamedramon had finally woken up, and was now looking at Isaac with a mixture of wonderment, fury, and shock. Isaac couldn't resist one smarmy smirk. "I'd get used to being down here if I were you."

And then he was off, reactivating his cloaking program to evade the prying eyes of the rest of the compound. He had no idea where he was or how the building was laid out, but he was taking a page form Datacarnomon's book and getting an internal map recorded so he didn't have to backtrack. He moved as quickly and quietly as he could, doing his best to stay away from any digimon wandering through the halls.

It took him a long time and not a few close calls, but he somehow made it out of the building undetected. As he exited, he saw himself surrounded by large walls. He was on the grounds of a much larger compound than he thought; there had to be at least a dozen buildings all around, and lots of digimon on patrol, either on foot or up in towers. Spotlights were shining everywhere in the darkness, meandering around in search of anything out of the ordinary. _Jeez, what is this place? It looks almost like a military compound or something...this can't be Emperius, though, they wouldn't have bothered to keep me alive for any amount of time, and it can't be Libertius, they wouldn't have responded like they did to my claim I was fighting Emperius. Either way, I don't think it's good for me to stick around._

He kept himself cloaked as he dashed through the grounds, his brain buzzing with information about the location of the digimon patrols. It was almost like a sixth sense had been given to him because of the mechanical upgrades his body had gotten, and he was more and more thankful for it every time it got him safely past another guard that was getting a little too close. He felt a twinge of nerves every time a spotlight meandered over his location; even as effective as the cloaking device was, he always worried that he was just moments from discovery.

That discovery never came, though, and soon enough he had reached the main gates to the wall that separated this strange compound from the rest of the world. _But I can't open them myself...I could be in for a long wait here..._

It was more protracted than he expected, though, as the gates swung open mere minutes after his arrival. He wasted no time making his move, quietly slinking by the open doors just as another digimon was passing through...a very impressive-looking creature with what looked like samurai armor and huge swords that Isaac ID'd as Gaioumon. Even as disconcerting as it was to be so near him, he couldn't help but be awed at the raw power the creature exuded. _He must be the boss of this place, I haven't seen anyone like that around here..._

He froze as Gaioumon stopped short and looked in his direction. _Did he see me? I don't think I made any noise...can he see through cloaking?_ But if he did, it didn't show, as he turned away and strode through the gates. They closed slowly with a creak behind the invisible human, who let out a deep sigh of relief before taking off into the vast, empty expanse in front of him.

_Man, that was fortunate. I'd've been way outclassed in there, there's no way I could have handled a fight. Now I gotta figure out where I am, and where I can go to find Datacarnomon. I wish I could connect with him, it'd make things so much easier..._

He'd walked for about half an hour before he heard a loud siren blare behind him. He turned and saw a commotion in the now-somewhat-distant military compound. _Guess they figured out I was gone...I'd better stay cloaked just in case they decide to search out here._

He resumed walking at a somewhat brisker pace, looking for anything that might help orient him. It was almost futile in the darkness, but he'd been out cold for a long time, so he didn't feel tired. _Looks like I'll be walking through the night. I hope the weather holds out..._

(==========)

(==========)

Ugh. Not one of my better chapters, but unlike the previous two, I just could not get a better rewrite here. I'm not really satisfied, but I guess it's more likely than not that there'll be a couple clunkers in here. At least I set up a few things for future chapters which are going much better.

The ability-copying technique was one I knew I was going to put in once I figured out where I was going with Isaac, though my original conception of it was poorer than it ended up. Other stuff was kind of later additions, but I think they work well. His abilities provide a rather larger level of versatility in terms of what I can do with them, which is as much a challenge as an asset. I have to figure out some way to keep things fresh with him.

Well, that's all for this one. I've been in a spot of bother for writing lately, a combination of work keeping me late and writer's block. I've had a sudden burst of inspiration in the past couple days, though, and I think I'll be able to knock out a few thousand words this weekend. About time I started getting a little ahead of the game. Onwards to the next chapter, which I hopefully will be happier with!


	25. Chapter 24: The First Day

Hm, Sunday, is it? Actually, this one wasn't just the standard "I forgot" but rather, I was doing a last once-over and saw a bunch of things that needed changing. So, after some editing, it's finally ready. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 24: The First Day**

Iris and Shockavimon awoke to the morning sun shining through the window...right into their faces.

"Gah! Would it kill them to invest in some curtains?" ranted Iris as she rubbed her eyes ferociously. "Rgh...stupid room. Figures we'd get the one room with a natural alarm clock..."

"Calm down, Iris," Shockavimon yawned. "Not like we didn't have to get up anyway. Did you sleep all right? How do you feel?"

"Mmf. Besides being annoyed, I'm fine. Not exactly the most comfortable bed in the universe, but I guess it wouldn't do much good to complain about it, huh?"

"I doubt it. Not like we'll be spending much time in here anyway, other than sleeping. You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. No one's gonna hear us, right?"

"I don't think so. They didn't hear us split up, otherwise they would have come in and found us. We'd have been in a lot of trouble if that had happened, huh?"

"I'd rather not think about it. Let's do this."

(==========)

Ionavimon was ready and raring to go to battle bright and early as she arrived at the Coliseum...only to find that there wasn't a single match to be had. The tournament schedule started in mid-afternoon, meaning she had several hours before she'd see a fight of any kind. Lightly cursing the early start, she contented herself with wandering around the city, getting a feel for the place. It wasn't a very positive feel; the conditions she'd noted upon her arrival did indeed seem to extend throughout the entire city, much like Blackreptimon had suggested. The digimon seemed to have a sense of despair as well, though it was somewhat masked by the clear excitement of the Gam Rona tournament. That was the talk of the town - every conversation she overheard was centered around it.

_It's probably the only thing they look forward to,_ she thought grimly. _Their lives are stuck in a rut, they don't have much of anything due to having it all taken for that Coliseum. It's the only time they get to enjoy living here...that's no way to live. Something needs to change. I just wonder what that could be._

While out on her walk, she happened across Blackreptimon once again. This time he wasn't hanging off a building, but rather sitting in a plaza, his bag of tricks at his side, almost in eager anticipation. He grinned at her as she approached. "Hey, nice job getting in."

"Thanks. Now all I gotta do is win. Easier said than done, I suppose."

"Well, I'll be watching. So you can consider me a good-luck charm, hm?"

Ionavimon cracked a smile in spite of herself. "And how often do you say that to a lady?"

"More often than it works. Don't worry, I'm not trying to come on to you. Not that you're not a beaut, but my eyes are set on someone and I don't intend to let them wander."

"Let me guess. A certain Renamon?"

"Eh-heh...yeah. Don't let yesterday color your perceptions, we're closer than she likes to let on. She's involved with someone...won't say who, but he's apparently the jealous sort, and she doesn't like him one bit. Keeps saying she wants to leave him, but something's holding her back, possibly what Valkyrimon might do if he found out."

"That's sick. She should be the one making that decision, not Valkyrimon."

"Yeah, I know. I hate seeing her unhappy...but there's not much I can do about it. I wouldn't force her to make that decision. I'm not even sure she'd be interested in me as much as possibly another guy. It's just a dream of mine."

"Well, don't give up on it until you've heard one way or the other. So, am I to assume you're plying your wares here? Kind of dangerous to be this out in the open, don't you think?"

"Hey, as far as anyone knows, I'm just selling some sketches." He unrolled one of the papers in his bag, to reveal a passably good drawing. "Hiding in the alleyways is a good way to make people suspicious. I prefer the front of having some kind of honest work."

"Why don't you just make a living as an artist?"

"That's no fun. Besides, I'm not good enough to reel in any worthwhile cash anyway. Maybe with some work, but 'wait and see' isn't good enough to put food in my stomach. Meanwhile, if I sell even one other kind of sketchy work, it can keep me sated for several weeks. Not that that business is very good, either, but the opportunities are there."

"Right...well, I suppose I'll head off before I drive off any potential customers."

"Right-o. See you at the ring. And hey, if I hear anything...juicy, I'll try to find you. Wouldn't mind seeing you give that obnoxious idiot a stroke, you know?" The lizard gave her a cunning wink. "Later."

"Yeah, later." Ionavimon turned away and continued her walk elsewhere. Part of her didn't want to feel like she was getting an extra advantage from Blackreptimon's insider info, but another part of her wanted to get back at Valkyrimon bad enough that it was tempting. _Maybe I'll just ask him not to give anything that would give me a necessarily unfair advantage..._

(==========)

As the time of the battles started to draw near, Ionavimon landed back by the Coliseum to see the crowds swarming the gates. It seemed like complete chaos, with a few digimon trying desperately to keep order; she supposed they were probably staff, and judging by the looks of them, they were hired specifically to prevent riots from breaking out. She managed to slip in without too much trouble, back into the entryway where she'd been the night before. This time the massive doors leading to the arenas were open, and she decided to take a quick peek to see what kind of setting she'd have to adapt to.

She was not prepared for what she saw through the doors, and let out a soft gasp as she looked inside. The sheer size of the area was the first thing that struck her - several football fields could have fit inside with room to spare. It wasn't just one arena, but a cleanly-arranged array of battle areas with seating around each one; she could count 32, enough for all the first-round battles. The arenas looked like they could be rearranged and collected into larger ones if needed; she imagined that that might be the case for the later battles, just so more people could see what was going on.

There were all sorts of small gray digimon running around the arenas, checking this or that and generally making sure everything was running smoothly. She guessed that the Gazimon made up the majority of the staff; small wonder, as they were known for working cheap, didn't need a lot of supervision, and were generally capable of learning whatever they needed to. At one of the rings, a Gazimon was checking a hole in the ground, with what appeared to be a platform rising up to fill the gap. At another ring, another Gazimon was tossing some kind of ball attached to a length of rope at the sides of the battle area. Ionavimon's eyes widened as she saw a flash and heard a rather loud crackle, before the ball was tossed back at the Gazimon, who caught it like he'd been doing it all his life.

_That looks dangerous. But I bet it's to keep the crowds safe...if a fighter got tossed errantly into the stands, it could do some damage. And it might keep them from going after hecklers or something. Still, looks really painful to run into...I should stay well aware of where I am in the ring during these battles, or I could find myself jolted as badly as my enemies._

There were two sets of stairs down towards fighter preparation areas. She had to check a roster sheet to find out which one she'd start at; it was the same one she'd gone down to sign up originally. Down in that area, it was slightly more crowded than the previous night, and the fighters were much more antsy than before. Many were trying to calm themselves down and focus, but the knowledge that their numbers would be whittled by three-fourths before nightfall was weighing heavily on their minds.

_That may be my one psychological advantage...I sure as hell don't want to go out having lost, but I don't have a career to worry about here. Their performance here could really affect their status in this whole system, something I don't have to worry about. It could make them more desperate, but that could mean they'll be more reckless, too. Every little bit helps._

She could see a large board with the matches posted. Her first, and hopefully not only, foe was another avian creature, Strikeavimon. She looked around, but she couldn't see him; after a moment, it occurred to her that he was probably in the other prep area - most likely, they kept fighters who were facing each other away from each other until they actually had to get to the ring. Still, she could draw a mental image of him: standing around 7'3", nearly a foot taller than herself, and bulkier as well; covered in brown feathers, wearing a purple visor and gauntlets and brown leather bands encircling his upper arms and feet; a solid close-quarters battler, not as adept in the air as other Avimon relations, but that was moot here.

_Getting up too close will probably be a bad idea. I think I'll be better off with liberal use of electricity._

A buzzer from nearby rang out over the clamor in the prep room. She saw the fighters making for the west end of the room, where there was a group of lift platforms; she presumed those were the same ones she saw the Gazimon examining before coming down here, and that they'd take her where she needed to go. There weren't enough to take all of them up at once, but they were rapidly returning to bring more participants to other rings. _It's a pretty slick system they've got set up here...no wonder it cost several fortunes._

Eventually, she was able to get on a platform of her own. There was a small console in front of her where she input her name; after just a few moments, the platform came to life, taking her away from the prep room and rapidly through a dark corridor. She felt an odd sensation partway through the trip, like she'd traveled through some kind of not-quite-corporeal field. It went away almost as soon as it had come, and she wondered if that wasn't part of the safety measures that kept anyone from actually dying during the matches.

As she rose up to the ring, she found her opponent already there, looking much as she had envisioned. There were quite a few cheers from the crowd, and no shortage of whistles and catcalls. She wondered how many of the guys were watching her solely because it was the only chance they'd had to see a female in combat for a long time. The novelty of her being a rookie probably didn't hurt, either.

She wasn't exactly familiar with standard practice with these matches, but she'd taken a quick glance over some of the standard rules and procedures before leaving the prep room, so she had some idea of what to expect. A buzzer sounded, calling for the participants to approach and express sportsmanship before the match. She and Strikeavimon approached the center of the ring, and exchanged a quick handshake; his eyes were practically boring into hers, as if trying to get inside her head and test her will.

"Scared, girly?"

"Not a chance."

"Hm...so be it."

They retreated back to their own corners of the arena. All that was left to do was wait for the bell to ring and start the match. Ionavimon felt more nervous than she'd showed, but she wasn't about to back down. Not when there was so much at stake.

Then the bell rang.

Almost before she could react, Strikeavimon was dashing at her, his arm pulled back and ready to deliver a blow. She barely got out of the way, ducking to her right just as he lunged forward, his arm getting only air and his balance thrown off. Ionavimon wasted no time, unleashing a Dervish Bolt at him while his guard was down. Strikeavimon yelled loudly in pain and fell to his knees, the crowd giving an accompanying gasp.

Ionavimon thought she had already won for a split second, and then Strikeavimon was up again, rage in his eyes. "Right, you're gonna get it now! Hyper Talon!" He did a bicycle kick that launched two crescent-shaped energy blasts at high speed right at Ionavimon. She could only dodge one of them; the other slammed into her, driving her back and knocking her to the ground.

She didn't get up instantly, taking a moment to shake off the blow as the crowd hooted and hollered, not entirely settled on who they were cheering for. Strikeavimon was almost on top of her before she realized it. She mentally berated herself for being slow on the uptake as she blocked his punch and countered with a hook to his beak. He wasn't fazed, and returned with a body blow that glanced just off her side. She saw her chance as his body was turned; she put her hand on his back and with a sudden motion turned and pushed. He squawked as he hit the ground, and grabbed the wrist that had almost caught his fall.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Ionavimon taunted.

"Not as much as you're going to!" Strikeavimon countered acidly as he got back to his feet. He was still holding the wrist, and to her it looked like he might have sprained it. Nonetheless, he was right back in the action, rushing her and trying to deliver several kicks in quick succession. She blocked six of them before the seventh caught her side, the eighth her stomach. She backed off, somewhat winded from the stomach blow.

He took the opportunity, trying another duet of Hyper Talon blasts, but Ionavimon wouldn't fall for that twice. She swept down and laid close to the ground, letting the blasts fly over her harmlessly. He was running at her again before she could get up. Taking a grave chance, she charged electricity in her legs, then lifted her body with her arms, rolled her legs up under her, and kicked upwards. "Lightning Talon!"

It was a direct blow, right between Strikeavimon's legs. He let out a pained and startled cry as electricity coursed through him, adding to the pain of the blow to a sensitive area. The crowd let out a loud OOH, as if they themselves felt the pain of the blow. Strikeavimon staggered backwards and collapsed, holding his groin and wheezing. Ionavimon got her footing and stepped back; she hadn't even been going for that kind of blow, but if it got her the victory she was hardly going to complain.

After several seconds, Strikeavimon pounded the ground three times, the signal for a concession. The bell rang, and the crowd's cheers crescendoed as Ionavimon felt a rush of joy. _I won! Yes! Take that, doubters!_

A group of Gazimon attendants rushed into the ring around her. Several were attending to Strikeavimon, who was very gingerly getting to his feet with their help. One of them started getting a little pushy, in every sense of the word. "Nicely done. Sorry, I have to rush you out so we can set up the rings for the next set of matches. The platform is ready for you."

"Right, thanks." Ionavimon took the hint and strode over to the platform, taking in the cheers of her victory around her.

(==========)

Sitting on the bench half an hour after the fight, she still felt herself shaking. The intensity of the match still hadn't worn off, nor had the excitement of the victory. _Now I get why this is so popular...damn, what a rush! I've never felt like this after a fight before! Competition really does make a difference!_

She looked up at the board. For the first time, she noticed some numbers near the line-up for each match; apparently, people could also bet on the outcomes of each fight. She was somewhat surprised when she saw the odds for her match; she'd expected to be a major underdog, but apparently the line had only been slightly in favor of Strikeavimon. There were some people who were betting on her; she wondered, though, how much of it was serious confidence in her and how much was just because of the novelty factor.

Then she smacked herself both literally and figuratively. _Wow, talk about your self-confidence drainers. I shouldn't be getting down on myself over this. I just beat that guy! I'm one-sixth of the way to my goal! I can do this, and they're not gonna stop me!_ But she also knew she couldn't get too excited; after all, it wasn't likely that this was going to get easier, and she didn't want to let cockiness be her downfall.

Slowly, other fighters began to trickle back into the room. Some of them looked at her with awe, as if they hadn't expected to see her after the first fight had ended. She just gave a smarmy smirk back to them. The match board showed which ones emerged victorious and which were defeated, and she reveled in a private chuckle of derision as she saw one by one a number of the fighters that had berated her at the sign-ups fell into elimination. _Take that, you bozos._

It was roughly an hour before all the fights were finished. It surprised her how long some of them took; her match with Strikeavimon had been no more than a couple minutes. It was possible that they just had different fighting styles that prolonged the matches, or that some of the digimon were more durable. And of course, the element of luck, like her kick at Strikeavimon; that had probably finished the match before anyone expected. She wished she could see one of the matches to understand a little better, but that was against the rules; fighters had to remain in the prep area until all matches were finished.

After all the fights had ended, there was a shuffling of participants, with some fighters having to move to the other side of the coliseum in preparation for the matches. She didn't have to move, so she just contented herself with watching the fighters moving back and forth, wondering if she'd have to come up against them later on. Some seemed a lot more daunting than others, but she didn't get ahead of herself.

The match-ups weren't posted until all the fighters were accounted for. She eyed her match and saw it was against a Dinohumon. She thought she recalled seeing him when trying to sign up, but couldn't recall him taunting her like some of the others. Either way, she was going to get some idea of what he thought of her now.

The buzzer went off again, and this time she was at the front of the line. The trip took a few different turns from the first one, but other than that it was the same in all respects. She arrived first, but not by much; Dinohumon rose up just seconds after she left the platform. He regarded her with a completely even expression, not letting even a trace of emotion past. _Hm, a stoic one, huh? Reminds me of Skylar. Except a lot bigger and probably not such a brainiac._

The buzzer reminded her that they needed to meet at the center before the match before. She approached as she saw him stride up, his gait almost as stiff as his expression. They shook hands, and Shockavimon noted his grip was even firmer than Strikeavimon's.

"You put on quite a show last night." It almost startled her to hear him actually talk. His voice was deep and even, flat as his expression but she could sense the deliberateness behind it. "Think you can keep it up?"

"Hell yeah."

"Good. I'm looking forward to the best you have to offer, then. I hope you're ready for mine."

"Of course I am. Don't hold back, now."

He nodded, and they retreated back to their corners. She felt a lot less nervous than before the first match; now that she had a feel for how things went, it was already getting more comfortable. Making it to the second day would be a huge stride, and all that stood between her and that was the reptile in front of her.

And then the bell rang.

Instantly she noticed a difference between Dinohumon and Strikeavimon; where the latter had charged her at t0, the former took a much more measured approach to his initial approach. He drew his great sword immediately and stepped forward with more caution, holding his weapon out in front of him defensively. Ionavimon pulled out her spear and held it ready as well, keeping her eye on Dinohumon and keeping a decent distance. The two squared off without approaching too closely, as the crowd hollered for them to start the bloodshed.

Ionavimon was the one who decided to get it going. "Dervish Bolt!" She unleashed a torrent of electricity, too unpredictable for Dinohumon to dodge, as the crowd rose in clamor. He was jolted, but shook it off easily, then decided to make things happen. He took a couple steps forward, then gave a sudden charge, closing in with wide strides. Ionavimon quickly reacted, strafing to the side and watching him skid to a halt. With a turn, he swung his great sword, and found himself just too far away. He quickly got his balance again and once again backed off, now more wary of her ranged attack.

She drew him again with another bolt; this one he forewent evasion and just blocked the brunt of the blow with his great sword. With a frown, she noticed that it wasn't conductive. He closed in again, but didn't charge this time, backing off after a couple steps; she realized that now he was trying to draw her, hoping that she'd come within range of his sword.

"That thing is awfully dangerous," she said to him, just loudly enough so that he could hear. "Isn't slaying opponents illegal in this thing?"

"This sword has been...altered, somewhat, specially for this kind of combat," he replied calmly. "So that it cannot draw blood or do any true physical harm. It only feels like it does when it hits, so as to realistically act as if it deals a true blow. Useless in real combat, but effective here."

"Nifty. Isn't that illegal, though? I thought only stuff that came standard with you was allowed."

"There are regulations that allow for minor alterations as long as they go through extensive approval protocols. It's not significantly different from my natural weapon in form or function, and it is designed for simulated combat. Essentially, it was what comes with me standard, just made to match effectiveness."

"If you say so." Shockavimon tested him again with a Dervish Bolt, which he predictably blocked. This time, though, she was off while he was guarding against her attack, and before he knew what had happened, she slashed with her spear, only to find it didn't leave a mark on his body. "What the?"

Dinohumon kicked at her catching her on the side. She spun around and backed off, breath a bit labored after the blow. Dinohumon smirked at her. "I would have thought, after what I told you, that you would have realized that your weapons work differently here."

"My spear wasn't altered!"

"Actually, it was. As you made your way up to the ring, you passed through a field that changed your weapon." Ionavimon cursed in her head; of course that field would probably do more to her than just protect her body. How many digimon came with weapons standard? "It denies your weapon its capacity for physical harm, only letting it simulate damage. The alterations to my sword were made to deal more damage specifically for simulated combat..."

"And thus you can end battles quickly by getting in one or two good blows," finished Ionavimon. "Whereas most weapons aren't much more effective than a good physical blow. You're a veteran here, aren't you?"

"Fourteen years of tournament combat before joining this Coliseum exclusively at its-inception!" Suddenly Dinohumon charged, sword ready for a wide swing. Ionavimon ducked and rolled under the slash, then gave a rising slash with her spear at Dinohumon's back, before dealing a kick to the back of his head. The crowd roared in approval as he stumbled forward a bit before turning back to face Ionavimon. "No wonder you wanted to prove yourself..."

"You didn't think I'd make it easy, did you?"

"I know better than to underestimate anyone, regardless of physical appearance or experience." He approached her slowly, but determinedly, sword always out in front of him. Then he rushed again, swinging hard. This time Ionavimon didn't get out of the way fast enough, and the tip grazed her chest. She felt a near-explosion of pain, much more than she would have expected even from that significant blow, and she barely registered that he was swinging again, this time from above. She quickly brought her spear up to block the sword, a loud clang ringing out over the cheers of the crowd. With only a moment to spare, Ionavimon kicked her legs out to the side and around at Dinohumon as the sword came down, swinging her sideways. "Lightning Talon!"

The kick connected with Dinohumon's side, sending a sizable jolt through him. With a cry he stumbled, holding his side and breathing heavily. Ionavimon got away from him, thinking it might be done, but Dinohumon still wasn't ready to go down.

They faced off again, much like before, and also like before, the crowd was getting anxious for action. This time Dinohumon made the move, charging with this sword raised, Ionavimon instantly sweeping backward. Then, without warning, Dinohumon cried out as electricity surged through him again; he staggered backwards, tripping and landing on his rear. He shook his head and looked bewilderedly at Ionavimon as the crowd belatedly cheered. "Wha-"

"Charge Field," Ionavimon said with a triumphant grin. "Get too close to one I've laid down, and you get a shock. I've set a few around the ring...think you can avoid them?"

There was a subdued sense of elation as she witnessed his expression; despite all his experience, he clearly hadn't been ready for that kind of move, and it had gotten him jittery. _The best way to get an advantage is to throw your opponent off his game, and I think I did that._ She prepared herself as he stood up and took his usual stance, but he wasn't entirely focused on her.

She feinted forward, trying to draw him. He resisted. She gave another, and this time he bit, running forward to get at her. Now she let loose a Dervish Bolt, and with him not prepared to guard, he got another nasty shock. She saw her chance and hurled her spear at his chest. It pounded right through him, sticking out of his chest, a very strange sight with no blood coming from the wound.

This was enough. Dinohumon fell backwards and hit the ground, completely unconscious. A bell rang, and the crowd erupted in cheers. Ionavimon pumped her fist in triumph. _Victory number two!_

As before, the Gazimon came into the ring. There were more of them this time, and she quickly saw why; it took a full eight of them to carry the Dinohumon to his platform. One of the remaining attendants handed her spear back to her and ushered her to her own platform. As she descended, she could still hear the loud cheers for her display.

(==========)

She was surprised to find that she was one of the last ones out. The battle had taken far longer than it had seemed; it felt like only a few minutes, yet she'd been out there almost a half hour. However, there were still a few matches running even longer than hers, so she sat on a bench and again waited.

Over an hour later, a couple were still going. She was getting a bit antsy, wondering what could be taking those others so long. She almost didn't noticed a presence near her. "Congratulations."

She looked up. It was the Dinohumon, up and about, though clearly still fatigued. "Oh. Thanks."

"I just wanted to ask you something...there were no other Charge Fields out there, were there?"

She grinned. "Nope. Total bluff. Not that I didn't get the idea, though."

Dinohumon nodded. "I see...I don't think I've ever come across anyone who's used that particular tactic before. You've given me another thing to train for...I suppose I've gotten too confident in my experience lately. Good luck to you...I have a feeling that you are going to go very far in this tournament."

He walked away without waiting for a response. Ionavimon watched him go, feeling that elation creep up again. The tide that had been against her very participation seemed to be turning; instead of the derision, she was getting respect. It was a great feeling, being taken seriously.

_Still, that means I'm not gonna be flying under the radar. They're gonna want to watch out for me, and the night will give them time to prepare. I'd better be ready, too._

It wasn't too much longer after that before the final match finished up. The once-crowded prep room seemed strangely empty now; A few fighters had trickled over from the other room, but there were still less than a dozen to be found. She almost preferred the crowd, but at the same time, it was a warming feeling knowing that she was still there, still in the tournament, and still on line for the Catalyst.

A loud buzzer sounded, telling the fighters that they could leave for their rooms. Ionavimon expected to just head out and relax, but she was not prepared for what met her at the top of the stairs. Without warning, she was mobbed by a crowd of digimon, all clamoring for her attention. It became impossible to move forward as they crammed into every inch of free space, yelling and shouting things that she couldn't make out because it was all coming at once.

After several minutes of this torment, she felt a strong creature grab her bodily and drag her free from the mass. Before she knew what was happening, she had been pulled through the crowds and out the doors, drawn away from the chaos before she was finally set down and could get a look at her rescuer. It was a large, imposing cyborg dragon digimon, a Sealsdramon.

She was not prepared for what met her at the top of the stairs. A crowd of digimon mobbed her, all clamoring for her attention. She found it almost impossible to move forward as they swarmed around her, yelling and shouting things that she couldn't entirely make out. She made a few feeble gestures of recognition in an attempt to sate them; it helped, but not enough. "You okay?" it asked, with a slightly distorted voice.

Ionavimon sighed and looked back at the madness behind her. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good. I swear, every friggin' time...I keep telling them we need more people and more control measures, but no, that costs money and we can make do. After all they spent on this place, you'd think a few more credits would be trivial..." He shook his head in frustration. "Drives me crazy sometimes. Anyway, I'll take you back to your lodgings."

"I...thanks, but I think I'll be all right-"

"Spare me. I'm going there anyway - my job is keeping the fans out of fighters' quarters. Trust me, they will try to get in."

"Oh...okay, thanks."

(==========)

It was not until they were safely in their room, the door locked tight, that Ionavimon was comfortable splitting back into Iris and Shockavimon. The moment they were separated, they both collapsed on the bed, breathing hard and relishing in their ability to finally relax.

"Well, I think we did pretty good for our first day," Shockavimon said after a long time, sitting up and looking over at Iris. "Two wins...not easy wins, but wins nonetheless. Think we can keep it up?"

"I sure hope so," Iris sighed tiredly. "It takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?"

"No kidding. It's not at all like any kind of combat I've been through before. Worse than any big battle I've fought for Libertius, even that marathon a few days ago in your world. They must train for hours at a time to be prepared for something like this."

"I hope it ends up being worth it. If we go all that way just to find out the prize is not the Catalyst we're looking for, that could be three days wasted."

"Not entirely. I mean, we'll be close to heroes just for taking it out of Valkyrimon's hands."

"I guess so. Blackreptimon was right, though...we haven't really encountered a lot of flak for being girls. A fair bit for being rookies, but I kind of doubt that's unusual. The other fighters don't really seem to care all that much."

Shockavimon nodded. "You're right. It's not too surprising, given that really, Valkyrimon is way far from the norm, but I thought maybe some of the crowds would be nervous about rooting us on because of that. Doesn't seem to have stopped them any. I'm kind of worried about what might happen if Valkyrimon shows up, though. He'll put a stop to anything we want to do in a heartbeat, and if that happens the Catalyst is as good as gone."

"I'm kind of surprised he hasn't shown up already. You'd think he'd be busting a blood vessel, trying to stop us from keeping on at all costs."

"Maybe he doesn't know, though that would be kind of weird. I doubt he'd be stepping out during tournament time...but why would he let us compete if he knew?"

"I dunno...maybe he's trying to set us up for a fall?"

"Ugh, I don't even like the thought of that. But it's possible...we'll really have to be on guard, Iris. If you notice anything strange at all when we're on our own, let me know as soon as possible. We may have to keep our merged mind extra-aware when we're together, too."

"Yeah, you're right. Man, so many things to think about, I don't know if I can keep them all in my head. Still, I guess we shouldn't get too down...we're one-third of the way to our goal, and if we keep up this pace, we could actually pull out a win here."

"And I hope we do. Whether he's trying to set us up or not, Valkyrimon will be driven mad if we overcome. I only wish I could see the look on his face..."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that. All right, we should probably hit the sack now. I want to be completely ready for tomorrow...we'll need all the sleep we can get."

(==========)

(==========)

Since the previous three chapters were pretty much devoid of any combat, I figured I'd start making up for that here. As you might be starting to expect, the next couple chapters featuring this pair will be heavy on this kind of stuff. These battles are somehow more challenging to write than others, I'm trying to figure out why that is. Maybe because of all the rules.

Anyway, this chapter still isn't quite as long as some of the previous ones. Still, I feel more satisfied with it, and I think further chapter's along this line will be somewhat improved due to getting a better grasp on what I'm working with.


	26. Chapter 25: Legends Come True

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! I didn't update as I was out of town; expect the same thing over Christmas.

I don't know where half this chapter came from. Seriously, this was half as long when I started. Oh, well, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 25: Legends Come True**

By the time Reyn awoke that morning, Salmandmon was already up and gathering some kind of weird fruit from the trees surrounding them. They'd spent the night tucked away in some woods where they were unlikely to be bothered, as per Salmandmon's recommendation - he didn't want to suddenly spring a human on a place where he couldn't gauge the local populace's reaction.

As he got his bearings, Salmandmon jumped down with a bunch of fruit in his arms. "Chow time! Hope you like it, it's pretty much all there is. If you don't, well, force it down anyway."

"What if it's poisonous?"

Salmandmon rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'd give you food if I didn't know if it was safe? C'mon, I'm not that dumb. I've eaten this stuff before, it's fine."

"Yeah, it's not toxic to _you_. But it's completely foreign to my body, and who know if it will react differently?"

"Why would it? I ate your food just fine."

Reyn paused a moment. "...Yeah, you did. Don't you find that weird? We're composed of...well, completely different types of matter. That shouldn't work that way."

"Well, whether it should or not, it does. Now quit trying to think on an empty stomach."

Reyn sighed. "Fine, but if I'm on death's door in an hour I'm blaming you." He picked up one of the fruits; it had somewhat bumpy yellow skin, was a little larger than an apple, and appeared more or less innocuous. He took a bite and made a face. "Nngh...kinda sour, don'tcha think?"

"Yeah, I know. Great, isn't it?" the lizard spoke through mouthfuls, having polished off one fruit already and working his way through another.

"I prefer sweet, personally."

"Eh, sweet's fine, but nothing beats sour. It's just got that kick that I love."

Reyn wasn't quite of the same opinion, but all the same, it was the only food around and he was hungry, so he dealt with it. After the two had finished the small pile of fruit, he decided to broach business. "So, what's next for us? You said you knew of a place that had a Catalyst?"

"Yeah, at least I've heard that they do. Oroetem, I think it was called. Yeah, that's it. Dunno if it's a Fire Catalyst, but it's worth checking out, better than just trying to wander around and get lucky."

"Of course, if we're wrong, that's pretty much what we have to do anyway."

"Aw, quit being such a downer. Something has to go our way sometime."

"I'm just saying. I hope you're right, because I'm not so keen on spending another night out in the open."

"It wasn't that bad. You've never roughed it before?"

"A couple of times, but usually we're in tents and sleeping bags and such."

"Tch, that's nothing. I'm gonna have to get you used to sleeping exposed out in the open, nothing between you and the world around you."

"That sounds dangerous even for my world, and we don't have creatures that can kill at 50 paces."

"It's not as dangerous as you think. Few digimon would bother going after a sleeping stranger. For one thing, it's not really worth the trouble to most people. And it's considered cowardly and heinous, and any digimon caught doing so would be treated to extra-rough punishment."

"By who, exactly?"

"Any peacekeeping group, or just random guys who don't like to see that kind of stuff. There's not a lot in the way of organized law out in the open, but there's some unwritten codes of conduct that people are supposed to abide by. There's always those who don't, but they get dealt with swiftly."

"You mean by killing them?"

"Eh, if that's what it takes. Generally a good beating or two is enough to get them to at least take their crap elsewhere. But if you mess with the wrong people, well, you generally get what's coming to you."

"Sounds like a recipe for trouble to me. What's to stop someone from just claiming that the guy they offed was causing trouble when he was actually innocent?"

"The knowledge that if they do do that, they won't be shown any mercy."

"That wouldn't stop some humans."

"Doesn't stop some digimon, either, but it generally works well enough."

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. We need to do anything before heading to this Oroetem place?"

"Nah, we should just be able to walk in. Let's go!"

(==========)

When Skylar awoke, it took him a moment to realize where he was. He'd been dreaming about being back in his own world, so the unfamiliar bedroom was completely foreign to his brain for a short time. Of course, it all came rushing back pretty quickly...the village, the castle, the weather control machine, and being thought of as a reincarnated king by some digimon who had clearly been stuck inside for far too long.

_Huh...I had a pretty busy first day._

"My liege? Are you in need of anything?" The voice nearly startled him, and he looked over to see a Gargoylemon standing expectantly in the doorway. It was so weird to him, being referred to with titles like that, but everyone seemed to insist on it, and he didn't really have the energy to try to keep them from doing so.

"No...I'm good. Uh, tell me, you haven't happened to see any blue dragons nearby, have you? Er, I mean, little blue wind dragons that talk funny, that sort of thing."

"No, my liege, nothing of the sort. I can ask the guards to be on the lookout for such things."

"Please do, thank you." The Gargoylemon bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him. Skylar stretched and rolled himself out of bed, feeling a bit worried; he'd heard nothing from Breezedramon at all since arriving on this world, and it every hour with no word bothered him more and more. He couldn't imagine he wouldn't know if the worst had happened, considering the connection they had, but what if he was in some kind of trouble?

He shook his head hard. _Worrying is just gonna screw with my mind...I have to think about something else._

Perhaps fortunately, there was plenty in his immediate vicinity to draw his attention. In fact, the immediate vicinity itself would do. The veritable whirlwind of activity yesterday after his experience with the weather control system had left him no more knowledgeable about what exactly had gone on before he'd arrived. It was fairly clear someone had been up to no good, but the who and why were still unknown.

_If I'm gonna figure out how to deal with this situation so that I'm not stuck here for ages, I have to know what happened. Perhaps someone in the village knows the whole story, if I can get them to tell it to me straight. Maybe they can tell me more about the weather control machine, too. That's a pretty cool device._

"My liege?" Skylar nearly jumped again, as Gargoylemon again poked his head in. "They have a grand breakfast served for you in the dining hall. May I escort you?"

"Escort...oh, uh, right, yeah, just give me a minute, I'm just getting ready."

"Very well. Let me know when you are prepared." The door closed again, and Skylar sighed and shook his head. _Nice people...a little overbearing, though._ He gathered himself and was just about to go to the door when something intruded into his head.

_Sky? Are you there?_

For Skylar, it was the greatest relief in the world to hear that mental voice. _Breezedramon! Thank goodness, I was about to go nuts with worry! Where the hell are you?_

_Well, that's kinda...the problem at the moment. I don't have any clue._

_You don't? Well, do you see any landmarks or anything that can help guide you?_

_I wish! I'm stuck in some weird infinitely loopy forest deal! I'm with another guy who's been stuck here for days, neither of us know what's going on with it! And there's not any clues on how to get out, either!_

_What? Really? Is that, uh, a normal feature of this world?_

_No way! If it was I'd probably know how to get out of it already! You're a smart guy, do you have any ideas for what I can do?_

_Well, jeez...this is something pretty new to me, as well. Hm...I guess we can try a few video game strategies. Can you find anything that looks out of place, that might try to tell you which direction you might want to go?_

_Yeah, I can try. Thanks! I'll keep you updated!_

_Please do._ Skylar exhaled sharply, not realizing he'd been holding his breath for a while. _How wonderful. At least he's not injured, but if he's trapped in a place that's even odd for over here, who knows when we're going to be able to get back together?_

(==========)

"...What in the world were you just doing?"

Breezedramon jumped as Avimon spoke behind him; he'd almost forgotten about the birdling in his eagerness to finally connect with his partner. "Whoa! Hey, don't spook me like that!"

"Sorry, but it seemed like you were just staring off into space or something. Something the matter? I mean, besides the obvious."

"Oh, I wasn't doing anything like that! I was just talking with my buddy Sky!"

"Sky? That's a weird name."

"It's because he's not a digimon! He's a human!"

"A human, huh? Well, I guess it was only a matter of time. But, uh, how exactly are you talking to him?"

"Telempamphletically!"

"...Huh?"

"You know - mind-to-mind-speak!"

"Oh..." Avimon still looked somewhat confused. "Humans can do that?"

"This one can! Just me with me, though. It's kind of a long story."

"I'd kinda like to hear it anyway. But while we're doing whatever we should be doing. Did he have any ideas?"

"He said to look for anything that might be outta place or distinctive! He thinks maybe there are some kind of signposts or something that tell us which direction we should go."

Avimon dropped a bit. "I doubt it. That's one of the first things I tried to look for, and I didn't find anything of the sort."

"Well, maybe you missed something! Come on, it can't hurt to try again!"

"It can if you fly into me again."

"Are you ever gonna let that go? C'mon, that was ages ago!"

"That was yesterday."

"Whatever! Let's just go, I wanna be outta here!"

Avimon couldn't really argue with that, so the two took off and commenced their search for any unusual landmarks. Breezedramon regaled Avimon with stories about the adventures in the human world, which more often than not left the birdling hopelessly confused as he could make little sense of Breezedramon-speak.

Eventually, after a couple hours of searching, the two had to take a break and set down by a large rock. "Well, that was about as futile as it gets," Avimon sighed dejectedly. I'm never gonna get out of this place."

"Hey, ya can't be all down and stuff! That's just gonna make it worse!"

"I really don't see how it could be worse at this point."

"We could be attacked by something nasty, that's how! Some evil digimon who's all 'I'm gonna tear out your anensogaphogus!' and then tries to do that."

"Tear out my what?"

"Anyway, just stay positive! Something's gonna go our way, and if we're moping around we're just gonna miss it!"

"When you've been in here five days, you'll start to understand my position."

"Well, that's not gonna happen because I'm not gonna be in here five days! We'll be out by nightfall, you just watch!"

Avimon shook his head. "Jeez...you and your endless enthusiasm. Are you always like this?"

"I try to be! It's hard sometimes because a lot of bad stuff happens, but if you just try to feel good things get better!"

"Does it always work out that way?"

"Er..." Breezedramon pulled up short. "Well...maybe not always. I guess I've had some people think it just makes things worse. But I don't believe it! If you're just sad all the time, how does that make anything go better?"

"Well, it doesn't get your hopes up, only to have them dashed again."

"Bah, that's no way to live. What's the point of not having hopes? All that does is be stupid. It's like, uh, lemme think, I'm not much good at this analogy thing..." Breezedramon paused as his attention was suddenly caught by something else. "Hey, wait a tick...does this big rock look weird to you?"

"Huh?" Avimon looked up at the rock. "It's a big rock. What's there to look weird about?"

"Yeah, it's a big rock, but it kinda looks like something not-rocky." Breezedramon flew around to look from a different angle. "Yeah, it looks like it's shaped like something! Kinda like a statue or something like that!"

"Statue? You're loopy, it doesn't look like..." Avimon trailed off as he neared where Breezedramon was. His eyes widened in recognition, as the deliberateness of the shape became clearer. "Holy...it does look like a statue! But only if you look at it at the right angle. That's the first thing I've seen that looks like it doesn't belong here!"

"No kidding! Though it's weird, it looks like a statue but, you know, not nice and smooth and all that. Like it wasn't actually carved or anything, but like it was formed out of normal erosion stuff. But with all these trees, no way it could have been that!"

"You're right, not nearly enough wind, and wind doesn't generally shape things deliberately..this is too definite to be wind. But it is weird..."

"So let's check it out! This could be the thing!"

Avimon hesitated. "Well, I guess it could be...but I don't wanna get too excited, maybe there's nothing there to tell us-"

"Aw, come on, brighten up! Don't look like you think you're not gonna find anything, look like you think you're gonna find something!"

Avimon rolled his eyes. "All right, you win. I'll try."

The two scoured the statue. With some guesswork, they concluded that it was shaped like some kind of dragon, though that didn't appear to be a significant clue for anything. Then, on the back of the statue dragon's head, Breezedramon saw something noteworthy. "Hey, it looks like there's something weird here."

"I think there's more than one weird thing here."

"Hey, you've got a sense of humor! But no, seriously, I'm not sure what it is, I think it's writing but it's really small. Trying to read it makes my eyes hurt."

"Let me, my eyes are great." Avimon got down close to the peculiar sighting, eyes darting back and forth all over it. "Yeah, you're right, it is something written down. Let's see...it says, 'These woods are claimed for Dimensidramon, the master of space. All who enter will never leave, except by my will.'" He swallowed hard. "Hoo boy..."

"Dimensidramon? Isn't that one of those dragons that can change space and stuff however they want?"

"Yeah. Yeesh...that explains the infinite forest. He probably made it so it's stuck in some kind of spatial loop...that's why it keeps repeating over and over again. So we can only get out if he lets us out? How are we even supposed to find hum, let alone convince him to let us go?"

"I dunno, but we gotta figure out some way! I can't stay here forever, I need to get back to Sky so we can kick some Emperius butt! C'mon, let's see if there's anything else that tells us how to get in touch with him!"

(==========)

"Hm...you know, I was expecting something a little different," Reyn said as they started walking through the village of Oroetem. "This is really old-school."

"Oroetem is a simple place, which is what attracts some people to it," Salmandmon explained. "It's hard to get that kind of community feel in a big city, or even a mid-sized town. Not that I find that a selling point...I prefer the cities, definitely. This place is definitely different from how I remember it, though."

"How so?" asked Reyn.

"Well, for starters, it was about 20 below zero and there was snow all over the place."

"...Uh, you mean like it was a different season or something?"

"Northern Tetraquaz doesn't have seasons. We're in what you would call the tropics, more or less."

"And here I had to wonder why you told me not to bother with heavy clothes. Mind telling me why it would be snowing here, then?"

"Because this place has a weather control system. It's unique among the entire world, as far as I know. However, the guy who was running it, Shinduramon, was a bit of a prick and wanted the villagers to pay more tribute to him. They refused, and he got pissed and decided to make life miserable for them until they came around...and then, just like that, he left, out of the blue. I don't know why exactly, but he left things the way they were. Stayed like that for a year...maybe he had a change of heart and came back, and let things go back to normal."

"For nothing? Sounds kind of fishy to me."

"...Yeah, you're probably right. But who else could have done it?"

"Maybe someone else figured out how to control the system?"

"Huh...maybe. I don't know enough about it to really be able to tell. Whatever the case, everyone's certainly happy about it." Indeed, the people seemed more jovial than they would have expected if the old tyrant had returned.

Salmandmon managed to get the attention of a Floramon. "Hey, it looks like there's some kind of celebration around here. What's up?"

"Oh, it's wonderful! Our beloved ancient king as returned!" the Floramon replied cheerily. "I thought this village was finished, that we were all going to freeze to death or starve, but the king has saved us from that long cold!"

"Ancient king?"

"Yeah! There's a prophecy that the king would return in a desperate time to save the lives of his loyal subjects! I never expected him to be a human, though! Maybe it was true that he went off to a different world!"

Reyn and Salmandmon stared at each other, wide-eyed. "A human who can control the weather?" Salmandmon spoke in disbelief.

"No way...it couldn't be!" Reyn responded.

"Who else could it be? Let's go to the castle!" The two sprinted off towards the castle, ignoring the odd looks from other villagers.

(==========)

Isaac stared at the contraption in front of him, utterly baffled. It was some kind of machine, simple in appearance but much less so in function if Isaac's readings were to be believed. There was some sort of terminal standing right up from the ground, connected to a metallic spire that was just over Isaac's height.

_What in the world is this thing? I'm getting weird energy readings from it, but I can't decipher them! Maybe I should try to interface with it._

He laid his hand on the machine, trying to make a wireless connection to his arm. When he scored a success, he closed his eyes and willed a projection to come up. There seemed to be a map of something - he couldn't tell what it was, but he assumed it was probably the Digital World. One point stood out, and he gathered that was his current location. There were other points that were lighting up; he zoomed in near his own location and saw that they were fairly scattered around.

_Can I connect to those?_ he wondered. He tried to gather some information on them, and came up with a set of numbers. _Interesting...maybe those numbers connect to a network these machines are on. I should try entering them in._

He severed the connection to the machine and keyed in the numbers on the keypad. He was then prompted to take hold of the spire on the machine. A bit confused, he did so. Barely a fraction of a second later, he felt a strange sensation and blacked out.

When he came to, he was laying by the machine...or so he thought at first. When he got his bearings, he realized the environment around him was different, greener and more tepid instead of hot and barren. _What the hell was that?_

He was about to connect again when he felt Datacarnomon contact him. _Ike! Hey, can you hear me?_

_Hear might not be the right word, but I'm getting you loud and clear, Data!_

_Well, it's about damn time! I've been trying to connect to you for a day!_

_You have? But I tried to contact you and you didn't respond!_

_I never once got anything from you-_

_But that doesn't make sense-_

_Okay, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I'm kind of in a bind. I'm in a city called Mechalopolis, and I'm kinda captured right now._

_You too? I woke up in some strange fortress in chains. What the hell is with our luck?_

_Well, I didn't exactly wake up that way, but that's beside the point. I need you to come to Mechalopolis, but it's going to be very dangerous, because they've gotten really hostile to organic beings. You're not going to be able to get past the guards, they've got detectors that will prove you're not a real robot. You might have to find another way in._

_Before finding a way in, I have to find a way there! How the heck am I supposed to get to this Mechalopolis place?_

_Well, try using a transfer point._

_A what?_

_They're machines that are placed all over, so that people can get around more quickly if they need to. They look like computer terminals with a big spike on a platform connected to them._

_Wait...those things are transfer points?_

_...You already used one, didn't you?_

_Uh, yeah, just before you contacted me, but I had no idea what it was. Well, now I have absolutely no clue where I am._

_Don't worry, I can give you coordinates to the closest one to Mechalopolis. Then it'll be on you to get there._

_That's good and all, but I still don't know how I'm supposed to get in, or how I'm supposed to keep from being noticed when I am in there. My cloaking isn't gonna work so well against robots._

_Oh, you've already tried that out?_

_I'll regale you with the story later. Is there any way I can get some kind of disguise or anything? Maybe something to fool sensors?_

It took a moment for Datacarnomon to respond. _Hm...I don't really know off the top of my head how to deal with any of that. Hang on, I'm gonna give you some coordinates of a good place to hide out. Once you're there, we can discuss how to deal with this without you being out in the open. Best of Emperius doesn't get wind that we're here if we can avoid it._

_Gotcha._

(==========)

The castle was set well apart from the village, being at least a half-mile away from the actual residences. Thus, by the time Reyn and Salmandmon arrived at a rather imposing stairway, they were both somewhat worn out.

"If we're wrong, I'm gonna be pissed that we ran that whole way," Reyn panted as they ascended the stairs, moving much more slowly now.

"I think we're probably right, though," said Salmandmon. "Who else could it be?"

"Who knows? At this point I'm not sure of anything anymore."

They finally reached the top of the stairs. The castle was quite impressive from the outside - easily the size of a good apartment building, covered in various plants of all colors, and rather ornate in construction to boot. A pair of very fancy doors, several feet taller than Reyn, stood right in front of them, guarded by a pair of digimon, one a Shurimon and the other a Harpymon. As Reyn and Salmandmon approached, they were instantly on alert.

"Hey! You two aren't allowed to enter this sacred place!" The two winced at the loud screeching cry of the Harpymon.

"We're trying to see the, uh, the king!" Reyn tried to explain.

"We can have no threats to the holy one!" the Shurimon shouted back. "Leave, or we shall be forced to fight!"

"Hey, is that any way to treat visitors?" Salmandmon huffed indignantly. "Come on, we're his friends, we should be allowed to see him!"

"We cannot allow that!" As soon as Shurimon said it, a bunch of digimon surrounded the pair, most with some form of weapon brandished at them. For a moment, Reyn thought they were going to be in deep trouble...then another voice called out through the air.

"Stand down, all of you!"

The guards all turned and bowed at the source of the voice. Both Reyn and Salmandmon gasped at the sight. It was definitely Skylar, but he was dressed far differently than he had been when they left. In fact, in a regal suit with a long cloak on his back, he looked positively dapper.

"Thanks for visiting, you two. Come on in."

(==========)

"So, they really think you're a king?" Salmandmon asked in disbelief.

Skylar nodded absently. "They believe I am a legendary god-king called Stormdramon that may or may not have existed, re-born in the body of this human. I chalk it up partially to cabin fever and partially to desperation."

"Stormdramon? Never heard of that one."

"You're not the only one. Supposedly, he's the creator of the weather control system in this castle. I haven't been able to actually verify that, though. All I know is from the couple of books I've had time to peruse in the library of this castle."

"Why am I not surprised you'd immediately gravitate towards the library?" Reyn said with a smirk.

"Ha ha. Anyway, the legend goes that the people of the village wanted to know what winter was like, since they'd never experienced anything of the sort. Stormdramon built the weather control system in order to show them what it was like. With the system, he could create a climate pattern of whatever type he or the inhabitants wished. Eventually the land, started to respond to the changes as well - when it was warm and sunny, plants would appear and grow, and when it was cold and snowy, they'd wither and die."

"That's pretty cool, if not a tad weird," Salmandmon remarked. "But what happened to Stormdramon?"

"Search me. Like I said, I'm not even sure yet if he actually existed. I'm hoping that going through some more reading material could help. He wasn't the only one who could use the system - there's been a few people who I'm sure existed who've used it in the past. From what I can gather, Shinduramon was the first one who abused it, and abuse it he did in spades. Talk about a bad guy, he even left so that he couldn't even hear the people's pleas to change it back."

"That's why he left?" Reyn said. "That's despicable!"

"Well, hopefully the new ruler won't abuse it like that," Salmandmon snickered. "By the way, nice duds."

"They're far too nice for my tastes," Skylar remarked, looking down a bit self consciously. "I've always hated formal wear...feels like I'm putting on an act or something. But they were custom-made for me, so they're pretty comfortable, at least."

"So, judging by what we heard in the village, there's a prophecy that Stormdramon would come back in bad times to help the villagers. I'm guessing that when you showed up yesterday, you found this castle and ended up changing the weather, right?"

"Yeah. I wasn't even trying to seriously change anything...I just saw the control mechanism and had a sudden burst of inspiration. I didn't even know what happened until I went back outside, and then everyone found me and figured I was their reincarnated leader."

"There you go again, playing with toys when you don't know what they can do. I'd thought you'd learned your lesson about that after the acetylene torch incident last year."

"Well, at least I didn't get second-degree burns from this one."

"Maybe not, but I dunno that being made a king will be that much less hazardous to your health," Salmandmon cracked.

"Trust me, I tried to argue, but, well, it's hard to reason with myth when you seem to make it come true. Plus, in case you weren't already aware, they're a tad nuts. And it doesn't help that my actions could very well counter my words. After all, if they see that I can create tornadoes and rainstorms without the weather control mechanism, they'll be even more convinced. And if I merged with Breezedramon...well, I might as well just start calling myself Stormdramon right then and there."

Salmandmon looked around a moment. "Speaking of which, I don't see that blue goofball anywhere. They didn't toss him in a dungeon or anything?"

"No, he's...well, he's not here."

Puzzled looks from the others. "Not here?"

"Yeah. Why, were you two together when you came through?"

Salmandmon nodded. "Yeah, I had to rouse this guy to get him going anywhere. Kid can't handle a little transfer for nothin'. How did you two get split up?"

"I can't say without knowing more about what happened to everyone else...but, well, based on your case and mine, I think the fact that you two were in contact with each other means you were transported as one, while Breezedramon and I were separated, so we were sent independently."

Reyn thought on that for a moment. "That actually makes enough sense - if our proximity had mattered instead of contact, the whole group would have come down closer together. The fact that we got so split up...I guess maybe we should have considered that."

"Too late to do anything about it now. Also, did you realize that our, well, internal communications were disrupted?"

They shook their heads. "No, I had no idea!" Salmandmon replied. "We were together the entire time, and we ended up having no reason to use it, so it never occurred to us to try."

"Ah. Well, I found that out. It must have been thrown off by the transfer...I couldn't say for sure, but that's the only thing I can imagine would cause that. Anyway, I couldn't reach Breezedramon until this morning. Thankfully, now that we're connected he can be on his way. Now all I need to do is keep the guards from thinking he's an enemy and shooting him down."

"I guess until then you're stuck here, huh?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Though I did end up getting lucky. I confirmed with Breezedramon, there's a Wind Catalyst in this castle. I found it by the weather control system when I first got here."

Salmandmon's face fell. "Aw, man...it's a Wind Catalyst? We're 0 for 2 now." He quickly explained to Skylar what they had come through before arriving at the castle. Skylar nodded sympathetically as he finished.

"Wish I could help you, but this is clearly the one we're looking for. I could check the library, see if they've got something about other ones here, but the problem is that there's no Dewey Decimal System here - or for that matter, any other system of organization. It might take me days just to figure out what books might have that kind of information in them."

"Then how'd you find the books on Stormdramon?"

"They were kept separate, because these people find him so important. I think by now we've established that we don't have a MENSA society here."

"Well, they're loyal enough, at least. Well, maybe once Breezedramon gets here you guys can help us search for a Fire Catalyst. It would be really helpful to have someone stronger along with...I don't like that look you're giving me right now," Salmandmon added as he saw the grimace on Skylar's face.

"Don't get me wrong, Salmandmon, there's nothing I'd like more than to hightail it out of here. But I'm torn. If I leave now, I leave the village vulnerable to the return of Shinduramon or some other guy who's got it in for others. Heaven forbid someone from Emperius figures out how to work the weather control system. So I'm not sure I should be going anywhere until I can leave this place in capable hands."

"That's a problem, all right," Reyn sighed. "I couldn't ask you to abandon them, either. I guess that means we're on our own again."

"Unless you wanted to stay until such time came that I could go with you."

Salmandmon shook his head. "Probably not a good idea...the longer we're here, the more time Emperius gets to search for us and prepare to fight us. I'm surprised they haven't already come after us...we haven't fought a single battle yet. Not that I'm complaining."

"I wouldn't count on that pattern holding for long. Anyway, I'm trying to speed along the process. I've already sent out some people to spread the word that it's nice here again. I said it was to promote tourism, but I'm hoping that I'll find someone suitable to take over my position, preferably someone who can use that Wind Catalyst to good effect. Plus, maybe the attention will alert Shinduramon, and if he doesn't stroke out the moment he hears about it, he'll probably come zooming back to attack us. At the very least, I can keep this place out of his clutches."

"All right, well, I wish you and Breezedramon the best. Reyn and I are going to strike out while we have plenty of daylight left. We're gonna scour around for information on a Fire Catalyst in some of the towns and villages in the middle of the continent."

Skylar nodded. "That sounds like a good plan. Go where you know the least. As long as you're here, though, I suggest you stick around for a meal. The people may be a bit kooky, but the food's good."

"How could I refuse?" Salmandmon cracked. "Let's eat!"

(==========)

After a lot of looking, Breezedramon and Avimon gave up on finding any more clues on the statue. At Breezedramon's behest, though, they started scouring the rest of the forest for more possible peculiarities. It had been a rough couple of hours, with little to show for it.

"We're getting nowhere," Avimon sighed dejectedly after a long while, sitting back down by the creek they'd started the day by. "Maybe it's just hopeless. If Dimensidramon didn't want anyone getting out I doubt he'd put any clues in like that."

"Maybe that's not it, though! Maybe it's like some kind of test or something!"

"Some test!"

"I know, but still, you gotta believe! Now, where haven't we checked?"

"I think we've checked just about everywhere possible."

"Nah, not even close. Now, let's see...Dimensidramon can make space just however he wants it to be...and this guy probably thinks a good lot of himself to put in a statue of himself. So I'm guessing there's probably things that show off his talent that could lead us to him."

"What makes you think any of that's the case?"

"What makes you think it's not?"

"Well, the fact that...uh...look, it's just really unlikely."

"So? Might as well run with it until we figure out something else."

"All right, fine. So he's self-absorbed. How does that help us?"

"Easy! It helps us figure out how we should be looking! If he's got a big ego, then he's gonna want to brag about it! We just gotta figure out how his bragging works!"

"...And how are we possibly supposed to go about that?"

"Well, look for patterns or something. Like in the environment. Yeah, there might be something right around us that's giving us hints we aren't even thinking about!"

"Wouldn't we have noticed them by now if that were true?"

"Not if it's something that's pretty innocuous. Like...hm...like..." Breezedramon looked around, trying to figure out what kind of innocuous object he could use as an example. "Like...the fruit in the trees, maybe."

Avimon looked at him incredulously. "You think the fruit is a clue?"

"Well, that was just kind of an example of something..." Breezedramon trailed off as something started to click. "Hey, wait, maybe it is! I mean, think about it, this is the only spot with fruit trees in it! Why just here?"

"Uh...who knows?"

"That's just it! There's no reason for it!"

"Well, maybe he didn't want people to die right away?"

"But if that's the case, why not put them everywhere? No, there has to be a reason he put them here, and it's probably another clue! Try looking at it, see if there's anything weird about it!"

Avimon sighed. "That's a stretch and you know it."

"Look at the goddamn fruit!"

"Okay, okay!" Avimon and Breezedramon looked over the fruits hanging in the branches. They appeared fairly innocuous, at least at first glance. Presently, Avimon spoke up. "I don't know if it matters, but...I guess some of them have spots and others don't."

"That's probably important! Is there, like, a pattern to the spots or something?"

"No, it appears to be pretty random...I mean, it's not like all the trees have the same number of fruits, or...wait, there does seem to be some kind of break where the path leads into this place. There's fruit all around except for that spot."

"Yeah! And...hey, check it out! The fruit's all handing so it's like kind of a line all around! Don't you think it's weird that it all seems to be right in our line of sight?"

"Maybe you're right. But what does it mean?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet, but..." Breezedramon kept staring around in a circle. "There's gotta be something...hey, I've got a crazy idea!"

"Oh, goody."

"Aw, come on, my crazy ideas have been doing great so far!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. Well, give."

"Well, don't you think it would be funny if this was Fundamental?"

Avimon blinked. "Fundamental? You think this is a universal binary translation?"

"It could be! Try converting them to Fundamental, see if they make letters and words!"

"...Okay..." Avimon stared at the row of fruit hanging in the trees. After a minute, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Hang on, I need some kind of tool, there's no way I can just keep track of his in my head."

"Just grab a branch, they're all over the place!"

"Ah, right." Avimon snatched a branch up from the ground and began to scratch the ground, writing in 1's and 0's corresponding to the fruit. It was not a speedy process, as he had to look back up and down frequently and had trouble keeping his place. Eventually, though, he had written down some lines of binary code as such:

10001011 10010111 10011010 11011111 10001011 10001101 10011010 10011010 10001100 11011111 10010111 10010000 10010011 10011011 11011111 10001011 10010111 10011010 11011111 10010100 10011010 10000110

Both digimon stared at the lines of code. "...No, no way. That's just complete gibberish," Avimon finally said, his tone defeated. "Doesn't matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense."

"You're right," Breezedramon said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure there's some trick...hey, wait, which ones did you use for 1 and which for 0?"

"Why does that...oh! You think it could be the other way around?"

"Yeahyeah! Try that!"

"Okay...hey, keep an eye on this and make sure I transpose it right. It was hard enough the first time..."

Breezedramon watched as Avimon scrawled a new set of binary underneath the first one, occasionally pointing out mistakes as Avimon lapsed into simple replication rather than inversion or just lost track of where he was. After some fits and starts, they had a new set of code:

01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01100101 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101000 01101111 01101100 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101011 01100101 01111001

"That is totally Fundamental!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "I totally remember the translations from the classes they gave at Libertius! It says...uh, gimme a moment...yeah, it says 'the trees hold the key!'"

"...The trees hold the key? Jeez, that doesn't help us much. There are oodles of trees in this place, how are we gonna figure out which one it is that'll lead us to Dimensidramon?"

"It can't be just one tree! It says 'trees' so it must have something to do with lots of them! C'mon, lets fly around and see if we can notice anything about them!"

(==========)

A good two hours later, Salmandmon and Reyn were approaching the transfer point they'd arrived from earlier that day. "Well, that took longer than I expected," Reyn remarked as Salmandmon began fiddling with the device.

"It's not like we were in any hurry."

"Well, it mighta been nice to get a head start on finding that Catalyst. So, where to now?" asked Reyn.

"I'm gonna look around for a town or something that I'm confident won't mind you, some place that has a hotel or inn or something like that," Salmandmon mumbled as he looked over the display of the machine. "We'll get a room for the night there, and spend some time scouting around for information on the Catalysts. Definitely don't want to start out cold if I can avoid it."

"Yeah, like either of us could even be close to cold."

Salmandmon rolled his eyes at Reyn's lame joke. "You're such a comedian."

"What can I say? I'm on a hot streak."

"That was beyond horrible. You should be arrested for that."

"Getting the heat on me, huh?"

"You're incorrigible. Ah, right, I think I've got something. A little place called Rinikua. It's in the desert kind of east-central of North Tetraquaz, a fairly quiet little place that's welcoming of travelers. I remember being there a couple times over the years I've been with Libertius. They shouldn't have any problem with you."

"Cool. Let's get going."

"All right, all right, keep your skin on." Salmandmon activated the console and the two of them were teleported from outside Oroetem to not far outside Rinikua.

And right smack dab in the middle of a minor calamity.

There was a huge cloud of dust in the area around where they materialized. Both human and digimon were forced to cover their eyes, but they could very well hear the commotion almost right on top of them. "Reyn, run!" Salmandmon shouted through the choking dust.

"Where?"

"Anywhere except where the sounds are coming from!"

The two took off, not really having any idea where they were going to end up. After a few seconds, they were away from the immediate vicinity of the attack, and had a moment to get their bearings. As they opened their eyes, they could finally see what was causing all the chaos. A rather large, skeletal creature with two large pincers and a long, stinging tail was rampaging around, chasing after something smaller that was almost completely obscured in the dust and sand the larger creature was kicking up. Reyn got a brief glimpse of it through the clouds and thought he recognized it. "Salmandmon, it looks like that's a Jagamon that's running away from that huge creature."

"That's a Scorpiomon! There's a bunch of them in this desert, and they're really territorial! Jagamon must have gotten too close and riled it up! We'd better help out, fast, or he'll be killed!"

"Right!" The two glowed briefly and merged into Burnreptimon, then quickly shifted upwards to Blazereptimon. The reformed fire warrior gripped his hands and rushed for Scorpiomon, trying to draw its attention. "Hey! Big ugly! Get over here!"

Scorpiomon wasn't biting, still fixated on the panicking Jagamon. Blazereptimon growled; they could be very single-minded when in a rage, he would have to do more than just shout to get its attention. He pulled back his hand and let loose with a restrained Solar Wave, connecting with Scorpiomon's stinger. That finally got the creature's notice, and it swung around and roared loudly at the interfering attacker.

"Hurry and transfer somewhere!" Blazereptimon yelled to Jagamon before jumping back out of the range of Scorpiomon, just in time as the massive stinger plunged into the sand where he had been standing. He launched another Solar Wave, keeping the creature fixated on him without doing too much damage. Unfortunately, it was still pissing off the Scorpiomon, and it was coming at him more fervently now, forcing him to be more evasive.

The Jagamon was quickly hitting buttons on the Transfer Point, trying to get away as fast as possible. Blazereptimon fired once more, again leaping back just in time to avoid the counter-attack. The dust from the commotion was starting to irritate his eyes, making it a little hard to focus; fortunately, Scorpiomon was pretty much impossible to mistake, and he was still able to keep up with the evasion.

A sudden bright flash from nearby signaled that Jagamon had finally departed for parts unknown. That objective completed, he turned up the heat on Scorpiomon, unleashing a more forceful Solar Wave than before. However, it's enraged state caused it to virtually ignore the attack, lunging right through it at Blazereptimon. The lizard narrowly avoided being crushed by jumping on top of Scorpiomon and then leaping right off its back and landing behind it. He turned around as Scorpiomon tried to right itself. "All right, you asked for it. Incendiary Ring!"

A ring of flames formed around Scorpiomon and closed in on it quickly, meeting at a point in the center and then bursting out in a powerful explosion, nailing Scorpiomon square. With a pained roar is collapsed, heaving on the ground. Blazereptimon waited, watching to see if it was going to get back up and keep fighting. After a minute, Scorpiomon rose again, but it didn't continue to engage; instead, it trudged off, appearing to determine that this prey wasn't worth it.

Blazereptimon relaxed. _No point in going after it...Jagamon's safe, so might as well live and let live._ With no more danger in the immediate vicinity, he reverted to base form and split back into Reyn and Salmandmon.

"Phew...how's that for making an entrance?" Salmandmon panted, a little tired from all the exertion of their merged body.

"I think I'd rather get held at spearpoint by those guards again," Reyn griped, clearly not happy with the sudden unexpected battle. "Just our luck we ended up here! Could that thing have destroyed the transfer point?"

"Maybe not destroyed...they're designed to withstand a lot of damage. But they can be damaged, and if they are they won't be usable until they're repaired. Fortunately, the network is pretty well monitored by the Kaiser's crew, so any damage gets picked up on pretty quickly. Still, it'd be inconvenient if one got damaged when we needed to get somewhere specific."

"No kidding. If it's a day minimum between points, that'd be a hell of a lot of walking." Reyn shook his head. "Jeez...that thing isn't gonna come around Rinikua, is it? Or its siblings or such?"

"That would be really unlikely, but it's happened before. Before I joined Libertius, I spent time as a guard for various towns and villages to keep stuff like that from happening, as well as to keep unsavory characters out. Larger towns and cities generally have less to worry about, because they're almost always built with some kind of defensive walls. But not everyone likes walls, so the smaller places tend to take their chances. Rinikua should have some guards, so we should at least be forewarned if trouble starts."

"I sure as heck hope so. I don't want to be playing wandering hero if I can help it. More exposure to danger means more risk for us."

"Well, hopefully we'll get to the Catalyst soon, and we won't have to worry so much about that. C'mon, Rinikua's a ways away, and I'd rather not sit out here and wait for another Scorpiomon to come around."

(==========)

It was getting pretty dark, and Breezedrmaon and Avimon knew they had only a limited time before the light dimmed enough that they wouldn't be able to see anything that wasn't glaringly obvious.

"Have you noticed anything about the trees?" Avimon asked breathlessly as they set down for a breather. "I haven't seen a thing."

"Yeah, I've seen that some of them are a different color than the others! But I've been trying to see if there's a pattern to them, and haven't been able to tell."

"Well, you've been right about everything else so far. I think by now I'm game to go with your instinct."

"Okay...we just need to figure out how they matter. And fast, if we don't wanna spend another night in this place!"

"How, though? Do we just walk along and try to count them? That'll take well more than a day."

"Yeah, that'd be too long. Man, if only we could see all of the trees at once..."

It hit them both at exactly the same time. "Hey, we can!"

Avimon smacked his forehead. "I can't believe we didn't think of trying to fly above them in the first place!"

"Well, all the other clues have been kinda needed us to be close to see them. Beside,s we might not have known what we were looking for before!"

"Yeah, I think you're right. C'mon, let's get up there while we've still got enough light to tell which ones are which!"

"That's the spirit!"

The two took off again and quickly shot up above the canopy, flying high into the air. Though the light was starting to dim, they could still make out the color differences in the trees. "I see them...it looks like...they're in kind of a pattern, but I'm not sure from here what it's indicating," Breezedramon said, flying in a tight circle and keeping his eyes trailing on the oddly-colored trees. "The line extends a long way...kinda loops around a lot."

"Maybe it'll be easier to see from higher up?" Avimon suggested.

"Maybe!" The two rose even higher, working to beat the setting sun.

"I can see a lot of these weird trees now...it looks like..." Avimon narrowed his eyes down at the sea of green below them. "Wait a sec...it looks like writing!"

"Writing? You mean like letters and words?"

"Yeah! I see...well, hold on, it's at least one word, and parts of others are...yeah, just look off to the side a little, you can see a couple others! You were right, this guy does like to show off!"

"We'd better hurry and figure out what it says before the light fades! It might be our ticket to getting to Dimensidramon!"

"Right!" Avimon and Breezedramon rose up again, giving them an even larger view of the forest below. Though they were surrounded by a seemingly infinite ocean of trees, they were finally able to see from well up high that there was a definite repetition. With eyes set on only one iteration, they could make out what was fairly clear script in the woods below:

_an offering_

_for the dragon_

As they sank back to the ground, the forest before them was getting very hard to see. As before, they ended up in one particular spot, but by now they had no trouble figuring out where they had to go, and quickly returned to their resting spot.

"An offering for the dragon, huh? Whaddaya wanna bet that the dragon is that statue?" Breezedramon said after they had settled down.

"It has to be...but what kind of offering?"

"It has to be the fruit! It's the only thing here that's unusual compared to the rest of this place. So we take a bunch of it down and put it by the statue, then we should be able to see Dimensidramon!"

"Um, okay..." Avimon shook his head. "I'm not sure I get it. Why go to all this trouble? It seems like there's not really even any point to it. What does he get out of this?"

"Who knows? It's probably some ego thing. Maybe he likes to think people are revering him or something. Anyway, let's go! I don't wanna be trapped here too much longer!"

"Hey, you gotta do the carrying. I can't hold stuff and fly at the same time."

"Yeah, yeah. At least help me gather it up!"

Soon enough, they had a fair amount of the fruit and were on their way to the dragon statue. Despite a couple of stops to pick up some dropped bounty, they were there in a flash, and wasted no time getting everything set up; neither one wanted anything more than to get this done with as soon as possible.

The fruit was strewn somewhat haphazardly at the base of the dragon statue. The two digimon waited with bated breath, hoping that something was going to happen. It was a long period of tense silence.

"...Nothing's happening."

"We can't just leave yet, though."

"Maybe we need more."

"Let's give it a couple more minutes."

"Do you think we could be in any danger from this?"

"Eh, probably. What isn't dangerous around here?"

Avimon was about to respond when there was a rumbling at the statue. "Whoa! What's going on?"

"I dunno...wait, look!" What could only be described as a hole was opening up in midair in front of the statue, revealing a darkness behind it that twinkled with some kind of eerie aura. "That must be a portal of some kind that could take us out of here!"

"Uh, I dunno about you, but I don't know of any places on the outside that dark that aren't also instantly deadly."

"Well, okay, maybe it's not a direct path. Come on, it's not like we're gonna do any better just sitting around here!"

"Okay, okay. You first, though."

Breezedramon took a breath and jumped through the hole. He suddenly had a very strange experience of everything swirling around him. This lasted for several seconds, after which, once everything had righted itself, he found himself sitting in a very dark area, glimmering with that same faint aura. He looked back behind himself to see a similar hole in this environment, showing the forest he had come through.

"Huh, where am I? This is a weird place."

A few seconds later, Avimon appeared behind him, reeling a bit from the effect of the portal. "Whoa...that was about as dizzy as I've ever been. What the heck is that?"

"That's a portal to my realm, you little midgets." Both jumped from the voice which came from right above them. They looked up to see the glowering head of a large dragon bearing down on them. Its long, sickly-orange-colored serpentine body coiled behind, supported only by the gigantic wings on its back. "Now do you want to explain why you are interrupting my repast?"

"Wh-hey, we were just trying to get out of that forest! We weren't trying to bug you or anything!"

"Well, I'm not interested in dealing with pipsqueaks right now. So scram."

"Okay, okay! Um, can you point us in the direction of the nearest portal leading out?"

"Right in front of you."

Breezedramon gulped. "Uh, we were looking for a different kind of out, er, that is, out of that forest place."

Dimensidramon's eyes narrowed at the pair. "Excuse me? You're telling me you don't like my forest? A masterpiece of creation and spatial distortion that I spent ages devising?"

"N-no, your...your forest was...absolutely brilliant, Mr. Dimensidramon?" Avimon stammered out, completely cowed.

"Hah! Merely absolutely brilliant? You runts wouldn't know absolutely brilliant if it smacked you in the face! This is beyond the words of mortals to describe!"

"Er, yes, you're absolutely right! If you could let us go other places, we could tell everyone about it!"

"I don't feel like it. Not gitout."

"What? But...but we can't just stay there!"

"Sure you can. Come back when I'm in a better mood. A couple years or so. Maybe a decade."

"But-"

"I said get!" Dimensidramon turned his back on the duo, leaving them more than a little stunned. Neither one knew exactly what he was trying to attend to - there didn't seem to be anything else in the entire realm to draw his attention.

Avimon turned to Breezedramon, distraught. "What now?"

"Don't worry, I think I've got an idea!"

"I'm not sure I want to know. Please tell me this won't get us killed."

"Of course not! Maybe." Before Avimon could protest, Breezedramon hopped forward. "Hey, Dimensidramon? Do you know how wind works?"

"No, and I don't particularly care-"

"Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On land, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases of charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect."

"That's nice. Now go aw-"

"Winds are often referred to according to their strength, and the direction from which the wind is blowing. Short bursts of high speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of eninterminanidimeate duration are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, hurricane, and typhoon. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between climate zones."

"I don't care."

"The two main causes of large scale atemanosparpheriac concirclocamution are the differential heating between the equator and the poles and the rotation of the planet. Within the tropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In coastal areas, the sea breeze/land breeze cycle can define local winds; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes can dominate local winds."

"Would you be quiet already?"

"Wind can shape landforms via a variety of Aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, such as loess, and by erosion. Dust from large deserts can be moved great distances from its source region b the prevailing winds; winds that are accelerated by rough tomopromogramaphy and associated with dust outbreaks have been assigned regional names in various pats of the world because of their significant effects on those regions."

"Shut up!"

"Wind is caused by differences in pressure. When a difference in pressure exists, the air is accelerated from higher to lower pressure. On a rotating planet the air will be deflected by the rotational reference effect, except exactly on the equator. Outside the tropics and aloft from frictional effects of the surface, the large-scale wins tend to approach geomistrphiralic balance. Near the planet's surface, friction causes the wind to be slower than it would be otherwise. Surface friction also causes winds to blow more inward into low pressure areas."

"I said shut up!"

"Winds defined by an equiliminaribrarium of physical forces are used in the dimcomenpostation and analysis of wind profiles. They were useful for simplifying the amatnostorpharac equations of motion and for making qualminentantivic arguments about the horizontal and vertical distribution of winds. The gameostraiforic wind component is the result of the balance between rotational reference force and pressure gradient force. It flows parallel to isobars and apprimtofoxitates the flow above the atmospheric boundary layer in the medilaminatitutes. The thermal wind is the differene in the grameostrophartic wind between two levels in the atmosphere. It exists only in an amantostophere with homerizcontical tampincticture gramintudes. The aglomonstrotic wind component is the difference between actual and greenostiphoric wind, which is responsible for air filling up cyclones over time. The gradient wind is similar to the grimeristrophotic winds but also includes centropificalfurical force or centactipalartical assimicarelation-"

"_**SHUT THE HELL UP!**_" Dimensidramon roared so loudly that it bowled over Breezedramon backwards. He tumbled backwards, landing in a heap about thirty feet away.

"Never in my life have I heard someone so mindlessly, infuriatingly ANNOYING! How anyone can stand to be around you without going absolutely insane is beyond my ability to comprehend! Are you trying to drive me insane?"

"Um...I just wanted to talk-"

"If that's your idea of talking, I'd sooner erase my ears from existence!"

"B-but I've got so much more!"

"Gah! Not another word! If I have to listen to that again I'll go berserk!"

"But there's no one else to talk to besides you and Avimon, and he already knows all this! C'mon, I wanna talk!"

"I said SHUT UP! What is it going to take to sink that into your thick skull?"

"Um...well, if you'd let us just go out and talk with someone else instead?"

"Fine! Go! Anything to get some peace and quiet again!" Dimensidramon opened up another portal in the dark space, which led out to a much more open area. "And don't let me catch you in my forest again!"

"Okaythankswe'regoingcmonAvimon!" Breezedramon and Avimon wasted no time zipping through the portal, not wanting to risk drawing the dragon's ire further. No sooner were they out under the starry sky than the portal closed behind them, shutting them off from the irritable dragon. Not far away, the forest stood innocently, looking just like an ordinary little patch of trees.

"That was...amazing..." Avimon panted, still not quite over the fright from Dimensidramon's roar. "How the heck did you come up with something like that?"

"Oh, I memorized a whole part of a book on wind a long time ago. I figured out that I could get a lot of people to do stuff I wanted just to keep me from bugging them constantly! It was a lot of fun until they caught on to my game, but me and my friends had a lot of fun with it!"

"Wow. You're...actually kinda smarter than I thought you were."

Breezedramon chuckled. "I get that sometimes. Actually, I can be kinda clueless about a lot of things, but I've learned stuff over the years! And I guess Sky's probably helped out, too."

"Man, if that's what humans are good for, then sign me up."

"Oh, they're good for lots more stuff than that! That's why I'm trying to make sure Emperius doesn't blow them all up!"

"That sounds like a cause I can get behind. Well, you wanna find some place to rest for the night?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

(==========)

(==========)

Ah, setting exposition, how I love thee. For some reason, my conception of the digital world in this particular incarnation came out very much along the lines of a libertarian's paradise (you will see further examples of this down the line). I'm not sure why that is, since I'm hardly a libertarian, but I decided to run with it anyway.

Here's a fun game (drinking game if you're feeling bold): try to find all the segments in this fic that clearly only exist because I was reading a page on TV Tropes. I probably shouldn't be reading that site at all while this thing is still in production, it's too much inspiration.

Points to anyone who knows where I borrowed my "know-it-all" annoyance technique for Breezedramon from. There's a couple different sources, actually, so you can be right in lots of ways. The text was copied nearly verbatim from Wikipedia; the only editing was removing references to Earth and then Breezedramoning the big words. I especially love that last paragraph, which had a bunch of them. That whole part was fun to write.

Anyway, like I briefly alluded to up above, this chapter was originally a lot shorter. Then I got some inspiration and just started writing. Good thing, too, because before it stank, and now it's pretty good, at least in my eyes. You're the final judge, of course. I hope things made sense, I had to spend a lot of time figuring out how to go about everything and I hope nothing got lost in the shuffle.

Thanks to The Silent Insomniac for his recent review. It brought to mind a good point: not working with multiple viewpoints did contribute to the difficulty, and I think overall it is more challenging for me. That gives me something to work on, though, and maybe I'll be getting better by the time I'm through with this separation section. I'm already conceiving the next chapter focusing on Iris and Shockavimon, and already I think it's going more smoothly. Practice makes perfect, or something close to it, I guess.


	27. Chapter 26: Torment

Well, I'm really cutting it close, but this is still technically an on-time upload. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 26: Torment**

"Those transfer points are gonna spoil me rotten," Derek remarked as they finished their rapid transport near their destination. "What I wouldn't give for something like that in our world, it'd make going places so much easier."

"Indubitably, but perchance consider that the exoticness of distant commutation would be rendered insignificant. Appreciation for such ambulations dwindles as accessibility is amplified."

"Huh, so you guys don't really think too much of going places?"

Blackcanismon sighed. "Regrettably accurate. The simplicity of transportation renders distances mundane, locales unspectacular. Additionally, massing militias for wreaking havoc becomes a trivial exercise...Emperius routinely overloaded transfer points through its subjugation efforts."

"Okay, there's some drawbacks...Blackie, are you sure you're all right? You seem kinda down in the mouth."

"Hm? Ah...I humbly beseech your forgiveness. Certainly my dysphoric countenance will contribute no aura of geniality to our peregrination. Such distemper is distinctly removed from my general attitudes, but presently I have encountered difficulty abandoning the doldrums."

"Probably because of this Glademon business, I'm guessing. Don't worry, I know what that's like. You've had a hard time lately, it's tough to deal with it all. I know I feel the same way a lot."

"Hm. Perhaps this demonstrates the principle Iris brought to our attention? Our confluence of personalities associated with the symbiotic conjoining we have experienced? I certainly can make no such allegation as episodes of depression within myself being mythical, but the aberration of their incessant persistence is uncanny."

"Maybe. I'm not sure I'd be the one to ask. In any case, we'll try to find that jerk so you can take it all out on him."

"You have my gratitude for your eagerness, but I believe the temporal pathway will not be facilitating to immediate resolution. I believe I shall attempt, to borrow an idiom from your linguistic lexicon, to 'buck up.'"

"I'll do whatever I can to help out. So, what's this place we're going to gonna be like? You said it was dark all the time there, right?"

"Indeed. The phenomenon of the Twilight Peninsula defies explication, but studious individuals posit some kind of aberrant energy field which implements an effect akin to a permanent nocturnal status. Upon crossing the parallel in question, it will become immediately apparent."

"Weird. And there's a place there that we can stop at to get our bearings?"

"Exactly. Moonlighton is a superlative location to commence mounting our campaign for the Darkness Catalyst. A great many individuals of identical alignment to myself reside there, and myriad compatriots and acquaintances of mine have made it their residence over time."

"So they know you pretty well and probably won't have too much trouble with you."

"Indeed. Certain individuals are less trusting than others, but I presume we will face little imminent danger from them."

"That would be the best case scenario. And then what?"

"The Darkness Catalyst is hidden in sequestered locale known as Noctourne Temple. Arriving there will necessitate traversing deep into the Forest of Stars not far beyond Moonlighton. Also residing within the confines of the temple is an unorthodox phenomenon known as the Oracle."

"Oracle? Is it a person or a thing?"

"The Oracle defies simple description. Those entering Noctourne Temple may chance upon a shimmering cloud of beauty in some secluded area, which can prevent both visual and auditory stimulation that provides answers to troublesome questions that may perhaps be on an individual's mind. Not ever answer is easily deduced, however...the Oracle lacks the straightforwardness that one might hope for."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I sense a reluctance of belief, Derek. Rest assured that the Oracle is no mountebank. It possesses nary an agenda, requires no profit, and is incapable of direct deception. However, the intricacies of information requisition render some answers less interpretable. Futuristic predictions, for example, are subject to a multitude of variable factors which influence outcomes, and even the Oracle cannot predict such things perfectly."

"So it has trouble predicting the future...but questions about the present or past would be easier for it?"

"Exactly. Perhaps it is unnecessary to ruminate on the matter at all...it is entirely possible that we could whittle away many hours and see no shade of the Oracle. It is a notoriously fickle something. However, as our ultimate goal is the Darkness Catalyst, I do not imagine we will exercise much time searching to discover it's hideaways."

"Yeah, we should probably kinda try to hurry along if we can. I don't know what Emperius is doing at the moment, but I'd like to give them as little time as possible to do it."

(==========)

The compound housing the organization of Emperius was state-of-the-art. While the former leader, Craniummon, had understood the need for the basic amenities to keep the ranks satisfied, he had always been somewhat behind the times. It had resulted in a lot of difficulties for Emperius in the past, and that had been the main reason why Havocravenmon had focused on modernization as his top priority upon taking the helm. In just a short time, the structure and function of the compound had been revamped and streamlined, everything working much more effectively and giving them an edge they had lacked for quite some time.

Not that any of this was of much interest to the rank and file. While they certainly didn't complain about the enhanced quality of life, but the advances that improved their combat preparedness and effectiveness were seen as pointless wastes of time. After all, they were destined to succeed, what else did they need? It was an attitude that infuriated the birdling; he'd made efforts to curb the idea, but success was slow in coming. Even now, standing on top of one of the compound buildings, looking and listening in on the digimon below, he heard plenty of chatter about how sweet their victory would be and what they would do afterwards; very little of the talk went to the actual process of winning their battles.

_Listen to them...lost in delusions of their own immortality, overconfident and arrogant...it's disgusting. They think because they've been told they're destined for victory, it must be true. They believe they can't possibly lose...that's no way to think. Those who become convinced of their infallibility fall harder than anyone else. If we don't work for our goals as if we had no divine support - nay, as if providence was working AGAINST us, how can we hope to win? Look at how we've struggled against these hybrids...if that doesn't wake them up to the reality, what in either world will?_

It was something that had bothered him ever since he joined Emperius as a mere recruit years before. The group was still fledgling upon his arrival, but the commander, Craniummon, had many grand ambitions, and the devotion to carry them out. It was because of his tireless efforts that Emperius ever went anywhere, and become a true force to contend with. But he had always had a fixation on divine destiny that had bothered the birdling; he had never been willing to subscribe to such delusions, having felt that they downplayed the effort a person put into their success. Early on it had given him misgivings about even being part of Emperius, but the notion of the rule of the strong over the weak was enough to keep him around.

As more and more digimon joined Emperius, Havocravenmon found himself with more and more influence, the result of seniority and strength. He had also caught Craniummon's eye, in large part due to putting in extra effort into his ideas and executions. He found himself being approached by the commander and his personal assistant, Phantomon, more frequently about what actions to take and what strategies to employ. This favor he was garnering was the seed of jealousy that began to take in some of the other senior members of Emperius, jealousy he was initially unaware of but quickly caught onto.

One such individual was d'Arcmon. She had joined right around the time Havocravenmon had, and from the start she had been the ultimate suck-up to Craniummon. Havocravenmon had never resented her for it, though he would have been lying to say it wasn't irritating at times; she would agree with him unilaterally on everything, regardless of whether it was a good or a bad idea. She was always ready to pose an idea of her own, usually the first to do so, and more often than not the haste with which she had come up with it was woefully evident. It was clear to most that she was trying to curry favor from Craniummon in order to get a high position in Emperius. Hardly unusual among the senior members, though she made a more concerted effort than most, and far more so than Havocravenmon, who didn't mind in the least where he was. Despite this, he got the impression that she felt she was competing with him, which was about the last thing he wanted.

Craniummon had taken on a direct subordinate, a second-in-command, once Emperius had grown large enough that extra leadership was needed. The initial sub-commander, Regulumon, had been capable enough, if not somewhat lackluster in intellectual contribution. Not that it mattered much to Craniummon; strength was pretty much everything, and Regulumon no doubt had that. He hadn't lasted long; having poor judgment and self-control, he had charged head-long into a battle and been viciously cut down by Crusadermon.

With Regulumon gone, a new sub-commander was needed. It was widely expected that the position would go to d'Arcmon, whose efforts to garner favor had only increased with the appointment of Regulumon; indeed, even Havocravenmon expected this, though he didn't think much of the idea. Heck, he'd believed the only reason Regulumon had been made the first sub-commander over her was his battle record. With that out of the way, it seemed unlikely to him that anything else would happen.

At least, that was what he thought right up until the moment where Craniummon appointed him as the sub-commander. He was hardly unaware of the attention Craniummon had given him, but he still hadn't expected that he thought highly enough of Havocravenmon to give him that kind of power in Emperius. Nor had he known that there was a sizable faction within Emperius that had lobbied for him, led primarily by the small number he had convinced to not rely on divinity for success. Despite this, it was pretty much an offer he couldn't refuse. A small part of him, even now, wished he had, but there was little to do about it now.

A large part of d'Arcmon wanted him to, of course. To say she was infuriated would be to say that an Icedevimon was a little chilly. From the very start, she made every effort to get him ousted from his position, and she garnered her own little band of followers who would oppose everything he suggested and start nasty rumors at his expense. Of course, it only got worse when most of Emperius started tuning this out, and again when Craniummon started paying less and less attention to her as he began to put more responsibility onto Havocravenmon's shoulders.

With his new position, Havocravenmon found himself around Craniummon more than ever before, and it revealed to him the extent of the commander's fanaticism. Not just in his insistence on destiny being behind them, but also his beliefs that he could convince anyone to join Emperius, and certain individuals who he was furiously trying to recruit. He would never name names to Havocravenmon, but he would to Phantomon. And as Havocravenomon got closer to Craniummon, he necessarily got closer to Phantomon. The ghostly creature never said a direct word against Craniummon, but that wouldn't stop him from expressing concern about something he said or did. And in a moment of confidence, he let slip one of Craniummon's obsessions: a fiery lizard digimon called Salmandmon.

_Of course, it would have to be the very same one that held such a high position in our most fervent opposition, and who still at this moment continues to be our greatest defiance despite all our efforts to stop him. Why was he so relentless with that one? Sure, I knew the rumors...he supposedly had the Kaiser's ear, and perhaps with his support, we could have gone on to greater things even more quickly. But he wouldn't side with us even before Libertius existed...from what I heard, he joined almost immediately after it was formed. Why did Craniummon think he could sway him, when nothing would indicate that he could be swayed? I cannot doubt his potential for power, but there were many strong individuals on his mind, and yet he gave them half the attention he gave that lizard. What about him was worth all that?_

The question still plagued him, but answers were hardly forthcoming. Whatever the reason, that Salmandmon had unwittingly been the catalyst for the biggest change to Emperius since its inception. Craniummon had gone out to lead a battle in which he knew the lizard would be there, and was intent on turning him to the side of Emperius before the end of the day. Havocravenmon had tried to stop him and offered to go in his stead, but Craniummon insisted, believing he had the key to the conversion once and for all. Whatever it had been, he hadn't even had a chance; Dynasmon had killed him with one powerful blow, leaving Emperius without their only leader.

For most within the organization, the loss of Craniummon was a harsh blow, but their belief in their destined victory helped them weather it, and they were back to normal soon enough. Not so with Havocravenmon, who found himself suddenly thrust into the position of supreme leader of Emperius without so much as a fanfare. Leadership was very unfamiliar to him; he'd never been in charge of even a small group before, much less one of Emperius' size. The first few days were nothing but panic for him; the pressure had overwhelmed him, and he found himself contemplating running away and abandoning the whole thing more than once. Somehow, he managed to conjure up enough inner strength to take on the role, albeit reluctantly.

His first and most obvious action was to appoint Phantomon as his own sub-commander. It was a disappointment to a number of his strongest supporters, who had hoped to fill that position themselves; however, Havocravenmon knew that he needed someone who truly knew the ins and outs of the organization, and Phantomon, being Craniummon's closest confederate, was the only one with that kind of knowledge. The supporters weren't totally ignored, though; he also needed their support in order to keep the peace within Emperius, so he settled with them by giving them lesser positions, which still put them higher on the hierarchy. It was perhaps a bout of cronyism, but he didn't expect to do perfectly in his first time as a leader.

Then came the modernization. More amenities for those who were part of the ranks, better technology for detecting and anticipating threats, weapons that could give their enemies pause, he explored all the options and implemented as many as were feasible. He'd even acquired schematics for the Transworld Transfer Matrix from their agent in Libertius, giving them a shot at yet another conquest that Craniummon had promised them, the takeover of the human world. The effects were immediate; after months of backtracking against Libertius, they started truly pushing back and regaining the upper hand, or at least getting back to even.

Recruitment had also been dwindling, and he changed that, too. Force was dropped as a persuasion tactic, replaced by sweet talk and promises of power. They focused less on specific individuals or locations and instead on broad recruitment - anyone could join if they had the inclination. It had worked well for a while; their numbers had grown, plenty of respectably powerful digimon were more apt to join after not feeling so threatened, and they'd managed to gain a somewhat respectable image, even so much that rumors were circulating that the Kaiser was thinking of them as less of a problem than before. Unfortunately, recruitment was down again, simply by virtue of having gotten most of the potential membership from Northern Tetraquaz. Havocravenmon anticipated this to be a potential problem, and his latest project was aimed at solving that, among other purposes. It would make Emperius more mobile and better protected, and give them the chance to set up shop on other lands to find more who would be sympathetic to them.

But Libertius had remained a problem, enough that he knew drastic action was needed to stop them from getting in their way. Their Elite Guard was especially troublesome, led by five remarkably strong and capable digimon who were practically an entire unit in themselves. So Havocravenmon went to work, trying to find something that would weaken them to the point where they could be easily dispatched. And as luck would have it, in an obscure text, he found something with potential. It was an energy-binding weapon designed to seal a digimon's abilities, but with a few modifications, he thought it possible to seal something even more vital: their very ability to evolve.

He hadn't expected immediate success, and so was pleasantly surprised that it worked the first time Phantomon used it. It had been a difficult trick to pull off, requiring drawing out the Elite Guard and ambushing them with more than they could handle, no mean feat given that it was the strongest Libertius had to offer. Their double agent had helped matters considerably, giving them the chance they needed. The device worked first time, though never again; in the melee, it had gotten knocked loose from Phanotmon, and suffered damage that none of their ranks could repair. Havocravenmon had kept it anyway; perhaps it could be fixed when they had someone with the expertise.

No matter; that it had worked well enough the once was enough, at least that's what they had thought. Libertius' commanders were badly injured, most of their Elite Guard was captured or destroyed by the overwhelming ambush, and the five most painful thorns in their side were nowhere to be found, presumably deleted in the brouhaha. Their most tenacious enemy was thwarted, and nothing was left to stand in their way. As a measure of certainty, they'd captured virtually the entirety of Libertius' ranks, all of whom were being held deep within their dungeon, well guarded, held with barely the strength to move and no chance to escape. Everything seemed to be going in their direction.

And then the human world, where it started to go wrong again. Perhaps it was a hasty decision, but they had been clamoring for it in the ranks; what made them so eager to take over that other world was beyond Havocravenmon's comprehension, but he decided to give them what they wanted this time. The first few were supposed to go over there and ascertain the situation. It was of no concern, until they didn't come back. It had taken a while, but they finally determined what the problem was: those five very same thorns, alive and kicking after all, and somehow melding together with humans to become more powerful creatures, the evolution seal apparently not accounting for this anomaly.

For many in Emperius, it was a blasphemy. A digimon tainting themselves to human flesh, the strong deferring to the weak? They considered them less than nothing, hardly worth the effort to fight. They had to be weaker for combining with the weak. It was a delusion that persisted even in the eyes of the obvious. Havocravenmon was under no such delusions; clearly these creatures were stronger for having come together. He had in fact been more than inclined to try to win them over, though he had made no actual effort to on the grounds that the odds of that happening were infinitely small, at least without making it so they had nothing to fight for. Still, it seemed like the alternative, trying to actually defeat them, was more and more daunting every day.

_If only they took this more seriously...we can't expect to beat them if we don't believe we can lose. They aren't burdened by the delusion of infallibility, they will do what it takes to survive and defeat us, because they know they have nothing but themselves to fall back on. It's that kind of thinking that I wish more among us had._

Despite this setback, all in all, he thought he had done as well as he could under the circumstances. For having no leadership experience at all, their success was something to marvel at, especially for him. He wasn't satisfied yet, but without achieving their ultimate goal, he shouldn't have been. Still, according to many of his supporters, he was generally well-liked and highly supported.

Generally. There were some camps that weren't quite so high on him. One was almost bitterly resistant to his efforts to ground Emperius in realism; they considered his reluctance to accept their divine destiny as a sign that he didn't think they could or would win, and that he was inviting failure upon them by refusing to have that magical thinking. It drove him crazy to hear things like that, but he had to accept it - there were those with damaged minds who could not tolerate reason and rationality. Cultist and extremist mindsets were hardly unfamiliar to any digimon, least of all himself, a dark-aligned digimon who had witnessed such behavior both from his kindred types and their bitter opponents. It was almost tragic irony that he'd ended up leading one of the largest such groups on Tetraquaz; he'd spent a lot of time justifying it to himself, and figured he would spend a lot more.

And then there was d'Arcmon and her little clan. She had taken Craniummon's death very hard, less so because of caring about him than because of what came of it. Havocravenmon becoming the leader of Emperius was appalling to her, and she spent most of her time doing anything she could to antagonize him in some way, whether directly or indirectly. She and her followers were all also of the impression that he was leading them to failure, the difference from the other group being that his leading them to failure was due to ineptitude rather than lack of belief. He had long ago given up trying to placate them; any action he took was the wrong one, and they refused to offer any insight into what would satisfy them. Frustrating, but he figured it was part of leadership. Still, it was painful to have to listen to them slander him baselessly, especially with his own doubts in the picture.

_I must not let them distract me from my mission. It's my duty to guide us towards the ultimate goal...with any luck at all, we'll weather the storms and become unstoppable. Humans, digimon, anything in between...we'll find a way. We have to. The strong are survivors, the rest hold us down._

(==========)

The sudden shift from bright of day to blackest night was quite startling for Derek, but it didn't take him long to adapt; in fact, he quickly felt more comfortable on the Twilight Peninsula than he had anywhere else in the digital world.

The walk from that crossing to Moonlighton was quicker than he had expected. It was not a large town, certainly nothing like Braun was, but not exactly sparse either. He immediately noticed that Blackcanismon hadn't been kidding when he said it was full of darkness-aligned digimon; at first glance he couldn't see one of any other type. "I'm sensing a theme here."

"Moonlighton was originally founded as a refuge for dark digimon who found themselves unwelcome in other locales. Discriminatory impulses are hardly more a mystery to digimon than to humans, and on underlying bases no less trivial."

"So all these guys were driven out of other places?"

"Or simply were unable to deliver assurance to other populaces that their intentions were no different from their own. Simply making an environment inhospitable incurs an equivalent effect to actively driving an individual into exile."

"That's a shame. Nothing worse than pointless hatred." Derek found himself feeling slightly uncomfortable as they walked through the town. He was getting a lot of funny looks from everyone they passed, and it was no mystery to him that most of those digimon were larger than he was. None of them were attacking, but they certainly didn't look like they trusted him. He couldn't say he entirely blamed them for that.

"Dispel your nervousness, Derek," Blackcanismon whispered. "You are a novelty here, without question, but outwardly you present nary a threat to them."

"Yeah, I know. You know where we're going?"

"I am escorting you to the domicile of the leader of Moonlighton. Reichmon is an old compatriot of mine, and I possess a desire to converse with him."

"Fair enough. I don't think we want to rush off anywhere anyway."

Derek continued to follow Blackcanismon to a large building in the center of the town, one which reminded Derek of an old mansion of the kind one might see in old works of fiction. The doors were tightly closed, but they spotted a small intercom on the door frame. Blackcanismon braced his paws on the wall while Derek pushed a button on the intercom. "Reichmon? Are you presently occupied?"

There was a moment of silence before the response. "Blackcanismon? Is that you?"

"That it is. My companion and I would be most gracious were you to authorize our entrance into your domicile."

"Of course! Give me one moment."

Blackcanismon returned to all fours and stepped back. Derek saw the doors open inward, though no one was at the doors to greet them. "Remote controlled?"

"A reasonable presumption. Let us enter." Blackcanismon led the way inside. The interior was impressive, especially its lighting; despite the darkness of the city around them, and contrary to what Derek had been expecting, it was lit up almost like daytime in the mansion. There was no shortage of decoration, either; various paintings and objects d'art pockmarked the walls and floor, a pair of beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the paint itself seemed to sparkle with reflected light. Two curving staircases flanked a hallway that stretched in front of them, the latter of which Blackcanismon bid Derek to follow him through.

Through a pair of ornate doors, they arrived in a sitting-room, where directly in front of them was one creature sitting and two standing at the first's sides. Derek instantly recognized that the one sitting was Reichmon, a humanoid-looking digimon encased in heavy, lion-themed armor. Standing to Reichmon's right was Ebondramon, a tall draconic digimon with a dour glare, armed with a long blade and long claws. On the other side was Phelesmon, a devilish digimon with a pitchfork that gave Derek a momentary flashback to Boogeymon.

"Blackcanismon, it's good to see you! It's been far too long..." Reichmon made to get up, but Derek saw a wince flash through his eyes, and in a moment he had settled back down. "Ah...I hope you'll forgive me, I'm not in the best shape to be courteous..."

"My good Reichmon, have you serious injuries?"

Reichmon waved his hand. "Nothing that will be the end of me, and they are a result of my foolishness anyway. At any rate, I'm under orders to rest, so that is what I'm going. Enough of me, though, how are you doing? It's been nearly a year since you last visited, I'm eager to hear what you're keeping busy with."

"The events of my intervening puerperium number myriad, to be sure. However, before I forthwith regale you with sensational experiences, my comrade requires an introduction. This is Derek Katran, a human from beyond the infinite divide and an invaluable ally as of late."

Reichmon nodded towards Derek. "Human...I suppose it was just a matter of time. Well, any friend of Blackcanismon's is a friend of mine. Welcome, young mister Katran."

"Thanks, just Derek will be fine."

There was a snort of derision from near Reichmon, and all eyes turned to the scowling Ebondramon. "Foolishness."

"Ebondramon, please."

"Don't 'please' me, Reichmon. You're far too trusting. You have no idea what this human is about and you're just gonna let him walk in here while you're injured? You're supposed to be more careful than this!"

"Goodness, Ebondramon, you are a work." Phelesmon sounded almost amused at the dragon's reactions. "One would think you were a hovering parent, the way you act."

"I take my position seriously, Phelesmon! And you should as well! We know next to nothing of these humans, for all we can tell they're only here to cause trouble!"

"Ebondramon, please, I know Blackcanismon from long ago," Reichmon responded gently. "He would not bring in someone who he knew had any ill intent towards me."

"So? We don't know if he's changed! For all we know the human corrupted him!"

Phelesmon chuckled. "Amazing, truly amazing. You place full trust in demons, and yet a mere human doesn't pass your litmus test."

"Hold your tongue, Ebondramon. I do not appreciate your accusing good friends of mine of doing me evil."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?" Ebondramon snarled. "Fine. I'm gonna make sure they didn't let anyone else in." He stalked out of the room, leaving Derek and Blackcanismon rather perplexed at the reaction.

Reichmon sighed deeply. "My apologies. Ebondramon is...for lack of a better word, paranoid. I'm afraid I can't blame him for it...his past is burdened with betrayal and distrust, and he has been very afraid of getting too close to anyone as a result. I don't believe he truly trusts any of us, despite his words to the contrary."

"Are you sure he should be one of your bodyguards if that's the case?" Derek asked.

"He has considerable skill and strength, especially for a Champion. However, he does need to learn to temper himself...he is so quick to think the worst of everyone. Though again, I don't know if I can fully blame him."

"Jeez. What happened to him to make him that way?"

"He is loathe to discuss his past, but what I have gleaned is not pretty," Phelesmon said sadly. "In the past two years, give or take, he has lived in no less than four separate locales. By all accounts they were cordial, even friendly with him, until with no warning they turned against him, blaming him for all their problems and charging him with acts he never committed. And solely because he was aligned with darkness."

"That's messed up. Why the heck would him being a dark digimon matter?"

"The history of darkness is not an entirely flawless one, I'm afraid," Reichmon responded. "No alignment is inherently good or bad, but in the past, there have been a number of darkness-aligned digimon who have caused a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, the former leader of Emperius was also aligned that way, and that didn't help matters at all...I don't know about the current leader, but even if he wasn't, it wouldn't do much to clear the name of our kind. It's tragic, because so many dark digimon are noble and upstanding, like Blackcanismon here."

"Reichmon, you flatter me."

Phelesmon continued on: "Ebondramon didn't take these blows very well. He made every effort to clear his name, but the damage was irreversible...I don't know what they accused him of, but for them to be as hostile as they got after being friendly for so long..." He shook his head sadly. "When he originally got here, he shut himself in and refused to talk to anyone. It took a long time for him to come out of his shell and start interacting with us, and he's still on edge around people, like they're going to turn against him at a moment's notice."

"Man, no wonder he's so worried about us. If he's convinced anyone close to him could turn on him at a moment's notice, imagine how much fear strangers must give him."

"Your empathy is most welcome. It has not been easy for him...many of us can relate, if perhaps not on that scale. I myself have faced suspicions solely for being a demonic digimon...though...it pains me to say it, but they are entirely deserved."

"Phelesmon! Such scurrilous designations are certainly unwarranted!"

"Thank you for that, but the truth is the truth. It is not easy to accept, but for those of us who refuse it, it is all too clear: there is a culture of hatred, carefully cultivated amongst demonic leadership, designed with the sole purpose of engendering hatred for non-demons. We are taught at an early age to look down upon them, consider them worthless, and make them suffer for their supposed weakness. Many demons are incapable of seeing them as worthy of even life. For those like me, who reject this culture of hatred, we are in an awful position. Non-demons reject us as being false and just pretending to care - and why not, when so many demons do put up that false front? They act kind and pleasant to mask their ulterior motives, and always at the expense of the non-demons...once they are finished with them, they will do the most horrible things imaginable, all in the name of supposed demonic superiority. Non-demons can't trust us, because the danger to them is too great. And demons, well, if you aren't in line with their hatred you aren't worthy of being a demon. I'm sure I have a bounty upon my head for my treachery to their culture. To think, ostracized for daring to have a heart..."

"Ah, but I am sure you did not come here to listen to our tragedies," Reichmon said before anyone could continue down that line. "I would not be a very good host if I spent all our time depressing you. Come, tell me of your experiences. I'm very curious as to what brought about the arrival of a human."

"Certainly, but I cannot profess it to be much less depressing than our previous discussions."

(==========)

"Remarkable...I never would have expected to hear of something like that," Reichmon marveled. "A human and digimon combining together...how is such a thing possible?"

"Can't say as I know, but I'm not too concerned with it," Derek responded. "It's been pretty vital to keeping everyone alive and safe on our end. As far as I'm concerned, I won't lose any sleep if I never learn how it came about."

"However it happened, how fortuitous for us that you are on the side of good," Phelesmon added. "Emperius, it's about time someone took them down a few pegs. With Libertius having fallen, there's been no one to stop their harassment. If they keep going unopposed they're going to spread off of this continent, and if they get that big there's no telling what they could do."

"Our endeavor is centralized on preventing that unenviable scenario. Veritably, the purposes of our presence in this distinct locale are focused on a radical expansion of our strength in order to more properly withstand the certain assault they are inevitably intending to arrange for our arrival."

"The Catalyst, of course. It is in the usual place."

"Exemplary. Such a fortuitous status will make navigation all the more facilitated."

"Not that it'll be much use if it's just a parlor trick." That unpleasant line heralded the return off Ebondramon, who appeared, if possible, even more grouchy and downcast than before. "For all we know, your little technique isn't worth a damn."

"Ebondramon, please!"

Derek held up a hand to Reichmon. "It's okay." He stood and turned to face down Ebondramon. "So you're not convinced. Fair enough. How about a demonstration?"

"...What?"

"Nothing lethal, obviously. Just a quick skirmish, aiming to disarm. If we can stand up to you, perhaps you'll think a little more of us?"

Ebondramon seemed momentarily thrown by the proposal, but righted himself quickly. "Fine. If you're what you make yourself out to be, it'll show."

"Dear me...this isn't really necessary-"

"Don't worry yourself, Reichmon," Phelesmon interrupted. "I'm sure they won't get too rough."

Without further fanfare, Derek and Blackcansimon commenced their combination, and within seconds Ebonlupimon stood for the first time in the digital world, facing down his temporary foe. One look into the dragon's eyes was enough to tell that, bluster aside, he was impressed by what he had witnessed. Of course, pride stood in the way of his actually admitting it.

"That's it? You're just a tiny little thing."

"Size is not everything among us, Ebondramon." Ebonlupimon was indeed quite a bit shorter than the dragon, by a good two feet. However, he had the inkling that he was also quite a bit swifter, and as he drew his sword and readied himself he was already thinking of how to take advantage of that. "Don't hold back too much, now."

"Rrg..." Ebondramon growled and bared his fangs as he went for the first blow, swinging down across his body in a wide arc. Ebonlupimon easily jumped back from the swing, and with two quick moves was at the dragon's side and making a slash of his own, which was only barely parried. From the first impression he'd gotten, it appeared that his analysis of the match-up was accurate; Ebondramon was hardly a slug, but didn't have close to the speed that he did.

The next strike from Ebondramon was much more measured than his first, an indication that he'd realized his own disadvantage and was trying to minimize his foe's openings. Ebonlupimon easily deflected the blow, and ducked its follow-up, quickly moving in to swing at the sword and knock it free. He got two blows to the blade before Ebondramon managed to pull back and away, not getting through the dragon's strong grip. Ebondramon took the initiative again, swinging harder this time, and trying to follow up Ebonlupimon's blocks with quick blows to catch him off-guard. The canid wasn't biting, though, and easily slithered through every attempt at tripping him up.

Finally, Ebondramon swung a little too hard, and Ebonlupimon's jump backwards left him open. As the dragon's hand was coming back up to correct for the overswing, Ebonlupimon jumped in and caught the sword on the hilt, barely missing the clawed fingers. The blow broke the dragon's grip, sending the sword clattering to the side and leaving the dragon holding only his sore wrist.

"Yarg...that smarts..."

Ebonlupimon bowed to the dragon. "Et voila. Have I demonstrated a modicum of value?"

Ebondramon scowled as he shook the pained hand. "Hmph. Fine, maybe it's more than a parlor trick. I'm still not convinced it's enough to beat Emperius."

"Well, I don't intend to limit myself to this level, certainly. In due course, I will have the strength I need." He sheathed his blade again as the dragon picked up his own and did the same. "I can certainly see why Reichmon gave you your position. With a little more control, you might have most other sword users beaten easily."

A low growl from the dragon. "I didn't ask for your advice." He then looked over at Reichmon. "For what it's worth, we got another incident report. Someone broke into Dracmon's home and left it a mess. Nothing taken as far as he knows, but he's pretty pissed about it. I'm gonna try to follow up on it...whichever jerk that did it has to be close by."

With that, the dragon stalked out of the room again. Ebonlupimon let out a bemused sigh. "He almost reminds me of someone I know. Or, perhaps, someone I am, at least on a bad day."

"One of these days we'll get through to him," Phelesmon said. "I've seen him in unguarded moments before...he is capable of being pleasant and even happy. He just seems like he's scared to be...after everything he's gone through, maybe he feels like that's what causes everything."

"Some people just take time to come around. But what is this about incidents? I got the impression that there was some lingering trouble. Ill news indeed, for a place like this!"

"It's been a real problem," Reichmon sighed. "People have been attacked, harassed, their belongings stolen...we have rarely had trouble before, but in the past month it's been nearly every day that at least one person reports trouble. And no one can figure out who's causing it...they're always ambushed, and no one ever gets a good look."

"Is that what happened to you?"

"No, no, few in this world could ambush me. No, I fought against an Emperius recruiter who was trying to browbeat Moonlighton citizens into joining them. I drove him off, but he was stronger than I had expected."

"That might have been my second guess. They've caused more trouble than they are worth, no doubt."

"Without question. I wish I could do more to help you out against them, but...well, doctor's orders. I guess even if I wasn't so ordered, I'm not in good enough shape to do much of anything yet."

"The last thing I'd want is for you to harm yourself on my behalf, Reichmon. Worry not, I have comrades here to stand by me. For the time being, I will take my leave. Does Astamon still have his bistro here?"

"He had better," Phelesmon replied, amused. "Losing that might be as bad as losing Reichmon himself."

"There is no 'might' about it," Reichmon laughed.

(==========)

Upon arriving at the digital world for the first time, Derek had at first been apprehensive about the idea of eating digital world food; a few bad experiences from a family trip to Austria several years back had left him somewhat nervous about unfamiliar cuisine. The couple meals they'd had at the Libertius stronghold, thanks to Blackcanismon's helpful guidance, had helped settle his nerves, but it was only at the Astamon's restaurant, the Twilight Savory, that he really started to feel comfortable with the menu in this new world.

"That may possibly be the most delicious meal I've ever had," he sighed contentedly, setting down the bowl which had held his saccido, a pasta bowl with lots of embellishments and a creamy, buttery sauce. "I could order this every day for a year and never get tired of it."

"My financial situation unfortunately would," Blackcansimon cracked, finishing up one of his courses, char-grilled rakut diced up into convenient pieces. "Astamon's reputation is pristine in culinary matters. Never before have I patronized an establishment with such consistency in its delivery."

"Consistency, huh? I think I might want to test that out." Having finished their dishes, the two stood and went to the counter, where a masked, human-like demon stood waiting for their arrival.

"Finished, are you? I hope everything was to your satisfaction."

"Satisfaction and then some," Derek replied. "You've got a tight establishment here, Astamon. If they ran this well back in my world more people would eat out more frequently."

"Your compliments mean a lot to me. I've never served a human before, and I was afraid our menu might not meet your approval. It would be most pleasing if I had the opportunity to cater to a brand new clientele."

"I'll put in a bunch of recommendations once we clear out Emperius and can get it so anyone can go back and forth. For this kind of meal, you deserve it."

"Thank you so much. Blackcanismon, if I may scan your chip?" The canine pushed himself upright and placed his paws at the counter, giving Astamon a chance to scan the bank chip implant in his paw. As he did, he caught sight of the mark on Blackcanismon's other paw. "...I hadn't seen that before. My condolences, Blackcanismon."

"Ah...certainly, it has proven itself no boon to our struggles, but I have endured." He sighed quietly, even a bit wistfully. "Though, to imply any ambivalence to my continued inability to achieve the formations which I have been long accustomed to would be a grave misrepresentation."

"Perhaps you can ask the Oracle about it. If anything would know, it would be that."

"It is worth serious consideration. You have my gratitude for your concern."

The two bid a farewell to Astamon, but had hardly even started for the doors when they saw Phelesmon enter. One look at his face told both of them that something unpleasant was afoot.

"There you are. I hate to be a bother, but...we may have a situation."

"What kind of situation?"

"It's Ebondramon. I got word from one of the residents that he was seen tearing out of the village towards the forest. He looked like he was in a frenzy. I'm concerned about what might have happened to put him in such a state, and I may need help finding him, maybe even subduing him if it's bad enough."

"You suspect violent retribution?"

"He may think we're after him for the wrong reasons. I just want to hedge my bets."

Derek and Blackcanismon nodded. "All right, where should we go?"

"I don't know what he was doing right before he ran off, but I know he was last going to check out Dracmon's place. We should head over there, first."

"Then allow us to accompany your forthwith."

The three exited the restaurant and made way for the last known location of Ebondramon, moving at a brisk pace that found Derek scrambling to keep up. It was only a couple minutes before they arrived at a rather small house, nearby which two creatures were standing and talking. One was a small, almost doll-like creature with long fangs and claws, and the other looked like a small black dinosaur.

"Oh, good, you're here," the Dracmon said before any of them could speak a word. "I think there's been a huge mistake. Have you seen Ebondramon?"

"I just heard he ran out of the town towards the forest. What's up?"

"Oh dear...I shouldn't have said anything..." Dracmon rubbed his head with his hand, clearly unsettled himself. "I was looking over the mess that intruder made with Blackagumon, and we found a note. Actually, it was less a note and more a list." He handed the paper to Phelesmon. "It talks about all sorts of mayhem the intruder was causing and going to cause."

"Jeez...it escalates from trivial to deadly in short order," Phelesmon mumbled. "And it has Ebondramon's name on it...he's the one causing this?"

"No way," Blackagumon said instantly. "Not a chance. I was the first to learn about the break-in, I heard the sounds and I was watching to see who it was! Whoever did it, it must have been that they turned invisible or something, because no one ever went out while I was watching, and I watched all the way up until Dracmon came back! And there's no scent of him around, either! You can check that for yourself!" Taking the cue, Blackcanismon dashed into the house to check for himself.

"Yeah, and he doesn't seem like the type! He's jittery as a Gekomon high on spark, and he's walking on eggshells around all of us! Plus, why would Ebondramon sign his name to something that would incriminate him?"

"That would be dumber than most human criminals, and he didn't seem that dense. So you don't suspect him?" Derek asked.

"No, but I think he thinks we do. He overheard us talking about the note and spazzed out. I didn't get a chance to tell him anything before he took off."

Blackcanismon emerged from the house. "Our reptilian compatriot has accurately assessed the olfactory status of this domicile. Ebondramon's scent is notably absent in its entirety - impossible if this brigandry was his."

"Oh, dear...he's probably convinced it's going to be just like the last few times...but why was someone trashing your home and trying to pretend it was Ebondramon? Just an easy scapegoat? The new guy in town? He's not even the most recent arrival..."

"We can wonder why later," Derek said urgently. "If he's thinking he's going to be run out again, he could be more of a danger to himself than anyone else. We have to find him and settle him down before something bad happens!"

"I agree wholeheartedly," Blackcanismon added. "Celerity is of the utmost importance. We must commence a manhunt."

"We don't want to send a whole search party, though, he might take that the wrong way. Could I ask you two to come with me? If he is still to be found, then he likely hasn't gone far, and he may be less agitated around one or two of us."

"Right. Let's go for it."

(==========)

Ebonlupimon stepped gently yet quickly through the brush, one hand on the hilt of his undrawn sword. Phelesmon had split off to search another direction, as any sign of the dragon was gone not far out of Moonlighton. Though his senses were alert enough to tell him of any danger, he was still feeling very on edge. _If I surprise Ebondramon, he might not give me a chance to explain...I hope I can disarm him like last time, even if he's going full force against me..._

The forest was very dark; everything around him was mired in inky blackness, and were it not for his adeptness in the darkness he might well have been swallowed up. As it was, he was in unfamiliar territory, and concerned that he might lose track of where the town was.

Then, just as the task was seeming almost impossible, he caught a whiff of a familiar scent. _That smell...I remember it from the fight. That must be Ebondramon's...I can follow this to find him!_

The scent couldn't tell him which direction he went, but it seemed only sensible for him to follow the trail that led away from Moonlighton; with a landmark to go off of, suddenly he had his bearings again, and this led him to move more quickly, hoping he could catch up to the distraught dragon before anything bad happened.

It wasn't long before he caught sight of an out-of-place shape among the trees. He brought himself to an immediate halt and crouched down behind some foliage, trying to see the state of the dragon before making an approach. The dragon was in quite a state, nothing like the solid stoicism and gruffness he'd displayed before; instead, he was practically laying on the ground, sobbing loudly. "Why...why..."

A deep pang of sadness echoed through Ebonlupimon. _Goodness me...it's hard to realize just how much this has affected him without seeing it like this..._

"_WHYYYYYY!_" It almost seemed as if the anguished cry itself raised Ebondramon off the ground. "Why...why does...this...keep..._happening? What did I ever do?_"

_He needs to be calmed down. I hope he's not alarmed by my..._ Ebonlupimon's thought trailed off as he sensed a foreign presence nearby. _What? There's...there's someone else here?_

"You pathetic little slime."

Ebonlupimon only narrowly kept himself from starting and giving himself away at the cold, malevolent voice that came from seemingly nowhere. Ebondramon was not so lucky, as he had to scramble to his feet, scared out of his wits. "Wh-wh-who's there?"

"How dare you insult me like that." Again, seeming out of nowhere, a figure appeared in the trees. He was tall and pink, with a heavily-armored body and head, and carrying two wicked-looking curved axes. It was nothing more than out of place to Ebonlupimon, but Ebondramon's reaction was one of utter terror.

"No...you...Crescemon!"

"Hmph. You haven't the right to address me by name, filth." Crescemon stepped a little closer, and the dragon stepped back, shaking in clear terror. Ebonlupimon braced himself in the bushes, preparing to strike if necessary. He was hoping that Phelesmon had heard the commotion from before, and would arrive in time to back him up if this came to blows.

"You can't...you couldn't have gotten here! This place is protected from-"

"Their protections are pretty useless, as you might expect from scum. You thought you would be safe here? That I couldn't reach you? I told you...I would find you no matter where you went, and I would destroy you."

"You...you stay away from me!"

"You have no right to make orders of me." Crescemon took a step forward, this one causing Ebondramon to fall back onto his rear. "You haven't the worth of the dirt I'm standing on. You should be grateful that I'll be the one to take your life, so that your name is associated with someone worthwhile." The words quite nearly made Ebonlupimon sick to his stomach. _What kind of horrible creature could say such things?_

"What d-do you want with me? I never...I never did a-anything to you!"

"You even being alive is a slander against me! You and all the other dark ones, you're a plague upon this world and don't deserve the life you've been given! I gave my word that I would destroy you, and like a coward you ran away, trying to hide behind unknowing innocents. That kind of insult, it makes my blood boil...I wanted to make sure you regretted it."

"Wh-what are you...what are y-you talking ab-bout?"

Crescemon took another step forward, causing Ebondramon to skitter back until his back hit a tree. "You thought you could hide from me, avoid your deserved punishment at my hands. Well, it was I who found a way to hide from you." He held up a small charm with one finger. "Just a twist of this, and..."

Ebondramon gasped as the form in front of him vanished without a trace. From the shadows, Ebonlupimon barely withheld his own. The culprit of the home invasion was suddenly all too clear, and he had a nasty feeling that that was only one point in a longer pattern...

"And I can do whatever I want," Crescemon continued, revealing himself once more. "They were all too eager to believe it was you who had done everything to harm them. Why wouldn't they be, once I told them about your evil ways?"

"I-I-I...I never...I didn't d-do anything-"

"It didn't matter. You weren't worth their time, and I made sure they knew it, even if it meant a little misdirection. It's not like it matters that you weren't guilty of those particular crimes, the ones your kind have committed more than make up for it. You were maddeningly adamant about running away, though...coming all the way here, to where the little rats like yourself all gather, thinking you could find sanctuary here..." Crescemon leered angrily at the quivering wreck of a dragon. "Another slander...you accuse me of not keeping my word?"

"Wh...wh...what do you...want from..." Ebondramon could barely get the words out at this point, fear and anguish long ago having taken over.

"I want what I deserve! I want you dead, I want to be the one to kill you, and I want you to revel in it! I want you begging at my feet, crying out for me to end your miserable, pathetic life! I deserve no less than your glorification of your death at my hands! Now say it! Beg me for your death!"

This was too much for Ebonlupimon. As unwise as it was to take on something as strong and clearly dangerous as Crescemon alone, his reason was well-overwhelmed by rage. He leapt from the shadowy brush, drawing his sword and pointing it right at Crescemon. "Get away from him, right now!"

Crescemon twisted around in an instant, and when he saw what stood in front of him he went into a veritable rage. "How dare you! A little piece of crap like you has no business giving me orders!"

"Shut your trap, you monster," the canine snarled back. "You get your kicks off of tormenting innocent creatures? I've fought some sickos in my life, but I've never seen such a soulless monster as you!"

"You have no right to talk to me like that!" Crescemon lunged, swinging his large blades at Ebonlupimon, who ducked under them and rolled to his right. Crescemon was quick on the recovery and twisted around to swing again, Ebondramon pulling back to narrowly avoid the cutting blades. "Sit still, you little creep!"

"Screw you!" Crescemon came forward to swing again, and Ebondramon leapt forward, the blades sailing over his head once again, slashed with his rapier, and followed it up with a Necro Claw from his other hand. Crescemon yelled out in pain and shock, staggering backwards as Ebonlupimon got out of his arm's length.

"You...you..." Being struck had the warrior reeling and semi-coherent. With another wrathful roar, he charged Ebonlupimon. "You'll pay! Ice Archery!" He swung his blades wildly, each swing throwing a crescent-shaped blast of ice in Ebonlupimon's direction. He was forced to leap up high to avoid them, jumping over Crescemon and landing softly, then turning just in time to parry the slashing blade with his sword. Crescemon jumped back and gave another furious yell. "Lunatic Dance!"

Nearly two dozen copies of Crescemon surrounded Ebonlupimon, the real one visually indistinguishable from the rest. The copies started sprinting in a circle around the canine, becoming little more than a blurry ring, trying to keep Ebonlupimon from determining where he really was.

Ebonlupimon simply scowled steadfastly. "You really think you can fool me? The darkness will be my guide."

Gripping his sword, he shut his eyes. He willed his body to calm itself and focus deeply, concentrating on just listening and feeling. He could hear every step the real Crescemon was taking, he could feel every motion through the darkness, almost radiating within him. His senses were sharper than they'd ever been in any of his lives, telling him everything that his sight couldn't and preparing him for the inevitable attack.

_It will be your last._

With no apparent warning at all, Crescemon broke from the ring and blitzed him, deadly blades bearing down with fanatical speed and power. But he was ready for it, his sword raised to perfectly block both blades at once, the impact not enough to cause him to waver. In the next instant, just as Crescemon barely started to pull back from the attack, he rushed under and slashed upwards, then downwards, seriously injuring the warrior. Crescemon stumbled back, reeling, and Ebonlupimon took his chance, raising his hand and unleashing his dark energy. "Shadow Bolt!"

The bolt pierced Crescemon dead-center, radiating through him and then back into him, unleashing a powerful burst in its finale. An anguished cry was Crescemon's last act before his body dissipated into nothingness.

The enemy dispatched, Ebonlupimon wasted no time checking on Ebondramon. The dragon was slumped onto the ground, unconscious and unresponsive. This was not good news for the canine; Ebondramon's size advantage over him would make the trip back a major challenge. Resolutely, he pulled the dragon's body upright and looped his arm around him, then half-carried half-dragged him towards Moonlighton.

He was about halfway to the town when he heard a familiar voice call out, "Ebonlupimon!" He managed a half-turn to see the advancing form of Phelesmon. "Goodness, what happened? Is he all right?"

"I'm not sure. We need to get him back to Moonlighton, I'll explain everything once he's taken care of."

"Of course. Let me take him, I'll be able to hold him up better."

"I'm not going to argue that."

(==========)

"I...I'm at a loss," Reichmon mumbled, almost in a daze. "That anyone could put another living being through that kind of torment...how could anyone be that deranged?"

"It reminds me of the worst of the fear demons," Phelesmon added darkly. "Living only to feed off of the terror they cause...they're held in sickly high regard among the heartless demons. How horrible for Ebondramon to have been under that kind of torment. Can he ever recover?"

"I hope so," Ebonlupimon said sadly. "If he ever gets over this breakdown...perhaps with Crescemon out of the way, he can stop living in fear of everyone around him being ready to betray him at a moment's notice. But I can't imagine it will come easily, even knowing that the underlying culprit no longer exists on this plane."

A ring of a bell heralded a messenger with information about Ebondramon. Phelesmon went to receive him, and came back a minute later, looking somewhat relieved. "It's mixed news, but more good than bad. His nerves are shot...he's really kind of a wreck right now. But he's not in any immediate danger of death, and hearing that Crescemon was eliminated brought about some reassuring signs."

Reichmon breathed out deeply. "That's good to hear...I hope I can do everything in my power to help him. Blast these injuries, I'd much rather go see him myself. After all this, no doubt he needs some moral support."

"Ah...well...that was the other thing. He's had a good many visitors to see him. There were a lot of people concerned about what happened...they all want to make sure he's all right, and make sure he knows they're on his side." It almost seemed to bring a glow to Phelesmon's features just to say it.

"I guess he's finally found a place where he's truly welcome," Ebonlupimon said with a smile.

"Thank goodness for that. Ebonlupimon, we are in your debt. If Crescemon had been allowed to keep doing what he was doing...it wouldn't have been just Ebondramon, but many more who would have been died before we learned the truth. This entire sanctuary might have been lost, and with it one of the few refuges for the outcast dark digimon. I don't know how to thank you...you've had your own goals for coming and, and here we've been burdening you with our own troubles..."

"Do not concern yourself with that. I would never wish to abandon anyone in their hour of need. Demanding a simple and straightforward path at the expense of those suffering would be a crime in itself."

Reichmon smiled. "Truly, you have the best of both hearts and minds within you. You have my eternal gratitude. I imagine you must be tired after this...please, feel free to rest here until you are ready to move on. I'd be honored to have you as my guest."

"Your hospitality is most appreciated. I believe I will take advantage of that."

(==========)

(==========)

This chapter has kind of an odd background. This was originally planned out to be two chapters, one with the entrance and one with the conflict with the real bad guy. Said real bad guy had various identities since conception - from Ebondramon to Emperius to another Moonlighton resident to a completely random digimon that had nothing to do with anything. So, really, I didn't know where this thing was going. Anyway, I only had kind of a rough idea of the first chapter, so I just kind of started writing it from the beginning (sans the Emperius section, which was moved from a different chapter to make a better time flow). Somehow I got into stream-of-consciousness mode, where I basically find the way to write out a complete idea from start to finish, and by the time I was through it it, I had basically written not only the first chapter, but the second as well. I think it worked out better than any other ideas I had before this.

I had almost considered using Crescemon as a recurring villain, but found after I'd written this that I really didn't want to see him appear in this story again. Is it a bad thing to be creeped out by one of your own characters? I know I tend to use easy targets for most of my baddies, but Crescemon was on a different level entirely; instead of being the bad guy because of an extremist crusade, I felt more that the extremist crusade was because he was a complete monster. I don't know if this is making any sense, it probably isn't but I'll leave it in anyway. With any luck, I'll never actually run into anyone like him in my life.


	28. Chapter 27: A Lead On Power

Almost to the end of the year. Not almost to the end of the story. Sometimes it seems ages away...ah, well. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 27: A Lead on Power**

"So, your order is two spicy meat rolls in caloris spread, a gafh steak grilled crispy, two small platters of cathcagrass stalks, and two bottles of fresh water," the distracted Vegimon cashier repeated from his list. "That'll be 684 credits."

Salmandmon handed over a coin to the cashier, who made change and returned it. Reyn picked up the food trays and followed Salmandmon to a table outside. The heat ramped up quite a bit as they emerged from the shade of the building; Riniqua was situated in a rather hot, dry desert, and sustained only by a vein on groundwater that happened to not be too deep at that particular point. Not that that was particularly bothersome to either of them.

Reyn set down the trays on the stone table, then dragged over a wooden chair as Salmandmon pulled up a slightly taller stool. "That's definitely a new experience for me. I'm used to going into food places and knowing what the hell I'm going to be eating."

"Trust me, the food's pretty good. I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise. And I ordered something for you that I know you're likely to enjoy." Salmandmon slid the coins across the table. "And hold these. You're the one with pockets."

"How do you ever manage to pay for stuff?"

"What, you don't think I have any income? Libertius isn't totally non-profit, we make money by defending people. Some of it comes from a stipend from the Kaiser, some of it as rewards from people we protect. Plus, I've got decent savings from before that time."

"Right, but with you eating four times your body weight daily, you'd have to be broke by now."

"Hey, I've got a hot internal furnace, and eating a lot helps keep it at maximum output. Just be thankful I'm not the kind of digimon that consumes molten lava. Well, I could, but I don't have to."

"That would be inconvenient, to say the least. When I asked how you paid for things, I was talking more about, you know, physically how. Unless you have someone walking by you all the time with pockets, you can't have an easy time of it."

"Oh, that. I've got a bank chip implant on the back of my hand. It can be scanned if I need to pay for something. But some places they scam you by scanning you twice, or pretending it didn't go through the first time, or maybe something went wrong with the scanner and they don't know it. So I make it a point to pay with credit coins when I can."

"Uh-huh..." Reyn picked up one of the long stalks from his platter. "What in the world are these?"

"Fried cathcagrass stalks. It's a kind of plant. Try 'em, they're good." Salmandmon was dumping some sort of spice on his own food. Reyn shrugged and gave them a shot, and found they were pretty good, not that different from a french fry but definitely with a different texture.

"See? Not so bad." Salmandmon bit into one of the meat rolls and moaned contentedly as he swallowed. "Mmm...man, nothing like a good spicy meal to really stoke me up."

"I was kinda curious...where does the food come from? Especially the meat. I mean, you guys don't each each other, do you?"

"Well, we _can_, but that's pretty uncommon. We're supposed to be civilized enough to find other options, and a digimon that eats another, unless out of necessity, is pretty much ostracized from polite society."

"But then where-"

"I'm getting to it. Anyway, not all creatures on this world are considered digimon. Basically, they have to be sentient in order to be classified that way. The ones that aren't are food."

"Huh. Have I actually seen any of them?"

"They aren't kept near people all that much, but you probably saw a few in Oroetem and just didn't realize what they were. I kinda didn't really give you that good of an impression of our world before we left. Sorry."

"'Sokay. So, there were some in Oroetem...like this, uh, gafh thing?" Reyn had taken a bite of the steak; it had an interesting taste, just like a slightly bitter cow steak.

"Probably not a gafh, they're pretty big and they aren't actually native to this continent. There's a couple big breeding farms on Northern Tetraquaz, but most of it comes from elsewhere."

"How do you support them all?"

"Plant digimon. They're in charge of breeding farms, too, just for plants. They provide enough feed for the livestock. There are whole regions devoted just to food production on other continents. This one is too small for something on that scale."

"How big can they get? I imagine they'd have to be pretty gigantic, with the size of some of those digimon."

"Nah, the big guys don't eat smaller things like gafh. They generally pick on larger prey. Besides that, they don't have to eat very often anyway."

"Really? I would have expected it to be the opposite..."

"I can see why you'd think that. I guess it's probably just the way their bodies adapted - if they had to eat too much they'd wipe out food reserves in short order. Basically, when they have to eat, they go to feeding stations. They're scattered about like the transfer points, but not quite as numerous. The stations get all sorts of food, but they're mainly there to serve the bigger guys, so there's a lot of really huge food animals and such."

"Wow. If we weren't on a mission I'd suggest traveling around and seeing some of the sights. But if they're data like you are, why don't they just disappear when killed?"

"Because they're not _just_ like us. It's part of their network attributors - since they're for consumption, there's code in there that creates a different demise sequence."

"Oh...okay." Reyn wasn't quite sure he understood, but as curious as he was, more pressing things were on his mind. "So, how are we going to figure out where to find another Catalyst? Our inquiries yesterday turned up bupkis."

"I think that's probably because we're still too close to the temple. Most people wouldn't know the location of one they hadn't been to, and if they live around here odds are even that it was the temple that they went to. There are some digimon that like to know all the locations for some reason or another, but they're few and far between and usually live in the big cities. Our best bet would be finding a heat-based digimon, since they're more likely to know the location of a Fire Catalyst instead of a different type. And since we'd want to be asking someone who hasn't used the one in the temple, I think we're going to have to go elsewhere."

"So we need to go to a totally different region?"

"That's probably the case. Digimon that are farther away are less likely to have used this particular one - even if the transfer points can take you around easily, there's something about being in a particular region that most digimon find appealing."

"Now that I get."

"Why am I not surprised?" Salmandmon said, rolling his eyes. "If worse comes to worse, we'll have to make an intercontinental trip, but I'd really like to not have to do that. This world is too big to be spending a lot of time all over the place. I'd like to stick close to Emperius, too, for obvious reasons."

The pair continued talking, the conversation eventually straying away from business and towards leisure again. As they finished up their meals, Reyn noticed something and sent a telepathic message to Salmandmon: _Hey, I think we're being watched._

_Huh?_

_There's a little thing in a cloak that's been looking our way every now and then. I think it's been keeping an eye on us._

Surreptitiously, Salmandmon glanced around and saw what Reyn was talking about. It was a small figure, even smaller than Salmandmon; though the cloak was over its head and body, he thought he could make out a couple avian features. _Must be a Rookie of some sort, and I think it's a bird. Why would it be looking at us?_

_Well, maybe it's because of me. I'm a human, after all, I'd be out of the ordinary here._

_Yeah, they stare, but none of them linger. You're a novelty, but it's not that surprising to see one of you. Remember, they know about you, they just haven't seen you here before._

_Still, wouldn't that make me odd enough that someone might want to hang around and talk to me? Maybe make sure I'm not a threat or anything?_

_No one considers you a threat, Reyn. First off, it's fairly common knowledge that humans don't have the kinds of abilities we do, even if that's wrong in your case. Second, most digimon are a lot bigger than you, and the ones that aren't wouldn't stick around if they thought you were a danger to them. Third, most people aren't considered a threat unless they actually act in a threatening manner. Don't you think we'd know when to be cautious?_

_I think..._ Reyn paused a moment, taking just a tiny glance away from Salmandmon. _I think it's coming over here._

_Crap! It must know we saw it!_

The two of them now overtly looked over at the approaching figure. It seemed very hesitant to get close, but it eventually made its way over to their table. "Um...excuse me..."

"You need something?" Reyn asked.

The creature, female judging by the voice, didn't look up at him; instead, it kept looking at the ground. "I...I overheard that you were...talking about a Fire Catalyst."

"Yeah, we're looking for one," Salmandmon replied. "Is there a problem?"

"Um..." the avian creature dropped her voice. "You...you're a thermophile, right? You're not...well, a blasphemer?"

"You got me," Salmandmon replied with a shrug. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you can give us a little context?"

"Um...is there somewhere private we can go?"

"Inside the restaurant is probably the best place," Reyn suggested. "There's enough people in there that we won't stand out, and the conversation should cover anything you say."

Salmandmon nodded. "All right, let's find a table inside." The three of them entered the restaurant, and soon enough seated themselves at a corner table.

The creature seemed more comfortable once they were holed up in the restaurant. Enough so that she dropped her hood and revealed herself: an avian digimon with bright red and orange feathers. "My name is Heatavimon. Thank you for coming in here with me...I know I'm just a stranger to you two, but I needed to talk to someone and one of you might be able to help me, if you're willing to give your assistance."

Salmandmon nodded understandingly. "Well, we are kind of on a mission, but if we're able to help we'll definitely at least consider it. But what was this thermophile and blasphemer stuff? I don't know anyone who talks like that."

"I'm from the Order of the Flame. As a fire digimon yourself, I'm surprised you haven't heard of us. We're an organization of thermophilic digimon that strives to protect the Fire Catalysts."

"Are they in danger?" asked Reyn.

"In a way, I guess. The Catalysts can't be destroyed or permanently removed of their power. However, they can be stolen away and hidden, or temporarily drained, and if the wrong people get their hands on them, they can abuse its power and make life difficult for everyone. We have assigned ourselves to guard the type of Catalyst that we align with."

"I get it. You can use the Fire Catalysts, and to ensure that your kind can have free access to them, you work to make sure that they aren't taken by someone."

"That's right. But we've had a lot of trouble lately. Emperius has made our jobs harder because we don't align with them...they're getting big enough that they can target us without a lot of risk, and that makes it harder for us. I fear that some may choose to join simply to ensure their own safety. But we have a more immediate problem than even Emperius. A dangerous order of fanatics called the Frigid Souls have been trying to steal the Fire Catalysts. The Frigid Souls are all aligned with cold and ice, as the name suggests...most digimon realize the importance of balance, but these ones are extremists who want to change the world to suit themselves. They especially hate heat-loving digimon, and they target us especially to try to kill us."

"And if they control the Fire Catalysts, they can prevent you from using them," Salmandmon surmised. "Rotters. I hate it when people take things to extremes. It always ends up hurting everyone."

"Definitely. Worse still, a small number of heat digimon have actually joined them. They're the ones we call the blasphemers. They claim that even though their bodies are hot, their souls are ice cold. I've heard them claim that they're trying to participate in a ritual involving the Catalysts that will bring their real forms out."

"I've never heard of a ritual like that."

"Nor has anyone in the Order of the Flame. We think it's a ruse that the Frigid Souls created to help them get at the Fire Catalysts, since thermophilic digimon are more likely to know where they are. We've stepped up our defense of them, but it hasn't been easy."

"Is that what happened at the temple?"

"No...well, not quite. It's true we were there to protect the Catalyst, but Emperius wasn't after the Catalyst, they were after us. They wanted us to join them or be destroyed...like I said, they're getting bolder in moving against us. Even though they've been less violent than they used to, they haven't backed off entirely. The fools made a mess of the temple, so the Kaiser's soldiers took the Catalyst to an undisclosed location. We don't know where it is, but we know it's in good hands."

"So what's your next move?"

"We've heard word of the Frigid Souls mobilizing an attack on our home and base, the Volcano Pit. I was sent out to find some support so that we could combat them." Heatavimon shook her head. "They shouldn't have sent me...there's no way I could fight off a bad guy, especially a Frigid Souls member. I've been on edge ever since I left...but there's no one else to spare. The Frigid Souls have grown far faster than we have..."

"So you're looking for other fire digimon to help guard this Volcano Pit place," Reyn finished.

"Exactly. But I haven't had much luck. You two are the first I've come across who've been willing to hear me out...I think a lot of them think I'm with Emperius."

"So, what is this Volcano Pit?" Salmandmon asked.

Heatavimon stared at him in disbelief. "You don't...how can a digimon like you not have heard of the Volcano Pit?"

"Well, uh, if you guys have defended yourself for all this time then I'd never have had reason to go there. Last few years I've been in a combat position."

"My goodness...well, I can't have you going there without knowing what you're doing. The Volcano Pit is the home of the Order of the Flame and a large contingent of other thermophilic digimon. They created it by hollowing out an active volcano to be more hospitable. One of the Fire Catalysts is located there, and we do everything we can to guard it."

"Hot damn, just our luck," Reyn said with a grin. "We've been looking for a Fire Catalyst. We're trying to use it to help with our own mission."

"...Both of you?" Heatavimon stared at Reyn now. "You...don't look like the type, to be perfectly honest."

"Can't blame you for thinking that, I don't exactly look extraordinary. Trust me on this one, though, he'll vouch for me."

"That I will," agreed Salmandmon with a nod. "So, how do we find this place?"

"I can take you there. It's about a hundred miles off the north coast of Northern Tetraquaz. If we go to the transfer point, we can get to the northern coastline. From there we have to take a ferry to the Volcano Pit."

"Sounds good to me. Let's head out."

(==========)

The three left Riniqua by the north, heading for a slightly more distant Transfer Point then where they'd arrived at the day before. Heatavimon had insisted on the change, as she claimed she'd been harassed before when coming through the other one. That, combined with the possibility of encountering Scorpiomon again, had led Reyn and Salmandmon to broach no argument.

It only got hotter as they traveled, though none of the three were terribly worn out by the heat for obvious reasons. On the contrary, Reyn found himself feeling fresher as the degrees ticked upwards, and he hand to restrain himself to keep from getting far ahead of his partner and their guide. It didn't help that there wasn't terribly much to see, making him all the more antsy to get somewhere interesting.

Heatavimon seemed plenty nervous herself, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by Salmandmon. "Hey, are you okay? You seem like you're about to jump out of your feathers at any moment."

"Sorry...I'm just worried that we're going to be attacked. I've already been targeted a couple times...a lone Rookie is just so vulnerable, and I feel like I've got enemies everywhere."

"Yeah, but you're not alone now."

"I know, but that doesn't help much. I'm not sure I'll feel comfortable again until I'm safely within the warmth of the Volcano Pit. I hope the ferry's still running by the time we get there-"

"Wait, still running?" Reyn interjected. "Don't tell me we could be missing the boat here, so to speak!"

"Well, it's not exactly a matter of being late. It depends on the weather...if it's not good weather over the seas, the ferry won't be able to run. It's not designed to withstand really harsh weather. Then we have to wait at the inn until tomorrow, and hope for the best. I haven't been nearby in a long time, so I have no idea what it's going to be like."

"Guess we just have to hope, then," Salmandmon said resignedly. "Oh, well, we can't control everything."

"Right, but still, I'd rather not keep the others waiting too long. We have no idea where they are still, and every extra day is another day we leave them on their own."

"They should be able to handle themselves for the most part. It's not like they're dependent on us for their survival."

"No, but they are all on their own, and who knows where they might be. They might well be in imminent danger for all we know."

"You worry too much. We've all been in tough situations before, and we've gotten out of it okay. Digimon are tough, and you guys are probably hardly any less given what you've been through."

"Um, excuse me a moment..." Heatavimon interrupted. "I...I don't mean to pry, but...there are more of you here?"

Reyn nodded. "Yeah, we're all kind of here together. Well, not together at the moment, but for the same reason. It's kind of a long story...then again, I suppose there's not much else to do out here than talk, so I guess we could tell you about it. If you're interested, that is."

"Why wouldn't she be?" Salmandmon cracked. "It's only the fate of two worlds we're talking about."

Heataimon's eyes widened as she looked between the two. "Two worlds? Does that mean...does that mean that Emperius made good on their threat to attack the human world?"

"You heard about that, huh? Yep, they did, and we're the lucky guys who got to hold them off. Fortunately, we've got a little help now, but we need more, and that's kind of why we're back here."

"The Catalysts, right?"

"Bingo. We're hoping that a little boost will help our defense. Or attack, if we can get to Emperius easily here, but I don't see that happening unless we get super lucky."

"I had no idea they were causing that much trouble...not that I would have put it past them. They've been making life awful for everyone...a lot of good digimon have died at their hands, and the bad ones take advantage...they've gotten a lot bolder in recent times, causing trouble for everyone and acting like there's no one there to stop them."

"Yeah...don't remind me..."

"Guys, I hate to interrupt, especially when the conversation is going in such a lovely direction, but I see some guys on the horizon and I don't think they're just passing through." Reyn pointed to a small group of digimon not too far away, and heading straight towards them.

"You think they're with the Frigid Souls?" Heatavimon asked nervously.

"Not sure how I could tell. Would we encounter anyone else out here, though?"

"Could be bandits," Salmandmon suggested. "There's always that contingent of ne'er-do-wells who look for easy prey, thinking they can nab a quick buck or some useful object off of them. Wouldn't surprise me if they looked at us and mistook us for prime targets. Let's just be ready for anything."

As they got closer, they could see that the group was composed of six digimon. Four were bat-like creatures called Pipismon, which all had limbs that all ended in long, dangerous-looking hooks. One was a taller, gruffer-looking simian creature, Hanumon, who carried a large bone club. The last was a smaller digimon dressed in white wizard garb, Sorcerimon. As he stepped forward, it was quickly clear who the leader of this little outfit was.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the Sorcerimon said with a leer. "Two Rookies and a human? Traveling all alone? Why, it almost seems like you want to make it easy for us."

"What do you want?" Salmandmon shot back, his tone betraying the act that he wasn't at all afraid of the thugs in front of him.

"Only all of your money and possessions. Hand them over quietly and maybe we'll let you leave only moderately scathed."

"You're attacking us over a few coins?" Reyn asked incredulously. "Seriously, we don't have nearly enough to be worth your while. Heck, the take wouldn't be worthwhile for one of you, let alone six. Don't you have better things to do with your time? Or is there another reason you're coming after us?"

"Ooh, fancy yourselves sharp ones, do you?" The Sorcerimon leaned back and regarded them with what Reyn could only surmise was a sickeningly smug look. "Fine, perhaps there is another reason. Perhaps we were paid by the Frigid Souls to find a scout who was trying to get reinforcements for the Order of Flame. Perhaps they wanted us to capture that scout, or destroy them if necessary, so that they wouldn't do anything that might get in the way of their goals. Perhaps you've got that scout in your midst right now."

"And perhaps you should stop beginning your sentences with 'perhaps' when we all know there's not really a question," Salmandmon snapped impatiently. "We get it, you need your asses kicked."

"I think ours will be safe...perhaps you should be more worried about your own." The four Pipismon had fluttered away from the group and were now surrounding the three fire travelers. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is you handing that bird over without a fuss. The hard way is us taking her. Either way, you're not going to come out on top."

Reyn and Salmandmon looked around at their predicament. _We might want to merge pretty quickly..._ Reyn pathed to his partner.

_If we merge now, it's one-on-four. There's no way we'll be able to protect Heatavimon properly. We're gonna have to take out the Pipismon first._

_Great...hope I've practiced up my fireballs enough._ Reyn steeled himself as he saw the Pipismon in front of him make a move. They were going to attack soon; he needed to be quick.

A few seconds later, all four Pipismon let loose a Crash Sonic attack, directed right at the three. In a swift motion, Reyn grabbed Heatavimon and dove out of harm's way, then scrambled up and channeled a fireball into the air, hurling it at one of the Pipismon. It connected beautifully, scorching the creature and driving it away. As he turned to face the other, he quickly saw a blast of flames from Salmandmon drive back another one. Then he was facing down yet another, and it was gearing up for another attack.

_Not much time...hope I've got this down well enough..._ Reyn thought grimly as he channeled energy into his hands. In one fluid motion, just before Pipismon could let loose, he brought his hands forward in an imitation of Burnreptimon using his Pyre Wave. A wave of fire burst forth, engulfing the Pipismon and stopping its attack attempt dead. It too took off, deciding this prey wasn't worth risking fiery death.

"Nice!" Salmandmon called out approvingly, having wiped out the last of the airborne attackers. "You've gotten pretty good at that!"

"Only pretty good, huh? Guess that means I need more practice." As he said it, he turned towards Hanumon and Sorcerimon, both of which were stunned at what they had just witnessed.

"That's...impossible! Humans aren't...humans aren't supposed to be capable of that!" Hanumon grunted.

"He's not just any ordinary human," Salmandmon countered. "What say we give these guys an even better show, Reyn?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Reyn smirked as he felt the familiar rush through him. "If you thought that last act was good, wait'll you see this."

A moment later, only one creature was facing down the two bandits. Burnreptimon cracked his knuckles and enjoyed the shock of the digimon in front of him. _I don't think that's ever gonna get old._

"You...those parlor tricks aren't going to save you!" Sorcerimon shouted, though the tone entirely lacked the conviction of the words. "Hanumon, show him what you're made of!"

Hanumon turned and stared at Sorcerimon. "What? Are you kidding?"

"Hey! Don't forget who's in charge here!"

The simian growled in frustration, then turned to stare down Burnreptimon, taking his bone club in hand. Burnreptimon just snickered eagerly and raised his fists, letting Hanumon make whatever approach he wanted.

It took the ape a few seconds to work up the boldness to attack, though when he did it was no half-measure. He leapt with surprising speed at the reptile, bone club raised high and poised to slam down with ferocious impact. Burnreptimon, however, wasn't about to be beaned by such a telegraphed strike, and easily ducked and rolled away, leaving Hanumon to land vulnerably. He followed up with a punishing roundhouse kick to his foe's back just as he rose up. Hanumon was sent sprawling, and was already slow to get up. He didn't back off yet, though, instead trying to bum rush Burnreptimon and get a blow in before he could get attacked again.

Burnreptimon again saw the attack coming from far away, and easily sidestepped the wild downwards swing. Then he rammed his fist into Hanumon's gut, and followed with his other right on the ape's jaw. Hanumon was tossed backwards, almost head-over-heels in the air, and landed painfully on the sand, losing his grip on his weapon. He laid there moaning, unable to rise or continue fighting.

"Sheesh. You're no Ceramon, that's for sure." Burnreptimon disregarded the downed ape and turned his attention back towards Sorcerimon. "Well, you want some next, or what?"

"Ah...you...that...fine! Have some of this! Crystal Barrage!" Sorcerimon raised his staff and launched a swarm of ice shards from it right at Burnreptimon. The lizard sighed, rolled his eyes, and raised his Heat Field, and was hit with nothing but steam. "Right. Got any more bright ideas, champ?"

"Wha...damnation! This isn't worth it! Forget you!" Sorcerimon turned on his heels and sprinted away, leaving behind his downed comrade.

Burnreptimon split back up into Reyn and Salmandmon. "Jeez, what a wuss. How'd he ever get to be in charge?" Reyn said as soon as they were separate again.

"Probably by being the brains of the group...which really doesn't seem like it took much." Salmandmon looked down at the moaning Hanumon, which still hadn't made any effort to rise. "Think we'll be safe just leaving him behind?"

"I think he's got more to worry about than we do."

"That was amazing!" The two turned to meet Heatavimon, who had given the battle a wide berth. "I can't believe this...you two just...combined like that! I've never seen anything like that before! How did you do that?"

"Er...well, we're not entirely sure _how_, exactly, but we can tell you what we do know."

"Yeah, let's keep moving here. I think we'll have plenty of time to finish the story before we get to the Transfer Point."

(==========)

The sun was on its wane as they arrived at the small port along the northern coastline. Some uninvited guests had barged their way into the sky, however; ominous dark clouds were sweeping their way, not boding well for the prospects of a quick trip. Their fears were confirmed by the portmaster, a squat little fish digimon called Hangyomon.

"Sorry, folks, but it's no go tonight. Major storm's coming, we've gotten all the reports that it could last well into the morning. The ferry's already pretty beat up, we just can't risk losing it."

"Rats," Salmandmon huffed. "So much for getting in and out. Why can't the weather just cooperate when we want it to?"

"We could go back to Oroetem, I hear the weather there does just that," Reyn cracked.

"Ha ha. Well, I guess we've got a night ahead of us. Hopefully only a night...do you know anything about tomorrow?"

"Supposedly it should be clearing up all right sometime. We'll try to get you out as early as possible, but I can't say when that'll be."

"Guess we can't ask for anything more. Heatavimon, you mind directing us towards that inn you were talking about?"

Heatavimon nodded. "Sure, just follow me."

(==========)

True to the sea creature's word, howling winds and rains kicked up not long after they had settled into the inn. Bolts of lightning flashed through the sky, each leaving a resounding blast of thunder in their wake.

"Man...Iris would kill to see a storm like this," Reyn marveled, gazing out the window at the driving sheets of rain. "She loves thunderstorms, especially big ones. We don't get all that many in Braun, maybe a couple of good ones a year."

"A storm this big isn't that common here, either, but we get a few more of them in our neck of the woods than some other places," Salmandmon said, laying on his bed with his eyes closed. "Never was a big fan of storms myself. Well, actually, I guess they're okay, as long there's a few walls between them and me."

"Weren't you just saying yesterday that you wanted to get me sleeping out in the open? Nothing between myself and nature, wasn't it?"

"There's such a thing as too much nature. Besides, I'm not a big fan of getting wet. Unless it's a hot bath, that I'm all for."

"Shame. You could probably do with cooling off every once in a while."

"Tch. Like you don't get hot-headed at all."

"Truth's truth." They fell quiet for a moment, then Reyn spoke up again. "Hey, Sal? Maybe a personal question, but...what made you decide you wanted to be a fighter?"

The lizard flipped an eye open. "Hm? Why this all of a sudden?"

"Just curiosity. I mean, now that I've gotten a chance to really see your world, I can see that you could have done a lot of different stuff. You know, something that would keep you out of so much conflict."

"Nothing keeps you out of conflict. It may not always be life and death, but everything has its conflicts. That's what life's all about - conflicts and how you deal with them."

"Huh...never thought about it that way, but that makes sense. Still, why'd you choose the conflicts that put you in the most danger?"

"Why not? Someone has to do it, don't they?"

"Yeah, well, why you? I mean, surely you didn't just wake up one day and decide that you were going to spend the rest of your life locked in life-or-death struggles with evil."

"Course not. It was a pretty calculated decision. But when it came down to it, I wanted to be on the front lines, doing what I could. Do you regret it?"

"Huh?"

"You made the same choice. Though, I guess, not with the same amount of time to contemplate it. Still, do you regret it?"

Reyn thought for a moment. "I...don't know, really. I mean, I don't regret being able to help out and keep everyone safe, especially my family. And I have to admit, the whole being able to control fire thing is really cool. Still, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tough. It's more challenging than anything I've done before, and the risks of failure are pretty serious. I haven't really been I life-or-death situations before...I still feel nervous about confronting these creatures that want me dead."

"You'd be foolish not to. I remember Commander Dynasmon saying that a person who was truly unafraid of death wasn't the ideal warrior. If you're not afraid of death, then you're not as invested in the outcome of the fight. Better to have a little bit of that fear, pushing you not to ever let your guard down."

"So I gather that means it's a good thing I haven't stopped being a little scared."

"Yeah. And really, all things considered, you seem like you've handled it pretty well. You've also got some of that attitude I like."

"Heh...yeah, Mom always says I'm kind of that person that's always confrontational towards life. She's not so hot about it when I'm that way towards her, of course."

"Gee, what a shock. You don't mind if I shut up now, do you? I'm kinda beat, and I really could use the shut-eye."

"Oh, yeah, go ahead, I'm probably not gonna be too far behind you."

"Thanks. G'night." Salmandmon fell quiet again, and Reyn soon heard the soft breathing of slumber from his direction. True to his word, it wasn't long before he laid back on his bed as well. As sleep began to overtake him, it occurred to him that Salmandmon hadn't really answered his question.

_Maybe it's not something he likes to talk about. Then again, I guess we all have that. I still don't know if I want to tell him about what's been bothering me lately..._

(==========)

(==========)

Ah, yes, here we have a prime demonstration of one of my usual naming techniques: slap together a few syllables that don't sound horrible and go with it. (My other techniques: thematic reference or trait attribution, both of which you've seen and likely immediately recognized, and will see more of.) It doesn't really make a lot of sense, since obviously they can communicate in the same language just fine (which I'm not even going to bother trying to make up a good reason for that), but eh.

Not much else to say. It was a shortish chapter but it got the job done. I'll likely put up Chapter 28 on Wednesday and that'll be it for chapters in 2010. Still not sure exactly how many chapters I'll have all told, but I have high hopes that it'll be finished before 2011 goes out as an old man.


	29. Chapter 28: The Second Day

As promised, the final chapter of 2010. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back to standard procedure in the new year. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 28: The Second Day**

Once again, the sun shining into the uncovered window was alarm clock enough for Iris and Shockavimon. Raising herself from the bed, Iris was surprised to not feel any soreness or fatigue. "Huh...I thought I'd feel worse after all that happened yesterday."

"Digimon tend to recuperate faster...maybe you're picking up on that." Shockavimon yawned and stretched, then hopped to the ground and shook herself awake. "Time for Day 2. Wonder who we're gonna have to face today?"

"If only I knew. You know, I wish I had a chance to actually see any of them in combat. Then maybe I'd be able to plan ahead."

"Well, they might not be pleased about that. Come on, let's merge and wander around for a while before the fights begin."

(==========)

If she thought it was going to just be a nice, quiet jaunt like the previous day, she was soon proven dead wrong. Barely was she outside before she was swarmed by multitudes of fans, all eager to get a little piece of her attention. It was an experience completely foreign to Ionavimon, and thus threw her quite a bit.

"There she is! Ionavimon!"

"How did you do it, Ionavimon? How'd you beat them?"

"Can I get your autograph?"

"Can I have one of your feathers?"

"Ionavimon! Shock me, please!"

_I need some space, fast,_ she thought frantically. The mass of digimon showed no signs of letting up, and she was starting to seriously consider just letting loose a bolt and flying away, and hoping that that wouldn't get her in too much trouble.

Ironically, salvation came in the form of even further attention.

"All right, now, clear off, we've got to get it quiet for the interview!" A couple of burly Skullmeramon pushed the crowd back as Ionavimon was suddenly flanked by a few Guardromon carrying cameras. In the middle of the group, a large star-shaped digimon with sunglasses zipped up to her, a microphone in hand. "SuperStarmon signing on here, with the rookie sensation sweeping the Gan Roma tournament! We've got a prime opportunity here, folks, an exclusive interview with that up-and-comer Ionavimon!"

"Wha-wait, interview?"

"Of course! You didn't think we were gonna let one of the most promising newcomers to the circuit off without getting some kind of scoop, did you? We've got thousands glued to their sets wanting to hear more about you!"

_There is no way I got that famous that fast,_ Ionavimon thought, her head somewhat in a whirl. _Is there? I don't think these guys would be putting me on, unless they were sent by Valkyrimon...maybe I should humor them, just to try to suss out whether they're legit._ "Well, all right, but I'm not answering anything _too_ personal."

"Oh, never fear, we are always professional!" SuperStarmon had barely even finished the sentence when one of the Skullmeramon walloped a bunch of people with his chain to get them to back off. An intense shouting match erupted which saw the heavies thumping some heads and sending some of the crowd packing, the others finally putting a little distance between themselves and danger.

"...Always professional, huh?"

"We'll edit that out in post. All right, cameras! Eyes on me! Er, us!"

Ionavimon rolled her eyes and sighed. This was probably going to be an ordeal in itself. Still, it beat having to fight off crowds.

"Here I am, ladies and gentlemen, with one of the up-and-coming stars of the tournament circuit! And to think, this is her very first event! Ionavimon, I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind answering them!"

"Well, I-"

"Fantastic! Tell me, what inspired you to enter into the Gam Rona tournament? It is one of the most prestigious, obviously, and therefore draws the hardest competition, which means very few people make it their launch point! Tell me, were you trying to make a statement, or did you just not do your research?"

"Hey!"

"I'm not trying to be condescending, but a lot of rookies don't."

Ionavimon restrained herself from a biting response. "There was just something about this tournament that drew my attention. Mind if I leave it at that?"

"I'll take that as a 'trying to make a statement' response. You heard it here first, folks, she chose one of the most highly-regarded tournaments on the circuit because she knew it was an attention-grabber!"

"That's not what I said at all!"

"I said it, that's good enough. Now, then, you've drawn some comparisons to the legendary Golden Wargreymon, a figure revered by fans of tournament history. What do you say to those people who think you could be the next legend?"

"I say don't jump the gun. I got to the second day, I didn't pull off a grand slam." She had no idea what that Golden Wargreymon business was, nor if grand slam was even a term they used in the combat circuit, but she decided that as long as she was winging it, she should try to be as vague and unclear as possible.

"How modest she is, folks! It's almost as if she doesn't realize what kind of feats we're talking about!" He paused for a moment. "You...do know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Of course." _Hope he's a worse judge of lies than I am a liar._

"Ah, well, then, it must just be your coolheadedness that keeps you so even. You really are an inspiration to a lot of rookies looking to make a splash at tournaments despite being virtual unknowns! Do you have any words of advice for them?"

"Oh, sure. Never stop practicing, don't expect to coast on luck, and don't join evil power-hungry cults that try to destroy anyone who they deem unworthy. That last one is especially important, remember it, write it down it if you have to."

"Strong, confident words, ladies and gentlemen! And somewhat bewildering. Anyway, rumors are swirling about the prize being offered for the last one standing in this tournament, Ionavimon! How do you feel about not knowing what you could get as a reward for your accomplishments?"

Ionavimon had to think carefully about her answer to this; she felt that letting on what she thought would be the prize could cause more problems than it would help. "I think...I'm less worried about what the end prize is going to be than getting to that point in the first place. After all, if you don't win, it doesn't really matter what the prize for winning is."

"An excellent observation! Let's get your thoughts on another controversy, then! You're the first female participant in the Gam Rona Tournament in several years. Do you have any concerns at all that certain individuals might be looking upon you unfavorably?"

"Hey, if they want to take me on, I'll gladly show them why there shouldn't be any question at all about us."

"I'm sure they'll want to remember that! I think we're close to being done. Just one critical point left...go out with me."

"What? No!"

"Come on, please? I'm handsome, I'm photogenic, I'm talented, I have a good career, I'm prime stuff right now! And every other time!"

"I said no."

"Are you sure? I could really wow you, like I do for thousands every day on this entertainment hour. Look, I even spent three hours buffing myself just to impress you! Mostly to impress you. And other people. Because I do it every day. But it's still especially for you!"

"For the last time, no. I've..." Ionavimon cast about for something definitive. "...already got my eyes on a certain someone."

"Whoo-wee! Did you hear that folks? Our up-and-comer's got a love interest! If you want to spend the next six weeks speculating about it, you can visit our network communications grid and give us your input, tears, trolling, and false claims of being the individual in question! I know I'm already planning on doing all of them!"

"Are we finished yet? I want to get to the arena to prepare, if you don't mind."

"Oh, right, right! I certainly wouldn't want to get in the way of your preparations! All right, I think that about wraps it up here! This is SuperStarmon here with Ionavimon, hopefully not for the last time, because I plan on putting the moves on her again next chance I get! Back to you in the studio, whoever you are because you're not as important as me!"

The Guardromon cameramen shut down their machines, and Ionavimon could tell they were struggling to suppress their laughter. The Skullmeramon guards just looked irritated. _Why do I get the feeling that this isn't unusual for this bunch?_

"Well, I think that went rather well!" SuperStarmon blathered on. "Yes, the viewers will be eating that up...except for your refusal, Ionavimon. Are you sure you don't-"

"The cameras are off, I will hit you."

"Ah, to have such unrequited love...ah, well, I'm sure I'll have plenty of ladies to console me. Well, until we meet again!"

Ionavimon didn't bother responding, instead taking to the air in an instant. The attention had gotten her agitated, and she was already regretting agreeing to the interview. It just put her in the spotlight, and the more people knew about her and talked about her, the more likely it was that Valkyrimon would hear about it and make a move. And much as she wanted to wallop him into dust, it would make netting the Catalyst that much harder.

_Why can't they just accommodate my unspoken and never-outwardly-indicated wishes?_

(==========)

A couple hours of flying had cooled Ionavimon down, and even better, killed time until the matches were about to begin. Once again, she had to wade through clamoring crowds to reach her target area; it was even more difficult with all the attention she was getting, and it took everything she had to convince them to let her alone so she could get to her designated prep area.

When she finally got down there, the matches were there for her to see. She scanned to find her match and competitor. It was a Coredramon, a green-colored dragon digimon that certainly didn't look to be any slouch from the initial impression. _Hm. Ground-aligned, though its moves don't really reflect that. Not good in the air, but very good on the ground, both fast and strong. No wonder he got through to the second day. And if I hit him too hard and too fast, he'll get an overload and use his G-Shurunen laser breath. I'll have to watch out for that._

She didn't have to wait long before the tones sounded to indicate match time. Nervous yet eager, she jogged over to the platform and started the ascent towards the ring. Soon enough, she found herself in the now-familiar arena setting, just in time to see her draconic opponent do a backflip in the air and land on one arm. The crowd that had already massed at the arena was hollering at a fever pitch, which drowned out Ionavimon's groan.

_Oh, well that's just great. I get to go up against a showboater._

It took a bit for Coredramon to realize she had shown up. He stared at her, momentarily confused, then broke out into a wide grin. "Well, well, now I remember! Hey, I get to go up against the cutie bird! Nice!"

Ionavimon delivered a solid glare. "You get the assignments ahead of time! How could you not know you were going against me?"

"Aw, don't be like that. It's not any fun knowing who you're facing before hand!" He turned to the crowd, a wide goofy grin on his face. "Ain't that right? It's more entertaining when no one knows who's facing who!"

The screaming rapidly crescendoed in response to Coredramon's goading. Ionavimon facepalmed. _This was not what I signed up for._ She was getting the clear impression that Coredramon was a fan favorite, and that he, like Dinohumon, was no newcomer to the field.

_And he probably acts like that every time. Then again, it's probably easier to be a fan favorite if you're a winner, too._

A buzzer from just outside the ring told them to get on with the formalities. Sighing, Ionavimon strode towards the center of the ring, trying not to think about the fact that her adversary was dancing around like a screwball as he made his own approach. _If he's gonna be this irritating the whole match, I'll have to finish quickly before I lose it completely._

She raised her hand to shake with the Coredramon. She caught a tiny facial movement in her foe as he raised his hand that somewhat disconcerted her. At first, it seemed civil enough as he took her hand and shook it...then, in a move so sudden Ionavimon couldn't even hope to react, he pulled her towards him and planted a long, deep kiss right on her mouth. Her eyes widened as she felt his tongue slip inside her mouth, his hands tight on her arms to keep her from breaking out or backing off, the crowd howling with laughter and cheers. After about fifteen seconds, he broke the kiss and gave her a sly grin and a wink.

An anger like she'd never felt before broke through Ionavimon, and with a sudden motion she broke her arms free and give the dragon such a backhand it actually made him spin around. He staggered backwards a couple steps, one hand on the bloodless furrows in his muzzle, as the crowd whooped and laughed, thankfully devoid of any malice towards Ionavimon.

"Ooh...that smarts..." Coredramon moaned as he rubbed his face. And then, in the next instant, he turned towards the crowd and his goofy smile made a return appearance. "Totally worth it!"

The crowd screamed its loudest ever as Ionavimon clenched her jaw, feeling her anger boiling over at the grandstander. "I am going to beat you so hard your kids are gonna be deformed!"

And then the bell rang.

Coredramon, much like Strikeavimon the day before, wasted no time trying to engage. He dashed towards Ionavimon with remarkable speed for his size, intending to get in fast and throw his opponent off-guard. She was having none of it, however, and met his rush with a punch so hard it send him head over heels twice backwards. The crowd let out a startled OOH! as Coredramon came to a sitting position, looking somewhat dazed. "Whoa...when did she become a Locomon?"

Ionavimon took the initiative, dashing towards the downed dragon in order to finish it quickly. Coredramon didn't take too long to recover, though, and before she could land another blow he swept to the side and let out a sock of his own, catching her on the side. She squawked and coughed, tried to recover, and then he was on her, grabbing her with both arms, leaping into the air, and throwing her roughly to the ground.

Now it was Ionavimon who was dazed and had to get up fast. She got a hold of herself just as Coredramon was about to deliver a full body tackle. Having little choice, she went low, rolling under him as he threw his whole body into it, and watched as he went sailing headfirst into the barrier around the arena. There was a loud crackling as his body was grabbed and thrown back into the ring, sending him sprawling across the ground. He was up in a flash, only to be smacked in the back by a Dervish Bolt.

"Yow! She's got some spark in her!" he yelled out, making the crowd laugh again. Coredramon grinned at Ionavimon as she got even more angry. "Hey, audience loves a good pun."

"Well, I'm not part of the audience!" She shot another Dervish Bolt at him, which he managed to dodge almost by chance. He then rushed her again, getting hold of her before she could evade, and tossed her across the ring towards the barrier. She managed to catch herself just before reaching the barrier, then rolled out of the way as he threw himself into a jump kick which predictably landed him in the barrier again.

_He's too fast for me to easily avoid,_ Ionavimon thought desperately as she put space between her and the dragon. _I'd better do what I thought about yesterday._ She placed a couple invisible Charge Fields around the arena, hoping that might slow him down, but always keeping her eye on him. Once he'd recovered enough and stopped playing around, he went after her again, and landed smack in the middle of one of the Charge Fields. He staggered, stunned momentarily, allowing Ionavimon to leap in and deliver a fist to his face that laid him out again. Then she backed off, setting up a couple more Charge Fields as he picked himself up off the ground. Instead of getting right back into the fight, he gave her another grin, though this one was somewhat pained.

"Hoo. You're a tricky one! No wonder you made it this far!"

Ionavimon narrowed her eyes. "I wonder how you made it, all the dancing around you do."

"Ah, hey, this is all about the crowd, ya know? Ya gotta put on a show for them, make them want to see you." He snickered a little bit. "Not that you need the help, cutie bird, a body like that, you'd have them slobbering all over you."

"Thanks for the mental image. Dervish Bolt!" She fired more electricity at him, and again he managed to get just out of the way. Then, in a move she didn't expect, he leapt up into the air, over all her land mines, clotheslining Ionavimon and knocking her roughly to the ground. She saw stars in her eyes as she tried to shake off the blow, barely registering that Coredramon was coming back. Throwing caution to the wind, she charged a kick and threw her legs back over her head, catching him in the stomach. Coredramon let out a strangled shout and stumbled back, winded and slightly dazed, giving Shockavimon time to recover. Neither one was in good shape by this point, and Ionavimon knew she had to finish it fast or he would be finishing her.

He came at her again, but this time got caught in one of the Charge Fields, and once again got a distracting jolt. It was now-or-never time, and Ionavimon took full advantage of it. She ran forward, delivering another charged kick to Coredramon's gut, followed by a second to his jaw. He was thrown completely for a loop as the electricity jolted through his head, giving Ionavimon a clear shot. She quickly drew her spear and thrust it right into his chest.

It was enough. Coredramon gacked, then stumbled and fell backwards, unconscious, as Ionavimon pulled the weapon from him.

The bell rang again, and Ionavimon slumped down, completely exhausted. She had just enough presence of mind to dispel the remaining Charge Fields before the Gazimon crew accidentally walked into one of them. Two of said crew helped her to her feet and walked her to her platform, as she remained almost oblivious to the deafening cheering around her.

(==========)

It took a good hour for Ionavimon to recover from the battle with Coredramon; fortunately for her, one of the matches being played had to have been some kind of chess match, because it was just going on forever. When it finally finished, she felt in reasonably good shape, not as good as she had that morning but good enough to put up a decent fight.

Her next battle was against a creature known as Toramamon. This one had her nervous; Toramamon was an Ultimate level, and that was certainly indicative of strength. She wanted to be as sharp as possible.

Of course, that proved to be a greater challenge than it seemed. As the time drew near, she heard a lecherous growl behind her, and turned to find a dreadfully-familiar goofy grin in her face. "Hey there, cutie bird. Nice match."

_Oh, my god, he just doesn't quit._ "What the hell do you want?"

Coredramon snickered. "Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to ask if you wanted to swing around by my place for some post-action action after your next battle."

_Are you kidding me? He's worse than a professional wrestler._ Not in any mood for more of this, she shot back with, "I'll bet you say that to everyone you fight in these things. Especially this one."

If possible, he only grinned wider. "That's one reason I'm so popular, cutie bird."

It took a moment for Ionavimon to realize that her effort to undermine his confidence had spectacularly backfired. "...Wait, what?"

"What can I say? I'm an equal-opportunity stud." He flexed a bit to drive the point home.

"Isn't that nice. If that's the case, then I'm sure you can find someone else to make a pass at. Go away."

"Suit yourself, cutie bird. Your body, your rules. But, hey, I've got a rep to keep up and you're a popular fighter, so can I say I slept with you anyway?"

"What...you...are you trying to get beaten up even worse?"

"Depends. If I let you do that, will you let me say I slept with you?"

Thankfully, the match notice tones sounded and saved her from having to try to come up with a response for the completely unflappable dragon. Twisting around, she stormed towards the platform. From behind her, she heard the Coredramon growl playfully. "Offer's open anytime, cutie bird. Bet you could do a lot of fun stuff with that electricity..."

_Healthy rage, healthy rage, save it for the ring, save it for the ring..._ She mentally chanted this mantra over and over again as the platform brought her to her next match. The moment she got up to the ring she could see her opponent pacing around, looking very much like the big cat he was. An average-sized human would just barely reach the height of the creature's shoulder, and his body was long, almost disproportionately long, and thin yet powerful. His head looked much like a cougar's, save for the two long organs extending from the back and reaching several feet in length; Ionavimon knew these were electroceptive and would sense her charges, which would make the battle that much more difficult. As he saw her, he gave a fang-filled sneer. "I'm gonna eat you up, birdy."

Ionavimon snorted. "Really? That's the best you can do?"

"Huh? Oh, uh..." The feline actually seemed thrown by the remark; his previous cool and calm demeanor had evaporated quickly, leaving uncertainty in its wake. "Drat. I'm no good at this trash-talking thing."

"I'll say...you're...not a veteran here, are you?"

"No, actually, first time for me. I've been training big-time, but I never actually got to go in a real tournament before now."

It was practically music to her ears. Finally, an opponent whose experience on the big stage was no greater than hers. His training would certainly help him, but it wasn't like her prior foes had been slackers either. "Well, then, I hope you've braced yourself, because you're about to experience your first tournament loss!"

"Hah! No way!"

The buzzer sounded, calling the fighters to the center of the ring. With Toramamon's paws not being designed for a proper handshake, they exchanged bows instead. Then they headed back to their respective corners, buzzing with anticipation a much as the crowd was.

Then the bell rang.

Ionavimon expected Toramamon to start out much like a cat, stalking his prey and waiting patiently for a chance to strike quickly and dangerously. She wasn't disappointed, as the feline made no effort to pressure her into an attack, instead just lithely prancing around, waiting for her to drop her guard. She kept her eyes trained on him at all times, not wanting to just give him the chance to end her run.

_I'll have to do what I did with Dinohumon...throw him off his game, make it so he has to try something other than what he's used to._

She took the initiative, launching a Dervish Bolt at Toramamon. She delivered a wide angle, so even with the advance knowledge, Toramamon wasn't able to avoid it entirely. It didn't do too much, but it had the intended effect of keeping him at bay; his circling was wider, which would give him more time to dodge and more time for Ionavimon to react if he made a move. She could hear the crowd getting a little antsy, wanting someone to make more than a quick gesture; that same thought was occurring to her, as well, as she knew she couldn't beat him just by sending the occasional jolt his way.

_I'm going about this the wrong way. I need to get him closer, not farther. But that's gonna be tough to do without giving him an opening..._

She dismissed the idea of leading him with Charge Fields right away; Toramamon would be able to tell where they were and would be able to avoid them with little trouble. And throwing her spear was just asking for trouble. With little other choice, she started cautiously moving towards Toramamon as he circled.

She was within about ten feet when he lashed out. With a jump and a shout of "Dread Claw!" he lunged for Ionavimon, giving her almost no time to react. She squawked and desperately leapt away, feeling the claws rake her side as he passed by. She quickly got her bearings again, but Toramamon was back to his old tricks, pacing around at a fair distance, not trying to speed things along at all.

_Damn..._ She rubbed her throbbing side, breathing heavily. _He knows what he's doing. If I try that again he'll probably pull the same stunt...I need to make it so he can't just jump around like that..._

Unfortunately, answers weren't coming very quickly. She tried next using a rapid series of Dervish Bolts, trying to draw him into a direct hit. However, it backfired on her as he jumped closer each time and then threw his whole body into her, winding her and throwing her to the ground. He might have gotten a Dread Claw right to her face if not for her quick spear work in his, slashing across his muzzle and nearly catching his eye. He backed off and resumed his pacing, while Ionavimon slowly got to her feet.

_Well, that didn't work either...damn electroception, if I hold a charge for too long he'll know what's up. If I keep letting him get me I'm gonna be too worn out when he goes for the kill. Slow approach didn't work, keeping my distance didn't work...guess it's time for the bull rush._

Shaking off her fatigue and pain, she got a bead on Toramamon, and summoned up all her energy into a headlong sprint at the feline. This finally seemed to throw him, as he tried to back up a bit to get a good angle on her; she didn't let that happen, as she slashed furiously at his sides, trying to score as many hits as she could. She managed six or seven before he finally got out of her reach; the effort had taken a toll, though, and she let down her guard for a moment.

He wasted no time. "Sharpness Flail!" A golden orb the size of a bowling ball formed in the air above Toramamon, with several large spikes poking from it. With a yowl, he sent the orb directly at Ionavimon, who only just realized what was happening in time. She scrambled to avoid it, but only was able to move enough to send the thing into her right shoulder instead of her torso.

Blinding, stabbing pain tore through her shoulder and radiated through the rest of her body, and she couldn't hold back a loud screech that caused many in the audience to wince. It left her momentarily shaken, and had she not been facing towards Toramamon he might have been able to go for the kill. Instead he stood back, possibly expecting her to concede the match. It gave her enough time to get to her feet and get a lock on him again.

"Jeez...you're pretty tough for a birdy," he said, sounding genuinely surprised that she was still going.

"Remind me to smack you later for that..." she tried to move her spear arm, only to find that even a slight motion sent another wave of pain through her. _Guess I'm left handed for the rest of the match_, she thought grimly as she passed off her spear to her nondominant side. _One more good attack and I won't be coming out of here victorious. I have only one chance...I'd better make it work._

She knew Toramamon wouldn't just let her charge him again, but she could open him up to it. With considerable effort, she unleashed a single Dervish Bolt from her wings, and then made her move. Toramamon had enough time to anticipate the electrical assault, and made a quick leap to his right.

Just as Ionavimon had predicted. She leapt into the air and brought the spear down right into Toramamon's neck. With a surprised cry, he fell to the ground, conscious but hardly able to move, the spear having struck his spine; even without actual damage, it did enough to all but paralyze him. After a considerable effort, he managed to give the concession signal.

The bell gave a final ring, and Ionavimon once again hit the ground, panting and wincing through the considerable pain and fatigue she was feeling. It took the efforts of three Gazimon to get her upright and back to the platform; this time, they didn't stop at elevators, but rather escorted her into a medical bay in the rear of the participant waiting area. She wasn't left by them until she had been laid down on a cot and attended to by another Gazimon, this one wearing a badge that showed he was part of the medical staff.

"I thought no one could get permanently injured in these things?" she asked breathlessly, not at all minding the chance to lay down but feeling somewhat concerned at the attention she was getting.

"Almost never, but we're always cautious anyway," the Gazimon said, looking her over and scanning her with some kind of handheld instrument. "No system is foolproof, and errors can be fatal in these kinds of events."

Thankfully, she checked out just fine, and after about twenty minutes was given leave to go. Near the exit, she caught sight of the Toramamon on another cot, being attended to in a similar fashion. He smiled weakly as she came over. "It's like you knew where I was gonna be, that last one..."

"I did, or I at least had a good guess."

"Oof...I was always trained to go for the same side as their weapon was on, because it's not as easy to swing away from your body as it is across. Especially a spear, where you get the most out of it by thrusting in...it's a lot harder to do away from you..."

"Well, I thought that's how you might go...if I'd have waited to be sure, you probably would have been able to get me first. You okay?"

"Yeah, I've got all the feeling back already. I'm just way out of it. Guess I've gotta give this one to you...wouldn't mind a rematch later, though. Maybe you could teach me a few things?"

Ionavimon held back a laugh. "Maybe another time. I've got business to take care of after this tournament, can't really wait too long."

"Shoot. Well, best of luck to you, then. Watch the mobs."

"Yeah, no kidding. Better luck next time." Ionavimon left Toramamon to recover and headed out of the medical wing, bracing herself for the onslaught when she got up the stairs. _Man, I hope Sealsdramon is close by..._

(==========)

"Oh, man, I am SO glad to be done with today." Iris flopped down on the bed, more tired than she'd ever felt in her life, except perhaps for when she had transferred her energy to Shockavimon after she'd been shot. "Those were some of the nastiest battles ever! I thought we were gonna lose at a few times!"

"No kidding," agreed Shockavimon, setting down on a chair and panting. "No wonder they consider this to be so prestigious...it must take a lot of work for most people to get this far. We weren't ready for that, no way. Still, we made it past the second day. Maybe we can beat the last two."

"We sure as hell better! After all the crap we've gone through, I want to win more than ever! I hate to lose at the very end, especially when this is the kind of path we have to take to get there!"

Shockavimon chuckled. "Wow. Coredramon really pissed you off with that kiss, didn't he?"

"Wh-what are you talking about? That was Ionavimon-"

"Oh, no, I could feel it while we were in there. It was you who was giving it off most strongly, even if the rest of us weren't exactly thrilled. It really got to you."

"Well...yeah. I mean, you can't tell me it didn't bother you at all!"

"Not as bad as you. What was it that bugged you about it? He wasn't particularly sexist about it or anything."

"It wasn't...well...it was...something else."

"Uh...huh..." Shockavimon mused on it a moment, a small, wry grin forming on her beak. "You're pissed that he was the first person to kiss you, aren't you?"

"Shockavimon!" Iris cried, turning red.

"No, no, I see how it is. You were hoping your first kiss would be with someone you liked instead of some show-off dragon looking for action. Technically, though, it was with Ionavimon, not you."

"Ionavimon is part of me!"

"Ah-ha, so you admit it then?"

"I...ugh..." Iris sighed and lowered her head. "Why'd it have to be some violent egomaniac? Why couldn't it have been-"

"Derek?"

"Iwasn'tgoingtosaythat!"

"R-right." Shockavimon was just barely containing her laughter now. "Holy smokes, girl, you need to ask him out, pronto!"

"What? No! We're just friends!"

"No, you are not 'just friends.' You fancy him, admit it."

"It's not like that! I just...well...I've known him so long, and it feels...it would be...weird. He's kind of like a brother to me. All my siblings are so much older than I am, they kind of seem more like extra parents than anything. Derek, well, he's an only child, and we just spent so much time together...it would just be weird to think about."

"But you have thought about it, Iris! You can try to deny it all you want, but I know the truth. I've seen how you get around him. You start getting nervous every time he's nearby. You start getting nervous when you're going to visit him. You dream about him day and night."

"Wh...how do you..."

Shockavimon smirked coyly at her. "C'mon, Iris, you know we share dreams. Look, I know why you think it's weird. And I know you're worried because you're young and you don't think you know any better. Trust me, I've been there. But come on, it's worth a shot! The way you two are, even if it didn't work out, it wouldn't end ugly."

"I...I just don't know...do you really think he feels the same about me?"

Shockavimon tried, but it was too much for her. She fell of the chair, rolling on the ground and laughing hysterically. Iris glared at her, but she took no notice of it as she started to catch her breath. "Oh, Iris, you are _pristinely_ oblivious!"

"It's not funny!"

"Oh, trust me, it is! He's just the same way as you are! In fact, I'll bet that he's asking himself the same questions you've been asking! One of you needs to bite the bullet and ask, because it's gonna drive both of you crazy pretty soon!"

"I...well...maybe I'll talk to him about it. I don't want to push anything, I mean, if he's...hesitant. But maybe...well, maybe I do kinda feel something for him."

"That's the spirit. Though I'm sure Coredramon will be disappointed, I think he was looking forward to that shock play." She started laughing again as Iris threw a pillow at her.

(==========)

(==========)

More tough battles to write. I think I started to hit my stride with the tournament format, though. They're not fantastic, but I like them better than the previous pair.

This chapter's a little shorter than I would like, but I do like a couple of the characters. SuperStarmon I think helps improve the impression that this is some kind of super important deal, so of course I had to make him a narcissistic prima donna. That's honestly kind of how I see a lot of celebrity reporters - they think they're important because they talk about supposedly important people. It's not necessarily a fair assessment, I guess, but we all have our stereotypes. And then Coredramon...where to begin? I am easily amused by the archetype of the completely unflappable, where no matter what you try to do to get him off his game, he always has some kind of response that instead derails you. That's what I was kind of going for here. I really may have to use him again down the road.

What did you think? Did they provide some comedy for you? Feel free to let me know in the comments. Thanks to people who have commented, rest assured I have been reading them even if I don't directly reply to them.

And now I'm off to sleep and recover from this cold I've had for the past five days. Wake me in 2011. Zzzzzz...


	30. Chapter 29: Blowhards

Hope everyone had a great holiday break! Time to go back to the drudgery of real life!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 29: Blowhards**

Breezedramon shook his head as he come through the Transfer Point. "Whoo...I never get used to that."

A Palmon standing near the Transfer Point did a double take and looked at Breezedramon. "Uh...were you talking to me?"

"Oh, no, just myself. Oh, hey, do you know which way it is to Oroetem? I'm kinda trying to get there to find someone, and these things always leave me a little disclomenimaboballated."

"Uh...okay..." The Palmon pointed off to the southwest. "You know, there's probably a closer one you could've used."

"Eh, this'll get me there fast enough. Thanks!" Breezedramon took off into the air, ignoring the Palmon who was muttering about strange people being everywhere. _Hey, Sky, I'm on my way! It should just be a couple hours now!_

_Glad to hear it, so to speak. I knew you could make it out of that forest eventually. Let me know when you get there, I'm kinda trying to do some research so I don't know if I'll be right there waiting for you._

_You got it!_ Breezedramon swooped through the air, letting the currents ease his flight down towards where his partner was waiting.

(==========)

Skylar was not the type of person who would ordinarily get tired of reading. He would acknowledge, often rather proudly, that he was one of those types who even read ahead on his school textbooks for the fun of it, especially ones that happened to include discussions of weather or related phenomena. Obviously, this had the effect of grating some of his peers, but of course once crunch time came around the "smart kid" was suddenly the one everyone wanted answers from.

So when he realized, after another few hours of sitting in a poorly-organized library looking through books that had nothing at all to do with what he was trying to find, that he was getting sick of reading, he knew that it was time to change his approach.

Stepping outside, the sunlight caught him by surprise, beating down more brightly than he had expected. _I should be more used to this by now, I'm the one who made it this way. Maybe my brain's shutting down because of all this drudgery._

The walk to the village was much less strenuous than when he had first arrived, yet slightly less peaceful, as getting out of the watchful eye of the guards was more challenging than one might expect. It seemed he couldn't go fifty feet without another one of them rushing up and asking if he needed assistance. They seemed almost desperately afraid of him being attacked or harmed in some way, despite there not having been a single hostile digimon around since he'd arrived. He tried his best to be patient, but it was challenging.

Finally, he made it to the village, where he was met with an overzealousness of a different sort; the hero-worship the digimon there laid upon him felt bizarre, almost unwelcome, as if he'd done something more than just change something by accident. Still, he'd come for a reason, and so he put up with it so he could get down to business.

"Could you tell me about Stormdramon?"

"He was a fantastic person! He created this weather control system, and allowed Oroetem to experience a whole array of weather!"

"He was as powerful as they come! He could have destroyed evil with barely a thought!"

"If he was still around, we'd never have to fear anything! Not Shinduramon, not Emperius, nothing!"

It didn't exactly tell him all that much. So he went a more direct route. "What about the weather control system? It's a fascinating device, but I'd really like to know better how it works."

"No one knows. Stromdramon's been gone so long, anyone who was around then is long gone by now."

"We don't do anything with it. It's not for our hands, only for the reborn king's."

"I've never even seen it, and neither has anyone I know! Oh, I can only imagine what it must have been like the first time it got used!"

Really, it was a wonder he had avoided losing it completely. "So who else has used it in the past? I mean, besides Shinduramon. The people who weren't nuts."

"I know there was a guy before Shinduramon, a Surgedramon. But he wanted to go see the world and left us with Shinduramon. He didn't seem all that sadistic until after Surgedramon left."

"There were a couple before that. The farthest back I can remember was Garudamon."

"No, there was a Valkyrimon before Garudamon. I know because I heard it from one of the elders in the village before they had to go because of the cold."

What Skylar managed to take away from this was that creatures who already had some connection with wind or thunder were capable of using the control mechanism. The village itself seemed to be devoid of these types, for reasons completely unknown to him, making the prospect of finding a replacement that much dimmer.

_I'm gonna have to find something, and soon. I can't keep the others waiting long, and after Breezedramon's back, we're gonna have to get a move on pretty quickly. Maybe I should have some people check around the surrounding areas, there's gotta be someone who fits the bill._

With a spark of a plan in mind, he took leave of the village and headed back towards the castle. It wasn't a prospect that he looked forward to; despite having free reign to go where he wished both inside and out, it still felt to Skylar like he was being cooped up. He couldn't go anywhere without someone watching his every move, paranoid that he was about to get murdered at any moment.

_Well, I guess it could be worse. Their fears could be well-founded._

(==========)

A bright flash blasted through the skylight in Reichmon's manor, followed closely by a resounding crack and boom that made it rattled as if it would break at any moment. It made Derek jump a little bit on his way back to the room he'd come from, nearly dropping the glass of water he'd gotten. A semi-stifled yelp from the room with the slightly-ajar door brought him back to his senses, and he hurried back in.

Ebondramon was cringing and shaking in the bed, having been startled badly by the loud burst of thunder that had rocked the sky. Blackcanismon was doing his best to calm down the dragon, with limited success. Derek shut the door and sat down near the head of Ebondramon's bed. "You okay?"

"F-fine..." Ebondramon took a few deep breaths, settling down a little bit. "Just...wasn't ready for that..."

Derek nodded and stared out the window; even through the endless darkness, he could see the whipping rain, the trees flailing in the wind, the flashes of sharp light in the sky like cracks in the fabric of existence itself. It was the scene they had woken up to, and that was likely to last well into the late hours. The day which had begun with aspirations to reach the Catalyst was shot before it even began, and they found themselves confined to the manor, forced to ride out the storm and hope that none followed later.

Ebondramon had been moved from medical care back to the manor; it had been decided that a familiar setting would help ease his recovery. The storm wasn't helping matters very much, though, unsettling him every time he seemed to be calming down. Blackcanismon was helping out as best he could, providing some canine cuddle therapy so the dragon had something to hold for safety and comfort; it seemed to be doing the trick for the most part, though he couldn't block out all the frightening sensations. Derek decided the best he could do was be there in case Ebondramon needed anything.

Another bright flash, another loud boom, another quiet cry. Derek looked back over to the dragon, who was doing his best to put up a tough front and failing badly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"...No..." Ebondramon mumbled. "I feel like such a wimp. I faced down plenty of tough enemies before...now look at me, freaking scared of lightning..." He gave a quiet, unhappy huff. "What's next, being afraid of the dark?"

"It'll get better. It just takes time."

"Yeah, I know..." Ebondramon turned over in the bed, scooting a little closer to Blackcanismon. According to the people who'd treated him, the misadventure he'd endured had screwed with his body's stress response system, putting him completely out of whack; it needed time and calm to reset itself and return him to normal. It had been a very interesting experience for Derek to hear about this; this stress response system was apparently a normal part of the physiology of digimon, and completely unlike anything he'd ever heard of in a human. He imagined Reyn would have had all sorts of questions had he been there; despite often pretending otherwise, he thought it was pretty clear Reyn had a more-than-passing interest in medicine. Not exactly a surprise knowing his parents were doctors, though Derek had often doubted he had the drive to actually act on his interests.

"Hey...Derek, was it?" Ebondramon's voice drew Derek out of his musings.

"Yeah. What is it?"

Ebondramon was quiet for a moment. "Um...well...maybe a weird question...do they hate the darkness in your world as much as they do in this one?"

Definitely a weird question, though Derek didn't feel like he needed to think on it much. "...Yeah. Maybe even more so."

He heard a sigh from the dragon. "Should've guessed..."

"It was a reasonable question. Trust me, it bugs me, too."

"I just...I don't get it. I don't get why it has to be that way."

There was quiet for a long time. Derek wasn't sure whether he was asking or just observing. He'd thought about that question himself quite a bit; it was hard not to, given his proclivities and the amount of grief he got for them. He wondered if a response would be at all helpful to Ebondramon; part of him thought not, but another part thought that even knowing was a step towards easing the tension.

"Darkness...it's something I think a lot of us are born to be kind of wary of. I'm not sure if it's quite the same for digimon, but I know humans, their worlds are mostly shaped by what they can see. Darkness obscures that...it makes it so they can't see, and what they don't see they don't know as well. Darkness has no shape, no form, and that makes it the antithesis of the 'normal' world for humans. And that scares them. They learn to avoid it, and they teach others to avoid it by their example. If you're attuned to it, it doesn't bother you as much, but for humans, there's far fewer who are attuned to it than there are for digimon."

"And I guess another part of it is that there are some people who...well, they want to take advantage of that. They like to cause far, because fear gives them power. And they use what so many fear because that gives them the most power. That only makes it worse...it teaches people that they're right to fear it, making it even stronger. It's a circle that never gets better unless you escape it."

"How?"

Derek sighed. "Isn't that the age-old question? I sure wish I had the answer, it would make a lot of things a lot easier. Heck, I used to think it was all just silliness. Of course, I didn't exactly have the same perspective as most people..."

_-8 Years Ago-_

"_It's like they think I'm some kind of freak! My own parents!"_

"_Derek...please, it'll be all right."_

"_No it won't! They don't even want to hear about it! They'll never understand, they don't even want to, they just want me to be like everyone else!" It was perhaps a bit petulant, but I was only seven at the time, and I've yet to know the seven-year-old who wasn't petulant sometimes._

_As usual, it was my parents. I was a night owl from the start; back then, neither I nor they knew why, but what I knew was that I hated going to sleep at night (or trying, since half the time I couldn't get more than a few winks) and what they knew was that they hated that I was restless and wanted to go outside while they were asleep. They had just caught me sneaking in in the morning after being out all night, and I was grounded for a week as a result. It wasn't the grounding that had me so outraged, though, but that they had told me they wanted me to act like a 'normal' kid. Like it was just some phase I was going through, rather than something that had been part of me my whole life._

"_Derek, they're just worried about you. My dad's the same way. If I'm not in after dark he gets sick wondering if something's happened to me." Iris, as usual, was trying to be the yin to my yang. Caring and sweet since forever, always concerned about everyone when they were down, trying to make them feel better. This wasn't the first time I'd been in a state like this and she'd jumped in to help out. She always was really nice like that._

"_I don't get it! It's not even that scary! All the stupid stories they keep telling me, and none of it ever happens! All this stupid stuff about kidnapping and evil guys being out there, but they aren't! I've been out there a lot, it's always just nice and calm and peaceful, not like during the day!"_

"_Well, maybe they just don't know that. Or they don't see it that way."_

"_It's just dumb! It's just darkness, what's the big deal?"_

_Iris went quiet for a little bit. I could tell there was something bothering her, and of course I had no clue what it could be. "What's the matter?"_

"_Um...I just...well...I'm...kinda afraid of the dark."_

_It kinda stunned me to hear that. I mean, not that Iris was afraid of something. We're all afraid of some things, that's normal, especially for younger kids. But I'd always thought you couldn't BE afraid of darkness. It had literally never occurred to me that that could cause fear. Maybe because I always felt so at peace with it that was something my brain couldn't comprehend at the time. So, naturally, I had to ask. "Why?"_

"_Well...I can't see. I don't know where things are. Everything looks and feels different when it's dark. I just...have to imagine things. And it's harder to imagine things without them seeming scarier. It feels like something could come out at me at any moment. I think that's why my dad gets frightened if I'm out at night, too, because he thinks there are scary things out there, too."_

"_But...but that's just not...I mean, I never feel that way! I always thought it was easier to know something was nearby when it was dark!"_

"_I think...a lot of the other kids, they're more like me than you. They tell scary stories about the dark, too...I think they're all...well, maybe not...afraid, but not...um...comfortable? Or something. With the dark, I mean."_

_It was kind of a hard thing to hear. Not only because something I thought I knew was possibly wrong, but that maybe I was kind of...different. I'm not sure if I thought 'freak' or not. I may have. "I...never thought..."_

"_It's not a bad thing. I mean, it's good that you aren't scared. I don't like being scared of the dark, I don't like feeling like something's gonna crawl out and eat me and I can't see it or anything. You don't have that, so that's good."_

"_I'm sorry...I didn't realize. Maybe I am weird."_

"_Weird isn't always bad. I know my mom says we're all weird in some ways, so maybe that's just yours. I'm probably weird, too, and just don't know it. Though...I guess I still don't understand why my parents get all nervous around those electric socket thingies. Maybe that's got something to do with it."_

"_Oh, yeah, those things. My dad fusses about them, too. I dunno why, you never seem to have anything bad happen."_

"_They know lots of things, maybe it's just something I don't know. But anyway, if you're weird, that's okay. You just have to remember that not all of us are weird in the way you are."_

"_Yeah, okay...I just wish I knew how to deal with Mom and Dad about that..."_

_-Present Day-_

"Heh...never did find an answer to that question, either. Then again, after all that's happened recently, maybe the answer came on its own." Derek sighed again, watching the raindrops patter against the window. "Maybe...it's just all about making it seem normal. I guess I don't really know how to do that, either...but maybe it's something that can't just be done by someone. Normal doesn't stand out, it's just there. Drawing attention to it makes it seem weird. Guess there aren't any easy answers."

There was quiet for a minute, the only sounds being the steady drum of rain on the manor walls and the occasional boom of thunder, thankfully not as loud or imposing as earlier. Presently, Ebondramon spoke again. "She seems nice."

"Huh?"

"That girl you were talking about. I wish I'd had someone like that. Maybe my life wouldn't have turned out like such a mess."

"It's not too late. There's a lot of people who like you here. You'll find someone."

"Yeah, maybe..." Ebondramon didn't sound totally convinced, but there was a soft tone of hopefulness in the words. Derek was glad for that, but now he couldn't shake his own dismal thoughts.

_Iris...I wish I knew where you were. I hope you're all right..._

(==========)

The fastest way to get to Oroetem, or indeed anywhere one was flying to, was just to make a beeline and fly until you got there. Breezedramon knew this very well, having had some experience flying in his life. He also knew, however, that he found flying in a straight line for more than a few seconds insufferably boring. So while he kept moving in the right general direction, his flight path was so suffused with loops and twists and turns that it slowed him down considerably. It was a characteristic so well-known that it had been commonly referenced in Libertius as "the Breezedramon method," for any plan or action that was ridiculously long and convoluted despite simple alternatives being readily available.

Breezedramon, far from feeling slighted, usually preferred anything involving the Breezedramon method and was always ready to chime in at how boring things would be if everything was done in a simple and straightforward way. Of course, he was usually outvoted by his more practical (stick-in-the-mud in his mind) comrades, so he generally had to make his own excitement where he could. This would occasionally get him into slight jams, though he worked to make sure it wasn't anything that would put him or others in serious danger.

Not that that always was enough.

As he got lost in his endless roller coaster flight, he neglected to be aware of his surroundings. Thus, he was completely shocked when he thumped into something much larger than himself at high speed. A loud screech, more of surprise than pain, jarred him so thoroughly that he nearly plunged out of the air, only hanging on by the barest of margins. Shaking his head and flying raggedly, he looked up above him and his heart nearly stopped. There were five large flying digimon above him, and they were all looking down at him with very predatory glares.

"You! Who do you think you are? Are you trying to challenge us?" yelled the leader, a Hippogriffomon. On each side of him, he was flanked by a Diatrymon and a Thunderbirdmon. Breezedramon couldn't even tell which one he had hit, though he guessed it was probably one of the Diatrymon by that screech.

"S-sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I...well, I didn't mean to hit any of you!"

"You think I'm gonna buy that? Who dive-bombs someone he's not trying to attack?"

"I didn't dive-bomb them! I was just flying some loops-"

"Fah! You think we haven't heard that one before? Don't you know who you're talking to, pest? We're the Battlebirds! We've been through more battles in our lives than you could hope to achieve in ten! You think we don't know an attack when we see one?"

Breezedramon cocked his head. "Battlebirds? Wait, aren't you a hippogriff?"

"It's close enough!" Hippogriffomon roared. "Why the hell does everyone say that? I've got wings, I've got a freaking beak, how much more bird do you need?"

Suddenly, flying in a straight line seemed a lot more appealing to Breezedramon. As long as that straight line was in the direction they weren't going. "Um, gee, look, I'd love to chat, but I've gotta meet someone and they won't like it much if I'm dead! So, uh, bye-bye!"

"After him!" Not the words Breezedramon wanted to hear as he tried to beat a hasty retreat; the larger creatures could cover more ground more quickly if they wanted to, and he had little doubt they wanted to. He heard the creatures begin to launch their attacks, and swooped around to avoid them. _What are these guys' problems? Like they've never been run into before! I'd better get to Sky fast or I'm a goner!_

The one bit of good fortune he had was that his psychic magnetism was starting to draw him, so he wasn't in any question of which direction he had to fly. As he beat his wings furiously, he could only hope that it would be enough to save his hide yet again.

(==========)

Skylar hadn't been in the weather control room since his initial foray into the castle, so there was a lingering sense of unfamiliarity as he entered for the second time. The warmth and light of the sun shone down through the open roof, a vast improvement in ambience over his first excursion into the room, giving everything a pleasant quaint feel. The weather control orb shone mildly in its altar, barely more than the sunlight beaming down on it.

He'd hoped for perhaps some books or inscriptions somewhere that might tell something about the weather control device, things he would have missed the first time around, but it was pretty quickly apparent that there wasn't anything of the kind. Still, there was one other oddity that also had his curiosity and attention, and needing a distraction from the frustration around the weather control machine, he turned his attention to the Catalyst.

_Hope Breezedramon doesn't mind me starting without him,_ Skylar thought idly as he knelt down by the shimmering blue orb under the weather control orb altar. _I gotta figure out what this thing is about._

Carefully, he took hold of the orb. Almost instantly, he felt a rush unlike anything he'd ever felt in his life, almost as if the orb was forcing something into his hands and through his entire body, some kind of energy that his body sucked in greedily, as if thirsting for it for a long time. It quickened his breathing, accelerated his heartbeat, drew him up into a euphoria he'd never even imagined was possible.

It felt like a long time before the orb's pulses died away, leaving Skylar slightly shaken and amazed. _That was...that was like nothing I'd ever imagined. How does it work? How can something like this have such...power in it? _He shook his head, trying to rattle some answers out and getting nothing. _These things have probably started a lot of conflicts in the past...I wonder how this one got here in the first place? They'd have to keep them where they could trust they'd be safe...maybe there's something behind this whole Stormdramon business after all, even if it isn't all that the legends have made it out to be._

He set the orb down underneath the weather control altar again. _Keep it where it's safe, I guess...if this thing is here for a reason, it makes sense to just leave it...huh?_

_Sky! Sky! You gotta help!_ Breezedramon's telepathy broke into his thoughts with an uncharacteristic urgency. That wasn't what Skylar wanted to hear now.

_What's going on?_

_I accidentally pissed off a bunch of digimon and they're coming after me! I can't take them on on my own!_

_That's just wonderful...how close are you?_

_I dunno, all I know is I'm going in the right direc-agh! Dammit, that nearly hit me!_

_Just calm down and focus on staying alive! I'll get a bead on you from here and try to help how I can!_

_Okay, hurry hurry!_

It definitely wasn't the ideal way to be reunited with his partner, but right now all Skylar cared was that it was one they both lived through. With the energy from the Catalyst still pouring through him, the urgency was only amplified even more. As he tore through the castle recklessly, he caught stares from the guards, who didn't even have the chance to ask what the problem was. He didn't stop until he got to the doors of the castle, nearly startling Harpymon and Shurimon out of their wits.

"Harpymon! I want you to fly up into the air and see if you can see a commotion anywhere up in the sky! Don't ask questions, just do it!"

"Y-yes, my liege!" Harpymon scrambled into the air as fast as he could, and was soon out of sight. Shurimon looked at Skylar, confused, but Skylar wasn't in the mood to be explaining things. It was a tense couple of minutes for him, wondering what was taking Harpyomon so long to figure out if there was any action nearby. _Dang it, it shouldn't be that hard to find, there's basically nothing up there to get in the way of seeing a huge mid-air brawl!_

Finally, Harpymon came back into view and settled on the ground in front of Skylar, looking exhausted. "There's...there's a group of digimon to the east! A few miles out, I think...I don't know what's got them riled up, or how you knew about it-"

"Fine, fine. I'm going. And don't follow me! I'll be fine, but I don't want them getting anywhere near this place. If they do, drive them back. Understood?" Harpymon and Shurimon had scarcely nodded before Skylar had sprinted off, down the steps and to the east, hoping he could put enough distance between himself and the castle to keep whatever was chasing Breezedramon from wreaking havoc for more people.

(==========)

Breezedramon couldn't believe he still had a little distance between himself and his pursuers. Maybe it was the strength he'd gained from merging, or maybe they weren't going full speed so they could get the best angle of attack, or maybe it was just sheer desperation, but whatever the case, it was only just enough to keep him from getting his head taken off.

He knew he was close to Oroetem now - he'd seen the castle before, and when he wasn't frantically watching his back or swerving out of the way of another volley of lightning or wind, he managed to catch glimpses of it in the distance. He pushed himself to speed up and get down to safety before they could get him, realizing as he did that he was really getting tired. _Aw, man, they just had to go after me after I'd already been flying for hours..._

He chanced a look back and moaned as he saw that they were almost right on top of him now. _Crap, maybe they were just playing with me after all..._

Without warning, a freak wind kicked up around them. Breezedramon yelped in surprise - the wind was going straight _up_, throwing him for a loop. But it also turned out to be his saving grace, as it caused his pursuers to pull up. He pushed through it and looked down, then saw what had caused the surprise wind. _Sky!_

_Hurry to the castle. There's a Catalyst in one of the rooms...there's an opening in the ceiling, go through that and use it, then get back out here so we can merge if we have to! I'll hold these guys for a bit!_

_Gotcha!_ Shaking off his exhaustion, Breezedramon zipped through the air, making a beeline for the castle. _Thanks, Sky! I won't let you down!_

(==========)

"What do you think you're doing?" Hippogriffomon was not pleased that his prey had gotten away, and even less pleased that the apparent cause was a human doing something unnatural with wind. "How dare you get in our way! You'd just let him get away with attacking us?"

"I think you could stand to calm down just a bit, don't you?" Skylar shouted back. "What's got you going so crazy? He can't have been more than a mild annoyance at worst. Not worth losing it completely."

"Foolish human! Don't you know who you're talking to?"

"I'm fairly new here, so no. If you could fill me in, I'd appreciate it."

"Don't get smart with me! We're the Battlebirds! We could kill you in a split second if we wanted to!"

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "Battlebirds? Aren't you a hippogriff?"

"IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH DAMMIT!"

"Guess I hit a nerve..." Skylar mumbled, wincing at the volume of the screech. "Okay...look, Breezedramon's a good friend of mine, and I know he doesn't go around provoking attacks, especially from creatures that much bigger than himself. And I also know he's kind of a klutz and if anyone could hit someone in the wide open sky it would be him. So this really sounds like just an honest mistake, and you don't need to go nuts over it. So can we call it peace here?"

"So you're on his side! Well, we'll make you both pay for attacking us, then!"

"Thanks for listening to the important part," sighed Skylar as the flock began to descend on him. "Trust me, I really don't want to do this, but..."

He'd been proud of the twister he'd created back in the attack in the human world, but as he kicked the winds up again, he could already feel that this one was going to make that one look like child's play. The swirling winds stonewalled the attack of the Battlebirds, then caught them up as they expanded and sped up. In seconds, he had them whirling above his head, unable to escape the building cyclone. It couldn't have been more perfect - it kept them from attacking, and gave Breezedramon time to get to the Catalyst, while at the same time not doing enough damage to threaten their lives.

He let them go just as he saw Breezedramon flying up from the castle again. "Okay, I think that's enough, don't you? I'd really rather not do anything more painful than that, since this is clearly some kind of misunderstanding."

"Y-you...I won't let this..." Hippogriffomon didn't seem to want to let things rest, though the other digimon seemed unwilling to pursue the matter further. "I can't just let an attack like this...I can't just let it slide! I'll make you an example! Heat Wave!"

Hippogriffomon unleashed a blast of super-heated air straight at the ground. Skylar, knowing he wouldn't have time to avoid it, instead tried to counter by kicking up another gale around him to disperse the heat. It wasn't perfectly effective, but warded it enough to keep him from being seriously hurt.

"Hey! You get away from him!" Breezedramon didn't waste any time, shooting back to the battle as fast as he could. The energy from the Catalyst was surging through him, almost demanding release in the most explosive way possible. He was more than willing to oblige, glowing brightly as he faced Hippogriffomon. "You want an attack? I'll give you a real attack! Aerial Laser!"

A beam of concentrated energy fired out from his body, hitting Hippogriffomon with unexpected force. He was thrown back in several aerial somersaults, and actually had to be caught by two of his comrades lest he plummet to the ground. That was finally enough to get them to bid a hasty retreat, despite the protests of the dazed hippogriff.

"SKY!" Skylar had little time to dwell on this, as a blue blur came at him at high speed from above. The two grabbed each other in a tight embrace, or as tight as Breezedramo could manage with his stubby arms. "Man, I'm so glad to be here again! I don't wanna have to go through this kinda thing ever again!"

"Jeez, what did you ever do before I was here?" Skylar cracked.

"Evolve, that's what! It's freaking scary to have to face all these guys down when I'm just a tiny little thing compared to them! They coulda eaten me up and not even thought I was a bite-sized treat!"

"Mm...yeah, I think that would probably freak me out a bit, as well. C'mon, let's get inside, I don't want to find out that Hippogriffomon decided he was good enough to fight back again after all."

(==========)

By the time they reached the steps of the castle, they had both caught up entirely on their respective experiences while separated. "I'll be glad when we're all done with this and can get back with the others," Breezedramon said finally. "Nothing like having to go without to realize how much you like having other people around to bail you outta stuff!"

"I don't know if I'd put it that way to them, Breezedramon, they might get the wrong message," Skylar chuckled. "But I kind of agree. I'm in way over my head here, it'll be nice to have you around to help me figure things out."

"I bet! At least you got among nice ones, though. Woulda been a lot messier if they'd been mean guys, or something like that."

"I'd rather not even think about that. Hey, they're not here..." They'd reached the top of the stairs, and where Harpymon and Surimon were usually standing in front of the doors, there was no one.

"Someone's normally here?"

"Two guys who fancy themselves door guards. Well, I guess they need a break every now and then, too. C'mon, let's get in and relax for once." He pushed the door open and the two walked in. They hadn't gone six steps when a mob swarmed them.

"Attack! Attack! A monster is attacking the king!"

"Capture the attacker! Don't let it get away!"

"The king must be protected at all costs!"

Breezedrmaon yelped as he was buried under a mass of digimon, all clamoring to ensure they had the tightest grip on the alleged attacker. They only stopped and relented after Skylar yelled as loud as he ever had in his life, "Get off of him right this second!"

As fast as they'd attacked before, they scrambled to appease him. "My-my liege, forgive us," a Prairiemon stammered nervously, "we were only trying to protect you-"

"If I need protecting, I'll bloody well tell you I need protecting!" Skylar yelled back. "You can't just go attacking every creature that comes around here! If I have to tell you this again you're not going to be guards much longer!"

"So Breezedramon isn't a danger?"

"Of course not! He's a very good friend of mine, one that I've been trying to get in touch with for days!"

"An acolyte to the holy one!" exclaimed a Gargomon. "My deepest apologies, we had no idea you had followers around! We must prepare a proper welcome-"

"Enough already! Can we just calm down and deal with this rationally? Look, Breezedramon and I are pretty tired. The best thing you can do for us right now is leave us be so we can rest up and deal with the next crisis, which knowing my life recently can't be far away. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my liege! Everyone, back to their posts! No one must be allowed in to bother the holy one!" With that, the group dispersed, leaving only a frustrated Skylar and confused Breezedramon.

"That's not what I meant...but I guess it will do for now." Skylar shook his head. "I swear, it's like they're getting worse, not better."

"That was nuts!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "They're completely crazy! What's their problem?"

"I'm trying to figure that out as fast as I can. C'mon, let's go find someplace quiet and out of the way. I doubt everyone's gotten the message that quickly and I'd rather not end up running into someone who didn't."

(==========)

(==========)

Hm, well, this isn't exactly my most favorite chapter. Partly because it took me forever to come up with a concept for it. I plan out a lot of things ahead of time, but this one was kind of inserted recently because I pretty much skipped over Skylar and Breezedramon originally (most of Chapter 25 was added for the same reason). And to be honest, it feels a little forced to me. But I was getting close to posting time and I really didn't want to ring in the new year with a delayed chapter, so I ran with the idea I had. It could have been better, but at least it gets me past yet another roadblock. I may revisit it with an edit later if I feel it doesn't hold up over time.

I wonder if anyone's used the term "Convenience Storm" before (I imagine they have because it's got good pun potential). That's what I dialed up for Derek and Blackcanismon in that little interlude in the middle of the chapter. I've been trying to keep a fairly consistent timeline going, despite the jumping back and forth, and I realized I had a gap in that thread that I needed to deal with. So I threw in a sudden storm that delayed their trip until the proper point in the story a few chapters on. It's about as contrived as can be, but hey, that's why I call it a Convenience Storm.

I had this chapter all written before I left for vacation (finally getting a little bit ahead of the game again - I haven't been for a while). So of course, just a couple days before posting, I made a major change. That convenience storm gave me the perfect opportunity for a perspective segment (the only character's segment I hadn't figured out yet, in fact) and I almost missed it. Not only added to the lackluster length, but it's the part of the chapter I feel happiest with.

So, first actual use of a Catalyst in this fic, but the battle ended before you could see the payoff. Sorry! It won't be long now, the next forms will be debuted soon.

That's all for this week. Next week, that tens digit rolls over once again.


	31. Chapter 30: The Resistance

I would like to say a few words before this chapter starts, but it won't let me. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 30: The Resistance**

Two shots smacked into the barrier of Datacarnomon's cell, drawing the ire of the Mekanorimon guard. "Hey! Keep it down in there, subversive!"

"Yeah, yeah." Data leaned back and huffed quietly. The shots weren't anything more than just an attempt at a distraction, as well as target practice as he aimed at Mekanorimon's head. He was getting tired of sitting around in a cell while everyone else was out and about, and if not for Isaac's occasional contact, he would be on the verge of going stir crazy.

_Shouldn't be long now...Ike, watch yourself in here. It's gonna be a lot of trouble if someone catches you..._

(==========)

Far up in the northeastern corner of Mechalopolis, a drill bored through the metal ground, shedding pieces of scrap as its user pushed up behind it. Isaac pulled himself out of the hole and hightailed it for the nearest object large enough to hide his sizable frame.

_I'm in it big if I get spotted. I hope this works..._

He and Datacarnomon had spent hours hashing out a plan for Datacarnomon's rescue. It had not been a simple task to account for everything, and Isaac was almost sure they'd forgotten some contingency. But they didn't have a lot of time to waste, so they'd gone forward with it.

He shifted his arm from the drill into a cannon mode. He'd installed the cannon the first moment he knew what his modified body was capable of - after all, when fighting creatures of this kind of power, going out without some means of self-defense was hardly advisable. The drill had been provided through a scan of a very perplexed Drimogemon, who probably still didn't know what the heck Isaac had wanted from scanning him. Had he the choice, Isaac would have preferred going over to going under, but Datacarnomon had informed him that the underground was far less guarded.

_Not exactly finesse, but the drill worked well enough for this._ Isaac checked the other weapons he'd acquired in his mental list - some of which he had requested personally from very confused digimon, and others that he's scanned for without their knowledge. It was hardly a vast repertoire, and it wouldn't save him if a bunch of enemies ganged up on him, but he at least felt better equipped for trouble.

Strangely enough, being detected ended up being the least of his problems. Datacarnomon had informed him about getting a signal chip that disguised his presence, but that was before Isaac found a strange object in his pocket, along with a short note.

_[You'll probably need this more than I will, little bro. Good luck out there.]_

Describing the object to Datacarnomon, they determined that it was an advanced signal jammer. Datacarnomon had found one in the aftermath of the ambush attack in Norris Park; it was defective, explaining why the detection signal had been going in and out. He said that Ashley must have found another one out there, probably after hearing them talk about the first one. Suddenly, they had an explanation for why Datacarnomon had never realized she was following them around and knew about their merging. As for how it got to Isaac, he strongly suspected it was during that hug just before they left.

_This must be some kind of record...a whole freaking world away and she's still driving me crazy._

He ducked behind a building and gathered his bearings for his liberation of his partner. Thanks to the changes in his body as a result of the merging, he'd gained some senses that he'd never have dreamed of having in his life; one of these was the ability to visualize his surroundings in a manner not unlike an internal map and radar. When he closed his eyes and called it up, it was almost like a computer projection of the city around him, honing in on his location, as well as alerting him to nearby robots, which he had to assume were hostile until further notice. Though under most circumstances he would have had to actually been in a location to know the layout, he'd tapped into Mechalopolis satellites and gotten a full view of the city before entering. He wasn't about to take chances in a place where we was almost certainly the most vulnerable individual within the walls.

Thanks to his telepathic communications with Datacarnomon, he knew the basic layout of the prison that held the saurian robot, and with his internal map of the city he had the location of the jail relative to him. The two biggest hurdles were getting there and taking care of the guard. According to Datacarnomon's report, there was just one guard in the building, but there was a chance there were more nearby. Isaac didn't see any signals indicating as such, but he wanted visual confirmation before going with that.

It was a slow trek to the prison. He didn't want to risk being out in the open too much, so he took routes that kept him from the main thoroughfares in the city. It was far from the most direct route, but it also kept him as undetected as he could be. He had several close calls, generally with robots just emerging from buildings, where his sensors weren't penetrating very well. _Probably a privacy tactic for the people living here...I can guess they wouldn't want everyone peering into their houses and such._

Finally, after nearly two hours of walking and hiding, he got behind the prison. The lone doorway to the prison was not located in a very secluded location, and he felt impatience prickle up as he had to wait even more for an opening. He'd have used the time to plan if the plan hadn't been pretty firmly settled; draw out the Mekanorimon guard and use his stunner on him. It was the only thing that wouldn't be guaranteed to draw attention while still being possibly effective. If it failed, he would have to take a huge risk by opening the cell while under fire and hoping he had enough time to merge with Datacarnomon.

_Let's hope it doesn't come to that._

Finally, there was an opening. As quickly as he could, he swooped out from around the building and banged on the door, then just as quickly ducked away. He waited, listened, and checked his sensors...

The door slid open, and Mekanorimon stepped out. "Such annoyance...who's playing with the prison doors?" Isaac waited quietly for the irritated robot to turn his back and head back in, but to his surprise the robot started wandering around the far side of the building. _That's such a huge no-no if you're the only guard...what the heck is he thinking? Maybe he doesn't expect that anyone's actually gonna try to break anyone out...guess even robots can be stupid sometimes._

Mekanorimon came back around the front of the building and started crossing to the side where Isaac was. He crouched behind an outcropping on the building, waiting for the robot to pass by him; he knew he had a good chance of being spotted, but his stunner was at the ready. _I'll probably have to jam this thing into him to get it to have any effect...the shot probably won't be strong enough to pierce into him._

Mekanorimon turned the corner and walked right by Isaac, not even looking his direction. _Either I'm really lucky or he's dumber than I thought,_ he thought as he made his move. He slipped behind Mekanorimon and rammed the barbs on his stunner right into the robot's back. Before it could do a thing, a massive voltage ripped through it, overloading its circuitry. It fell do the ground, and Isaac was off like a shot.

He dashed into the prison, quickly spotting Datacarnomon in the fourth of the ten holding cells. "Hey, your knight in shining armor's here!"

"You've got the dullest armor in the city, bud," Datacarnomon shot back, sounding quite relieved to see his partner. "The switches for the holding cells are on the far end of the room. Hurry up and get me out of here, we won't have much time."

"Right." Isaac saw a switchboard on the far wall as Datacarnomon had said. It was easy enough to confirm which cell corresponded to which switch, and in less than thirty seconds he had Datacarnomon freed. "Man, it's good to be back together with you. I was freaking out almost that I'd run into something too nasty to stand up to out there."

"You and me both. I'm glad you mostly found friendly digimon outside the city. Come on, we've got to hurry, Mekanorimon may have had an automatic alarm system installed, they'll be coming for us if it went off."

The two exited the prison, quickly ducking into an alley when they saw numerous signals coming in on their sensors. No one even stopped to check them out, thanks to the jammer Isaac had on him. With the cavalry occupied with the jail, they rapidly made for a hiding spot Datacarnomon suggested.

"Dude, this looks like an old fort or something," Isaac remarked as they reached the spot. It was a small makeshift bunker on top of a short building, composed mostly of scrap metal and fairly well covered from the prying eyes of the rest of the city; with the jammer Isaac had, it was highly unlikely anyone would suspect they were there.

"It is, kind of. A few buddies of mine and I built it way back when I used to live here. I didn't even really know if it was still standing, but it was worth taking a shot. If anyone finds us, we'll be able to defend ourselves at the very least."

"And they'll have to be looking for us here...how many people know about this place?"

"Couldn't be sure. It's been a while since I was here. I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty common knowledge by now, but I doubt anyone would bother to check if they didn't see any signals inside. Robots in Mechalopolis tend to be careless about using their other senses - I know I was back in the day. I had to teach myself not to be so reliant on my sensors and to be aware of my surroundings in more ways."

"That's probably why Mekanorimon didn't even see me coming. Probably didn't even look since he didn't detect anything. Heh, and I'm in the opposite boat...I'm still not fully used to all these things my body has now."

"You'll get used to it in time, I'm sure. It takes practice and constant reminders..." Datacarnomon trailed off as something on the wall caught his eye. He stood up and walked over to it, running a claw barely over whatever it was. Curious, Isaac shifted forward to see what had his partner so captivated. It appeared to be some kind of etching on the metal. The names of three digimon were on there: Corsacmon on top, Datacarnomon in the middle, Kokuwamon on the bottom.

He heard Datacarnomon sigh heavily, drooping down a little. "Man...what a way to remember. They're probably still all screwed up..."

"Friends of yours from the past?"

"They were. I doubt they'd be now, if we ran into them. After what happened, they'd probably want me in a scrap heap, or melted down into slag."

"What happened? I remember, way back, I had some dreams about you that were really unpleasant...you were feeling awful about something, and I couldn't figure out what. Was that around the time you left this place?"

"That's probably it...it was the worst moment of my life, so I doubt anything else would have gotten me that down in the dumps." Datacarnomon sighed and sat back down, still staring up at the names on the wall. "This is where I started my life, and I thought I'd never leave. After all, who'd want to get away from the most mechanically-accommodating city in Tetraquaz? Everything was designed for our advantage. It was about as close to paradise as you could get. But then something happened that made it feel like a hostile world to me. It was mostly my fault, what happened...took me a while to accept it. See, I had this problem..."

_-9 years ago-_

"_Pull one."_

_My dealer, MechExdramon, complied, taking my lone card and exchanging it for another. I looked at it and felt a surge of joy - it was what I needed. I turned them up. "Straight line, 8 through 12."_

"_Congrats. Running the doubler?"_

"_Of course." The best way to win big in the casino was the doubler from playing Patterner. It was a simple high-low probability game, and if you got the right cards, you could get all 10 in a row and exponentially increase your winnings. Of course, that's what the casino hoped you were thinking; most big wins were lost playing the doubler, because people rarely knew when to stop._

_I was on a lucky streak to start, with 4 in a row. The last was a 9, so I bowed out at that one. I needed a buffer, anyway. As I took stock of my win, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hey...you gonna spend all day in here?"_

_I looked back and saw Kokuwamon and Corsacmon looking at me expectantly. I'd been so caught up in the game that I hadn't detected their arrival. I felt a twinge; they were my friends, I didn't want to get them caught up in my problems. But I didn't want to tell them why I'd planned to spend the whole day in the casino, either._

_Back then I'd never have admitted to it, not to myself or anyone else, but I guess it was probably pretty obvious to the people who knew me best. I was a gambling addict. I couldn't even walk by a casino without stopping in; I'd say I'd play for a few minutes, which usually ended up being a few hours, or perhaps a whole day. The number of times I'd left friends in the lurch, it was a wonder I still had any. But I couldn't help it; if there was a bet to be made, I couldn't resist making it. And when someone goaded me, I would tend to go over the top. I never knew when to quit, and there were those who would take advantage of that. Which was how I ended up in the situation I was in in the first place._

_His name was Raijinmon, and he was the head of a small gang of robots that liked to cause trouble for everyone. They wanted to be in charge of Mechalopolis, make it their own base for higher ambitions, many of which involved non-mechanical digimon being markedly worse off. I didn't really get caught up in their stuff, so I didn't know that much about them, and that wasn't to my advantage. I'd gotten into a little tiff with one of his flunkies, not knowing he was part of that group, and I'd fired a few shots into him to get him to back off. He swore he would get me for that...I thought it was just posturing. Then Raijinmon pushed me into taking a bad bet on a sporting event. It was stupid to even consider it - the team I was betting on was horrible and they had no chance of winning. But like I said, when someone goaded me, I'd make bad decisions._

_I lost, of course. Now I was in it deep with Raijinmon, over three million credits in the hole. I pleaded with him to give me fifteen days to come up with the money. I needed money, and I could only think of one way to get it. Hence my playing Patterner at the casino. So when Corsacmon and Kokuwamon caught up with me, I didn't want to leave; I'd only made around a few hundred thousand, well short of what I needed._

"_Hey...sorry, it's been kind of rough for me the last few days. I need to relax."_

"_You say that every time," Corsacmon groaned in his unique foxy way. "You don't hang out with us as much as you used to. Every time I see you with a free moment, you're in here. It can't be good for you."_

"_I'm fine. Don't worry. I'll just...spend a little more time in here and be done, okay?"_

"_Don't make it too long," Kokuwamon said. "We're gonna check out the gift shop for some holovids, then hit the music circuit. It'd be more fun if you were there."_

"_Hm...tell ya what, I'll meet you at Electronix in about half an hour. We'll hang out and listen to some junk bands, 'kay?"_

"_Okay! Catch you in a bit!" They both plodded off, and I heard them chatting about what movies they were going to see. I turned back to the table and signaled MechExdramon to deal a round out for me. He gave me a look. "You really shouldn't lie to them like that-"_

"_I wasn't lying."_

"_Sure you weren't. Do you really expect to leave in 20 minutes?"_

"_Of course!" I snapped back angrily. "I made a deal and I'm not gonna back out on it! Deal them out!"_

_I could tell he didn't believe me. That always made me defensive, back when I couldn't accept the truth about my problem. Then again, he probably knew better than anyone; I was at the casino so often that I saw him more than anyone else in my life._

_I won the round, but the first doubler screwed me over; a 4 should have been an easy higher bid, but no, it was a 3 that came up. I pounded my fist on the table, startling MechExdramon. "Dammit!"_

"_You seem unusually stressed out, Data. Is everything all right?"_

"_No. And I don't want to talk about it. I just want to win big in the next 20 minutes so I don't have to walk out of here in agony. Deal them out." For a moment I got the impression that he might try to stop me, but he didn't, and the next twenty minutes went by without me making up or losing much ground. By the end of the twenty minutes, I was up around 700k. Under normal circumstances, a fantastic haul, enough to fund a couple of nice shindigs with my buddies or get a few sweet upgrades. But it wasn't even nearly enough for what I needed. I desperately wanted to continue, hit that big one, but I knew I had to meet my friends. And I still had ten days, I could come back tomorrow, maybe even later that night..._

_I left, reluctantly, and started making my way out of the casino. As I closed in on the doors, I heard a cry from outside. I could tell right away that it was Corsacmon...his voice was distinctive among robots, at least as far as I've ever met. It startled me, and I found myself running outside, only to meet the least pleasant faces I possibly could have seen._

_Raijinmon was standing there, with his gang of thugs. I could see Cyberdramon, Andromon, Tankmon, 2 Mekanorimon, Metalmamemon, and LoaderLiomon. Some of the meanest of his gang, and I had a horrible feeling I knew why there were there. Even worse, the Mekanorimon had Corsacmon and Kokuwamon in their clutches._

"_What the hell is this? Let them go, Raijinmon!"_

"_I think not. We've got a little score to settle here, Datacarnomon."_

"_What? I have ten more days!" I was starting to feel truly fearful, thinking that they were gonna end up watching me get beaten to a wreck. There was no way I could fight off Raijinmon on his own, much less all his cronies._

_Raijinmon stomped up to me, that arrogant swagger that I hated so much. "I decided to cut it short."_

"_W-without even telling me?"_

"_Your fault in the first place. You shouldn't have bet without the creds to back it up. Now you gotta pay the price." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Not only had he screwed me over on the bet, now he was screwing me over on the payment deadline. He was a bastard if there ever existed a bastard._

_Without warning, something snuck up behind me and wrapped around me, binding me so I couldn't move a bit. Something was jammed into my back, and I felt myself unable to deactivate my sensory mechanisms. To this day, I don't know what kind of robot it was; it gave me no chance to look at it, and I've never seen one that could do something like what it did to me. I thought it was just making me vulnerable for the attack I knew was coming. It came, all right, but not to me. Raijinmon turned away from me to the gang at his back. He pointed to Corsacmon and Kokuwamon, and, with a completely evil tone in his voice, said "Have at them, boys."_

_There was no greater horror than watching them commence their brutal assault on my closest friends. I tried to yell out. "No! Stop! Don't-" That something jammed in my back sent a shock through me, and my voice box was muted. And that was that. I could do nothing, but watch that gang smash the bodies of my friends, doing catastrophic damage, breaking them apart and ripping through their internal systems...and I, completely frozen, forced to watch them be destroyed and know that it was me who caused it to happen._

_Then Raijinmon leaned in close to me. "This is what I do to those who cross me and those who serve my purposes. You three are going to be an example to anyone in this damned junkyard who wants to oppose me. It won't just be you who pays the price...it'll be everyone you know, everyone you care about. And there will be nothing you can do about it."_

_It was only then that I realized what had happened. Everything, from the bet to the attack, it had all been Raijinmon's revenge for my little spat with his crony. And I'd played into it more easily than the casino games I'd been so enamored with. But it wasn't me who was paying the real price, and that was the worst of it. Raijinmon knew how to really screw with anyone who opposed him._

_The attack ceased after what seemed like an eternity. The whole gang was long gone before whatever had coiled and frozen me let me go and disappeared. I didn't bother trying to follow it, my mind was totally on my friends, who barely resembled robots anymore. I tried desperately to radio for emergency services, hoping that they could do something to save them..._

_-Present Day-_

Datacarnomon was quietly rattling as he come towards the end of that night's events. "The rest after that...I can't even really remember. As advanced as I am, I still don't have the capacity to shed tears...but if there was any time it would have happened, it was then. There is nothing in my life that has ever come close to being as horrible as that moment in time."

Isaac was barely holding back his own tears at the tale. "Christ almighty...did they...did they survive?"

"I wish I knew...they were taken to the emergency repair center, and I heard the techs aghast about how much damage had been done. I'm sure they did everything they could...but I couldn't be there. I didn't feel like I deserved to be, after what I'd done to them. Even as I ran off that night, I felt like the entire city was about to attack me, punish me for my idiocy...it wasn't even 24 hours before I left, because I just couldn't be there anymore."

"What did you do?"

"For a long time, I just...kinda meandered. Wouldn't talk to anyone, because I was scared I was just going to end up hurting them like I did Corsacmon and Kokuwamon. It took me a while before I really managed to come to terms with the knowledge of my gambling problem, and even then it continued to torment me. I tried quitting cold turkey, but the pull was too strong...whenever there was betting of any kind, I couldn't stop myself. I was propositioning random strangers, trying to pit money against any random thing, and I'd feel horrible each time because I knew I needed to stop. It was years before I managed to get a hold of it in any way."

"Man, that sounds horrible. How'd you finally get a handle on it?"

"Oddly enough...it was a chance encounter with that lovable goofball Breezedramon. He wasn't doing so well himself at the time, and we just took a little time to chat about our woes. And he told me I needed to do something to get my mind off of what was bothering me, something to focus on so that that urge would just be passed by. So, I basically turned to vigilante work as a way to refocus my attention...it worked better than I'd ever expected. I still couldn't stop myself entirely, but I found it was easier to stay away from the urges if I had my mind fixated on something else." He let out a quiet laugh, only barely tinged with humor. "I can't even remember what I said to him about his problems...it was probably total crap compared to what he did for me. I don't think I ever properly thanked him for it, either."

"Why vigilante work, though?"

"Well, I guess in a way it was overcompensation. I was afraid of hurting people, so I did what I could to help them in order to keep that from happening. Libertius provided me with a lot of stability that I hadn't had in years...I finally worked up the urge to start socializing again, and I'm glad I did, because that really helped me overcome those fears I had of hurting anyone I came across. It helped that we had that little tight-knit group...they were great help in keeping me straight, never letting me get in over my head with the bets."

"Wow...I can't even imagine what that must have been like. It must've been tough learning to connect with people again after all that, huh?"

"No kidding, but it's a good thing I did...I probably would have gone round the bend if I had tried to be alone for the rest of my life. Some digimon go crazy from that, you know? Just always being alone. That's how a lot of evil gets started in this world, loner digimon lose it and make things bad for everyone else. That's probably what got Raijinmon to be such a monster, too. Maybe it's just a peculiarity for digimon, but being alone all the time is really bad for our psyches."

"I'd guess it's not so great for humans, either. I don't know of anyone who went psycho because of it, but loners generally don't end up with the best lives. We're a social species, so I guess that maybe being a loner in the first place is kind of a signal that something's wrong."

"I can't imagine what it would have been like for me to fall into that pit. How ironic it would have been if, by isolating myself because of fear I would hurt people, I would become unstable and end up hurting a lot of people. I'm glad that didn't happen...I really much prefer helping." Datacarnomon looked back up at the names on the wall. "Maybe one of these days, I'll have helped enough people to forgive myself for all the pain I caused."

"And it would be about damn time, too!" Both Isaac and Datacarnomon shot to their feet and turned towards the entryway of their hideout. Two metallic figures worked their way in, looking the pair over. One was a bipedal mechanical fox that stood about as tall as Isaac; it looked small-framed yet quite sturdy, and had the same smooth-looking and fluid-moving type of body Datacarnomon had. The other was also bipedal, vaguely insectoid in nature, and had hands that ended in wide, glowing fingers.

It took a moment for Datacarnomon to make the connections. "Wha...Corsacmon? Kokuwamon?"

"Please...that's the old model us!" the fox bot replied. "I'm Mekitsumon now! Took me ages to get up to this form, but damn, was it worth it!"

"And I am now MetallifeKuwagamon," said the insectoid robot, his speech heavily stilted and lilting. "I feared for a long time I would be incapable of evolving because of the damage, but I eventually persevered."

"It's been so long..." Datacarnomon averted his gaze from the newcomers. "I suppose you've been waiting to have your revenge for a while..."

"Oh, for frag's sake, cut that out, dude! We've been wanting you to come back for ages! It's totally no fun in this place without you! And it's even worse now because of all these idiots that don't accept androids and cyborgs anymore and practically reformatted the city! It sucks!"

"But...aren't you angry? I was stupid and you two practically got destroyed because of it!"

"Your actions were faulty, yet you were but a function in the program of malevolence," MetallifeKuwagamon declared. "You were taken advantage of yourself, and I came to understand why you had been drawn in. I suffered an addiction of my own during my recovery, and it caused me such torment once I was able to accept its existence. Hearing you talk, it is clear you felt much the same."

"Yeah, what he said!" Mektisumon agreed. "I had a feeling you'd be blaming yourself for it, rather than the malicious hardware! I'd half a mind to go searching for you personally so I could reboot your senses, but by the time I was in good enough shape they had it in for us here and we had to hide away! But yeah, you weren't the bad guy in all this, it's Raidenmon and his slave servers who did everything to all of us!"

"I...I don't know what to say..." Datacarnomon choked, still looking down at the ground. "I guess I owe you two apologies, one for getting you beat up like that and one for going AWOL for so long."

"Tell you what, you can consider your debt to us repaid if you help us out. We desperately need some more hardware, and I know by now you and your human buddy have got to be capable of a lot if you've managed to evade Raidenmon and his directory tree this long!"

"Well, I...wait, don't you mean Raijinmon?"

"Hah, I wish! He churned himself out a brand new body, made himself some behemoth that lives below the city and controls everything! Now he calls himself Raidenmon, and anyone that doesn't go by his rules is pretty much scrap!"

"Wait, hold on, this guy's causing all the trouble? So what's the deal with this Technodylemon guy?"

"Technodylemon is nothing but a reluctant pawn serving the root server," MetallifeKuwagamon stated. "No one says it, but everyone knows it. He tried, certainly, but as powerful as he is, he was no match for Raidenmon and his system, and he has not the fortitude to mobilize a resistance. Now, he does whatever Raidenmon wills, in some misguided effort to keep peace in the city."

"Yeah, some peace," Mekitsumon huffed. "All the androids and cyborgs that are found in the city are placed in hypostatic cells. They're literally locked out of time! And pure robots don't really have it much better, because Raidenmon can order them locked up for pretty much no reason!"

"Jeez, the more I hear of this guy the more I want to rip him apart myself. And I'm guessing you two aren't content to just sit around and let him keep doing that kinda stuff, huh?"

"Hell no! This isn't the Mechalopolis I was built in. That's why we're part of an organization called System Error. We're made up of the few remaining free cyborgs and androids plus the robots that have always been open and welcoming. We're trying to crash Raidenmon, but it's not easy."

"How the hell can you form a dissident group in Mechalopolis?" Datacarnomon half-shouted. "Raidemon's eyes have to be freaking everywhere!"

"Everyone knows about us, but they can't get a bead on our proxy. We've got a special jammer that keeps our base hidden, and a special way of getting there that keeps outsiders out. We're close to being able to mount an attack on Raidenmon, but like I said we need some more hardware. You two in?"

Datacarnomon nodded. "Absolutely. I want my payback on that asshole, and I definitely want to get him for everything he's done and still doing to you two."

"Well, I'm not just gonna sit back and let him terrorize this place," Isaac agreed. "Let's show that metalhead what we're capable of."

(==========)

They were led to what appeared to be a completely blank wall in the back of a tall building way on the other side of the city from the jail. Mekitsumon revealed it to be a residential building, which already had Isaac guessing one of the reasons they hadn't been found; if sensor interference was common in your average building, it had to be that much better in a residential one.

But there were other protections, as he was about to find out. Mekitsumon produced a small device and began pressing buttons in quick, well-rehearsed order. Neither Isaac nor Datacarnomon heard a thing other than the clicking, but they could see several small panels slide open on the wall, revealing what appeared to be small lenses inside.

"Is that...is that a photic lock?" Datacarnomon asked.

"Nah. That's FIVE photic locks." Mekitsumon flipped the device around and started flashing a light rapidly into each of the photic locks in succession. Then again, and again, and again, and only after that fourth time did the locks click open and a practically invisible door slide apart to allow them access.

The inside appeared as empty as the wall had been, though somehow Isaac and Datacarnomon didn't get the impression it was actually as empty as it looked. Without a word, Mekitsumon clicked the device back into a compartment on his right arm and opened one on his left to produce almost an exact duplicate of the device. He then went to work on a floor panel, which reacted much the same way as he input the various codes into the locks. Upon success, the floor panel slid open, revealing a rather large platform just underneath. The four quickly stepped on and it descended, the panel sliding shut above mere moments after they had all passed through.

"I guess maybe you do have some good security measures," Datacarnomon marveled.

"You like? Datamon set this up for us. I gotta hand it to him, he went all out. Five sonic locks with ten-frequency inputs all in extreme-range levels, which have to be verified four times in different orders to open. And all they do is open the panels for the photic locks, with twenty-step long-short input codes, also have to be input four times per lock in different order, AND to top it all off, they're designed to pick up a transmission code unique to only our custom devices. Not to mention advanced jammers around and inside the entry point. No one's getting in here unless System Error wants them in."

"Damn," Isaac whistled, impressed. "Is he looking for a job? I think every security company on Earth would kill to have him design their systems."

"You can ask him yourself when we get down to the central hub." The platform thudded to a halt, and Mekitsumon and MetallifeKuwagamon led them through a long hallway into a large circular room with several doors along the walls. Isaac presumed this was the hub they were talking about, and indeed there were a number of digimon situated around the room, engaged in some kind of serious business. All of them looked up at the arrivals, and there was no shortage of visible and audible surprise.

"A human? In Mechalopolis?"

"How in the world did that happen?"

"Raidenmon must be blowing a fuse right about now..."

"Oh, crap, is that Datacarnomon?"

"I hope this isn't some kind of trap..."

"I hope you'll excuse them," Mekitsumon said quietly. "We're all kind of a bit paranoid, as you might understand."

"No worries," Isaac replied. "Care to introduce us to the gang?"

"Gladly. And don't worry, you guys, these two are legit. We've checked them out, they came here to take on Emperius but they're gonna give us a little hand with our campaign." There appeared to still be some uncertainty among the resistance, but they didn't express anything more than silent doubt.

"Well, now that we're done with that, let's get you up to speed with all of us." Mekitsumon pointed to a robot with a glass dome on its head. "That's Datamon. He's the one who designed the security measures for this place. Raidenmon forced him to work for him for a long time, and it's his knowledge of those security systems that's made this operation even possible."

"And it had better work," Datamon chimed in. "I'm tired of having to look over my shoulder all the time. Always wondered when he'd try to round me up on some bogus charge...he never trusted me because I was so good at keeping things hidden and protected."

"He's a flaky one, isn't he?" Isaac remarked.

"Hell yes. He had a few too many magnets close to the circuitry, no question."

"Over here is Guardromon. He used to be one of the gate guards, until he let in a damaged robot on an emergency repair. Raidenmon flipped his lid over not going through every single security protocol and tried to lock him up."

"I was lucky enough to get away using a bogus transmitter to throw off the pursuit," Guardromon said bitterly. "Ya try to help a guy and that's what happens? That's just not right!"

"And over here...er, you might actually remember him. Cyberdramon, he...well, I doubt you can forget what happened that night. He was one of those guys." Cyberdramon was very deliberately not looking in Datacarnomon's direction, focusing instead on perhaps an imaginary fly on the wall. "Once Raidenmon started getting all robot-centric he immediately turned on Cyberedramon and tried to get him sealed away. Hell of a way to show your appreciation for all a guy's done for you."

"I never should have fallen in with him in the first place..." He said it so quietly they barely heard it.

"Hey, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, as long as you're actually sincere about it," Datacarnomon said, an unmistakable edge in his voice.

"...Without question. When I think back on everything I did to people..." Cyberdramon's face tightened in a mix of anger and agony. "Not a single one of them deserved any of it..."

"Let's move right along," Mekitsumon said, anxious to avoid dredging up old wounds for too long. "Metalmamemon! She's pretty much what you'd call the founder of System Error, along with myself and MetallifeKuwagamon. Raidenmon scrapped two of her close friends two years ago, and she's overclocked herself trying to exact revenge."

"And I'll keep doing so until that slag heap is broken down into atoms," Metalmamemon snapped coldly. "I can die happy as long as he goes first."

"A woman after my own heart," cracked Datacarnomon.

"Over here is one of our newest additions." Mekitsumon pointed to a massive, brightly-colored spider with cybernetic enhancements all over it. Even though he didn't generally mind spiders, Isaac couldn't help but be mildly creeped out by seeing such a huge one. "Mechspinnermon. He'd escaped being captured by Raidenmon's cronies by hiding himself in a basement for several years. I think he spun enough webs to trap a MetalTyranomon."

"If only it was enough to trap Raidenmon," chittered Mechspinnermon. Even his voice sounded creepy to Isaac, reminding him of some actor who played Igor in an old Frankenstein movie he'd watched one late night. "He's been a worm in my system for too long. All my friends are in these damned hypostatic cells."

"And here we have Boltmon," continued Mekitsumon, pointing to a large green humanoid creature that didn't even look very robotic. "He left Mechalopolis a long time ago when it became clear Raidenmon was going to cause trouble for non-robots. I was pretty surprised to see him show up a few months ago, asking to be part of the resistance. Apparently, he heard about it from someone who managed to escape recently."

"I could not bear the thought of leaving them to a fate like this," Boltmon said ruefully. "I have to help take down this monster before he destroys everything and everyone in this city. How wonderful it would be if I could return and live in peace."

"Hear, hear," Datacarnomon agreed.

"LoaderLiomon here is another one of the old gang." The mechanical lion digimon was looking at Datacarnomon nervously, also afflicted by the same guilt Cyberdramon had. "That freak actually ordered him to hunt down Cyberdramon, and then condemned him when he didn't find him right away. Once he actually did find him, he wasn't in any hurry to turn him over anymore-"

"Look, I was really stupid back then, and I didn't really understand what I was doing," LoaderLiomon interrupted, clearly anxious to get this off his chest. "I shouldn't have attacked them and done that to all of you, I'm not that kind of person anymore!"

Datacarnomon was quiet for a few moments. "...They've obviously forgiven you and Cyberdramon enough to let you join them," he said finally. "I don't see a lot of point in hounding you when I know that. Like I said earlier, if you really mean it, I'm willing to look past that."

"Okay...all right..." LoaderLiomon backed down again, sounding somewhat relieved. Isaac was kind of surprised that the he and Cyberdramon had been so nervous; maybe word of what Datacarnomon had achieved with Libertius had gotten around to them.

"Over here we have Peacockmon." A bright blue birdlike creature with large, luminescent wings was standing stiffly at attention. "She was one of Technodylemon's top commanding officers before Raidenmon took over, and she's only escaped capture so far because Technodylemon hid her away in a safe place. At least, it was safe until about six months ago, when they raided the place and she barely got out. It was lucky for her that Cyberdramon heard about her and rescued her before Raidenmon's flunkies did."

"There is never a moment in my life when I don't curse that behemoth for what he did to this city and to me," Peacockmon said quietly but harshly. "If you can fight him, I want you by our sides, giving him everything you've got."

"From what I've already heard about this jackass, I want to tear him to pieces with my bare hands already," Isaac replied firmly. "You'll definitely have us there."

"Thank you. After all we've suffered, it will be a blessing to finally be rid of that pallor over this city."

"I guess we'll round it off with our two newest allies." Mekitsumon motioned towards a large, red-colored robotic dinosaur and a tall, blue-scaled cybernetic sharkman who was continually rubbing his head, looking very tired. "Chaosdramon was Raidenmon's top minion-"

"Do you have to use that term?" Chaodramon interjected. "It sounds so negative."

"Sorry. Anyway, he was one of the most dedicated to Raidenmon and did a lot of work for him. And then all of a sudden, Raidenmon wanted him dead."

"I don't even know what set him off. I sure as hell didn't think I said anything he wouldn't like. But no, apparently I was a traitorous bastard who was in the league with the organics, just a day after I was praised for being the most shining example of robotic superiority after him." Chaosdramon let out a loud snort. "To think I took that as a compliment from him."

"Whatever it was that caused him to have a fatal sanity error, Raidenmon sent a lot of firepower after him. He's a strong one, though, and he fought them off and even managed to break out one of the cyborgs in the hypostatic cells. Makomon here was practically locked out of time until just a few days ago."

"Part of me's not so sure I'm not still," the sharkman said drowsily. "Gah, I feel like a fish out of water. Never mind that I am."

"I wish we could get you checked out, but it's too risky," MetallifeKuwagamon said. "The infirmary is not friendly to non-robots right now, not since the crackdown."

"Yeah, well, once that big ugly war machine is scrapped, I'll make sure to drop by."

"If you can even stay awake long enough to not get blown up," Metalmamemon said. "Maybe you should stay back-"

"What force in the digital world do you think could stop me from taking this bastard head-on? I'll be okay for a little while after waking up, that should be enough."

"Not likely," said Boltmon. "I might have something to help you, though. A couple chemicals from the outside, one of them's supposed to put you on edge."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. It might not mix well with my mood stabilizers. Last thing I want is to go into a mindless rage and become a danger to you guys."

"This is more guys than I actually expected," Datacarnomon remarked. "You've got a fairly solid little battle group here."

Mekitsumon nodded. "Yeah, we were pretty glad to round up this many guys. Especially nice that we just got two heavy hitters like Chaosdramon and Makomon, as well as Boltmon a little while before that. Hopefully you two will help round off the support."

"We'd love to, but I think we need one thing before we can really make our impact," Isaac said. "You wouldn't happen to have a Catalyst around, would you?"

Mekitsumon grinned. "Is that all? You had me worried for a moment." He pointed towards one of the doors along the wall of the hub room. "Raidenmon and his guys were making our lives hell by powering themselves up all the time, so we swooped in and nabbed the Catalyst. Yeah, technically no one's supposed to take forcible possession of them, but we figured this was for a good enough cause. We stashed it back there, you can use it any time. We're all gonna take a boost before we head out and storm Raidenmon tomorrow."

"Really? That soon?"

"Yep! You guys happened to arrive just in time. We've been at this for a while, we've got the manpower, and we've finally settled on a plan of attack, give or take a few details. The longer we wait, the more we risk getting waylaid or, worse, discovered."

"Guess we just have good timing. Right, Data, you want to go use that thing now?"

"Let's wait until tomorrow before we leave. The first time's always the strongest, maybe that won't matter for me but it'll help you."

"Him?" Peacockmon asked. "Is that not a human? Catalysts have not been tested with anything other than digimon."

"He's kind of a unique human. We'll explain later."

(==========)

As the hour grew later, Isaac spent some time getting to know his new, if perhaps temporary, comrades. They traded him stories of the world of Mechalopolis, which fascinated him to no end, for stories about his own world and experiences, including combining with a robotic digimon. It was almost surprising to him how well he got along with them; he was so different in so many ways, and yet they were so at ease with him.

Every now and then, though the subject turned to less pleasant matters. "I swear, it's like a friggen concentration camp here sometimes," griped Mekitsumon. "Now he's got Mailbirdramon flying patrol over the skies to catch anything that our AA system doesn't! How badly does he want to kill things?"

"Like he'd ever explain what goes on in that jacked hard drive of his," LoaderLiomon huffed. "He's got more than screws loose, let me tell you."

"Something got to him, who knows what," Chaosdramon said. "He was going on about people flying under his radar, and I thought at first he was talking about you guys, but no, apparently it's the ubiquitous 'outsiders.' So, of course, he has to keep even more tabs on the insiders."

Peacockmon sighed. "Yeah, we're pretty much always under scrutiny. And I thought someone like you would be safe, Mekitsumon, but it's like he doesn't like you any more than someone like me."

"Of course not. Raidenmon doesn't trust osyns much more than he trusts cyborgs and such. He thinks they're flawed because they act 'too organic,' like we're ready to turn tail at any point and join the realm of the non-robotic. Never mind that we were built this way and didn't really have a choice."

Makomon, unaware of exactly how bad things had become, shook his head at that. "Jeez. I've seen purity movements before, but Raidenmon takes it about three notches beyond full-bore loony. How the heck can you get any more robot than, well, robot?"

"Search me. I'm starting to think it's less about being a robot and more about being Raidenmon. He's always had an ego a few terabytes too large for his hard drive."

"Um, if I can butt in," Isaac interrupted, "could you explain what an 'osyn' is?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. 'Osyn' is short for organosynthetic. It's a type of robot that more accurately mimics a living creature, you know, like I do. We're completely robotic, but our bodies are built in a different manner and with different materials, including flex metals. That's how I can have facial expressions and the like - the metal isn't rigid like most metal, it's got flexible properties that change under my signals."

"I always wondered about that. Of all the weird things about you, your being able to smile and stuff with a completely metal head was one of the things I just couldn't figure out. That must be pretty special."

"Well, it is the advanced generation of robotics. More and more new robotic digimon designs are incorporating organosynthetic properties. Being outwardly expressive makes us more real to non-robots, which can be a real advantage - they trust us more when they can relate to us better. Even if we have personality, organics have trouble getting past the lack of visual cues, because they're so important in honesty detection and such. We're also like organic beings in other ways, too - diverse sensors, including pain sensors, which normal robots never have; sensory systems that more closely replicate the organic types; neural network systems that function like organic brains, allowing us to think more like organic beings..."

"Hearing it all said aloud, I think I'm starting to see why Raidenmon isn't so fond of you guys. If he's got that much against organics, a close facsimile is probably the kind of thing he considers blasphemous to robotdom, advanced or not. I wouldn't be surprised if he was this close to having all the osyns locked up like the androids and cyborgs."

Mekitsumon nodded. "Rumor has it that he's making plans in that direction, but he hasn't be able to enact them because the robots of Mechalopolis are getting more resistant to his growing lunacy. Raidenmon's too powerful for them to outwardly oppose, but most of the people in the city don't like what he's done. You know, Mechalopolis used to be a lot more open, and I think a lot of people miss those days. We don't have a lot of freedom - associating with organics is punishable, expressing 'non-robot sentiments' is punishable, and hell if anyone knows what a non-robot sentiment is before they express it, and if you're caught even being friendly to a fugitive - a.k.a. cyborg or android - you get the same fate they do. There's been talk of a total reformatting, but the prospect of being unable to reinitialize scares most of us away from it. Me, I think we just need a good defrag, and Raidenmon is the frag that needs to be de'd most."

"Could we get Technodylemon on board?" asked Mechspinnermon. "He's more powerful than I think he thinks he is, we just need to get some of those inhibitors off of him, get him to overclock himself a bit."

Metalmamemon shook her head. "He's in a pretty tenuous position as it is. He's an osyn himself, and Raidenmon's pretty consistent with the threats that he'll have all osyns locked up or deleted if he doesn't toe the line. You can bet your shiny metal ass he doesn't want to, but he doesn't have much choice - the entire defense network answers to Raidenmon, so he's got no one on his side to back him up."

"What about us?"

"You think he can be caught associating with us and get away with it?"

"Ah, you're right."

"Hopefully our firepower can hold up without him," Cyberdramon said. "Hey, Chaosdramon, is it true that he's always decking himself out with more weapons?"

"Of course. He added about a dozen more last week, either replacing ones he thought were less effective models or adding in completely new ones. Can never figure out where the heck he puts them all. Oh, yeah, you're not gonna like this, last month he installed two drone bays. Those things are goddamn annoying and there's like a million of them. Worse, every time you destroy one it just means he can spawn another one."

"Breaking through that is going to be really tough," Makomon said gloomily. "We'd better hope we can fire fast enough to overwhelm him."

"I think we're getting a little too negative here," Peacockmon said after a moment of unhappy silence following Makomon's observation. "We'll have plenty of time to feel overwhelmed tomorrow. Isaac, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear a little about some of those 'airplane' things you mentioned earlier."

Isaac grinned. "Sure thing." And so they moved back away from less pleasant topics towards the few moments of distraction they could spare. Eventually, however, the chatter had to come to an end, as they needed to prepare for the big operation tomorrow. Isaac and Metallife Kuwagamon broke away from the rest as the digmon sought to find him accommodations.

"I'm afraid most of us do not sleep on anything under normal circumstances. We may have to look to find you something suitable."

"You don't have to go to all that trouble for me. I can take the floor for a night."

"That would be poor hospitality. I am certain there must be something we can use to give you an easier night."

"Well, if you insist..." he hesitated, wondering if what he wanted to ask was out of line. "Um...I don't want to offend or anything, but...can I ask about your speech? It sounds...unusual, compared to the others."

"It is quite all right. Part of my neural network was irreparably damaged in the attack by Raijinmon long ago. It affected my speech patterns, causing considerable delays in vocal synthesis. There are potential repairs, but they carry with them the risk of further damage, and I do not wish to compound my existing problems. I can manage as I am."

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear about that. I wish I could help, but, well, you're easily way more advanced than anything I've ever worked on. I doubt I'd do much more than screw things up at this point."

"Your concern is appreciated. Such procedures require great expertise even for robots. You need not feel overshadowed by your inexperience."

"Even so, I'd like to get to know a heck of a lot more. I've always been fascinated by robots and machines...it would be a dream for me to become the expert of experts. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but I want to try anyway."

"That is quite commendable. I have to say...I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy your company so. I did not think, at first, that I would get along with humans."

"Oh?"

"We are very different creatures from them, even more so than other digimon. I believed that perhaps we would be too different to see eye to eye, and that would hinder our ability to relate to you. However, I felt no such discomfort talking to you. Perhaps you are somewhat different yourself, but if we could connect to you, then perhaps it is not so much more of a jump to connecting to other humans."

Isaac smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I'd love for us to all be able to understand each other, even if we are so different. That's the best outcome, for both of us."

"I must agree. Ah, I believe..." Metallife Kuwagamon finally pulled a thin mat out of a storage closet. "It is not much, but I hope it can at least soften the ground for you."

"It'll do just fine. Thanks, Metallife Kuwagamon. I'll see you in the morning...and I swear, I'll do whatever I can to help make sure we win."

"Thank you, Isaac. I have full trust in your words. Good night."

(==========)

(==========)

Okay, please try to bear with me, because I'm going to ask you to try to re-read this with the voices as they were supposed to be in my head. Wait, voices in my head? That doesn't sound right. Anyway, a couple of these robots, I have envisioned for them very specific voices that I have no clue why I went that way, but I feel like you don't get the proper effect without trying to imagine them yourself. Why put this at the end if that's what I want? Mainly because I also didn't want to give anything away. Sorry, I'm a pain, I know.

For Metallife Kuwagamon, I want you to imagine Torgo. Yes, THAT Torgo. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then for God's sake, stop reading this and go watch the MST3K of Manos: The Hands of Fate. NOW! Now, for those still around, why? Mostly because I felt like a robot with a damaged vocal system might sound like that. It makes sense in my head.

For MechSpinnermon, I want you to imagine Peter Lorre's Igor. I don't have a link, but you've possibly heard pastiches of it in old Looney Tunes cartoons, so if you can't find the original, that will do. No, I have no clue why I decided to give a giant semi-mechanical spider the voice of a mad scientist's hunchbacked assistant.

Okay, with that out of the way...this was another tough chapter to write, since I knew what I wanted to do but not quite how to write it. But I like how it turned out. I think the most fun I had was trying to come up with the idioms. It's probably a bit trite to have the machines using machine idioms, but I like the idea and had a few thoughts for them, so that's what I did.

Another perspective segment! They're coming like mosquitoes in Minnesota now! Nah, not really. The previous one was an opportunistic last-second addition, but I've had this one prepped for a long time. How long? I first toyed with the idea of making the addiction more severe in the current time when I started writing this work, but I didn't like how it turned out so it was tossed out in favor of more restrained expression. That actually led to an idea of how it got to be restrained in the first place, and really was pretty much the catalyst for all the digimon perspective points. So, yeah, it's been in the works for quite a bit.

I am deliberately NOT going to include anything in the fic about reprogramming a robot to remove an addiction. That delves into a whole mess about removal of undesirable traits versus sanctity of mind and personality, and that's not a debate I want to get into even with myself (and trust me, I can have some very loooong and complicated debates with myself).

Well, I think I've talked long enough. See you in Chapter 31!


	32. Chapter 31: Bringing The Heat

I have nothing interesting to say up here. Shocker. Enjoy the chapter!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 31: Bringing The Heat**

"Yar, steady as she goes! We be comin' upon the Volcano Pit in short order! All ye landlubbers lookin' to get off here, wait until we hit the dock or I'll make ye walk the plank!"

Reyn took in Memaimon's announcement with mild amusement. "Heatavimon, tell me, does she always talk like that, or is it an act for the ferry?"

"Always. She's...kind of strange that way."

"Eh, no stranger than any other digimon," Salmandmon remarked. "You should hear Blackcanismon sometime. Or Breezedramon. You know, as much as I love the heat, I don't think I ever would have imagined myself living in a volcano."

"It's a good environment for a fire digimon. The heat is cleansing."

"Eh, I guess, but I'll probably always be a city-slicker at heart."

"The wonders of modern technology have reached the Volcano Pit, you know."

"It's not just about that. It's always busy in a city. I mean, I guess stuff happens in the midst of a hollowed-out volcano, but not the level of activity you get in a city. It's...iunno, exciting, exhilarating. It pumps me up."

"I'm gonna have to go with the lizard on this one. But, hey, I'm sure it's very lovely in the volcano. I just wouldn't want to live there."

"Maybe you'll rethink that once you've been there a while. But I'm not going to make a sales pitch, it's entirely your choice."

It wasn't hard to see the large volcano in front of them as they rode the ferry to the Volcano Pit; it rose several thousand feet into the air, and they could see the glow of some slight lava flow through pores in the sides. The land surrounding the base of the volcano was surprisingly lush, though all the plants had a rather unusual reddish-orange color - the phenotype of an adaptation that allowed them to survive the lava that dribbled down, according to Heatavimon.

"Color coded for our convenience, huh?" Reyn cracked.

"Many things are like that in the digital world. It's very clear from their colors and other characteristics what conditions an organism has adapted to. Is it very much different where you're from?"

"Eh, yes and no. Creatures definitely adapt to their environments, but it's not generally quite as obvious, at least not with everything. People spend their lives studying how the process works."

"It's kind of a strange world," Salmandmon remarked. "Though I guess for someone who's used to it, it's pretty mundane."

"Trust me, what you saw was just a taste. I'll have to show you some of the crazier stuff on the Internet when this all dies down. So...Heatavimon, can you tell me more about this Order of Flame you're part of? I'd kinda like to know what they're all about."

"Certainly. The Order of Flame was established a long time ago; I'm not really sure when it started, nor is anyone else currently a part of it. It used to be a lot more formal, with shadow recruitment and complex initiation rituals and such...they didn't keep a lot of records, which is why we're not really sure when they started up. Over time, though, the guys who were really serious about it passed on, and as the generations passed the people who kept it up abandoned a lot of the traditions, calling them unnecessary. These days, it's pretty informal...we don't really do much recruiting, and pretty much anyone who wants to be a part can join without much fanfare, as long as they're thermophiles."

"Don't you even do background checks of any kind?" Salmandmon asked.

"Occasionally, when we've gotten a hint of trouble in the past. But we've had quite a few who are reformed offenders who want to atone for their crimes, so we tend to be pretty lenient even if they do have a record. Most of our time is dedicated to good will missions for those who are struggling, and guarding the Fire Catalysts so that they're free for anyone to use. But lately, we've had to be more devoted to sussing out the blasphemers-"

"Um...Heatavimon," Reyn interrupted, "would you mind, for my sake, not calling them 'blasphemers?'"

Heatavimon gave Reyn a bewildered look. "...Why?"

"I...don't like the connotations. It sounds like you're denouncing them for something that's more or less a part of who they are...I don't think that's very fair."

"I...hm. I don't think I've ever heard anyone defend them before..."

"Well, I mean, if they're causing problems then they should be dealt with. I'm not denying that. But that doesn't mean you can't accept how they feel. We don't have control over who we are, and hearing someone putting it down...well, it can make them feel a lot worse, and even contribute to their animosity."

"Well...okay, I can try. So, um, where was I? Oh, right, the Frigid Souls have been making a lot of efforts lately to get the Fire Catalyst housed in the Volcano Pit. The bl-er, the fire digimon that align with them have been acting as spies...some of them try to join as new members, others have been members for a long time...it's hard to find out who's sincere and who's acting as the eyes of the Frigid Souls. It's gotten to the point where everyone's stopped trusting everyone else because pretty much anyone could be one of them."

"I don't suppose we're gonna get a free pass on that," Salmandmon remarked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were suspicious. But I think they'd have a hard time believing that a human would join up with them, especially a human who can command the flames." The ferry stopped at the dock near a large opening at the base of the volcano. "Looks like we're here. Come with me, I'll take you to see the Flame Master."

The two of them followed Heatavimon off the boat and towards the Volcano Pit. The air along the path was already hot and stuffy, with a slightly acrid smell of sulfur hanging lazily around. A couple of steam vents were hissing near the path, releasing scalding water vapor at a slow rate. It was like nothing either Reyn or Salmandmon had seen before, and they found themselves lagging behind every now and then as they marveled at the surroundings.

The entrance to the Volcano Pit was quite large - the better to accommodate digimon of any size, Reyn surmised. They entered and found themselves in a fairly bare foyer, lit up by the heat of lava on the ground and blazing torches on the walls.

"Kinda glad it's just the two of us, at least here and now," Reyn remarked as they walked through the foyer towards another large opening in the rock.

"How so?"

"Because the others would be half-baked by now."

"Oh, yeah. They couldn't take this kind of heat, could they?"

"Not even close. I could feel it the moment I walked in, the convection currents here are wicked. They'd be crispy in just a couple minutes. How in the world are the Frigid Souls supposed to attack this place? They'd have to be almost as bad off as humans, even with extra digimon strength."

"They've already done so a couple times," Heatavimon said. "Some say it's a kind of protective ability from a digimon or some kind of cold-aligned object. Maybe even an Ice Catalyst. But we've seen it in action; it only protects them for a while, if they stay too long they start to weaken quickly, and there was one case where a cold digimon was trapped and just got deleted from being in the hot air. There's a reason we've been on the defensive more than not...we can get easily overwhelmed out there, but we have the advantage in here."

"Probably shoulda figured as much." Beyond the foyer was a large hall with several more openings. Now they say a number of digimon milling around, doing various daily activities or chatting with one another, and, on the far end, what looked like a training or sparring session between three or four. Right away, Reyn noticed what they all had in common, and it was hardly a surprise.

"The Flame Master's domain is up through that entrance," Heatavimon said, pointing to a second-story opening along the rear wall. "We should bring you there first so that he knows about you and doesn't get suspicious."

She brought them over to a spiraling flight of stairs along the wall, chiseled out of solid basaltic rock fused right to the wall and the ground. Reyn let out a low whistle after seeing that. "That musta taken some time."

"A lot of time. And this was the second attempt; the first one suffered a critical break and had to be scrapped. You can still see where it was supposed to go, over by the corner."

Reyn and Salmandmon took to the stairs, Heatavimon choosing to flutter up on her own power instead. As they reached the top, they saw a flaming creature holding what appeared to be a book of some kind, its pages a bright red.

"How is he not holding a pile of ashes?" Reyn asked Heatavimon.

"The book's pages are made out of paper from some of the heat-adapted trees on the island. They're as resistant to fire as we are. Actually, the harder part is finding an ink that won't run but still shows up on the pages. We've done a lot of experimenting with that one..."

The chatter apparently got creature's attention, and he glanced up from his book to see who was talking. He did an instant double-take. "Holy crap, is that a human?"

"That would be me," Reyn responded. "Nice world ya got here, though a bit rough for my tastes. You're a Flarelizarmon, I presume?"

"Yeah, that's me...man, talk about your surprise sights! I'd shake your hand, but, well, maybe not a good idea."

"I think he could take the chance," Salmandmon cracked.

"Flarelizarmon is an artisan and a scholar here," Heatavimon said. "He does crafting and stonework, including the stairs we just climbed. And he's one of the Flame Master's advisors as well."

"I gotta lot to do around here, and still have to find time to study up on stuff," Flarelizarmon said genially. "Maybe I'll have to study you a little later, human guy. Man, I didn't think I'd ever get to meet one of you. I mean, I guess it was only a matter of time before you got here, but with Emperius being asses and all, I would think you'd wanna be pretty scarce over here."

"They're actually kind of the reason he's here," Salmandmon said. "It's a long story, so to sum it up, Heatavimon said there was a Fire Catalyst here, and we need to use one."

Heatavimon nodded. "They also helped me out when I was attacked, and they'll help with the Frigid Souls if they come by, too."

Flarelizarmon looked the two over, sizing them up. "Hm...no offense, but you don't exactly look like much."

"We get that a lot," Reyn responded amiably. "Don't worry, we can hold our own."

"Well, if you say so. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, though. Rumor has it the Frigid Souls are planning to launch an attack on the Volcano Pit soon, and it's supposedly going to be a free-for-all this time."

"Oh, no...they're causing us so much trouble. I'll bet those blasphemers are just giving them all the information they need to steal the Catalyst! Why can't we find them and get rid of them?"

"Heatavimon, please...you know I don't like that term."

"Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, we should probably go see Apollomon...he'll want to ensure that you're not here to cause trouble."

"All right. It was nice meeting you, Flarelizarmon."

Flarelizarmon started a bit. "Huh? Oh, right, sorry. Cool to actually see a human for once."

"You okay?"

"Eh, yeah, just a lot on my mind lately. It's been rough here."

"Yeah, I've heard. We'll try to help out how we can."

(==========)

The Flame Master's chamber was quite impressive, in Reyn's opinion; it was much more grandly decorated than the rest of the Volcano Pit, with statues of volcanic stone and decorations of stark obsidian. At the sides of the room, lava plumes spurted up every now and then, and steam vents occasionally hissed and sputtered from all over the place.

The Flame Master, Apollomon, was a large leonine creature whose very body radiated enormous amounts of heat and flame. He was an imposing presence with a deep, powerful voice; it was small wonder to Reyn that he was the leader of the Order of Flame. Heatavimon finished up her explanation to him, and he beckoned the two visitors over.

"Well...I have to say, I thought my time might be past before the first humans arrived in this world. I suppose it would be somewhat ridiculous to believe you had anything to do with the Frigid Souls."

"I would hardly blame you for being cautious," Reyn replied respectfully.

"Thank you for that. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use the Catalyst...well, aside from you being a human. As far as I am aware, they've never been used by non-digimon...I cannot guarantee that it will do much for you."

"Reyn's kind of an unusual human," Salmandmon remarked with a slight smirk. "Most humans might not get anything out of it, but I have a sneaking suspicion he will."

"Well, I don't suppose it would hurt to try. Heatavimon, would it trouble you too much to guide them back there?"

"No sir. It would be my pleasure."

"Excellent. Reyn, Salmandmon, I wish you the best."

"Thank you, sir."

(==========)

"Well, he seemed nice enough," Salmandmon remarked as they exited the Flame Master's chambers. "And here you got us all worried about how he'd be."

"I didn't think I said that much to worry you."

"You didn't," Reyn said. "He's being overly dramatic."

"Hey, I'll be the judge of that. Anyway, I suppose we really shouldn't hang around for long, we've got other business to attend to. Can we go to the Catalyst now?"

"Yes, I'll take you back there now. Just follow me."

Heatavimon brought them back down the stone staircase and started leading them back down a large hallway. There were branches in many directions, indicating just how much larger the Volcano Pit was than appeared at first glance. Reyn felt rather disappointed that he didn't have the time to really get to know this world as much as he would have liked. _Kinda stinks, having to go someplace novel purely for business reasons. Now I know what Skylar's dad is always complaining about._

A sudden rumbling caught his attention. Barely a second later, a number of geysers and lava plumes went off, making loud hissing and spurting sounds and shattering the comparative peace before. "What in the world is that?"

"That's the alarm system!" Heatavimon exclaimed. "Something's going on! We'd better find out fast-"

The answer found them first. A couple of fiery Meramon ran up past them, and one skidded to a halt. "You have to get down somewhere safer! We're under attack! The Frigid Souls set up an ambush!"

"Oh, no! Have they broken through our defenses?"

"Not yet, but we're at a major disadvantage! We weren't ready for them, we're scrambling to try to push back! But I don't know if any of them broke through! I hate to ask, but can you get back to the Catalyst chamber and check on it for us?"

"Just the three of us? I don't know if that's gonna be enough!" Salmandmon exclaimed.

"Just until we get organized up here! We'll send you back-up as soon as we can! If everything goes well, you won't even see a member of the Frigid Souls, we just want to hedge our bets!"

"That's where we were going anyway, so I don't see why not," Reyn agreed. "Good luck out there!"

The Meramon nodded hurriedly and went to follow his comrades. Salmandmon facepalmed in frustration. "Reyn, I swear, if I didn't know any better I'd say we were cursed. Why do we always find ourselves right in the middle of trouble?"

"You're the expert on this world, you tell me. And I thought you were in the habit of finding it?"

"Yeah, if only we had that much control how." Shaking his head, he turned to Heatavimon, who was looking quite distraught. "I supposed you'd better take us back there. Maybe we'll be lucky for once and just have some peace."

"R-right...um, come on."

Heatavimon brought the two further inside the Volcano Pit, taking them along a somewhat twisty series of turns that she explained were used as ambush points should anyone get inside to try to take the Catalyst. Despite knowing that there was a large commotion going on not far away from where they were, the passage they were on was so serene it almost seemed like a different world from the attack. "I guess we're lucky we were on our way down here..." Heatavimon said quietly. "No one's had the time to get past them yet. I hope they're all right..."

"Well, you should have the advantage here. Once your guys get themselves in order they should at least be able to hold them off."

"I hope so." They passed several more bends in silence, only the hissing of steam vents and the low rumbling of molten rock around them to provide ambiance. After traversing the winding path, they came across a brighter room that appeared to be a dead end.

"So this is where the Catalyst is kept..." Reyn looked around the small, hot room; there were two bubbling lava pools on each side of a narrow walkway, and at the far end of the room was a metal altar upon which a softly glowing red orb stood. "Lemme guess, that orb is the Catalyst."

Salmandmon nodded. "Yep, that's it all right. May not look at impressive, but when we touch it you'll feel it for sure."

"We've tried to keep it in conditions that are as safe as possible for us," Heatavimon explained as they walked across the rock path. "There's only one entrance to the chamber, the way we just came through, so they have to fight through all the previous rooms to even get in here. There's lava all around the chamber, so nothing can get through by digging around, and the pools are there so we can knock non-thermal digimon into them if they get in."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Reyn said. "It'd be better if they managed to successfully fend them off out there."

"Yes, it would...wait, I hear footsteps. We might have our back-up."

The three turned and looked down the hallway. Just up at the bend, they could see Flarelizarmon approach, his eyes scanning around as if looking for something.

"Flarelizarmon! Is there anyone else coming?" Heatavimon asked.

"Uh-oh..." Salmandmon felt his gut tighten. "I know that look...that's not someone here to help, that's someone scanning for enemies!"

"What? No! You can't mean-"

"It's clear...there's just a couple of them." Flarelizarmon wasn't speaking to the three of them; he was looking past the bend in the hallway. "It shouldn't be much trouble for you."

Heatavimon squeaked in shock as Flarelizarmon stepped aside, allowing three very non-fire digimon past him. In the middle was the clear leader of the group, a white-scaled dragon knight called Zerodramon. He wore blue-colored armor made of a very strong pykrete, and in his left hand carried an icy trident. Two horns extended off the back of his head, ending in spreading points that resembled snowflakes. To the dragon's left was a white demon digimon, IceDevimon; to his right, a white-furred leonine digimon, Panjyamon. Flarelizarmon walked up beside Panjyamon, looking sullen yet unrepentant.

"So, this is all they decided to spare for the actual chamber..." Zerodramon sounded quite amused by the situation before him. "Goodness...even a human. Talk about desperation."

"You stay back! Don't think we don't have anyone else coming to help!"

"Well, see now, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Your so-called 'Flame Master' isn't going to help you...he didn't even see me coming, and he won't be coming around for quite some time. And the rest of my group is holding your order quite nicely. You three are the only ones left in my way, and the Catalyst will be ours."

"I don't suppose we could talk this out?" Reyn asked hesitantly.

Zerodramon tried to hold back a laugh but failed. "That's a good one. No, that isn't going to happen. What is going to happen is that we are going to take the Catalyst. Whether you three survive depends on your level of resistance."

"Flarelizarmon! Please...you have to do something to stop them!" Heatavimon begged.

Flarelizarmon shook his head. "No. You don't get it, Heatavimon. They're giving me the chance I need."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"The chance to cast of this infernal body. I'm one of those...blasphemers you and all the rest would keep railing about. And I'm not the only one...you have no idea the kind of pain we have to go through daily, but it's going to end now. We're going to take the Catalyst so we can perform the ritual, and those of us who have suffered will become what we should have been from the start."

"That's crazy!"

"Crazy? You think it's crazy? Of course you do, you never could understand...you and the rest of the Order of Flame, so fixated on your own element that you couldn't even handle the idea of someone not loving it! You call us blasphemers, scorn and ostracize us, just because we feel like we were meant for something else! My body may be on fire, but my soul...my soul is cold as ice! It feels wrong, being this way! I'm in constant pain, suffering because I know I should be different! And yet you act like this is some vile insult against you! It has nothing to do with you! The Frigid Souls, they know what I'm going through, they're willing to help me and the others like me! Don't beg me for help now when you've spent all this time attacking me for what I am!"

"But...but you can't!"

Zerodramon laughed again. "And who's going to stop us? Two Rookie digimon and a human? If your goal is a suicide mission, then be my guest, but if you were smart you'd step aside and stay alive."

"Forget it!" yelled Salmandmon. "We won't let you take the Catalyst!"

"Ah, the rashness of youth. IceDevimon, will you handle this minor annoyance?"

"Gladly, sir." IceDevimon lashed out suddenly, grabbing Heatavimon and Salmandmon and raising them high in the air. There was a bright flash and a loud crack and both cried out loudly. Laughing quietly, IceDevimon tossed them to the back of the chamber. Their bodies remained immobile; they'd both been nearly entirely frozen.

"Ohhhh crap..." Reyn mumbled as he looked back at his frozen partner, then back in front of him. The odds against him had just gotten a lot longer.

"And thus we only have you left," Zerodramon proclaimed as he took a step forward. Reyn stepped back a couple paces, not wanting to be any closer to the imposing dragon knight than he had to be. "You realize you're in way over your head, don't you, human?"

"I've considered the possibility."

The dragon smirked. "Don't tell me you're thinking of making a stand yourself...surely you have a little more sense then those other two."

"You're making an awfully big assumption."

Zerodramon burst out laughing, this time accompanied by Panjyamon and IceDevimon as well. "Oh my..." the dragon sighed mirthfully once the laughs had subsided. "I had no idea humans were this funny. Come now, really? What could you possibly do to me that those Rookies couldn't have? What do you really have that they couldn't match?"

"Um...I'm taller?"

Zerodramon nearly lost it again, managed to hold in the laughs with some effort. "Goodness gracious, you are an amusing creature. It would be a shame to have to kill you here...I don't have to, you realize, I'm here for the Catalyst, nothing more. But if you intend to try to stop me, well, I don't really have a choice. Last chance."

Reyn didn't move, and Zerodramon sighed, almost sounding disappointed. "If that's the way you want it...Flarelizarmon, come and prove your dedication."

"M-me, sir?"

Zerodramon looked down at the uncertain lizard. "I understand the novelty value of this human, but I must insist."

"Y...yes sir." Flarelizarmon stepped forward, looking almost apologetic. "It's a shame...it seemed like you actually understood. I hate to end it like this, but that's how it goes." He raised his arm and pointed it at Reyn. "Fire Tower!"

The flame creature launched a powerful pillar of flames at Reyn, who stood defiantly in its path. The blast hit him square, and he felt an intense wave of heat flow over him. As always, he wasn't even singed, but this time it was different...he could feel that same rising surge of energy he'd experienced when he'd absorbed the thermite reaction as Blazereptimon just days ago. As the attack ended, he felt his heartbeat rocking at top speed, his nerves on a razor's edge, his body surging with power.

"Wh...what in the world?" Flarelizarmon gasped. "You...you can't have survived that!"

"You really think so? I walked into an active volcano, you think I'd be here if I couldn't take the heat?" With a sudden rush, Reyn blasted a stream of flames at IceDevimon. The ice demon, completely unprepared for the attack, took it full-force and fell back into the lava, ending his life swiftly. "I told you I could hold my own...unlike you, my soul _is_ one of flames!"

"Well, this is an interesting twist," Zerodramon said, genuinely surprised. "A human who can handle the heat...so you have some tricks up your sleeve after all. Very well, then, let's see how you enjoy the cold. Panjyamon! You know what to do."

"Yes, my lord! Blizzard Breath!" Panjyamon leapt forward, blowing his freezing breath at Reyn. Steeling himself, Reyn launched a powerful wave of fire, countering the frigid air and stopping Panjyamon cold. His mind was racing, sizing up the situation as fast as possible. He knew Panjyamon's power would outlast his own, and even if he managed to get lucky Zerodramon would have him in an instant. He needed to even the odds, and he only knew one way to do that.

With another burst of flames, Reyn cut off Panjyamon as he was about to charge. With only moments to spare, he tore off towards the altar. With a leap, he snatched up the Fire Catalyst, flipped, jumped off the wall, and landed safely on the ground.

He now knew what Salmandmon had meant when he said that he'd know the power of the Catalyst when he touched it; almost immediately after making contact, he felt a surge of energy within him, similar and yet different from the one he'd gotten from the flames. It was almost as if it was pulsing in him, pumping him up and expanding him...every one of his senses was suddenly ten times as acute, and his body felt primed for action like never before.

He tossed the Catalyst away, letting it land on Salmandmon as he squared off against Panjyamon again, the lion looking more than a little pissed that it was taking this long to beat the human. "You've got some fight, human, but there's no way you can beat me! Frozen Fury!" He pulled back his fist and launched it forward, sending a beast-shaped wave of cold right at Reyn. Acting almost on instinct now, Reyn brought his hands forward and channeled a devastating blast of heat energy through them; the burst completely wiped out the cold attack and kept going straight through Panjyamon, deleting him almost instantly.

_Whoa...that was an Ultmate digimon! That's some power the Catalyst grants!_

Zerodramon, for his part, was no longer amused; indeed, he was entirely shocked and enraged. "How the...that's...I'm not gonna be stopped by some damned human! I'll show you real power! Kelvin Ray!"

The dragon shot a powerful cold beam at Reyn, who dove to the side and launched another blast of fire at him. He wasn't sure he could handle a digimon as strong as Zerodramon on his own; fortunately, he knew he only needed a few more moments before he wouldn't have to.

The Catalyst had unfrozen Salmandmon, bringing him back from near-unconsciousness. As he felt the familiar (to him) pulse of the Catalyst's power, he caught sight of the battle in front of him, and it inflamed his own spirit as much as the resurgent power in his body. "Looks like I missed most of the action...well, time to make up for that!" He jumped to his feet and his body became surrounded in flames. He jumped into the air, spinning head over heels and amplifying the fiery aura around him. "Volcano Wheel!"

The whirling flames fired out from Salmandmon's body right at Zerodramon. It hit with surprising force, knocking Zerodramon to the ground and giving Reyn and Salmandmon the moment they needed.

"Let's do it, Salmandmon!"

"Yeah! It's payback time!"

Salmandmon dashed over to Reyn and they merged together into Burnreptimon, then shifted almost instantly to Blazereptimon. He turned towards Zerodramon, who was just getting to his feet and staring at the unexpected arrival. "What..."

"Impressed? This is only the beginning! You and your little cult won't cause any more trouble!" A red aura enveloped Blazereptimon as he felt himself begin to shift once again. His body grew larger, retaining a similar form to his previous levels, but with more muscle than before. A black vest interwoven with metal and metal studs on the edges formed on his chest, and similar black shorts on his legs. Metal gauntlets streaked with red paint formed over his hands. A small ridge of spines grew along his spine, each one tipped with a lick of flames.

He started down the suddenly-nervous Zerodramon, cracking his knuckles and hissing dangerously. "Say hello to Pyrekomodomon, freak show. It'll be the last fight you ever have!" He pulled his hand back and thrust it forward as a powerful burst of flame rushed from it. "Searing Wave!"

The wave of heat engulfed the ice dragon, causing him to stagger backwards and nearly fall into the lava as he tried to escape. "Rgh...unbelievable...I won't...go down...here...Icicle Spire!" He jabbed his trident into the ground, which channeled his cold energy into sharp ice spikes that shot up underneath Pyrekomodomon. The lizard jumped before they emerged, escaping the skewering spikes before the could do a thing. Zerodramon leapt over them, weapon drawn, trying to use proximity to his advantage.

It was a painful mistake. Pyrekomodomon raised an arm and his body glowed. "Blazing Guardian!" Suddenly the air around him was heated radically, eclipsing even the intense natural heat of the volcano, painfully burning Zerodramon as he got close, forcing him to draw back. His movements were slowing; the heat was starting to get to him, and he'd been left weak by the attacks he'd suffered. Pyrekomodomon could tell this battle wasn't going to last much longer no matter what, and decided to give Zerodramon one last chance before the point of no return.

"You're not going to beat me, Zerodramon. So here's a shot for you to escape this with your life. Leave now, never come back, disband your little cult, and never cause trouble for anyone again. You do that and you might get to old age. Do you accept?"

"N...no! Never!" roared Zerodramon, though it was a feebler sound than he would have liked. "I've come so far...I won't let the Eternal Ice Age slip from my grasp! I'll destroy you here and end the damnable heat of his world for good!"

"Big talk, but you can't back it up. But if you insist, I'll make this your grave! Raging Wildfire!" The heat in Pyrekomodomon's body blazed up, the flames along his spine shooting to new heights and more flames erupting all over his body. It felt almost like he was releasing chains from all over himself; he felt freer, faster, stronger, every muscle and nerve in overdrive. With a feral cry he blitzed Zerodramon, easily ducking a swing of the trident and slamming the dragon hard, the sheer power of it overcoming his size disadvantage. Zerodramon staggered again, and as Pyrekomodomon landed after the blow he immediately jumped again, this time latching onto the dragon's armor. He let out a hissing snarl as his jaws clamped down on Zerodramon's unprotected neck, icy-blue blood seeping out around his jaws as he left loose with a powerful burst of fire from his gullet. The flames charred the neck and channeled through his fangs deep into the flesh, critically burning all the vital points and nearly taking the dragon's head off. His death was almost immediate.

Pyrekomodomon landed feet first into the lava pool, feeling only a pleasant warmth around his legs as he came down from the combat high. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. The first thing he realized was that Heatavimon was still partly frozen near the altar; he bounded over to her and used his fiery power to break off the ice and warm her body. He picked her up and examined her; she was otherwise unharmed and looked to be recovering, though still unconscious.

He saw the Catalyst lying on the ground where Salmandmon and left it before merging. As a matter of courtesy, he picked it up and set it back on the altar. _Hopefully this will be safe now..._ He gave a glance back towards the entrance to the chamber, and only then did he noticed that there was still one person there. His eyes narrowed at Flarelizarmon, who was huddled back near the wall, trying to look invisible.

He strode forward, almost right on top of the flaming creature as he tried to sink into the wall. "You're still here?"

"D-don't...please...don't hurt me..."

Pyrekomodomon let out a small huff. "Same terms."

"Wh-what?"

"You heard what I said to Zerodramon. He didn't take them; maybe you'll be slightly smarter. Same terms - take it or leave it."

The reptile nodded vigorously, almost desperately. Pyrekomodomon was quiet a moment, pretending to contemplate whether he'd accept or not. "Fine. Get out."

"Oh...oh, th-thank you-"

"I said go. And don't let me find out you've broken your agreement, or I'll make it my mission to tear you to pieces."

Another frightened nod, and Flarelizarmon skittered away down the path to the rest of the Volcano Pit. With little other option available, Pyrekomodomon followed after a minute or so later.

The Frigid Souls and the Order of Flame were still in combat in the main chamber of the Volcano Pit, but perhaps not surprisingly the heat digimon were starting to get the better of the ice digimon, whose prolonged exposure to the heat was accelerating their fatigue. Pyrekomodomon observed for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and bellowing out "ENOUGH!"

It made a surprisingly good impression on the fighting digimon, as most of them quickly stopped their fight to look over at the source of the shout, his voice ringing with power belying his size and his mouth still coated in icy blood. It was a sight that filled them with either awe or terror, depending on their nature. Pyrekomodomon took little notice of this except as a prompt to continue. "Zerodramon is dead. Frigid Souls, you've lost. You've got two choices. Those who want to die can keep trying to fight your futile battle, and I'll make sure to kill as many of you personally as I can. Those who want to live, leave right now and don't set foot here again as long as you live. The Order of Flame won't attack you if you choose to leave...understood?" The last part was directed more at the fire digimon than the ice digimon, none of whom dared to speak out against the strange creature who was clearly powerful enough to make good on his threats.

The ice digimon apparently knew when they were beaten; they tore out of the Volcano Pit like the hounds of hell were baying at their heels, ignoring the cheers of victory from the Order of Flame behind them.

(==========)

"I never expected to be caught by surprise in my own domain..." Apollomon shook his head tiredly; he still hadn't quite fully recovered from the attack that had incapacitated him. "I'm sorry, I wish I could have been of more help. Of course they would keep me from fighting the fiercest battle yet..."

"No doubt because they were most scared of you, Apollomon," said Salmandmon. "Sounds like a situation I'm familiar with. Lucky for everyone we were in the right place at the right time."

"No kidding. We owe you a lot, Reyn and Salmandmon. Now the Catalyst will remain free for whoever wishes to use it, just as we've always hoped."

"Yeah, and I'd expect to see more traffic what with that other shrine having been condemned," Reyn remarked. "Good thing you guys are there to keep it safe. I guess most of the Catalysts are like that?"

"Unfortunately, that's how it has to be. Objects of power are desirable to anyone with evil intents."

"Yeah, I guess I'm familiar with that concept. But at least the Frigid Souls shouldn't bother you any more."

"Hopefully not. Although...you let them go. You'll excuse me for wondering..."

"You wouldn't be the first." Reyn bowed his head slightly. "I don't know the exact saying, but it's something like 'he who fights monsters must not become a monster himself.' I don't want to end up being the kind of person who blindly kills his enemies and forgets that they're still people...that's what the bad guys do, and if we fall into that same trap we risk becoming bad guys ourselves. I prefer giving them a chance to change their paths to something better for everyone."

"I see. A noble idea, though, as I'm sure you're aware, a risky one."

"True, but it's a risk I'm willing to take if they give me the chance to take it. Besides, I think sometimes you can tell if someone doesn't really have their heart into fighting for a particular cause to the death."

"Well, such decisions are your to make. In any event, on behalf of all of us, thank you so much for helping us in our hour of need. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want, we can easily make accommodations for an extended stay if you wish."

"We appreciate the thought, but I don't think an extended stay is gonna work right now," Salmandmon said. "Much as this place is cool and I'd love to take in more of it, we've got a mission of our own and we've gotta get together with the rest of our group so we can take it on."

"Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. Well, consider the offer open any time. I don't suppose I could convince you to stay one night? I think the Order would like to celebrate with the heroes that protected the Catalyst from harm."

Reyn looked down at Salmandmon. "I don't think one night is going to set us back that much, do you?"

"Hey, I do like a good celebration. Okay, you've talked us into it."

(==========)

(==========)

Ah, I'm so glad to be at this point. I've been sitting on these forms for a while, it's about time they got some screen time. And trust me, they'll be getting plenty more as time goes on.

I kind of wish I could delve into the non-central characters more than I have. A lot of them are basically vehicles for plot advancement, which I'm okay with for some characters, but I feel like I should do more with some of them even if I'm not going to use them again, like Flarelizarmon and Zerodramon just to name two examples in this chapter. That does tend to be a bit of a drawback to my writing style; there's some detail shortfall in areas where more could be done. Honestly, that's really an extension of my general mentality - I don't really have a lot of patience for ancillary details, I'm more of a "get to the point with the necessary info" person. Which is fine, but I think it makes for some kind of mechanical writing (which was, in fact, noted by some reviewers in a creative writing course I took a couple years ago while in college). It's better than it was, but I have trouble getting into more detail because I lose patience with it.

I could, of course, use recurring baddies (not the ones I've already killed off, obviously, but you get the idea). They get more appearances, they get more character (if I write them well, that is). I went into this story not considering that very much, partly because I felt it might be too restrictive, partly because I worried I couldn't do enough to vary them through repeated appearances, and partly because I was already thinking there was no way I could keep as many recurring characters straight as I already had and still write them well. I think I was probably wrong on at least a couple if not all of those, but I'm not surprised that I would be - this is the first time I've actually written something this massive, and I pretty much went into it cold, meaning I didn't really have a very good gauge on what I could do or what I should do (hence why I do a lot of rewriting and revision for nearly all of these chapters). I think if I get into future stories (and I would like to, either in fanfiction or original fiction), I'll be able to go in with a better idea of what I'm capable of and what goes into an interesting and well-written story.

Eh, but I'm rambling on and probably not being very interesting, so I'll shut up now. Next week, chapter 32!


	33. Chapter 32: The Final Day

Hope you've got some time set aside, this one's got some meat on it. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 32: The Final Day**

Iris had hung an extra blanket up by the window to try to forestall the sun's intrusion before falling asleep the night before. Unfortunately, it was roaring in as strongly as ever the next morning, the blanket having pulled down the flimsy hooks she'd hung them on.

"It was worth a shot," she groaned as she rubbed he eyes. "I had a feeling those wouldn't hold. What I wouldn't give for some curtains."

"Hopefully some of the other combatants got rude awakenings as well," Shockavimon grunted, pulling herself into a sitting position slowly. "Ouch...wow, I'm really sore. I hope you feel better than I do."

"I doubt it. Last day...let's just get this over with, huh?"

(==========)

As before, Ionavimon spent her extra time in the morning around Hagrande, trying to relax and psyche herself up for the busy afternoon ahead. It wasn't easy to concentrate, though, not with the throngs of people clamoring for her attention. They were mostly well-wishers, with the few hecklers being quickly rounded on and driven away by the supporters. She liked to see so many people coming out to support her, especially given their fear of Valkyrimon, but all the same, it was hard dealing with so many people. She finally got respite by claiming she had to go get ready for her matches and then taking flight, not landing until she found a quiet spot.

One person, however, seemed to be able to find her no matter what. "Ionavimon! You got a moment?"

She looked up at the wall of what appeared to be a condemned building and saw a familiar scaled form. "Blackreptimon! What's up?"

"Heh, something that might be of real major interest to you." Blackreptimon gave her a very knowing grin. "It's about the, ah, grand prize."

"You mean the Catalyst?"

"Bingo. One of my sources got sight of it as it was being moved yesterday. There's no doubt about it - it's the one that got stolen from the Thunder Shrine!"

"Which means it's a Thunder Catalyst! Just what I've been looking for!" Ionavimon felt a lot of relief at hearing this; no more need to worry if the last few days had been a waste of time. "I'll have to make sure it gets back there!"

"Well, you'll have to win for that. Another bit of information...this is something I wasn't able to confirm, but there's rumors abound that one of the remaining fighters has been cheating. I don't know which one or how, but if something strikes you as being odd when you fight your next fight, or fights as it may be, that might be it."

"Okay...thanks. I wonder how they might be cheating?"

"No idea. Could be they're wearing illegal equipment - you're not supposed to wear anything that doesn't come standard with your form, since some stuff can give you special boosts or other advantages. And some use certain drugs or other substances that aren't allowed. They don't do any testing or anything, so that's usually pretty easy to get away with, but most of the fighters have a sense of honor that won't let them touch the stuff, and will get them pretty riled if they find out a guy that beat them was using."

_I guess when your opponents could very well kill you for it, you're less inclined to use that kind of stuff, _Ionavimon thought bemusedly. _Maybe that's what they should shoot for in human sports._ "All right, I'll try to keep my eyes open for that."

"Glad to help. I wanna see you win this thing. So does Renamon, though she's been awfully quiet about it. It kinda worries me..." Blackreptimon shook his head. "Eh, but that's probably just my paranoia again. Speaking of which, you'll probably want to keep your wits about you, you've caught a few eyes."

"Hm? You mean Valkyrimon?"

"Maybe, I haven't heard anything about the dude though. I was talking more about the other fighters. Sounds like you've gotten pretty popular with them, and not just for your brawn. I saw what Coredramon did, but he's a known player and doesn't take it as seriously. There are others who are a lot more serious about it."

She scowled. "God dammit. You mean I'm gonna be hit on constantly?"

"It's possible. This isn't a peculiarity to this place. Serious competitive fighters are really all about overcoming challenges. Guys or girls, when they see someone who catches their eye they consider it just like a battle that they have to win. Ordinarily you'd probably be one of a bunch, but given that you're the only woman here, well, there aren't a lot of other targets for many of them."

"Oh, come on. What about all the women in the audience?"

"Heh, that would be the easy way out, and the ones who are serious about this fighting business think it would be lame to take that route. Besides that, those on the circuit tend to like to stick to the circuit."

"You seem to be awfully familiar with this kind of stuff. I thought you weren't a fan of the whole competitive fighting thing?"

"Ah, well, I'm not, really. Truth is, I spent a short stint as a competitive fighter a while back. I didn't stick with it, though...I'm really just not cut out for the whole battle thing. But I keep up with it because I still have some buddies who are fighters."

"Ah...I'm not the only one you're rooting on, huh?"

"Well, you are now. The last of my buddies got eliminated in the third round. He's kinda where I heard that last bit about the fighters having their eyes on you."

"Oh? I'm betting he was one of them."

"Er...well, you could say that..."

It took a moment for the implication to hit Ionavimon. "Oh, no...you can't be serious. Coredramon?"

"I'm not defending him! I told him he was out of line when he...did that to you. Trouble is, he's...well, he's one of those guys who thinks it's worse to be in line than out of line. You probably know the type. And like I said, he wasn't serious about it. He's done the same to a bunch of fighters, and he's really pretty indiscriminate about who. It's all about building up his reputation as a screwball...and it's effective, he's one of the most popular fighters on the circuit, to both fans and foes."

"Well, he tries that again, and I'm gonna go harder on him than I ever did in the ring, you can bet!"

"He won't. Well, I don't think so, anyway. I don't make a lot of requests of him, so he usually listens when I do."

"He'd better. So you were part of this whole deal one time...so does that mean you know anything about this whole Golden Wargreymon thing?"

"Oh, him? I don't really know any more than anyone else. The gist of the story is, he was a Wargreymon in golden armor, predictably enough, who joined way back in the earlier days of tournament combat. He took the world of professional combat by storm, winning match after match, tournament after tournament, racking up an unbelievable record. He had a three year unbeaten streak, unheard of before or since, no one else has even managed half a year of regular matches. He was a household name, but no one knew anything about him outside the ring. It was almost like he disappeared when he wasn't at a match."

"Huh. So kind of an enigma figure, huh?"

"Definitely. There's a bunch of mysteries around him. Who he was, why he joined, what happened to him. He fought regularly for a decade, then disappeared without a trace. No one's heard anything about him since."

"Wow. I can see why he'd kind of be a legend. Thanks for the info, Blackreptimon. I think I've probably got to head over to the stadium soon...maybe I'll see you in the stands, but it'll be kind of hard to look."

"Yeah, best save your attention for the guys who are trying to beat your face in. Best of luck!"

(==========)

The crowds were even worse on this day than the previous ones, a fact which Ionavimon did not find the least bit shocking, but plenty frustrating. She was mobbed relentlessly as she got to the coliseum, the throngs bad enough that she soon found herself in the escort of Sealsdramon again. He was plenty pissed off as well, repeatedly muttering about how he was going to quit if they didn't improve the security. Ionavimon followed in silence, not wanting to get him any more out of sorts.

She was primed and ready to go right away, but as she got to checking the matches, she learned that the last three were going to be held one at a time. And lucky her, she was in the second of the semi-final matches. Her opponent was a MachGaogamon, which gave her the first twinge of nerves she'd had, and she was fairly certain not the last. He was larger and quite speedy, and could dish out some hits. _I'll have to watch myself during that match. He could make things really difficult for me._

Her wait was about half an hour from the time she got down there. The first semifinal match itself ended in only fifteen minutes; she assumed the rest of the time was preparation and/or hype. Then she got the notice that she was to get to the ring. The trek to and on the platform was now quite familiar with her; she went through it almost automatically, more focused on the upcoming match than the lead-up to it.

Unlike the other matches, an Etemon was standing in the middle of the ring as she entered, shouting loudly into a booming microphone. "Welcome, one and all, to the second semi-final match of the 17th Gam Rona Combat Tournament! It's a real treat we have for you folks today, one big battle between two fantastic warriors! Who will move on to the big fight with out other victorious warrior, and who will go home on a stretcher? You're about to find out!"

"We'd find out faster if you'd quit yammering!" MachGaogamon yelled impatiently. He looked like he'd been far more agitated about waiting for the match than she had been. "Let's get on with it already! I want to beat this little girl and get to the title match!"

"You're a cocky one, aren't you?" Ionavimon shot back boldly. MachGaogamon was significantly larger than she was, but she wasn't about to let that faze her too much, not after everything she'd faced so far. She stared him down; something about him seemed out of place to her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

"I'm a superior fighter to all the entrants in this tournament. This is a joke compared to others I've been in. How else could a newbie like you reach the third day?"

"Oh, so you're about to underestimate me, are you?"

"Please. I never underestimate anyone. I'm perfectly able to gauge your ability. Compared to me, you might as well have none."

The Etemon drowned out any response Ionavimon might have been able to give. "On this side, he's a no-nonsense canine with an attitude and a ten-year history in the circuit! If you get on his bad side he'll bite your head off! Give it up for MACHGAOOOOOOOGAMOOOOOOON!"

"What a ham," Ionavimon said, rolling her eyes. The crowd loved it though, whooping and cheering as loudly as possible. MachGaogamon, for his part, just gave them a cool acknowledgement, his eyes affixed to Ionavimon as if he was about to bum rush her at any moment.

"And on this side, she's the upstart newcomer who's captured the hearts and minds of everyone! Her rise to victory has been nothing short of shocking!" Ionavimon barely held back a groan at the incredibly lame joke. "Will she be able to continue her run and claim victory in this match? Put your hands or other appendages together for IONAAAAAAAVIMOOOOOOOON!"

The crowd yelled just as loudly, if not louder. It almost startled her to realize that she had been built up as an underdog newcomer, though as she gave it a moment's thought, she realized he probably should have expected it. She gave a couple quick bows to the crowd, momentarily crescendoing the cheers.

"Fighters! Let's see some sportsmanship!" The two approached the center of the ring, Ionavimon getting an up-close idea of just how much MachGaogamon dwarfed her. He was certainly imposing enough, with gauntlets that reminded her of Marsmon - she remembered how hard he had hit Blazereptimon. His metal coated legs looked no less nasty. Her gaze traveled upwards to meet his eyes, only to be waylaid by those shades. He was dressed differently from the average Machgaogamon - his clothes look lighter and thinner, the belt looped around his chest was dark blue and lacked the metallic embellishments, and he was wearing a green headband in addition to the shades. Ionavimon remembered Blackreptimon's words from earlier, and wondered if those changes were legal.

_But they wouldn't let him in if they weren't, would they? I'd better keep my eyes open, just in case..._

They shook hands, exchanging nothing but determined glances now. The crowd's cheers crescendoed as they retreated to their corners, waiting anxiously for the bell to ring.

And then the bell rang.

Ionavimon knew that Machgaogamon was a speedy fighter, and expected to face a bull rush right at the outset like some of her previous matches. What she hadn't expected was how blindingly _fast_ he was - even knowing his style didn't prepare her for the actual product. He covered the ground between them in barely two seconds, swinging down with a crushing blow as he reached her. It was all she could do to avoid getting hammered and having the match end right there. She let out a Dervish Bolt as she jumped away, needing to slow him down before he could get to her again. It had the desired effect, knocking him backwards and shaking him up a bit.

She unleashed another burst of electricity at him, hoping to just take the easy way out, but no such luck - he anticipated the attack and leapt out of the way, rolling to his right and turning the roll into a charge which she didn't have time to dodge. She was thrown by his flying tackle, slamming into the protective barrier on the side of the ring and getting a wicked jolt from it as it tossed her back into the ring.

She was barely able to get up again before he was back on her, swinging hard with his oversized gauntlets. She ducked in close to him, a wise choice that made it harder for him to hit her, and let loose with a Lightning Talon to one of his legs, hoping to slow him. Unfortunately, the blow did little damage, and she was forced to escape as he attempted a powerful kick to drive her away.

Already she was feeling fatigue catch up with her, and the match had barely been going a minute. It wasn't going to be much longer if she didn't get some distance and get a moment to prepare, but that wasn't happening - it seemed like Machgaogamon was almost on top of her within a second or two, no matter where she was. She was forced to concentrate on evasion rather that attack, which was only going to wear her out before it wore him out. He was almost too fast, something that was bothering her - part of her had faced this kind of creature before, and was telling her that this was on the wrong side of normal.

She laid down a couple Charge Fields to try to give her an extra few seconds to gather herself. It worked - as fast as he was, he couldn't outrun the shocking traps if he stepped in them, and he seemed to be hit a little harder by the lightning than the other opponents she'd faced. But she had a feeling that wouldn't last her long, and she was right; Machgaogamon decided that if he couldn't see safe ground, he'd just leap at her from afar instead. He barreled towards her head-first, moving so fast she barely had time to react before he was there.

It was only at the impact that she saw it - a very soft glow from the headband, barely perceptible under the bright lights even from nearby, virtually undetectable from afar. She went tumbling to the ground, all the breath knocked out of her, barely stopping before the ringside barrier. Her whole body was aflame with pain, but she forced herself into a kneeling position, needing to prepare for her adversary's return.

Machgaogamon, however, had started a premature celebration, raising his hands in victory to the crowd; he apparently though he'd knocked her out, ending the match. "This was nothing! Bring on the next battle!"

"How about you finish this one first?" Ionavimon grunted as she stood up, willing herself to ignore the protests from her battered body. Anger was burning in her; whatever that headband was, it had to be the reason he was so goddamned fast, and she wasn't about to be wiped out by a cheater.

Machgoagamon whipped around so fast Ionavimon swore it was instantaneous. "How are you...you were out!"

"Did you hear the bell ring, genius?"

"Grrr...I don't know how you didn't get KO'd by that, but I'll make sure to fix that!" He whipped at her again, but was met by a Dervish Bolt which halted his charge. Ionavimon picked up her pace at the momentary lapse, not wanting to give him a straight shot at her. _I have to get that band off of him...looks like I'll have to pull some speedy maneuvers of my own._

When he recovered, he attempted another flying tackle. She only was fast enough because she had expected it, and laid down a Charge Field right beneath her before rolling away. He landed right on it and yelled out in pain, getting the brunt of it through his non-insulated gauntlets. Ionavimon didn't make her move yet, waiting for him to get his bearings and come after her again. It didn't take long, as she saw him whip his head around and growl menacingly at her, still in an all-fours position. He was about to pounce, and she only had a split second to act.

She launched a Dervish Bolt right as he jumped, catching him right in the head. He took the jolt hard, but his momentum carried him forward, just barely over Ionavimon's head as she dove for the floor an instant after launching the attack. The moment he passed over her, she ran for him, yanking the band off his head while he was stunned. She heard a yelp as she leapt away, and the still mildly woozy Machgaogamon jumped up and turned on her furiously. "What the hell? Give that back!"

"Why, so you can use it to jump around at light speed again?" she yelled back, holding the band carefully so as to not accidentally use its enhancements herself. "This thing is illegal! You should be kicked out of the tournament for using it!"

"Bull! That thing is nothing!" But even as he said it, he wasn't showing it; he was still fast, but clearly not moving as quickly as he was before. He was lunging at her now, trying to get the headband and his advantage back. Each time, though, Ionavimon let out a blast of electricity, jolting him and leaving him dazed. After five or six such treatments, it was clear he was wearing down.

So was Ionavimon, and she didn't know if she'd outlast him even at this rate; her second wind was winding down and she wasn't counting on a third. She needed a finisher, fast. Machgaogamon ran at her, trying to reach her before she could jolt him again, only to run right into a Charge Field and do it to himself. As fast as she could, she pulled out her spear and hurled it into his chest. It embedded in right through the flimsy belt, letting loose a burst of electricity which finally put down Machgaogamon for the count.

The bell finally rang again, making her victory official. She sank back, sitting down, barely able to function after the abuse she'd gone through. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to stop that damned Etemon from making lots of noise. "And the winner is...IOOOOONAAAAVIMOOOOOOOOON!"

"Oh, just shut up..." she moaned, wincing at the volume of the announcement. The Etemon didn't hear him; he was prattling on about something or other, she had lost focus on exactly what it was. It was only when a Gazimon was trying to help her up that she managed to shake herself out of it. She got to her feet and allowed the creature to pull her to the platform.

Her escort didn't leave her until she was laying in the infirmary, finally able to rest herself. She almost forgot about the headband in her hand until she felt him pry it away from her. The Gazimon looked it over with a scrutinizing eye, his expression darkening as he did so. "...Speed enhancement. I told them we were being to lax about equipment checks..." His eyes glanced back up towards Ionavimon's. "You know, if you'd told us about this, he'd have been automatically disqualified. You didn't have to finish that match."

"That would've been a pretty lousy victory," she huffed quietly. "I prefer actually winning."

The Gazimon rolled his eyes. "First time in the tournament and you already have that suicidal pride. Ah, well, nothing to be done about it now. Get some sleep, you'll be woken up in two hours for the next match."

Two hours. She sighed and laid back, closing her eyes. _That's pretty lucky for me...if I'd had to go back out right away I might be down before the match even started._ Despite the intense aches and the adrenaline still pumping through her, it was barely a minute before she drifted off.

(==========)

A loud, irritating buzzing jarred her from slumber. She shook her head and looked up at the clock; as promised, it was two hours after when she had been brought in and laid to rest. _Well, they're definitely punctual..._

The lingering feelings of tiredness took their leave remarkably quickly; after a couple of minutes, she felt as good as she ever had. And not a moment too soon, as she heard the familiar tones indicating that the match was nearing its star. Wasting no time, she left the infirmary and hurried over to the platform. It felt strange to her, passing through a completely empty room on the way down there, no fighters left to churn up any activity; it instilled a eerie sense of finality, a wake-up call that she was really at the end here. It was only after she boarded the platform and started moving that final time that she realized she'd forgotten to see who she would be up against.

_I guess it doesn't matter too much...whoever it is is gonna be tough, and I haven't really been able to predict too much since the first couple of matches._

Like her previous match, Etemon was playing announcer, and the moment he saw her reach the surface he launched into his routine. "Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the FINAL MATCH of the 17th Gam Rona Combat Tournament! This is the one you've all been waiting for! Here the champion will be determined once and for all! Who will take the grand prize? There's only one way to find out!"

"Gee, I thought there were three or four," Ionavimon said sarcastically.

"Amen," her opponent agreed. He was a large, bulky ceratopsian digimon, just over nine and a half feet tall, a horn over each eye, dressed in a leather vest and gray pants, with leather bands around his wrists and upper arms and ankles. A metal axe was strapped on the back of his vest, large enough to really give Ionavimon pause. "Stop saying the obvious and let's get down to business."

Etemon shot a wide, cheesy grin at each of them. "The fighters are chomping at the bit, folks! They're even taking shots at me! Save it for the battle, fighters!"

"Every freaking time..." the saurian grumbled.

"I _will_ short that microphone out," Ionavimon warned.

"On this side, a strapping young fighter with a brilliant career, and he's just starting, folks! Less that three years on the circuit and already sixteen tournament championships to his name! You try to ignore you and he will get you on the horn! Give it up for the roughest and toughest fighter of the last three years, the Cretaceous Crusher, DIIIIIINOOOOOOCERAMOOOOOOOON!"

Dinoceramon raised his arms up and scanned the crowd, pounding his chest a couple times in a display of bravado. Ionavimon wasn't about to make light of this, not when she was focused on the Etemon announcer's words. _Did he say SIXTEEN championships?_

"On this side, in her very first tournament ever, she has gone farther than anyone in the last seventy years of combat tournaments! With this match she has the opportunity to become the first debut-tourney champion since the legendary days of the Golden Wargreymon! This could be the spark this thunderbird needs to jolt her way into the history books! Let's hear it for the Huntress of Thunder, IIIIIIOOOOONAAAAVIMOOOOOON!"

Ionavimon stood and bowed like the last match, keeping herself a bit more modest than her counterpart. She'd originally planned to let go a little more, but now her nerves were drawing her back into cautiousness.

"Fighters! Let's see some sportsmanship!"

Ionavimon felt almost timid as she made her approach. Desperately she tried to will up some confidence, something to get her fired up. Then, what felt like a distant memory now, her mind conjured up the image of Burnreptimon bleeding on the floor of the Burnout, the day he was badly injured...

_Ceramon. Evolves to Dinoceramon._

That alone was enough to stoke the fire in her. As they met in the center of the ring, all her hesitation was gone: she wanted this fight, and she wanted it bad.

Dinoceramon looked down at her, face bearing a wide grin that seemed slightly contorted, masking something not quite clear. He held out his hand. "Not bad for a rookie, making it this far. Too bad it ends here for you."

Ionavimon took the offered hand, and then in a sudden move yanked him down to her eye level. "Let me tell you something," she hissed dangerously, oblivious to the sudden ooh's of the crowd around them. "One of your kind really hurt a friend of mine a while back. I wasn't there to stop it, and I've felt a certain anger at not being able to take it out on them. Right now, you might as well be that guy, and this time I'm gonna do something about it." She let go of his hand and stepped back as Dinoceramon composed himself. "Don't let your guard down, it just might be the last thing you do."

"Heh...you really are as...feisty as they said." She could tell by his tone of voice that Dinoceramon had been thrown off-guard, somewhat more than she expected. He was quick to let go and retreat to his corner. Ionavimon allowed herself a private smirk as she did the same; if he was expecting a pushover, he would have a very unpleasant surprise coming his way.

And then the bell rang.

It was no surprise to her that he tried to get close as quickly as possible; Dinoceramon didn't have much in the way of long-range attacks. He did, however, have more raw strength than any of the previous competitors, and that was foremost in Ionavimon's mind as she dashed away, using her speed to her advantage once again. _Even one blow would leave me reeling...I doubt I'd be able to weather two._

A Dervish Bolt in the dinosaur's direction held off his second charge, though he managed to avoid the brunt of it. She caught sight of a slight wince from the bit that did hit him. _That was more reaction than I expected from a glancing blow...he must not be a fan of being shocked. Just works to my advantage, though._

She tensed up for a third charge, but instead of taking another shot at her, Dinoceramon planted one leg, swung his body around, and slammed his long tail into the ground. The blow sent a loud CRACK through the air and launched a shockwave at Ionavimon. She had to leap to the side quickly, only to find that Dinoceramon was almost on her when she landed. In an instant she brought up her spear in both hands in front of her, trying to forestall the blow.

She knew he was strong, but even that didn't prepare her for the sheer force of the impact. Though his fist met her spear, it drove it back into her chest, slowing it some but not much, and the remaining force was still enough to toss her a couple dozen feet backwards into a heap. Dazed, winded, and feeling a strong ache in her arms, she forced herself to rise quickly, as Dinoceramon wasn't wasting time. She unleashed a Dervish Bolt, this time getting him with the bull blast. He cried out and stumbled back, heaving painfully and giving Ionavimon a chance to gather herself.

Not much time, as he was soon right back into his groove, getting too close to Ionavimon for comfort. She was forced to focus on evasion, barely avoiding punches and kicks as he started working her into a corner. Though Ionavimon was faster, it wouldn't take more than one mistake for her to find herself on the losing end of the match, and was knew she couldn't let him block her.

She saw Dinoceramon's fist start to glow, and knew he was going for a deathblow. Unfortunately for him, the downside was that his blow was telegraphed, and Ionavimon was able to predict where he was going to go with it. He swung hard, but she ducked beneath it and swept past him, brushing his body as she did. Even in the rush, she could feel him flinch away from that minor contact, and as she whipped around to engage again she could see that his flow had been disrupted.

_Wow...even just coming into contact with me is enough to throw him off? I thought he was susceptible, but not THAT susceptible. I might be able to pull this off after all._

He looked angrier than ever as charged again. Ionavimon briefly toyed with the idea of trying what had won her her match against Strikeavimon, but decided on the fly that it was too risky to try to get that close. Instead, she formulated another plan, one that started with her unleashing another Dervish Bolt that he wasn't ready to dodge. Again he cried out in pain, and actually stopped, heaving heavily. "It's always...gotta be...that frigging...electricity..."

"What, can't take a little shock?" panted Ionavimon.

"Curse of my attributor...it's the only thing holding me back..."

"Sixteen championships is being held back? In what universe?"

"I should've won more!" With renewed vigor, Dinoceramon went for her again, drawing his axe and swinging down hard. Ionavimon knew better than to try to parry again - she couldn't match his raw power. She swept to the side instead, letting his momentum carry him past her and slow him down some. Surreptitiously, she laid down a Charge Field at her position, just quickly enough to move again as he came for her once more, this time swinging his tail to try to catch her as she leapt. She had the foresight to predict that and got enough air to get over it, leaving him to recover again and give her another second to lay down another Charge Field.

The crowd was getting anxious, not seeing anything happen except Dinoceramon attacking and Ionavimon dodging. Ionavimon, however, was keenly aware of what a minefield the arena was becoming. She was setting down her Charge Fields in just the right locations so he wouldn't trip them with his attacks or bull rushes. _If I can just surround him, and can hit his weakness over and over again...that'll give me a chance to lay a finisher on him._

It wasn't easy keeping him from falling into her trap; she wanted him as unaware as possible so that he wouldn't start looking for them and being cautious enough to try to avoid them for as long as possible. And she had a couple of near misses with his attacks; it was fortunate for her that despite being faster than one might expect for someone his size and bulk, he still wasn't much of a speed demon.

Finally she was ready. She had him near the center of the arena, surrounded on all sides with Charge Fields, she'd lost count long ago how many. She retreated to what she knew to be a safe area, then launched a Dervish Bolt at him. Again he evaded the worst of it, grunted at what he did take, and tried to run at her again. Just a couple steps in, he tripped one of the Charge Fields, and yelled out in pained surprise as he staggered backwards. "AYEAHGH! Motherf-agh! Wha...what the hell was..."

Finally, Ionavimon was beginning to feel a bit of confidence. "There's more where that came from, buddy. Dervish Bolt!" She launched her attack, which Dinoceramon managed to avoid completely this time by hitting the ground. He tried to scramble into an all-out blitz from the low position, but once again, stepped into a Charge Field and yelled out in pain. His other leg missed the ground, sending him face-first into the mat. He was slow to rise, having to stay on his hands and knees for several seconds, heaving deeply, in clear pain. "Ngh...rgh...argh, dammit..."

"You know, you can end this right now-"

"NO! I'm not...just gonna...let this...beat me!" He managed to get back to his feet, somewhat unsteadily. His eyes were locked on Ionavimon, still aflame with determination despite his weariness. Ionavimon couldn't help but respect his drive, but she wasn't about to let that keep her from winning. She readied herself to unleash another Dervish Bolt, but Dinoceramon made his move first. Once again, he unleashed a Tail Lash, driving the appendage into the ground right onto another Charge Field. It didn't prevent the shockwave, which forced Ionavimon to again jump away. She leapt right where she knew she'd have another Charge Field between him and her, fast enough to see him trying to get another charged punch into her. He hit the Charge Field as expected; as he yelled out again, he tried to throw himself forward, to get that blow in even despite the damage.

It was a valiant effort, but fell short as he swung too early, instead just resulting in himself collapsing onto the mat. He did land on Ionavimon's leg, however, taking her to the ground somewhat painfully. Ionavimon clenched her beak at the sharp pain shooting up her leg, and with her free leg, let loose a Lightning Talon, kicking into Dinoceramon's back and talons digging into the hide a bit.

This time Dinoceramon unleashed a mortal cry, one that struck to the very core of Ionavimon and the crowd. Ionavimon didn't let up until she'd gotten him off her leg, at which point she pulled back quickly and stumbled away from the downed opponent, leg in pain but not injured badly. She watched him writhe on the ground, almost sobbing, and for the first time felt somewhat bad about taking advantage of what was clearly a very serious weakness. Sure, she wanted to win, but she wasn't trying to torment him, and this seemed somehow beyond the normal level of pain and anguish.

Still, as she saw him slowly get to all fours again, even at a snail's pace, she had to accept that he was a hell of a fighter. He appeared intent on going the whole way, weakness or not. This time she didn't attack until he was back on his feet; she felt that would cross the line between opportunism and really bad form.

His movements were slower than before, but he was still intent on giving it his all. He was also more cautious, watching her moves and waiting for a chance to strike now that he knew of the danger of going somewhere he might get jolted again. Regardless of his fatigue, she wasn't about to deliberately risk getting close to him, so she tried to goad him into another dangerous patch with a Dervish Bolt. What she wasn't expecting was for him to charge full-bore into it, taking the worst it had to offer with everything he had. Only too late did she see his charged fist as it went for her chest.

She'd suffered some nasty blows in the fight against Emperius. Skullsatamon's staff, Ashinkaimon's Torment Wave, and certainly Suijinmon's missiles shooting her down. And she'd taken some hard shots during the tournament, too. But nothing, not even all of those combined, could compare to the shot she took right then. Looking back on it, even with all the safeguards in place, she could hardly believe it didn't kill her right then and there. As it was, what it did was send her flying at high speed into the barrier, a double-whammy which should by all rights have put her down for the count. Incredibly, she remained conscious, though she could barely move for the pain. Dinoceramon didn't seem to be in much better shape, again on his hands and knees after the exertion of that attack.

It was a full minute before Ionavimon could rise to her knees. She could see Dinoceramon readying himself for another charge, and she doubted she would be able to muster the energy to dodge this one. What really brought a ring of fear to her, though, was the way he had his head lowered, those two long horns jutting dangerously into the air. It wasn't him in pain...it was targeting.

_Oh crap._

Dinoceramon's eyes closed tight, as if expected he'd run afoul of another one of those torturous invisible mines. With what was clearly all he had left in his body, he surged forward, aimed right at Ionavimon's chest, barging through the not one but two Charge Fields between them. She didn't have the energy to make a last-second dodge; she only had a couple of seconds to figure out what she was going to do.

She could think of only one option...and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

She resisted the urge to cry out as the horns speared directly through her, tried to keep her wits as she was driven back into that nasty barrier, put everything she had into bringing her hands forward and clenching them onto Dinoceramon. Now acting on pure instinct, she let loose a charge through her body, sending it into Dinoceramon through her hands and through the horns jammed into her. Neither one had anything left to make any sounds of pain; all it had come down to was who would outlast who. The crowd had gone completely silent, enraptured by the sight before them.

Ionavimon was wavering, her mind starting to go. She was only dimly aware of motion, as Dinoceramon slumped, dragging her down and pulling her out of contact with the barrier. She fell forward over him, her entire world suffused with pain and agony, not entirely sure what was going on anymore. Despite her best efforts, she could keep it up no longer, and lapsed into unconsciousness.

(==========)

When she came to, she was still in the ring. The cheering was deafening, but for what she couldn't quite tell. It was only when she saw a Gazimon grin down at her that something began to make sense.

"Better get up, champ. They're waiting for you."

She had to blink a couple times. "Wh...champ?"

"You outlasted him. Not by much, but even a little bit counts."

"I...I won? I actually...I actually won?"

"No need to sound to surprised. That was a match for the ages. They'll be talking about it for years. C'mon, we've got to get to the prize presentation."

"Ah..." Ionavimon sat up. Only then did she really become aware of how _good_ she felt. "What...did you give me something?"

"Special compound. Hard to give the prize to someone who's blacked out. We only use it when necessary, since it's not as good for you as a good rest, but sometimes it's called for."

Ionavimon got to her feet, still kind of disoriented by everything. But she was quickly shaking it off, as the compound drained away her fatigue and the reality of her victory began to really sink in. _I did it...I won! I actually beat all of them! Man, wait'll the guys hear about this!_

The Gazimon was urging her on, so she began following it to the back of the arena. She paused, however, as she saw Dinoceramon off to the side, apparently revived by the same means as her but in nowhere near the same spirits. "Um, can I take a quick moment?"

"Well, okay, but make it quick, I don't want them worrying about you."

"Got it." She turned and quickly strode over to Dinoceramon. She started to offer her hand, only to catch herself as she remembered the effect it would have. Words would have to suffice. "Hey, that was a really good match."

"...Yeah." Dinoceramon's head remained down, looking away from her.

"Oh, don't be like that. Listen, I've been brought to the brink more times than I care to remember, but never by someone who'd taken as much punishment as that. There is no way you should be disappointed with that effort."

Dinoceramon let out a deep sigh. "It's not the effort. I...I'll never be what I could have been. Because of this weakness. This isn't the first time it's ended a good run of mine...and the more well known it becomes, the more they'll use it against me. Look at this match...they're going to see how much it did."

"What they're going to see is you fighting through it like no one else. It must have taken a dozen powerful shocks to take you down, weakness or not. That's a lot more than I ever needed against the others. What they're going to see is someone ruthlessly exploiting your weakness and you still coming within a hair's breadth of winning it all. Anyone wants to question your toughness, I'll ask them how much of that they think they can handle."

For the first time since the match, Dinoceramon looked her in the eyes. She saw he was tearing up somewhat. "...You really...think so?"

"Absolutely. I can't imagine how anyone could argue against that."

"I...guess I just assumed they'd see it and think less of me. A lot of people did...part of why I got into this in the first place was because I wanted to overcome that, get over my weakness. When I wasn't able to, I just...thought I was failing at it."

"No way. We all have our weaknesses, that's kind of an immutable rule. Just because yours is somewhat unorthodox in nature doesn't mean you're somehow weaker for it. If anything, you've demonstrated you're stronger than most, because you stood up to your weakness and didn't just let it beat you."

Dinoceramon sniffed. "I...thank you. It means a lot to hear that...it's not something I hear very much, especially from an opponent."

"Chop chop, you two!" A voice called from the edge of the arena. The two looked over to see a Gazimon waving insistently from the door.

"I guess they're getting antsy out there. We'd probably better get moving."

"Yeah...Ionavimon, thank you. For your kind words, and a fierce match. If I have to lose, I'd always rather it was on the toughest person out there. And I think you proved that."

"Why, thank you. I'm glad to have faced you as well. A win is that much better when it's over someone who gives it their all, and is genuinely good at it. Not a filthy cheater like that MachGaogamon."

"Those kind always drive me nuts. He'll get his for sure, probably a suspension of some kind."

"Good. Maybe he'll learn his lesson." The two went through the doors to a madhouse. It was packed to the brim with cheering fans, all clamoring to get the best view of the victor. Fortunately, a path had been provided for them to the platform where Ionavimon presumed she would receive her prize. Cherrymon was up there with an object in a bag, looking somewhat nervous as usual. It occurred to Ionavimon then that she was probably very lucky; it could easily have been Valkyrimon making that presentation.

Once up there, Cherrymon nodded to her, his expression a forced neutral but still not hiding his nerves well. "You've...done a fantastic job here, winning as a newcomer. Such success is rare for those just starting out, especially in a field of such...talented fighters. That kind of performance is deserving of a prize far more meaningful than mere money." He pulled a softly-glowing yellow orb out of the bag, too many gasps of shock and amazement. "It is with honor that I present you this object of power, a Catalyst of Thunder."

Ionavimon put up a front of surprise of her own. "Oh, my goodness! Where...where did that come from?"

"I didn't go out and get it, I presume our great leader had something to do with it. Regardless, it is yours to do as you see fit with it."

"Well...I suppose it would be silly to say no. Thank you very much!" Ionavimon took hold of the Cataylst and turned to the crowd as their cheers redoubled. Through the chaos of it all, she saw someone push through to her side.

"SuperStarmon here with the champion of the Gam Rona tournament! Ionavimon, how does it feel to blaze such a trail through such a field of competition?"

"Awesome! Those were some tough fights, and I'm probably even more shocked than anyone that I made it all the way through!"

"You've got a very special prize there! It's not every day that someone gets to hold a Catalyst like that! What do you plan on doing with it?"

"Oh, I'm not even sure yet, I wasn't expecting something like this! But I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something, besides the obvious anyway! But it really is an honor!"

"An honor well deserved for such a stellar performance! Speaking of stellar performance, I happen to have a reputation of that myself, if you're interested in finding out personally-"

"Nice try, starman. The answer is still no."

"Whaaat? Come on, when are you going to get another chance with a big celebrity?"

"When the guy I'm interested in goes into show biz."

"He is? Crud, I have to polish my image more! He could take seconds of screen time from me! Anyway, SuperStarmon, over and out! Let's hear one last big cheer for the champion!"

The cheers hit a peak once more, and for once, Ionavimon allowed herself to revel in the attention. _I guess I can see why they do this. You put yourself through a lot, but it really does feel great to win!_

(==========)

"I dunno what that Gazimon gave us, but I want some of it for the real world," Iris said giddily as she flopped down onto the bed. "I thought I'd feel way tired after that, but that stuff works wonders!"

"Eh, I was always taught not to get too reliant on quick cures," Shockavimon said. "Still, that might actually be worth looking into...goodness knows I want any advantage I can get against Emperius. The Catalyst is a good start, though."

"No kidding! I still can't believe we won...man, I've got a new respect for Burnreptimon, taking all those blows from Ceramon. If he could hit anywhere near how Dinoceramon could, and I'm guessing he could, that must have been a nasty couple of shots he took."

"Yeah, and he didn't have safety measures in place to keep him from being really injured, either. Imagine if that had been a real battle..."

"I'd rather not. I guess that's one of the attractive things about this kind of combat tournament. You take a lot of punishment, but none of it actually harms you."

"Yeah, we used a similar system for training in Libertius. Good way to practice all-out combat without the obvious consequences. Still hurts, though, as Dinoceramon must know all too well by now."

"Yeah, he's probably got a special string of curses for those Charge Fields. I feel a little bad...he really looked like he was suffering. I hope they don't look down on him too much for that."

"Nah, after that battle, I saw a swarm of fans around him. I think they have to be impressed with the punishment he took. Shame about his electrosensitivity, though...I hope he's got a ward for that, it's not just an inconvenience in the real world. Well, you ready?"

Iris nodded. "Definitely. Let's get this done."

The two of them put their hands on the Catalyst. Almost instantly, they felt a surge of energy surging into them, almost like beats pumping into them at a steady rate rather than a smooth flow. Iris felt like her heartbeat was keeping time with the pulses, like every nerve in her body was rushing at ten times normal speed.

It was over almost before she knew it. "Wow..." she breathed, staring at the glowing yellow orb in front of them. It almost seemed impossible to her that such power could come from something that didn't even really look all that impressive. "Do you think this is enough to get us to the next level?"

Shockavimon nodded, coming down from the rush of her second Catalysis. "I'm almost sure of it. If energy is what it requires, there's no way this didn't seal the deal. But I don't think there's any point in testing it right now."

"Yeah, of course. Let's get to bed...we've got a big day tomorrow. We have to start looking for the others."

"Mm-hmm. Now that we're even stronger, we should be safer traveling on our own. That won't do us much good if we're dead tired, though. Let's form an action plan in the morning."

(==========)

Shockavimon had fallen asleep quickly, but Iris found herself awake for a while, the rush not dying down. She lay on the bed quietly, not wanting to disturb her partner by making unnecessary noise, but found herself getting rather annoyed at her sudden bout of insomnia.

That all changed when she heard something scrape by the door. She sat up and looked over; the door was locked, but she wasn't sure how sturdy it was. She saw a shadow in the dim light shining through the crack under the door, then something getting slid under. Then the shadow was gone.

Curious, Iris got out of bed and walked quietly over to the object. It was a piece of paper. In the dim light, she could just make out the writing:

_[Iris, it's Derrik. Please come to the Coliseum as soon as you get this. Come alone. It's very serious - we may be in grave danger.]_

The first thing Iris wanted to do was laugh. How anyone could think such a lame effort could fool anyone - they didn't even spell Derek's name right! But as she read it over again, she felt any levity being quickly replaced by concern. It certainly wasn't Derek, but it was someone who knew about Derek. And since she hadn't told anyone directly about him, then someone had overheard her talking with Shockavimon...which meant someone had been spying on her and possibly knew what she was.

She certainly didn't want to go alone; clearly, someone was expecting her, which put her at a disadvantage. But if she knew it was an ambush, she didn't want to risk putting Shockavimon in danger, especially since she'd be tired after just waking up. And if someone knew her secret, there was even more danger than from a normal enemy...she had to know what was going on. There was also the option of not going, but if she didn't, whoever it was knew where she was sleeping.

_Dammit...what do I do?_

(==========)

Ten minutes later, Iris was in front of the Coliseum. Alone.

The Coliseum was supposed to close down at night, but now the doors were open, despite it being apparently empty inside. Clearly, someone had gone to great extent to prepare a meeting with her. The thought gave her little comfort.

During the day, it seemed like a rather mundane place; at night, the Coliseum was, by all Iris' standards, very creepy. There was a lot of creaking and rustling, and the wind from the doorway didn't help matters at all. She wasn't 100% sure where she was supposed to go, but the doorway to the arenas was open, and she didn't think that was a coincidence. She decided to start there.

The area looked much as it had when she had been fighting in the final matches; one giant arena surrounded by row after row of seating, though now the chairs were empty, giving it a ghostly feel. The room was fairly dark; only the arena area had some reasonable level of light. The stands were visible only up to a certain level, and she couldn't see the other side of the stadium at all. Cautiously, she made her way down to the side of the arena, and started looking around.

Suddenly, she heard something rustle behind her. She turned rapidly, and found herself staring at a black, scaly body. "Blackreptimon!" she gasped.

He stepped back in surprise. "A human? A-and how do you know who I am?"

"Uh...I'll explain later," she sighed, heart beating rapidly. The good news was that Blackreptimon hadn't attacked immediately, so he at least wasn't the kind of digimon who had it out for humans. And given his surprise, she doubted he was the one who sent the note. But she wasn't sure how he'd take the idea of a digimon and human merging. "Why are you here?"

Blackreptimon was giving her a very suspicious look, and she certainly couldn't blame him, given that she was acting like she knew him just fine. "I saw something moving around in here...this place is normally closed by now, so that would be suspicious. The better question is, what the hell is a human like you doing here?"

"That would be because I asked her to come."

Thoroughly rattled, both swung around to face the far side of the area. A light flickered on, revealing one digimon standing tall and one dark shape that they couldn't make out. The one they could see was a tall human-shaped digimon with some distinctly avian features, including wings, tail feathers, and a hawk-like helm. What looked like a golden statue of a hawk was resting on his shoulder.

"V-Valkyrimon!" Blackreptimon shouted, the fear evident in his tone. "What are you-"

"Doing here?" Valkyrimon finished, a hard note in his voice. "What do you think? I'm here to settle this matter in the way I see fit, including your own punishment...yes, I know of your hand in the matter, and don't think you'll get away with it...she told me all about it." He waved his hand towards the other figure, who had come into view enough for the other two to get a good look at her.

Blackreptimon's jaw dropped in horror. "Renamon!"

"Blackreptimon..." Renamon spoke shakily, sounding almost as if she was crying. "I'm sorry...he made me-"

"Shut up, bitch," Valkyrimon snarled, raising a hand. Renamon cowered away without any further threat, and he seemed satisfied by that. He turned back towards Blackreptimon and Iris and continued. "As I was saying, I will handle you when that time comes. But there is another matter more pressing..." He stared back over at Iris. "This travesty."

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked innocently, though she had a very good idea of what was coming. It was suddenly very clear to her; Renamon had been his informant from the start, and judging by what she'd just seen almost certainly not a willing one. _That had to be how he found out about us...and probably how he got that note to us, as well._

"Don't play games with me," Valkyrimon snapped harshly. "I know about you. I know you were...combining with a digimon somehow, though how you managed that escapes me."

"C-combining with..." Blackreptimon looked at Iris in shock. "No way...you were...?"

"But not only that..." Valkyrimon continued as though Blackreptimon wasn't there, "but you choose to deliver further insult by daring to enter one of our most prestigious contests...and worse, win. That is a grave offense that cannot go unpunished."

"What...because I'm a girl?" Iris shot back fiercely.

"Exactly. You have no right to try to pretend that you're better than males. We are the superior gender. You belong under us. By committing this offense, you've stirred the waters of discontent. You have women thinking that they're better than they are."

"And what makes you think you were right in the first place?"

"Is it not obvious? Look at men, and then look at women. There is clear superiority in our gender. I am a prime example of this...compared to me, every woman in the world is weak and inferior."

"Those are some impressive delusions. You do realize no one actually buys into that crap, right?"

"Everyone is on my side. They may try to deny it, but they know the truth. I am the herald of a new era, an era where the world follows the clear superiority of those who deserve such recognition."

"Well, aren't you just the smuggest little misogynistic asshole I've ever seen," Iris countered acidly. "Clearly, I've proven you wrong, seeing as I won that contest fair and square. One girl in a field of 63 guys, and guess who comes out on top? I'm guessing that's what's got you so riled, isn't it?"

"You did not win fair and square."

"Oh? Show me what rules I broke-"

"I don't give a damn about the rules. I say you got to where you were by fraud and deceit...everyone will believe me, since you're a woman and I'm a man. Once you're gone, everything will be fine again. Females will remain in their rightful place, and males will reassert theirs."

"Just like when Shockavimon left you, huh?" Iris grinned triumphantly as Valkyrimon actually reacted like he'd been struck. "Aw, did I hit a soft spot? Can you show me on a doll where the little girl's spine emasculated you?"

"Shut up, you insolent little bitch!" Valkyrimon shouted furiously. "She had no right to act how she did! She had no right to leave! She belonged to me! She was supposed to stay with me for good, and learn a woman's place in life! And now look where she is!"

"Yeah, she's happy, strong, self-confident, and has friends instead of being lorded over by a self-serving dick who thinks she's nothing more than property. Such a catastrophe, it is. Why, I can almost hear the little violin now." _I sound way too much like Reyn right now...now I see why he does this. It's just so much fun, and makes the rampant terror not seem so bad._

"The only reason I am even letting you talk to me that way is because I intend to end your life anyway," Valkyrimon seethed, quickly losing his patience. He jumped into the arena and drew his sword, pointing it right at Iris. "Once I wipe you off the face of this world, she'll have no choice but to come back to me, and beg me for forgiveness. Stupid little thing, did you really think that coming here alone was a good idea?"

"Of course not." Suddenly, he was charging, and she was ready. With a wave from her hands, she expelled a strong blast of lightning from her body, throwing Valkyrimon back and stunning him. Iris knew they only had limited time. "Shockavimon! It's now or never!"

With no further delay, Shockavimon flew down from the dark corners of the stadium seats; she had flown up there while Valkyrimon was focused on Iris, ready to come out when they had the time to merge, just as they had planned before they left, Iris going a short time before to give the impression that she was alone. Now as the yellow glow surrounded her and her partner, she felt a thrill run through her; she was determined to have her revenge.

A few seconds later, Ionavimon was standing at the ready, and Valkyrimon was back on his feet and preparing to attack. "You will both die if that's how you want it!" he screeched, drawing a bow and pulling back and arrow that began crackling with electricity. "Lightning Arrow!"

He launched the arrow at Ionavimon. She simply raised a hand and let a charge through it, stopping the arrow dead a few inches from her. It dropped harmlessly to the ground. She scoffed at Valkyrimon. "What are you, stupid? No wait, I don't need an answer to that. You really thought you could stop me with an _electrical_ move?"

"Shut your goddamn mouth, bitch! Laser Javelin!" He formed a brightly glowing energy javelin from his hands and launched it at Ionavimon. She jumped into the air to avoid it and took flight, taking a moment to loose a burst of lightning from her wings. "Dervish Bolt!"

The attack hit Valkyrimon, but he mostly shrugged it off. "How dare you raise your hand to me! Feral Sword!" He likewise took to the air, charging Ionavimon with his blade extended. Ionavimon drew her spear and parried his first blow, then his second. She felt herself getting a little nervous; Valkyrimon was faster than she was, and he was a Mega. Unless she got some time, fast...

Valkyrimon's sword nicked her arm. "Yow!" she shouted, pulling back and away from him. He wasted no time pursuing her, but it was the moment she needed. "Dervish Bolt!" She sent out another bolt from her hand, hitting Valkyrimon close up. He was knocked back, giving her a few seconds to breathe. She quickly checked her arm; the wound wasn't deep, but it was an annoyance.

Suddenly, something happened that she didn't expect. Valkyrimon looked back, and flew into a rage. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get away from her!" He zoomed down towards the back of the arena, where Ionavimon could see Blackreptimon with his arms around Renamon. _Uh-oh...this can only end really badly!_

Blackreptimon looked back up in shock, and pulled Renamon down the stairs, just under Valkyrimon's dive. Valkyrimon crashed into the ground, but was back up in seconds, glaring down lividly at the two dark digimon. "How dare you! You stay away from her, you scaled bastard! She's mine!"

"Fuck off!" Blackreptimon hissed from his prone position on the ground. "She's not yours...she's no one's little servant! She deserves a hell of a lot better than you!"

"Why you-!" Valkyrimon lost his ability to verbalize in his fury, and stormed the pair, sword ready to kill Blackreptimon. Then he was driven backwards by a furious blast of electricity. Ionavimon would have none of it; she flew down in between the pair and the attacker, protecting Blackreptmon and Renamon from the psychotic warrior. Energy was coursing through her; she knew now was the only chance she'd get. "You won't get a chance to hurt anyone ever again, Valkyrimon! Prepare to die!"

Bright yellow light surrounded Ionavimon as the new change began taking place. She grew taller and stronger, a new surge of power coursing through her limbs. Light plate mail, colored bright silver, formed over her body, and a sash wrapped around over it, weaving around her body without being restrictive. A circlet formed around her head, with a brilliant topaz fused into it in the center. He weapon also changed, growing longer and forming two prongs underneath a long blade.

"Wh...what the hell?" Valkyrimon gasped.

"The only hell around here is the one you're going to," stated the new electrical symbiote, drawing her weapon. "Call me Thundergarudamon."

"You...don't think you can best me just because you look different!" Valkyrimon charged at Thundergarudamon and thrust his sword. Thundergarudamon simply sidestepped the stab and whacked the menace on the back of his head with her yari, causing him to fall forward. He leapt up again, infuriated, but he didn't get a chance to take another swing. Thundergarudamon spread her wings and shouted "Fury Bolt!"

A powerful crackle of electricity shot from her wings, crashing through Valkyrimon and throwing him to the ground. He rose far slower than he had before, his breath ragged and his ego crushed. "No...how can...you hurt me!"

"Shock, huh? Never felt that kind of pain before?" She made a rude gesture at the fallen warrior. "More where that came from, if you push me any further!"

"You bitch...I won't let this humiliation stand!" Valkyrimon recklessly charged again, yelling loudly as he did. Thundergarudamon waited until the last moment, then swung harshly with her yari. A sharp crack rang out as Valkyrimon's sword was knocked out of his hands. A moment later, a sickening splatter of blood sprayed out as she slashed across his torso. Gasping and disbelieving, he fell to his knees, making small moaning sounds as his mouth seemed to fail to work.

"You're finished, Valkyrimon!" Thundergarudamon howled. "Take this! Thunder Cross!"

A bright glow surrounded Thundergarudamon as electricity built up within her. She raised her hand, and with a loud yell, unleashed a deadly cross-shaped ray of electricity. It ran right through Valkyrimon, slamming into him with incredible force and driving a deadly overcharge of electricity through him. He flew backwards, dissipating before he hit the ground.

Thundergarudamon watched the data fly off into the air. Some part of her, deep within herself, felt a strong sense of relief and closure. _I don't have to fear him anymore. He's gone, and he's not coming back._

A sound behind her drew her attention. She turned back and saw Blackreptimon and Renamon, still on the ground, the former holding the latter tight. Blackreptimon turned towards her, his eyes filled with concern. "Can you help me? I need to get her somewhere safe..."

"Of course. Do you have anywhere in mind?"

"I've got a place to the west. It's pretty small, but it's quiet."

"All right. Show me the way and I'll help get her there."

(==========)

For once, Iris and Shockavimon got the chance to sleep in, not having a window to let the sun in directly onto their bed. Not that there was much of a chance of that on that morning; the sky was dark and overcast, threatening rain, the light and heat of previous days all but a memory.

Blackreptimon and Renamon were seated together at a small table in Blackreptimon's tiny abode; Iris wondered if they'd even slept at all. "Are you two okay?"

They both nodded quietly. Blackreptimon was the first to speak up. "It's been a rough night...I think we'll manage, though. You two?"

"Tired, but we'll live," Shockavimon replied. "Better than ever now that that creep is outta here. I always wondered who'd fall victim to him next...sometimes it kept me up nights, wondering who else would have the misfortune to feel the same way I did."

"I'm sorry for everything..." Renamon said quietly. "I wish I could have stood up to him...he was just so much strong than I was. And the way he acted...I feared he would try to kill me if I ever tried to escape. It was horrible...I felt so helpless, so weak..."

"Its not your fault," Blackreptimon said firmly. "You didn't ask for any of this. It was all him, and he's gone now."

Shockavimon nodded. "Listen, I've been there, literally. I used to be his little punching bag...I know what it feels like to be under that kind of pressure. I only managed to get away because he was just a little Hawkmon at the time, and even then I was scared for my life. He was always a total dick, and would have probably killed me if he'd caught me. He'd have tried, no doubt. I'm not gonna condemn you for what you had to go through and what he made you do. That could very well have been myself at one time."

"Th...thank you. I wish there was some way I could make it up to you."

"In a way, you already did. I've wanted his head for a long time...I finally got that chance. Now he's gone...you don't have to worry about him anymore, and neither does anyone else."

"Right, now you can focus on better things," Iris agreed. "Juts don't let it destroy you. It's hard to get past, but it's for the best in the end."

"Thank you so much for everything you've done," Blackreptimon said. "If you ever need a favor, I'll be willing to do what I can. You can find me anywhere but here...I'm getting us out of this place as fast as I possibly can. Money be damned, I'll find a way."

"Thanks, Blackreptimon," Renamon said quietly, holding him tight. "I...I really appreciate you being here for me, doing all this..."

"Absolutely. I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"I think I'm about ready to get out of here myself," Shockavimon said. "This place is still creepy, with or without him. Iris?"

Iris nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

(==========)

(==========)

Holy smokes, this one ended up being a monster. Well, I suppose that's a good thing, just more for you to read. At least you're getting your money's worth.

I'm happy with how the battles turned out here, give how long it took me to figure out who the opponents were even going to be. I felt a lot better once I actually got to writing them. All in all, I think the tournament part went better than how I had originally worried it would go, and I'm glad I went through it it. At the same time, I'm glad to be getting along to the next point in this thread. Especially since it means moving past Valkyrimon. Yeesh, I felt dirty just writing that stuff.

Anyway, inspiration has been kind to me lately, enough so that I've been able to get a little bit ahead. And I've also been able to write some segments for later chapters as well, which I especially like because it makes them easier to finish when I get close to the deadline. While I'm sure I'll hit roadblocks again at some point, I shouldn't have any trouble updating consistently for a while. And I'm glad for that - I sure wouldn't want to lose the people I've managed to keep interested all this time!

That's all for this week. Until next time!


	34. Chapter 33: Foresight, Hindsight

If you got at much or more snow in your city this week as I did, my condolences to you. If you got less, you're pretty fortunate. If you didn't get any, I hope you choke on your nice weather. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 33: Foresight, Hindsight**

With the storm finally past, Derek and Blackcanismon could make their trip to the temple holding the Catalyst of Darkness. As they left the Twilight Town limits and headed through the same forest they had searched through to find Ebondramon previously, Blackcanismon explained what their trip would entail.

"Our initial outset will necessitate our passage through the southern woods. Navigation is hardly simplistic in this particular area, given the exceptionally limited visibility, but my remembrance from earlier such excursions should suffice to successfully elucidate our desired direction."

"Okay...then what?"

"Subsequent to our departure from the southern woods, we shall encounter the Forest of Stars. A spellbinding experience, undoubtedly. I daresay you will derive a considerable magnitude of pleasure from your arrival there."

"Huh...well, I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. What exactly is so special about it?"

"Heaven forbid I discredit the mystique by way of explanation."

"Right..."

True to Blackcanismon's word, the woods around them were getting darker and darker as they made their way south. It had been quite a challenge to see anything when searching for Ebondramon, and that was a fairly shallow excursion compared to the one they were undertaking now. With only Blackcanismon and his thought to keep him company, Derek found his mood getting darker along with their surroundings, something that did not go unnoticed by his canine compatriot.

"I sense a remarkable degree of perturbance about you, Derek. Shall I venture a hypothesis that your concerns about our dissevered comrades have exacerbated themselves to the point of unignorability?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"I surmise that such a happening has indeed occurred recently. Foremost amongst your preoccupations remains the situation of Iris, indeed?"

"H-hey, I'm concerned about all of them!"

"But Iris in particular, no?"

"I...there's nothing wrong with that! She's like a sister to me!"

Blackcanismon snickered quietly. "I confess I am unable to comprehend the efforts behind your lackluster obfuscation attempts. Your pretensions of siblingship aside, it requires no significant degree of clairvoyance to unveil your infatuation with her."

"Now hold on just a minute! I certainly don't see her that way! She's been my closest friend for my entire life, it's only natural that I'm worried about her! She means a lot to me, that doesn't mean we're in love!"

"Ah, adolescent insecurity. It invokes such nostalgia of my own juvenility. Need I draw unto your recollection that your somnic reminiscences are accessible to my mentality? The matter is not debatable: you possess romantic tendencies towards her."

"I...okay, maybe a little bit. But it's not like I'm gonna just spring that on her. I mean, I really doubt she feels the same way, you know?"

A moment later, Derek was startled by Blackcanismon bursting out into loud, barking laughter. The sable canine fell over in a hysterical fit which went unsubdued for over a minute, and even then was only barely restrained.

"If you're quite finished..." Derek said darkly.

"Oh goodness...I haven't laughed like that in ages...Derek, you can't be that obtuse!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hee hee...'doubt she feels the same way'...Oh, if Shockavimon had heard that! She absolutely feels the same way! It's clear as crystal-" Here Blackcanismon had to stop in order to suppress another fit, both paws over his muzzle to stifle the continued alacrity.

"Okay, that's enough, cut it out. If you really think that, maybe I'll talk to her about it. But if you're putting me on..."

"Goodness no, perish the thought." Blackcanimson got a fair hold of himself and they continued their trek, though Derek was sure he could hear the dog quietly laughing every now and then. _At least one of us is amused by this..._

They walked on in relative silence for a while longer, until Derek noticed a chance in their surroundings; whereas the world around them before had been extremely dark, almost to the point of total obscurity even for him, they were moving into an area that was somewhat lighter, much more like an average night in a wooded area back on Earth. "Huh...is this..."

"I believe I can anticipate the forthcoming inquiry without its continuation. Precisely so: we have breached the border of the Forest of Stars."

"Cool...so we're getting close...whoa!" Derek's jaw dropped as suddenly the world around them lit up with tiny, glowing lights. They flitted around in haphazard paths, dancing their luminant dances around the trees and the travelers. "Holy smokes! It's so beautiful!"

"The Lumines are where the nomenclature 'Forest of Stars' originated," Blackcanismon explained, his own voice tinged with wonder. "Their sources are unknown, but they fascinate many with their splendor."

"No surprise there. Man...you'd never see something like that back on our world. Maybe the occasional firefly, but nothing on this scale."

"Unsurprising. I always possessed a fascination for the presence of these phenomenal peculiarities. My expectation for a landmass of eternal twilight would not include the existence of luminescent minutiae."

"Same here. Then again, I suppose a landmass of eternal twilight is kind of out there for me, as well. The closest we get is winter in the polar circles, and I've never had that experience before." Derek tried to catch one of the Lumines, and watched as it just danced away from his grasp. "Huh...it's almost like they're alive, yet, somehow, it doesn't seem like it."

"You perchance may yet encounter another phenomenon of some similarity before the day is completed. Despite my reluctance to distract from your fascination, I must insist on your continued ambulation."

"Oh, right, sorry. Yeah, I can walk and admire at the same time." Which is what he did, spending a lot of time looking around at the wondrous sights around him even as he forced himself to keep pace with Blackcanismon. The Lumines were numerous, coating the trees like Christmas lights or fluttering in the air like tiny, perpetually-lit fireflies. They seemed to avoid all contact with him or Blackcanismon; even as he almost walked into them, they either swiftly zipped out of his path or disappeared entirely, only to reappear behind him. It was like nothing Derek had ever imagined, and he could scarce think about anything else.

Eventually, however, he was forced to, as Blackcanismon stopped in front of a rather small building. It was built of dark rock, covered in foliage, and looked barely large enough for a moderately-sized creature, much less some of the larger digimon he'd seen back in Moonlighton. "This is the temple? It looks tiny."

"We have only encountered the entryway. Our perambulations will result in our descent to subterranean strata, whereupon the vastness of the Temple of Darkness will be markedly more noticeable."

"Gotcha." They stepped inside, and true to Blackcanismon's word they soon found themselves descending into a large catacomb, the walls made of dark rock and dripping condensation splashing them from the ceiling. The corridors in front of them had turns every which way, with no signs at all of the correct direction.

"Great. How do we find our way through here?"

"Simplicity itself, Derek. My remembrance of this particular locale is flawless. Affix yourself to my trail, and I shall escort you to our destination."

Derek wasn't quite convinced, but he didn't argue. Blackcanismon took him forward, then sharply turned to the left partway down the path. Derek had barely turned to follow before he took another left, almost mechanically following the path only he knew. Derek quickly picked up his pace, making every effort not to fall behind as Blackcanismon seemed to have gone into a reverie. He couldn't tell if they were taking the right path or not, but his partner seemed certain enough of the direction they were going.

He expected a rather short little jaunt, but instead was treated to a quite long journey through the catacombs, with turns every few seconds in order to keep him sufficiently disoriented. He was glad Blackcanismon had some idea where he was going, because he was completely clueless himself. _Is this part of the test? I'm not sure how meandering through a gigantic maze has any bearing on whether someone has sufficiently mastered the power of darkness..._

They had just rounded another corner - Derek had long lost count of how many times they had done so - when suddenly it became unusually bright. Derek had to cover his eyes, which had become accustomed to the very dim environment. "What's that?"

"I...I do not know." Blackcanismon's voice was tinged with wonder. "I encountered nothing akin to it previously..."

Derek tried to get a better look by slowly uncovering his eyes. It didn't help much; what was in front of them could best be described as a formless brightness, having no distinct shape or form yet clearly there. Neither one of them could make much sense of it, but before they could try to figure out anything more, they became aware of some kind of voice in their minds. _"Answers to questions be sought by minds confused. Truths beyond knowing found when unlikely else before."_

"What the..." Derek said quietly. "That's even more confusing than you can be."

"Remarkable! This...Derek, it is potentially plausible that this apparition before us could be identified as the Oracle!"

"Seriously? I was expecting something different..."

"_Desert hiding within foes removed presently. Palace of flying metal to be above, all being of threatened in below people. Flying to be undone many warriors in fighting."_

"What? Whoa, I'm not making any sense of this at all, I need to write it down or some-"

"_Those of seeking not finding in time of closeness. Bird being great of disaster in cliff of made into purity as to flaming and twined. Land sky war of demon to ending by demon and twined. Hating to be of turning into not-hating by being battle. Then of seeking being of finding."_

"I haven't even asked anything..."

"Perhaps it provides responses to queries without our verbalizing them-"

"_Of seeking pain in old being friend. Are there being stars of leading in line to there of battle in mind to battle in battle."_

Derek just shook his head, lost beyond belief at this point. He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but these supposed answers were just making him more confused than ever.

"_Of palace flying metal not final. Ship of being power fly as to water largely. Castle old of bringing doom, danger to being of power bringing twined. Reverse of being in trap of body found in found of before being elsewhere elsewhen."_

"On second thought, I don't even think writing it would help at this point."

"Perplexing beyond imagination, indubitably."

"_Questions of being doubt inside as knowing of before to be in of mind. To think can know if know can be acceptance of thinking. If is so to be..."_

Almost as suddenly as it had appeared, the light suddenly dissipated, the voice in their heads faded to silence, and they were left back in the darkness. It almost startled Derek for everything to have returned to normalcy. "Holy...surreal doesn't even begin to describe that."

"Incredible...happening upon the Oracle in such circumstances as these...though I confess my bewilderment at its utterances remains boundless. And yet...are you not cognizant of its revelations even currently?"

"Yeah...it's like the words are sticking in my head, refusing to be forgotten. Maybe we will have a chance to figure out what they mean...though it can't be easy. They weren't kidding when they said it wasn't straightforward."

"Indeed. Perhaps such peculiarities arise because of its uniqueness of being. Its cognition perhaps resembles no extant being of our particular category, thus its professions cannot translate directly into our understandings, only tangentially."

"I guess that's possible..." Derek shook his head. "It's gonna bug be until I try to make sense of it...guess we'd better get through this temple sooner rather than later, then."

"I concur. Erm...permit me a momentary suspension of conversation." Blackcanismon closed his eyes, and Derek waited quietly for him to do something. He could almost hear something from the canine, an extremely indistinct and quiet mumbling which meant nothing to him. Yet, after just a minute or so, he opened his eyes again. "Perfect. Continue your pursuit."

And just like that he was off again, Derek scrambling to stay on his tail. And it wasn't long after that before Derek saw the hallway widen in front of them, leading to a small foyer with a doorway at the end, blocked only by a dark cloth veil.

"Wow, way to go, buddy. That was some trek you took me on."

"Certainly puzzling and perplexing, hardly more minimal than the bestowments of the Oracle."

"How'd you do it after all this time?"

"A phenomenal mnemonic. Its genesis harkens back to my principal excursion into the Temple of Darkness. I queried a close acquaintance of mine as to the directions necessary to vanquish this fantastic labyrinth, and he provided me the necessary directives. My difficulty committing them to memory, however, provoked me to utilization of a prodigious memory assistance paradigm, whereupon I applied a tidbit from my vocabulary to each individual maneuver. It required a triad of fortnights for me to acquire confidence in my accuracy, during which I verbally expressed nothing less than a century of repetitions of the paradigm daily."

"And I thought my homework was bad. I suppose if you push it that hard you're not bound to forget it very easily."

"Certainly not, and I have committed additional repetitions daily in the event of a necessary return journey. Maintenance of the memorization is many magnitudes less challenging than re-acquisition. Come, let us continue."

Derek nodded in agreement, and the two passed through the doorway, moving the veil aside to reveal a slightly larger room. Strange markings lined the walls; Derek couldn't make any sense of them. There were some very dim torches in the corners of the room, lit by strange purple flames. In the back of the room, an altar was connected to the wall; a strange black orb laid in a recess in the altar, glowing softly.

"So that's the Catalyst...not that the maze wasn't perplexing enough, but I can't believe that that's all there is guarding this thing if it's that important."

"What you cannot visually acquire is what offers protection to the Darkness Catalyst," Blackcanismon replied. "The guardians remain invisible until such time necessitates their presence. We must endure a trial before being able to acquire the power. Are you prepared?"

Derek nodded. "As I'll ever be."

The two stepped forward, stopping as there appeared to be a reaction in the room in front of them. Derek had the vague sensation of something moving in front of him, even though there was nothing there that he could see.

The room began to get darker, the light from the corner torches being dimmed. And then Derek saw them, figures leaping from the strange objects by the altar, resembling nothing he'd ever seen before. They had a rather bestial shape, though they appeared to walk mostly upright, and no physical features at all - almost like Darkwolfmon, except even more so.

"What the...these aren't digimon!"

"Correct. The guardians of the Darkness Catalyst are possessed of an indistinct formulation. They are the purified essence of the energies permeating throughout the Twilight Plateau. They are possessed of no physicality."

"Then how do we defeat them?"

"Such measures demand no necessity. The tribulations require no mortal combat; rather, they demand understanding of the nature of darkness itself, and demonstrable profession of attunement to its energies."

It had become totally dark; Derek couldn't see a thing. He knew that the guardians were all around him, but he couldn't tell where they were.

_But I can't just let them get to me...I gotta use this. All right, let's put my senses to the test..._

He closed his eyes and tried to remember the feelings he'd felt as Ebonlupimon during the fight with Crescemon. It took a moment, but it came to him - that sense of being able to almost feel the darkness move around him, leading him to the truth. Even without any sight, he had all the information he needed to stand against the guardians.

They came at him, and he swung. His hand passed right through the guardian, and it in turned passed right through him. He was momentarily confused, then remembered what Blackcanismon had said: they didn't need to be defeated. _All right, I guess it's just a game of hide and seek, then..._

Another one flew at him from behind, and he ducked and rolled under it, not giving it a chance to touch him. Another one; they were coming with more frequency. He managed to avoid or strike all of them, and after a couple minutes, he felt their presences wane. He opened his eyes to find he could see once more. After the pure darkness he'd been in, even the dim light in the temple was remarkably clear.

Blackcanismon was nearby, panting lightly but pleased. "Congratulations. The guardians deemed you skilled enough and accepted your efforts as suitable for utilization of the Catalyst."

"You had to go through that, too?"

"Every iteration of visiting the Catalyst requires a re-examination by the guardians. Such policies ensure the sustained suitability of individuals to possess the power the Catalyst bestows upon them."

"Huh. Well...I'm glad I was able to pass once. Hopefully I can do it again if I have to. We probably shouldn't dilly-dally, though, right?"

"Undue dalliance is no virtue, certainly enough. Shall we?"

The two approached the Catalyst on the altar. Blackcanismon hopped up on a small platform at the side so he could reach it and placed a paw on the orb. Derek followed suit, placing his own hand on the ebony sphere. Almost immediately he felt it, an unfamiliar pulsing sensation of power that coursed through his entire body. Even knowing somewhat what was coming, he was enthralled by the sheer magnitude of what he felt; it was far more intense than even his first time merging with his symbiotic partner.

When it finally ebbed away, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. "Whoa...man, that was something else." Even his voice was unsteady, he couldn't help but notice.

"The repercussions of utilization of the Catalyst were something I eternally find inexplicable," Blackcanismon replied, sounding a little shaky himself. "This particular experience harkens back to my initial encounter with the Catalyst...its atmosphere is remarkably similar. Indeed, I fathom if perhaps our symbiotic melding has affected my response to its energies..."

"You mean like it was like your first time all over again, and you'll be stronger permanently afterwards? Well, that could only be a good thing, right?"

"Indubitably. Well, shall we carry onward forthwith?"

"Sounds good to me."

(==========)

"Whoo, man, I feel totally on edge. Is this normal?"

"There is an abbreviated period of hypereffectivity, during which radicalized sensations of strength and sensitivity should be remarkably apparent to you. The bestowment of the Catalysts generally creates these responses. You should feel normalized in a few hours."

"I don't think I'll ever feel normalized again at this point. C'mon, let's head back to Moonlighton."

"I will broach no argument to that course of action."

The two started walking along the winding path through the forest. Derek found himself once against lost in the Lumines, watching them zip and swirl around like energetic little fireflies. _Man, I wish the others were around. They'd be fascinated by this._

He walked almost into one of the Lumines. It disappeared just as he tried to sidestep it. As he did, he saw a few others flicker through the trees. It was only when he saw them flicker repeatedly in the same spot that it caught his attention. "Hey, Blackcanismon...the Lumines are acting kind of odd."

"Indeed? How so?"

Derek pointed through the woods. "They're kinda all hanging around in the same spots. Most of them just wandered around more or less, I thought."

"Quite a conundrum. I must admit my lack of experience with such behavior. Perhaps they are..."

Blackcanismon suddenly trailed off. Derek looked down and was startled to discover that Blackcanismon had gone wide-eyed and was suddenly breathing rapidly. "Blackie? What's going on?"

"Of seeking pain in old being friend...are there being stars of leading in line to there of battle in mind to battle in battle!" the canine exclaimed, breathlessly, almost wildly. "Glademon's in this direction!"

And with that Blackcanismon shot off, dashing headlong off the path and into the woods, heedless of anything else. Derek quickly took off after him, having no idea what could have spurred that kind of conclusion from what seemed to be mere gibberish, until he remembered the words of the Oracle. _Old being friend, stars of leading in line...the syntax is abysmal, but that just might be what it was trying to tell us._

They rushed into a small clearing in the woods, one that Derek could tell had been hastily manufactured just for them. The ground was pockmarked with patches of dirt where trees should have stood. At one end of the clearing was he and Blackcanismon. At the other...

"Glademon!"

At Blackcanismon's barking cry, Glademon turned to face the two. "Blackcanismon. It has been quite some time, has it not? I'm surprised it took you so long to seek out the Oracle for your answers. But even the Oracle cannot help you now."

"So you're the creep that did all this!" Derek yelled. "I hope you're happy, you've cause a hell of a lot of trouble!"

"And a human as well. Curious. I did not expect you. But it doesn't matter, that oversight will be taken care of soon enough." Glademon stepped forward and crossed his arms in front of him. "Call it what you will, but indeed, I set in motion the demise of Libertius and the rise of Emperius. And I am indeed happy for it."

"Why?" Blackcanismon burst out angrily. "Why did you do this? Why did you turn on all of us? On your allies, on your friends, on ME?"

"Tsk, Blackcanismon, you should gather yourself before you speak. I always enjoyed listening to you talk...you spoke much more grandly than anyone else I knew." Glademon was quiet for a moment before continuing. "You ask why I betrayed you...but you did not see. You did not see the opportunities I gave you to join me."

"What?"

"I always respected you for your power, Blackcanismon. You possessed an inner strength that I had long envied, and still do. And I enjoyed our friendship together. But the way you applied your power...I felt it was misguided. I hinted it this many times over the time we spent together...but you either ignored it or missed it. Perhaps the latter is more likely, you did seem to have your ideals in order. There were many times I wished to ask you to join Emperius with me."

"WHAT?" Blackcanismon shouted. "Have you been with Emperius from the start?"

"Not exactly. At one time, I held my allegiance with Libertius and none other...but I always doubted. I doubted whether they were right. And one from Emperius approached me, impressed by my power, wishing that I would join them. What they said...it was everything I had ever thought. That only by ridding the world of the weak will we become truly strong."

"That's vile!" Derek snapped.

"You are ignorant, but I suppose that is to be expected from a human. Blackcanismon..." Glademon paused for a moment. "You must remember what I'm talking about...there was a night, shortly before I swore my full allegiance to Emperius, that I came around, wishing to talk to you. I wanted to try to sway you, to have you come with me..."

The cues stirred something in Blackcanismon's memory. "That night..."

_-16 months ago-_

_It was a night like any other, at least as far as I could tell. I was supposed to be one of the night watch, keeping my eye open for any potential sneak attacks by Emperius. That is, until Glademon asked me to have a talk with him. Something in his tone told me that I shouldn't refuse, that there was something seriously concerning him. So I foisted my shift on one of my comrades and walked out to the roof of the complex with him. We sat at the top of the building, watching the stars twinkle in the darkness._

"_Thank you for coming out here with me, Blackcanismon," Glademon said to me. "I really appreciate it. I'm sorry for pulling you off watch."_

"_Perish the thought," I said back. "Mephismon was required to settle an outstanding debt, as it stood. Besides, I detected a sensibility of perturbance about you...you possess my confidence, as you are certainly aware."_

"_I am...Black, are you sure we're doing the right thing here?"_

_Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't this. "I...confess I desire the possibility of elaboration on that observation."_

"_I have my doubts...it is not because of agreement with Emperius on any matter, but I question our goals here. We could be using the power we have gathered together for much more important reasons. Shouldn't we be trying to make people stronger instead of fighting others who match up with us? Shouldn't we be working with the strong instead of against them?"_

"_My apologies, Glademon, but this is slightly disturbing rhetoric given our missions here at Emperius. Do you possess the sentiment that our alliances should be exclusively limited to those of superior physical ability?"_

"_I...look. Strength is a good thing, right?"_

"_Undebatably."_

"_Right. And not just on a one-by-one basis, either. It's good for everyone, the whole population. Right? I just think that we may be better served by allying with the strong to pursue our agenda, rather than spending all our time catering to those who don't have that kind of strength."_

"_Glademon, certainly you recognize you have merely described the entirety of the purpose of Emperius. Their underlying intention is the annihilation of those who they perceive as without contribution to their constricted interpretation of beneficence. To practice judgmentalism under their categorizations is to condemn innocents to undeserved fates. Their single-minded, destructive intentions benefit nary an individual on this terrestria barring themselves."_

"_...I just don't know. It seems like we're fighting a futile battle here. Like what we're doing is making ourselves less fit as a whole."_

"_The totality of individuals populating our lands deserve the protections of the totality of the others. My background harkens back to such a community as might be deemed purposeless by Emperius, where individuals possess lackluster physical strength and potential. However, under no circumstances would I condemn them to desecration solely for this perceived shortcoming."_

"_Perhaps you've got a point..."_

"_That's the reason we oppose Emperius, Glademon. The culmination of our endeavors is the protection of those individuals and groups who cannot muster the strength to oppose them, to achieve the security of the multitudes. Should we neglect to prevent the exercise of their despicable ideals, they will sacrifice at their discretion that which bestows our world with the ultimate of diversity. Such an intolerable transgression against civility cannot be allowed to survive to completion. That is our purpose for our resistance."_

"_I see...thank you, Blackcanismon. I needed something to settle my mind, and I think you gave it to me. I truly do appreciate your friendship."_

_I gave him a smile. "Your contentment brings me great satisfaction, Glademon. May our congeniality never falter."_

_-Present Day-_

Blackcanismon shook his head, holding back tears. "I should have known then...you had already decided your allegiance. And I was willing to overlook it, because I thought you were a friend."

Glademon nodded. "I was fortunate then. It was a foolish move on my part...I knew where you stood, I should not have expected you would change your stance. Perhaps I just wanted to avoid fighting you, in the end. But I knew the truth after that. You'd been born and raised among the weak, and you sympathized with them. You were adamant about defending people who contribute nothing to the populace...opposing the ideals of Emperius and myself. I knew I could not sway you then."

"That's horrible..." Derek breathed. "That's just about the most despicable thing I've ever heard."

"Specious reasoning at its lowest," agreed Blackcanismon.

"You cannot forever remain blind to the truth. It is simple math. There is always an average strength of a population. Remove those below that standard, and it rises."

"What a load of crap," Derek spat. "If you really think that, then why go after the humans? They have nothing to do with you!"

"I was not part of that decision. I simply provided the means by which they could achieve that goal. Even so, we are the superior populace. The strong deserve to survive over the weak. I may not think much of the religious undertones of Emperius, but the end goal is the same, and that is all that matters."

"You're even more twisted than they are," Derek hissed. "Your stance is just as bad, and you don't even have the excuse of idiotic adherence to some stupid religious thing to fall back on."

Blackcanismon shook his head. "That you could conceive of such atrocity and regard it as legitimate...it only serves to underscore the fact that you are not the honorable, realistic individual I once thought you were."

"It's not our place to decide who deserves to live and die. If some divine being wants us gone, it can come down and take care of the job itself. But you don't get to decide what's good for anyone's kind and what isn't. For all you know, you chose the wrong standard."

"You probably would say that, human, given that you fall quite short on that particular standard," Glademon riposted. He stood up tall, drew his swords, and pointed one at Derek. "I intend to give one more chance to Blackcanismon, as he is an old friend...but nothing you can say will save you here!" He lunged forward, only to be driven back by a powerful blast of dark energy, barely managing to keep his footing. "What...what in blazes?"

A dark aura smoked off of Derek's hands. The boy gave Glademon a steely glare. "Sorry to wreck your party, but I'm not just gonna hand my life over to you! You'll have to do better than that! Blackcanismon!"

"You will rue the day you betrayed us all!" Blackcanismon shouted at he began to glow.

In the next instant, Ebonlupimon was standing in front of Glademon, who had picked himself up from the blow. It was clearly something Glademon hadn't expected. "What...what is this? Your evolution was sealed!"

"This is not a typical evolution." Ebonlupimon drew his own sword. "Your former friend and that human you were so dismissive of? This is what they have become...a digimon-like creature with greater strength than anyone before us has expected. Together, we have defeated all of what Emperius has thrown at us...and that is about to include you."

Glademon bowed his head. "So, friend...it comes to this, does it?"

"Please. You are no friend on mine, Glademon." Ebonlupimon took a step forward and pointed his sword at the golden knight. "The digimon in me seeks vengeance for a betrayal. The human in me thinks you're just an asshole. As for myself...I have more honor in my tail than you have in your whole body, and would never stoop to harming innocents for anything. I will fight to defend those who cannot defend themselves!"

"Hmph...your fight ends here!" Glademon rushed Ebonlupimon, slicing wildly and quickly at the smaller foe. Ebonlupimon was instantly on guard, parrying what he could and dodging what he couldn't. But though he was fast, Glademon was much faster, and some of the blows were getting through. His one sword was simply no match for Glademon's two lightning-fast blades.

"Necro Claw!" Ebonlupimon ducked a swing and tried to launch an attack into Glademon's body with is free hand. The thick armor deflected his blow, leaving him open to attack. Before he could get away, Glademon had carved four furrows into his chest. The lupine hybrid staggered backwards, clutching at the wounds. "Damn...well, this isn't working very well."

"You were a fool to challenge me. You know my strength...my speed...you knew you had no chance. You knew what was coming when you decided to fight!"

Glademon charged again, but in a flash, Ebonlupimon disappeared. He skidded to a halt, turning behind him just in time to see Ebonlupimon standing tall again, a dark aura surrounding him. "I knew exactly what was coming, Glademon...that is why I saved the best show for last!"

"What?"

"I promised I would give you a challenge the next time we fought. I never imagined it would come to this...but it has, and I will make it count! Prepare, Glademon!"

The short, small form of Ebonlupimon shifted, gaining over a foot in height. He retained the same basic shape, but his body was more muscular. His clothes changed drastically, from the somewhat casual garments of his Champion form to a more handsome wear. A black short-sleeved shirt covered by a black vest formed on his chest; dark leather bands with buckles formed over his forearms. Short black pants formed over his legs, with a studded belt around his waist. A deep blue sash wrapped around his neck, the length flowing behind him.

"What the...now what is this?"

"The name is Onyxvargmon," the new figure replied in a smooth, accented voice. "That's all you need to know. Are you ready?" He stretched his hands out to his sides, and two dark shapes formed from them, lengthening into long, black-bladed swords. One sword went to his side, the other pointed at Glademon. "En garde."

With alarming quickness, the two warriors blitzed each other, the first clash of their blades resounding through the whole forest. Lightning-fast slashes and thrusts followed, each one rapidly parried and countered, the fight almost a blur to anyone who might have been watching. Then they both leapt back...and charged again, slamming their blades brutally against each other, neither one giving one inch. Then they burst back again, the rapid swings flying once more. Over and over they clashed, swinging hard, swinging fast, each blow a testament to their matched abilities.

But the balance was shifting. Onyxvargmon, new to his form, was adjusting to his new body, his new speed. As he began to get a better feel, not just of his physical quickness, but his mental quickness as well, he began to get the edge of his opponent. His adjustments became faster, his swipes more direct and unpredictable. Glademon found himself struggling to keep up, and a hard blow drove him backwards.

"You...your strength in this form is amazing...you should have joined us while you had the chance, you would have been without peer. Your status would have been untouchable."

"I don't fight for status, Glademon. I fight to protect."

"You still don't see? There's no point in protecting the weak. Only the strong should survive! They're the only ones who are of use to the world!"

Glademon charged forward again, but this time it went very wrong. Onyxvargmon shouted "Umbra Swarm!" With lightning quickness, Glademon found himself assailed by a gale of dark projectiles, slicing into him and drawing him off-guard. Onyxvargmon wasted no time, adding to the knight's torment by buffeting him with slash after slash of his swords, the armor doing little to protect him. In desperation, Glademon thrust a blade forward, only to find air. A moment later, something struck him from behind and latched into his back, causing intense pain.

"You are the one who does not see!" Onyxvargmon snarled, swords now hovering at his sides, his arm outstretched, a beam of purple energy coursing from his hand into Glademon's back. His sash began to flutter as the energy in his hand began to intensify. "You judge by a single standard, strength. You ignore what those without that strength can contribute to our kind, and all kinds! Intelligence, innovation, wisdom, courage, justice, dedication, every quality a person can have is their contribution to the populace! On their own, each one would be worthless to the world! Everything that we have achieved in this world and everything we will achieve has been a result of all of these components working together! That is why I fight for those who may lack strength! They are as important as anyone else! Let this be your lesson! Shadow Pulse!"

All the charged energy in his hand burst forth with incredible force, the size of the blast dwarfing Onyxvargmon himself. Glademon was driven forward by the blast, sending him careening through the trees, snapping them at their trunks, except for one massive one that stopped him cold, driving the rest of the energy into Glademon. The knight collapsed to the ground, out for the count.

He could have killed him. The anger deep within him was more than strong enough. But in spite of all that, something still stopped Onyxvargmon from walking over and ending Glademon's life. "Hm...even the worst of us...deserves a second chance." The swords disappeared into the same void they had come from, and he turned away from the carnage. "Let us see if you make the most of it, Glademon. Choose wisely...if you don't, the next battle will be your last."

(==========)

(==========)

Three down, two to go.

The one tough thing about splitting Derek off on his own is coming up with the script for Blackcanismon. While it's great fun, coming up with all those big words is not as easy as it looks. Thankfully, Nysus Writer has a thesaurus sidebar, which helps immensely, but I've had to spend time looking up words elsewhere, too.

I'm not enamored of the fight scene here. It's easy to visualize, hard to verbalize, which has always been something of an issue for me. I may revisit this chapter at some point in the future to improve on it. Ah, well, I hope the rest of the chapter makes up for it some.


	35. Chapter 34: Upgrade

Before we begin, a public service announcement from DC Zero: Don't forget to give your boyfriend/girlfriend a good Valentine's Day gift. And please, for those who have one, try not to rub it in the faces of the single folk. That only leads to Valentine's Day Massacres.

Thank you. We now return to your regularly scheduled program. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 34: Upgrade**

"Eight minutes, Ike. Better than your usual."

"Stuff it, Data. Not like I can wake up at will. I still say it's too early in the morning for something like this."

"Sorry, I suppose humans have different sleep demands from ourselves," Mekitsumon said. "You gonna be all right?"

"Mph. Just need a few minutes. Why so early, anyway? I kinda doubt Raidenmon's gonna be caught off-guard if he's not sleeping either."

"We're trying to squeeze in between patrol shifts," explained Metalmamemon. "It's either now or late in the day, and I'd really rather do it while we have decent visibility."

"I'd think that would hurt us more than help us."

"Not as reliant as they are on sensors. To them, night and day might as well not exist."

"Ah, right. That Mekanorimon yesterday never even bothered to look in my direction. I'd rather I didn't have to get lucky twice, though."

"Well, you're armed, aren't you?" Cyberdramon asked. "Some kind of gun thing in that arm of yours? And a stunner?"

"Yeah, but neither of those is what I would call heavy-duty. The stun gun is more finesse than anything, and the energy cannon is pretty strong, but I'd suspect a lot of the digimon here are stronger."

"You can't charge it up or anything?"

"I wish. I didn't really have the time to write more than the basics. Even if I'd been thinking about it specifically at the time, I was pretty crunched for time, and I might not have been able to finish it anyway. And I can't make improvements in this world, so I'm limited to what I have."

"Or what he can take from others," Datacarnomon chimed in.

"Take from others?" asked Metallifekuwagamon.

"Yeah, I might not have been able to make a better cannon in short order, but I was able to whip up a crude copy ability."

"Copy ability?" Mekitsumon half-shouted. "I'd kill for something like that!"

"Please don't," Isaac said with a smirk. "That's pretty crude, too, I could do a lot better."

"Still not bad for the time you had," Datacarnomon said. "Of course, the hard part is actually getting the abilities copied. How many did you end up with?"

"Nine, all told. Was hoping for more, but a couple of the digimon I asked didn't want me getting anywhere near them. I don't think they believed it was as harmless as I claimed."

"Figures. Still, you followed my advice, right?"

Isaac rolled his eyes. "As if you needed to tell me. I was already planning on getting a variety, I didn't need a hundred reminders."

"What did you copy?" asked Cyberdramon. "Anything that'll help us down here?"

"I sure hope so. Let's see...I tested it out on the Flamedramon that had me captured, so I've got Fire Rocket...Drimogemon's Drill Spin was what got me into this place...and then the rest were just what I thought might be useful. Got Blaze Buster from Flarelizarmon, Ice Blast from Seadramon, Frigid Stream from Freezedramon, Electro Shocker from Kabuterimon..."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you went out of your way to get a bunch of different types of attacks," Peacockmon said.

"Well, yeah. I figure if I don't have a lot of raw power, I might as well try to take advantage of weaknesses. Plus, Data wouldn't shut up about it."

"I have your best interests at heart and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, where was I...right, I also wanted something rapid-fire, so I scanned a Gargomon...I don't think he ever really got what was going on. And, oh, yeah, Ceramon's Saurian Strike, the way he laid out Burnreptimon I figured I could use some of that. That might be the strongest in terms of raw power, too bad it's only melee, but I might be able to bust up a robot with a few good hits. And last, but not least, Lux Barrier from Photogarurumon. Yeah, I definitely went out of my way for that."

"For a shield?"

"Hey, I'm not really that big on trying to see how much damage I can withstand. Better to have some kind of protection, and Lux Barrier's a pretty seriously stable shield."

"Man, that's so cool...hey, can you show me some of them? I wanna see how you make all that different stuff!" Mekitsumon said eagerly.

"Sorry, I don't think a demonstration is a good idea at the moment. One of the things wrong with it is that I don't exactly have a huge energy reservoir. I don't want to risk using up something that might be useful."

"Aw. After we wipe out Raidenmon, will you show me?"

"I suppose so, though you might get to see them while we're doing this whole siege on Raidenmon. Speaking of which, weren't we supposed to be going somewhere?"

"Soon," said Peacockmon. "It's not quite time yet...the changing of the guard isn't far away now. We'll have to move quickly, but if we start too early, we'll hit the guards getting off shift, and they'll alert the ones coming on. Then we'd have twice as many after us."

"That reminds me, I'd better go over the entry plan with you two," Metalmamemon said. "This is going to be a tricky process, so pay attention. We're going to be splitting up into pairs and gaining access from different angles. That way, if one of the groups is spotted, the others can still get in and carry out the mission."

"How many angles could we enter at, though?" asked Datacarnomon.

"More than you might think. The building in question is a multifaceted shell at the north end of Mechalopolis, with a whole bunch of guard posts, each one connecting to the interior. This place houses Raidenmon's coveted weapons factory and a couple mechagens he's trying to build his army with. Raidenmon himself sits underneath it all, in an underground catacomb built specifically for added protection; it looks like just another building, but it's dead center inside the shell and is completely uninhabited. Virtually no one knows abut this...we only know because of Datamon. We'll be meeting up inside that building, and from there we pretty much have to take it one step at a time. Datamon will get us inside and past what he can, but we don't know everything that's going to get in our way."

"I think it's time we started charging," Chaosdramon said from one of the doorways. Makomon was flanking him, looking considerably less perky than his hopes the previous night. "It might take a little while to get everyone cycled through, and we wouldn't want to have that delay us."

"Good call. You two go first, maybe that charge will help Makomon a little."

"I sure hope so," grumbled the cyborg shark. "If I keep feeling like this I'm gonna be a burden rather than an asset."

"Are you sure you don't want to take Boltmon up on his offer?" Chaosdramon asked.

"Like I said, I don't know how those will react with my mood stabilizers. I'd be even worse off if I went on a rampage."

"We should get to the Catalyst, too," Datacarnomon said to Isaac. "We might need that extra firepower against whatever we have to face down there, and especially against Raidenmon."

"No doubt. But I think we should hold off using it as long as possible, if we can. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I feel like we'd be better off as smaller targets until it became necessary."

"I dunno. We might find that we're better off in that form anyway, if Raidenmon's got a lot in the way. But we can figure that out when we're down there, too. We're gonna have to go in separate anyway, since that jammer won't carry over."

"Right. Man, I can't believe we're actually doing something like this. It feels so...sci-fi."

"I'll take your word for it. All I know is, it'll feel really good to finally get one-up on that creep."

(==========)

_I gotta admit, that is one impressive structure,_ Isaac pathed to Datacarnomon as they stood before the shell in the northern part of Mechalopolis. It was a gigantic geodesic dome, colorless except for the gleaming sunlight shining on it, easily dwarfing the buildings around it, and decked out with a cavalcade of weaponry, manned by numerous robots sitting in balconies situated all around it. _Has to be strong as hell, too._

_As if Raidenmon would demand any less. How's our time?_

_Good. We've got just a couple minutes left. Man, I can't see any of the others at all. I hope they're doing all right._

_They'll be fine. Let's worry about ourselves first. We're gonna have to be cautious...we can't pass through the line of sight of anyone on our way to the post we're going through._

_Yeah, they may rely on sensors more than anything, but I don't think they'll miss a guy passing right in front of them. We'd better make our move._

Slowly, carefully, the pair left their hiding spot behind a building and made their way towards the dome. They stayed close to buildings, ready to duck behind them if any robots came nearby. They were almost caught twice before they even got close, both times surprised by robots emerging from buildings.

_I really wish I could see into those,_ Isaac griped as he felt his heart rate slow back down.

_I never used to, but I can see an advantage to it now. Come on, we have to move again, or we'll miss the guard change._

Isaac nodded, and soon they were on their way again. Things went well for a while, and within a few minutes they were close to striking distance, hiding behind a squat building not far from the dome. _Yeah...now we just have to wait for that one to go back inside, and then dash in while no one else is looking,_ Datacarnomon pathed.

_Great. Won't be long now...wait! Data, there's someone coming our way!_

_Yeah, I'm seeing them too! Hurry, around the other side!_ The two quickly and quietly rushed to the edge of the building, swinging around into a small recess just as a trio of robot guards came within view of their previous location.

"I am certain I heard something over here."

"There's nothing on our sensors. You are probably mistaking environmental noise for intruders."

"Raidenmon will have our skulls if we are wrong. We must keep watch on this area."

"Very well. It is better to be safe than sorry."

_Damn...those are sad excuses for robot digimon,_ Datacarnomon pathed with a shake of his head. _No personality at all. Must be Raidenmon's make, he probably doesn't want to bother with making them have any kind of uniqueness. Probably just clones for his army._

_Yeah, well, right now they're a pain in the butt. Dammit! The timer's started! We've only got a little time!_

_Great! Can we go the other way around this hunk of metal?_

_No dice...I see a few patrol bots around. There's no way we'd get past them._

_Oh, well, that's just fan-frickin-tastic. Don't tell me we're gonna miss the boat on this!_

_Well, we aren't going to be able to make the guard post now. Time for plan B._

Datacarnomon looked up at Isaac. _Plan B? What Plan B?_

_This one._ Isaac ran out from the hiding spot, Datacarnomon following behind in confusion. Instead of going towards the dome, they went away from it, Isaac taking them to a slightly more secluded location behind a group of apparently abandoned buildings.

"Wow...talk about desolate," Datacarnomon said quietly. "I wonder why these are empty?"

"I'd imagine they used to be filled with Raidenmon's victims," Isaac said sullenly. "Still, it's a good spot for us."

"Why? What's so special about..." Datacarnomon trailed off as he saw Isaac's metal arm begin to shift. At the end, the hand disappeared, replaced by a sizable drill. "Whoa, hold on! You can't just drill anywhere! We could hit a sub-level of a building, and then we'd be in it deep!"

"There won't be much risk of that, because I'm going to drill underneath most of them. We'll pop up inside the dome and take it from there."

"This is nuts!"

"You want a shot at Raidenmon or not?"

"Gah...fine. Just be super-ultra careful, got it?"

"Got it. Let's drill."

(==========)

"Whoof...that thing is not easy to steer," Isaac muttered as he shifted his arm back to normal. "Least we got here safely."

"Okay, that is so not the way to travel," grumbled Datacarnomon, brushing dirt off of himself with a scowl. "Seriously, it is gonna take weeks of buffing to get this crap off of me."

"That's the least of our problems right now." Isaac looked around. The interior of the dome appeared as jam-packed and dense with buildings as the city outside, but the environment around them was very different. Instead of sunlight, all there was was a harsh artificial light, emanating from points on the dome and lights on and around the buildings. The air was stale and smelled even more strongly of metal, reminding Isaac of a robotics workshop he'd visited once. It was louder, too, with a constant low hum that almost intruded on them, and various random other clanks and whirs from any direction, echoing somewhat off of the dome's walls.

"Jeez, this looks like a pretty awful place to live," Datacarnomon huffed. "Whatever happened to fresh air and sunlight?"

"Probably some of that organic stuff Raidenmon hates so much."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good bet. So how do we get to the center of this place?"

"Hm...well, we're still not giving off a signal. Do you think Raidenmon's put a hit out on you? Or that other guy, Technodylemon or whatever?"

"Maybe. And news travels fast, so I guess I'm probably not very incognito. What about you?"

"Well, I could cloak, so they wouldn't see me. As long as I didn't run into them or make a bunch of noise, I should be okay."

"That's right, I forgot about that."

"That's all right, so did I. That's the problem with having versatility, sometimes you can do so much that you forget what you can do."

"Well, that takes care of you...guess I just have to wing it."

"I'll try to be out ahead a little bit to warn you about anything that might cause trouble. Maybe that'll help."

"Good idea. Let's hurry, we don't want to be any later than we are. Not that you're not used to that by now."

"Har har." Isaac cloaked and took off, Datacarnomon trailing behind just a little, waiting for any mental signal. As it turned out, the interior of the dome was much less heavily guarded, with few patrols and few other extraneous robots walking around inside. They figured that most of the robots inside the dome were hard at work and thus inside, and that they put less into patrols inside because the outside was so heavily guarded. It certainly had its benefits, as they had little trouble getting to their destination.

The building was as nondescript as they had expected, looking for all intents and purposes like another residence building. The front doors were unlocked and unguarded, and the interior appeared almost entirely barren, save for the collected members of System Error inside.

"You made it!" Mekitsumon exclaimed in a low voice. "We thought you might have gotten captured or waylaid! But where's Isaac?"

"I'm here, don't worry," Isaac said, de-cloaking himself. "Things didn't go so smoothly, but we didn't get seen."

"You ca go invisible, too?" asked Cyberdramon. "Jeez, what else are you hiding in that arm of yours?"

"I'll let you know when I remember. So, uh, where exactly is the entrance to this place?"

"Datamon's working on it now." Peacockmon pointed to Datamon, who was connected to something in the wall. "They hid the access panel well, we never would have found it by searching randomly. Too bad for them Datamon installed it."

"Got it. Stand away from the center of the room." The group moved to the sides of the room as a depression formed in the center. A loud whir accompanied the drop of the floor, and Isaac could see a tunnel being revealed, descending fairly sharply below the surface.

"Doesn't look very large..." Boltmon said.

"It gets bigger further down," Chaosdramon replied. "Raidemon didn't have room for a bigger access tunnel in this direction. Most of the larger digimon go through another spot, but that would have been suicide for us."

"We should hurry, the accessway is on a timer," Datamon warned them. "I'd rather not try to lower it too many times, that's liable to draw attention."

"Right. Everyone, into the tunnel!" Metalmamemon ordered. They filed into the tunnel, which was a bit cramped for some of them. True to Chaosdramon's word, once they were a ways down it expanded to a more comfortable size. It remained fairly dimly lit, though, making it somewhat difficult to see everything around them.

It was only a short distance before they came across another barricade, this one a complex gate mechanism. Datamon hopped up near the control panel and began making inputs. "Let's see...I remember what I programmed in here, so...ah, first one worked beautifully. I had a feeling. I told him time and time again, he had to change these codes, but Raidenmon was never patient enough to mess with the security systems. I always ended up doing it myself. So the gates should be a simple matter."

"I doubt they're the only things down here, though," Mekitsumon said.

"Well, I know some of the other security measures, as well. Some electric gates, force fields, other barriers, that sort of thing. I'll be able to disarm them as well. Anything that was built after I was driven out, though, I doubt I'll be able to do much. Or any guards. I'm not much of a fighter."

"Raidenmon didn't have many guards down here," Chaosdramon added. "Said it was a waste of time, with all the other security measures. With our numbers, we should be okay."

After a couple minutes of waiting, the gates were fully opened. System Error made its way through into a slightly more open chamber, more built up than the entryway but still not lit very well.

"Would it have killed him to add a few lights?" grumped Peacockmon.

"Well, it does make it that much harder for someone to get to him," Loaderliomon muttered. "Especially when we can't use other feedback...is anyone else having trouble with sensor jamming? It's kind of fading in and out for me, and I can't get a bead on anything."

"Pretty sure Raidenmon had some jammers installed down around here," Datamon said. "Not exactly a surprise. And they probably haven't been maintained very well, so that could account for the fading. But I'm concerned they might be selective."

"Selective?" asked Isaac.

"They only jam for those of us who aren't transmitting a certain signal. So if there are any guards down here, they know we're coming but we can't tell if they are."

"Oh. Fun times. Then again...maybe they don't know we're coming, either. I still have my own jammer on me."

"That's right, that especially good one. So we might be on even ground after all."

After another minute, they reached a small room, barely distinctive except for being wider than the hallway. At the opposite end were some mechanisms barring their progress. And in the middle, six robots of the same make stood in front of them. Each one was close to twice Isaac's height, built on a sturdy frame, and well-armored. They stood upon treads, and their hands and heads were formed in a familiar horseshoe shape.

"Mangetmon?" Cyberdramon almost roared. "Here?"

"Of course Raidenmon would build the predominant robot-killing machine in existence," Mekitsumon growled. "No, nothing ironic about that, Mr. Machine Superiority Complex. We'd better act fast, they're gonna mess us up something awful if we give them time to unleash their attacks!"

As if on cue, the Magnetmon raised their arms. "Targets sighted. Initiating attack phase."

"Wow, talk about a lack of personality," Datacarnomon remarked. "Just like the guards outside. Easy to make 'em subservient when they're pretty much total blanks-"

"Shut up and attack!" Metalmamemon shouted. "Metal Smirk Bomb!" She raised her arm and fired at the Magnetmon, the others following with a barrage of attacks of their own. Two of them broke apart and dissipated into data under the barrage, but the other four remained standing.

"Launching attack: EMP Blastwave."

"Yaigh! Watch out!" There was a series of bursts from the Magnetmon, and Isaac felt his mind go haywire for a moment before righting itself. He shook his head, trying to wipe away the remaining fuzziness. He froze as he caught sight of the rest of the group, all of whom were in some state of impairment.

Even Datacarnomon was down, though he seemed to be recovering more quickly. "Rgh...no place to go...we were sitting ducks!"

"Initiating attack phase." The Magnetmon didn't appear to be letting up. System Error was trying to collect itself quickly, but Isaac knew there wasn't going to be enough time, and if the Magnetmon weren't stopped there were going to be casualties. _My cannon's not strong enough to do much...c'mon, there's gotta be something I can do...wait, I know! Magnets are affected by temperature! If I can heat them up, maybe I can weaken them!_

Quickly he switched his arm to activate Flarelizarmon's power. _Here goes nothing!_ Flaming projectiles burst forth from the arm cannon, repeatedly striking the Magnetmon. Knowing his energy was limited, he aimed directly for the magnets on the arms and heads of the remaining robots. It seemed to be having some effect; the Magnetmon were drawing back, their attack stymied. But they weren't finished.

"Alternative tactic needed. Initiating Draw Field."

Isaac yelped and stopped firing as he felt a pull on his body. He was being drawn towards the Magnetmon, and a quick glance to his right revealed that the others were as well. Sparks flew as some of his comrades were dragged harshly along the ground, trying to resist the pull as much as they could.

"Hurry, attack the open targets to weaken their pull!" roared Chaosdramon. A flurry of shots flew at two of the Magnetmon, blowing them to pieces. It was enough to lighten the pull but not kill it completely, and before the last two could be targeted in the same way Mekitsumon and Metalmamemon had been pulled into their clutches, held fast by their close proximity to the magnets.

"Target captured. Preparing termination sequence."

"Quick! Take them down fast, and make sure they don't explode!" Makomon, Cyberdramon, Boltmon, and Isaac leapt into action. Makomon and Isaac went for the left one holding Metalmamemon. Using his spear, Makomon pried Metalmamemon away from harm's way as best he could, giving Isaac a small opening. With a headlong, charge, he charged up Ceramon's power into his enhanced right arm. With a yell he let loose a devastating punch, knocking the Magnetmon's head clean off of its body. Metalmamemon hit the ground with a thunk as the mangetic field failed, and the Magnetmon's body dissipated. On the right side, the strategy was much the same, with Cyberdramon moving Mekitsumon as much as he could and giving Boltmon an opening. One powerful swing of his axe was enough to take off the other Magnetmon's head, ending him as well.

The room now clear of unfriendlies, they gathered themselves in the center and took stock. Despite being frazzled and still recovering from the attack they had endured, they were all still in reasonably good shape, though not in the best of moods.

"That was too close," Peacockmon said. "We could have been in deep trouble there."

"No kidding!" Mekitsumon explained. "Thanks for saving my hull back there, guys. I mighta been junkyard material in a few more seconds."

"Good thinking with the fire shots, Isaac," Makomon said, sounding especially worn out; the exertion combined had taxed his still recovering body more than the others. "Maybe we should have packed flamethrowers...I hope you're up for that if we encounter more of those things."

"Maybe...I'm not as drained as I thought I would be," Isaac said, checking his energy reserves. "Maybe it's that Catalyst, it might be boosting my capacity somewhat."

"That's one way to get around programming limitations," Datacarnomon remarked. "Man, those are the worst enemies we could have come across. Do you think he's produced a bunch of them?"

"I sure hope not," Metallifekuwagamon said grimly. "If he is, all of Mechalopolis is in danger. They could go on a rampage and it would be extremely difficult to stop them."

"Which no doubt would be a dram come true for Raidenmon," Cyberdramon spat. "Easy to coerce everyone into doing your bidding when the threat of death is right in your face."

"We shouldn't hang out here long...who knows if they alerted other guards to our presence," Datamon said. "Give me a moment to bypass the security checkpoint, then we can get moving again."

"I hope we don't meet any more," Isaac said. "Those guys bug me. I don't like how they violate Newton's Third Law. They should have been drawn towards some of you guys, not drawing all of you."

"Violate what?"

"Newton's...oh, right, different world, sorry. I don't like how they can drag stuff bigger than they are without some kind of pull on themselves."

"Huh...I never really thought about that," Cyberdramon said, scratching his head. "Then again, they were built for this kind of thing...they've probably got something built in that deals with that."

"Eh, maybe. Still bugs me."

"I think we've got bigger things to worry about than that," Loaderliomon muttered. "We know Raidenmon's got at least some security measures in this place. I just wonder what else we're going to come across."

"We should be able to handle more Magnetmon. We'll just have to strategize a little better so they don't get off attacks like last time."

"Yeah, well, what if that's not it? It might be harder to stop automated weapons, and we know he's been building those in mass quantities. It could end up being a death trap for us."

"Hey, don't overclock yourself. Automated weapons are a disaster if you have guards. You can't really control what they fire at."

"And you think Raidenmon cares?"

"He's got a point," Datacarnomon said. "It's not like he has any concept of loyalty whatsoever. Look at the two of you, and Chaosdramon to boot."

Cyberdramon didn't respond, and a moment later, Datamon called out to them. "All right, we're through. Let's keep going."

The group continued on in relative silence, wary of the dangers that might be just a step away from them. Isaac noticed that while they had been walking fairly straight before the checkpoint, now they were descending in a spiraling motion, making things even more nerve-wracking as they could only see a little in front of themselves now. It kept up for several minutes, until the forerunners of the group came to a stop in a seemingly innocuous area.

"What's going on?" asked Mekitsumon.

"There's sensors in the walls here," Boltmon reported, pointing to some small objects lining the walls; Isaac would have missed them if they hadn't been pointed out. "This could be a trap."

"Hm...this would be a new one to me," Datamon said. "I wasn't aware of any security measures of this kind."

"So we have no way of knowing what's ahead," Mechspinnermon rasped. "Except by triggering the mechanisms. Leave that to me."

"Wait, what?" Isaac said. "You're not gonna just walk in there?"

"Goodness, no. I'm simply going to fire something in there to trip the sensors. Be ready to fire or dodge when whatever is in there comes out."

"Oh, yeah...I should've figured." Isaac readied his arm cannon, standing to the side as several of the others turned weapons ready. Mechspinnermon lowered his body and raised his abdomen. "All right, here it comes! Spinneret Cannon!"

Several sticky balls of webbing fired out from the tip of his abdomen, hitting all over in the suspicious area. They all waited several seconds...then several more seconds...eventually, Chaosdramon drew back his cannons. "If this is an active defense system, it's not a very good one."

"Strange...why go to all the trouble of putting in sensors that do nothing?" Peacockmon asked.

"I'm betting they don't do nothing...but maybe they're designed not to be triggered by stuff like that," Guardromon said. "Maybe one of us has to go in to try to trigger them after all."

"You guys have sensors that can do that?" Isaac asked, impressed.

"We have a large number of devices your kind probably only dreams of," Metallifekuwagamon responded rather proudly. "Though I suppose that only makes sense, given our state of being."

"So who wants to be the unlucky volunteer to jump in and be target practice?" Mekitsumon asked. "Anyone have a shield of any kind they can use to avoid being turned to fragments?"

"I have one," Isaac offered. "And I'm probably one of the smaller targets, too."

"He might be the best choice anyway," Datacarnomon agreed. "It's possible whatever it is, it's designed to only affect machines, since I doubt Raidenmon expects outside interference. He might be the safest of all of us even if he does get hit."

"That might be true...all right, if you feel up to it."

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Just watch my back."

A little nervous, he stepped forward, into the secure section. Even as he passed by the first couple of sensors he could see, there wasn't any activity, and he wondered if it really wasn't inactive. Still, he was as cautious as could be as he slowly walked forward. Then the thought occurred to him: _I wonder if I could even trip any of the triggers...maybe they only work with robots. My metal parts might not be enough._

He was almost halfway through when he heard a clicking sound. Barely half a second later, he dove to the side as he heard something swing down rapidly from behind. It hammered just behind where he had been standing, smacking straight up and down from the ceiling with a loud CLANG before emitting a shower of sparks of some kind of energy. From there it was a cascade of similar mechanisms coming from all angles, swooping down every which way and emitting clouds of sparks from each one. Isaac hugged the wall and raised the Lux Barrier to guard himself, but none of the other mechanisms came his way. When the chaos subsided, he lowered the barrier and stood up, taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart. "Whoa...what in the world are these things?"

The rest of the group had pulled back for cover; the reaction had been far too quick for them to consider firing. "Man, nasty trap!" Mekitsumon breathed, sneaking in warily as if concerned they might go off again. "Raidemon wanted to make sure no one got past easy, huh?"

"Those...it can't be!" Datamon almost shouted. "They're Machine Killer Rods!"

"Machine Killer Rods? Isn't that straightforward," Isaac remarked.

"You gotta be kidding me," Boltmon said, examining one close up. "This is a travesty...these are completely illegal to possess in Mechalopolis. They are simply too dangerous...how did Raidenmon get his hands on so many of them?"

"He sure wanted to make sure anyone who tried to get through didn't last long!" Metalmamemon seethed. "Waiting until they're in the center to trigger all those...I bet most of those sensors are dummies, supposed to lure someone into a false sense of security!"

"Well, you can't say he's not devious," Isaac muttered, having clambered through the maze of poles to rejoin the group. "So these things jack you up something fierce, huh?"

"That's an understatement, Ike," Datacarnomon said shakily. "One burst of energy into our systems fries our hardware completely. It's like decapitation for most organics - basically instant death."

"That just goes to show you what kind of evil Raidenmon is," Metallifekuwagamon said. "His claims of robotic superiority lead you to believe he wishes the best for us, but then he arms himself with the worst weapons ever to be used against our kind. He is a bigger threat to us than all the non-robots and organics on this world put together."

"Stand back, I'm gonna clear this out," Chaosdramon said, stepping forward and readying his cannons. The others backed off and watched as a massive burst of powerful energy blew through the hallway, obliterating the Machine Killer Rods and a good chunk of the wall behind the death trap.

"Hopefully that's the only time we'll run into something like that," Cyberdramon said. "Though now that I've said it, we'll probably get a bunch more of those on our way down."

"Nothing we can do about that," Metalmamemon said. "Come on, let's keep going."

The group continued on, ever more jumpy than before after the experience they had just gone through. Every strangeness in the walls or ceilings, every creak from ahead or behind, caused them to stop and ready themselves for danger, only relaxing after making quite sure that there was nothing about to jump out at them. Despite many delays and a whole lot of stress, the bottom of the spiral came without incident. There was another checkpoint in front, which Datamon went to work on dutifully.

"Man..." Isaac panted, feeling completely on edge and not just from residual energy from the Catalyst. "I've been through a lot of action recently, but this is the most nerve-wracking experience of them all."

"I know how you feel," Mekitsumon said. "My processors are whirring so fast I feel like they might blow up. I'm almost not sure if I'm ready for this. Not that I can change that now."

"I'm kinda glad for it, actually," Makomon said. "I'm more alert than I have been since Chaosdramon got me out of that hypostatic cell. I hope that monstrosity is ready for what I'm gonna do to him."

The gate opened, and in front of them lay a short hallway which led into a clearly much larger room. The light in front of them was quite dim, so they could see nothing of what was inside, but nearly everyone was sure what they were about to face down.

Metalmamemon was the one to lead the way. "Our greatest enemy lies just ahead. Let's show him what System Error is about!"

"Right!" The group marched down the hallway, fueled by renewed determination. It wasn't long before the reached the end of the hallway and the edge of the large, apparently empty room it led to. Apparently empty except for one very prominent feature.

Isaac's eyes widened as he laid eyes on the oppressor for the first time. They hadn't been kidding when they had said it was big: the robot that laid before them was at least thirty feet tall and about as wide, and built like a mecha on steroids. It had two large cannons on its dorsal side, a powerful gun for a right arm, and what appeared to be a battery of hatches all over its body which he guessed only housed even more weaponry.

Curiously, it didn't appear to be responding at all to their presence. It would have been a perfect opportunity to strike... _Almost too perfect, don't you think?_ Datacarnomon practically completed the thought for him.

_I'm with you. Something isn't right. Try to see if you can see anything weird..._

The room seemed empty, yet, Isaac couldn't shake the feeling that he was seeing something else in there. Something like a shadow afterimage, somewhere in between Raidenmon and System Error. But it was so hard to make out, given the dim light; he wasn't even sure if he was actually seeing something or if it was his imagination. Still, the warning bells were going off in his head. _There's something wrong here..._

Whatever it was had apparently gone unnoticed by the rest. "Raidenmon..." Metalmamemon seethed, pointing her weapon directly at the monster machine. "This is for all the pain you've caused us! Time to-"

"Wait!"

Metalmamemon stared at Isaac. "What the hell are you stopping me for?"

"I just want to be careful. I think I see something in front of us...I can't tell what it is, but it could be another trap."

"Hey, he's right," Mekitsumon piped up. "There's some kind of weird...I'm not even sure, it's hard to see, but there's something there."

"I'm going to try to get a closer look," Makomon said. "Keep me covered in case that lunkhead wakes up." He walked forward cautiously, eyes darting at the faint image, until he suddenly froze.

"Makomon?" Peacockmon asked nervously.

"It's..._us_."

"Huh?"

"It's a reflection. The bastard has a reflective barrier up in front of him." Makomon sighed in frustration. "We were a couple steps away from being blown up by our own attacks."

"I've never seen that before!" Chaosdramon rumbled. "Damn...no matter what we do, it's like he's got an answer for it."

"We owe you one, Isaac," Loaderliomon said gratefully. "I can't believe we all missed that..."

"It's cause he's so used to those eyes of his," Datacarnomon said. "We all caught it after it was pointed out, because we looked for it. He just doesn't that automatically because he hasn't had sensors all his life."

"We've got to break the barrier or deactivate it somehow, or we'll never be able to touch him," muttered Makomon. "Wait a sec...is that the control panel?" He pointed to a mechanism on the right wall of the room, within reach and not guarded by the barrier.

Datamon looked at the panel incredulously. "No way...Raidenmon wouldn't be foolish enough to put the control panel within access of invaders."

"Let me check," Datacarnomon offered. "I should be able to get the access code, and maybe figure out where it triggers. Ike, could you give me a boost?"

"Fine." Isaac picked up the robot with little difficulty, as opposed to the last time he had been asked to do this. There was silence for a minute as Data worked on the control panel. Eventually, he nodded to Isaac, who set him down on the ground.

"Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that this does in fact turn off the barrier in front of Raidenmon. The bad news is that it turns on a barrier in front of the door, trips an alarm that will wake up Raidenmon, and powers down so we can't undo our actions."

"You were able to tell all that from one scan?" asked Isaac.

"It's pretty much hard-wired into the control panel. Raidenmon probably doesn't even care that someone could find that out - bet he thinks he can destroy anything that comes his way, and that if someone decides to abort after finding out, all the better for him."

"We're not turning back after all this," Mechspinnermon hissed. "Let's do it. We can destroy him, I know it!"

The rest of System Error was in agreement. Isaac nodded and had Datacarnomon relay him the code to trigger the switch. The reflective barrier disappeared, and lights suddenly flickered on all over the room. A loud hum from Raidenmon told them all they needed to know.

"So...yet more subversives attempt to wreck my beautiful robot utopia..." Raidenmon's voice was dark and imposing, a perfect match for him in Isaac's opinion. "Trying to defile everything I have worked for! Why do you refuse to accede to the inherent superiority of robots? You cannot fight it!"

"Oh, cram it," Cyberdramon snarled. "Who do you think you're going to win over here?"

"You fools will learn your place soon enough. I am everything to this world, and that can never be changed."

"Yikes, you've got as much of an ego as they say," Isaac remarked dryly.

"Enjoy your smart remarks while you have them, human. I never thought I would see the day where one of your kind would defile our world, much less my precious city. I had rather hoped and expected that Emperius would have exterminated your kind by now."

"Gee, nice to meet you, too."

"And I see that pitiful little dinosaur is here, as well. You've got a lot of gall coming back here after your shame, runt. You must not have learned your lesson last time."

"Spare me, Raidenmon," Datacarnomon snarled back. "You're the one that tried to kill them. Maybe if your ego didn't take up all your hard drive space you'd have enough brains to realize I wouldn't let you get away with it forever."

"You've got a lot to answer for, Raidenmon," Metalmamemon snapped harshly. "All the lives you've ruined, all the chaos you've caused, we're putting an end to it, right here, right now!"

"How deluded of you all. You know you cannot beat me. None of you possess even a fraction of the power I have. You will be reduced to nothing, and made an example of all who cross me!"

Datacarnomon smirked. "You wanna bet? We're stronger than you might think, and we've got a few hidden tricks of our own!"

"That would be the second foolish bet you have made with me. This time, the punishment for losing will be your life!"

"I don't think so!" Chaosdramon roared, leveling his cannons at Raidenmon. "We're the ones who'll prove our superiority!"

Metalmamemon raised her cannon. "Prepare to be scrapped, you overgrown virus! System Error, attack!"

A deluge of attacks flew at Raidenmon, impacting against his body. Remarkably, despite the powerful blasts, the body withstood the assault. Two hatches opened on his body and a massive swarm of flying drones flew out at the group, cloaking Raidnemon with their sheer numbers. They tried to attack through the drones, but every shot fired simply stopped at their wall.

"I'm giving it all the firepower I've got, but they just keep coming!" Loaderliomon shouted. "We're being DDOS'd here! How the heck does he do it?"

"The data from the destroyed drones is feeding back into Raidenmon!" said Cyberdramon. "We have to destroy those launchers or they're just gonna keep coming and exhaust us!"

"Let me take a shot at it!" Isaac switched to his Gargo Laser to try to see if he could fire fast enough to clear out a path to the launchers, but even with the rapid-fire ability and his expanded energy reserves, he wasn't making a dent. "Agh! It's still too much! We need to get rid of them en masse! Anyone got any better ideas?"

"I...I might!" Datacarnomon said. "If you cover me, I'll give it a shot!"

"Cover you? What are you going to do?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Keep shooting!"

"What? Hey, quit giving me the run-around and tell me what's going on!"

Datacarnomon didn't respond; he just bounded in front of Isaac, facing down the swarm of airborne drones. "Here goes nothing! Disruptor Field!" A green field of energy expanded outwards from Datacarnomon, enveloping the drones, which began to fall to the ground in waves. In a matter of seconds, they were all down, incapacitated but undamaged.

"Hurry! It won't last long, get the launchers while we have the chance!"

"What? What's going on?" Raidenmon was trying to cycle to other weapons, but seemed to be having problems; the field had affected him as well. System Error experienced no such inhibition, and a few combined blasts directed at each of Raidenmon's launchers blew them up and disabled them.

"Mop the rest of them up!" Mekitsumon ordered, firing on the drones which were starting to shake off the Disruptor Field.

"What a time for that, Data!" Isaac exclaimed as he fired through the steadily-shrinking swarm of drones. "I didn't know you could do that?"

"That's because I couldn't...not until just recently. I don't know what exactly happened, but my self-diagnostic reported it not long after I used that Catalyst. I may have had an unexpected reaction to it, because of our merging!"

"So you got permanently stronger because of it instead of temporarily? Hey, I don't see a downside! Whoa, head's up!" The two dove in opposite directions as a large beam pierced the air. Raidemon's weapons were also back to normal, and he was furious.

"You think your pathetic little tricks can defeat me? I'm the ultimate robot! You're just scrap that doesn't realize it yet!" A port opened on its body and launched several missiles at the System Error assault team, forcing them to take evasive action. Two of them impacted on Mechspinnermon and Cyberdramon, knocking them backwards and stopping their attacks.

"And you! I've got a special punishment for whatever it is you did!" Another port opened and a larger missile launched itself at Datacarnomon, moving at high speed. Halfway to its target, though, an energy blast blew it out of the air. "What?"

"Didja forget about me?" Isaac taunted the massive robot. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, too!"

"Damnable human! Your taint on this city won't go unpunished!" More weapon ports opened up, launching more missiles and shooting guns at the exposed attackers. Several missiles locked onto Isaac and shot towards him.

"Ike!"

Explosions hammered the area where Isaac was standing, blanketing it in deadly blasts. Datacarnomon was about to rush over and check on him when he saw a gleam of light between the blasts. As they cleared, Isaac could clearly be seen standing in the center of a shimmering barrier, a little shaky but undamaged.

_That's why you always go for the shield..._

Datacarnomon's shout broke through his slightly-stunned reverie. "Ike! We need more firepower! We're not gonna be able to wipe out those weapons as we are!"

Isaac needed no more hints. "Right! Let's do it!"

The two began to glow and merged together, shifting as quickly as possible to their second-level form. Mecharexmon instantly had to move out of the way as a bomb flew out from Raidenmon, exploding and throwing Metallifekuwagamon into the rear wall. He dropped to the ground, alive but stunned.

Raidenmon's attention, however, was fixated on the new creature. "What is this blasphemy? A robot combining with an organic? A human organic? What kind of pathetic creature would stoop so low?"

"You know, I'm getting really tired of your yapping," Mecharexmon grunted, leveling his cannon at the hulking machine. "Maybe shut up and die like you should be doing, huh?"

"Shut your trap, you little worm! I'll show you what it means to be a robot!"

"Yeah, you go ahead. Saur Blaster!" His cannon came to life, firing bursts of energy that hammered the behemoth robot. The hull withstood the attacks, but he was hoping he could weaken it. He didn't get the chance to keep it up, though, as more missiles and beams fired out from the robot, forcing him to stop and evade. The rest of System Error was having the same trouble, unable to keep the assault up due to being under constant threat.

"This isn't working! There's too many weapons!" Cyberdramon was already wearing down after being hit once again.

"So destroy the weapons!" shouted Peacockmon. "Fire on them while they're out!"

So the strategy shifted, each of them going for whatever attack port Raidenmon had ready for them rather than trying to break the hull itself. It appeared to be working; Raidenmon's weapons weren't nearly as protected as his body, and each exposure left them more damaged until the were finally broken down. Where one went down, though, another kept taking its place; the numbers were so many that it was proving to be a long haul.

Raidenmon appeared to be losing his cool over being steadily more disarmed. "Insolent maggots! I've had enough! Now you will know how a superior machine operates!"

There was a buzzing sound from within the room, recognized by almost everyone instantly. A wall of electricity fired up from generators on the sides of the room, quickly sweeping across in order to close together. "Static Field! Get back!" yelled Boltmon.

The group attempted to retreat to the rear of the room. Mecharexmon pushed himself as fast as he could, but was forced to skid to a halt as the field swept in front of him. Turning back to face Raidenmon, he felt his heart race; he was trapped inside with Raidenmon, and without extra support until they managed to break the generators. "Coward! You know you can't beat us all, so you try to isolate us?"

"Foolish creature, you shouldn't have tested me! You combine everything I most despise, I will take great pleasure in reducing you to nothing!"

"Yeah, right. You don't even know what I am!"

"Don't think you can bluff me, you corrupted piece of refuse! I have access to all this world's knowledge! I can find out in an instant...what? There's...there's nothing here! No information at all!"

"All the world's knowledge doesn't help when the world doesn't even know," Mecharexmon said, rolling his eyes.

"You! I don't know what you've done, but it is an abomination! I will return you to the non-existence you deserve!"

"Yeah, big threats and all that." Mecharexmon continued firing on Raidemon, using his Saur Blaster and Swarm Missiles to try to keep hammering away at the weapons. There were far too many for him to target at once, though; if all of System Error had been having trouble, he wasn't going to last on his own. Inevitably, he started taking shots, over and over and beams and blasts got through to him. He managed to stay upright, but he was breathing heavily.

"Pathetic! You thought you could stand up to me? To robot perfection? You haven't the strength to break a microchip!"

"You kidding? This is nothing! I've just begun to fight here!"

"You always talked bigger than you were. I'll bet you don't even have one hidden file in your database!"

"That's another bet you're gonna lose!" A grey glow began to surround Mecharexmon. "Time to get this to endgame!"

His body shifted, increasing in height to over ten and a half feet and in bulk to even more than his previous form. The metal part expanded to cover most of his body, leaving only parts of the left side of his body, his left arm, and some of his lower jaw. His right arm, shoulder, and back grew in size to house the new high-powered weaponry his body was creating. The patterning on his scales became more pronounced, and sparks could be seen traveling across them at high rates of speed. A bright blue orb formed in the center of his chest.

"Now you'll feel my full power! Reptile Rocket!" Hatches opened up on the new creature's body and swarmed towards Raidenmon, impacting with far greater force than his previous version's Swarm Missiles. Holes were blown open in the behemoth body, and hatches protecting some of Raidenmon's weapons went flying, leaving them exposed to further attack.

"What...how did you break through? Those weapons can't have been powerful enough!"

"Jeez, your ego is getting irritating." He shifted his arm to blaster mode, the six open ends glowing sinisterly as he aimed. "Tera Blaster!" Powerful bursts issued from the ends of the weapon, barraging Raidenmon with blow upon blow, ripping apart the exposed weapons in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

"Grah! No, no, this isn't fair! You can't just not be something I've never seen before! I'm supposed to know everything! I'm all-powerful and all-knowing!"

"Aw, are the bratty jerk's feelings hurt? Don't worry, I'll show you personally just what I'm capable of!" Two slots opened up on his shoulders, revealing fairly large barrels within. "Not that it'll matter, but you can call me Cyberrexmon. Maybe that'll keep you happy as I rip you apart! Hailstorm Rail Gun!"

From the exposed barrels on his shoulders, large metal rounds launched out at high speed, piercing the hull of the mechanical monster like a bullet through jello. Sparks flew from the battered body as the internal systems were heavily damaged all over. For good measure, he made sure to strafe Raidenmon's legs, damaging the hydraulics and rendering him immobile.

"Heh...you don't look so ultimate now, do you?"

"No...this can't be...I am...I am the ultimate, superior model...you aren't allowed to be more powerful! You're not even a pure robot!"

"You're right, I'm not, but I'm still the better person. And you? You're just gonna be slag in a moment!" Cyberrexmon spread his arms as the blue orb on his chest began to glow brightly. "Time to crash you for good! Shredder Beam!"

A blast of energy shot out from the orb, its effective area expanding with distance from his body. It enveloped most of Raidenmon's body, which began emitting loud buzzing and rattling sounds as it was ravaged by the effects of the beam. In seconds his core destabilized and exploded, shearing Raidenmon apart and ending his existence. The System Error assault team cheered as his data evaporated into the air.

Cyberrexmon lowered his arms as the beam died away, leaving only an empty space where Raidenmon used to be in its wake. "This is what you deserve, you metal-headed bastard. You'll never wreck anyone's life again!"

(==========)

It was looking a lot more active already. Technodylemon observed quietly out the window of Central Command, watching for the first time in a long time the people of Mechalopolis able to enjoy themselves without fear of retribution from a psychotic overlord. The cyborgs that had evaded capture were finally able to walk freely among the city with their robotic brethren.

A Guardromon entered his office. "Sir? There heroes have been brought here as requested."

He nodded. "Thank you. Please bring in the human and Datacarnomon first...I wish to address them personally before greeting the entire group."

The Guardromon saluted and exited. Moments later, Isaac and Datacarnomon entered. As it was Isaac's first time there, he was a lot more impressed than Datacarnomon was. "Whoa...this is all different kinds of sweet! They weren't kidding when they called this Central Command!"

"I'm glad it's to your liking. Isaac, was it?"

"Yeah. You already heard, huh?"

"News travels pretty fast when nearly everyone's connected on the same network," Datacarnomon said. "News as big as this, all it can take is one person hearing your name in passing and the whole city will know."

"And it doesn't get much bigger than this," added Technodylemon. "I couldn't believe it when I heard...Raidenmon, destroyed? I had almost given up hope of that being possible. I thought it was a trick at first, but then the details started pouring in...of all the ways I thought he could possibly have been brought down, a human combining with a digimon was not even among the remotest of possibilities."

"I can hardly blame ya for that, it's not like we're walking all over the place."

"Indeed. However unlikely, the facts are the facts, and the facts are that we in Mechalopolis owe you a great deal for your service to us. And perhaps you have done more even than just liberate us from that tyrant...Mechalopolis has not exactly been known for its openness to those without mechanical inclination, even before Raidenmon came about. You may be the catalyst that changes some of those perceptions. Perhaps now we will be able to work towards more openness and acceptance of those not like us."

"I sure hope so. I'd like to be able to come back sometime!"

"Oh, I have little doubt that you will be eternally welcome here. And Data...I owe you a great apology. It was not my desire to lock you up as I did...I feared what Raidenmon might do if he had learned there was a robot with organic material running loose. His paranoia was already legendary...I feared for the safety of all within the city walls if he got it in his head that robots could have organic tissue."

"He might have decided to just annihilate everything that wasn't made in his own factories...I guess in hindsight, I can understand. Least it won't be happening again."

"Never. I thank you both sincerely...to come in at such a trying time and do so much for us...we owe you a great favor, and if you ever wish for our assistance, we will provide it."

"Thanks, Technodylemon," Isaac said. "We'll make sure to keep that in mind...we don't know what we might be up against, so every little bit could help."

"I know you probably have your own business to attend to, but if you were willing...I would be doubly thankful if you could provide us with some assistance in getting everything back in order here. Dealing with the hypostatic cells and the defense network, not to mention anything sinister Raidenmon might have left behind, it will be a long recovery and if you wished to stay a while, we would value any efforts you could provide."

"Hey, I'm game. If nothing else, I want to learn a little more about this place...it's like a dream city for me. Though, I guess it's up to Data, too...if he's not sure..."

Datacarnomon shook his head. "Nah, I think I've spent long enough trying to avoid this place. I kinda owe it to them."

Technodylemon nodded. "You have my gratitude. I will see to it you are given the finest accommodations we can offer."

"I like the sound of that. Hang on..." Datacarnomon fell quiet for a moment, then chuckled. "I think the others are getting a little antsy. I just got a message from Mekitsumon wondering if someone had crashed in here."

"Ah, I suppose I should get to addressing them as well. If you'll follow me..."

(==========)

(==========)

I knew there was a reason I didn't like working with big groups. Not enough lines to go around. Gets kind of hard to remember who's there, too. And yes, Isaac does kind of hog the spotlight compared to everyone else. That was sort of intentional - the defenses were designed to take advantage of robot weaknesses, which he wasn't as liable to fall prey to.

Possible irony depending on your definition of ironic, I've always envisioned Isaac's arm cannon as having considerably less kickback than would be dictated by Newton's Third Law. So, technically, he violates it, too. However, I'm writing a work involving transformation through synthesis, transport to different worlds, and creatures who can, among other things, summon massive waves of fire and thunder at will. I'm already playing fast and loose with physics, might as well just run with it.

Anyway, yeah, this one was a day late. Friday was a busy day for me, it just slipped my mind. And I was doing so well, too. Hopefully the chapter makes up for it.


	36. Chapter 35: Resolutions

Is it Friday again already? Man, sometimes the week just seems to fly by. Anyway, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 35: Resolutions**

"Now that was what I call a party," Salmandmon purred as he laid on the deck of the ferry, taking in the bright morning sun. "It's never a good one unless there's too many people there and someone loses their head."

"I hope that Lynxmon was all right," Reyn said absently, staring out at the water. "That fall looked like it hurt."

"Ah, he'll be fine. Digimon are tough buggers, we can take some blows. Hey, you hung over at all?"

"Don't tell me you are."

"Mm, just a bit. Nothing serious, it should be gone before we reach the coast. Probably shouldn'ta had that third Lava Plume, not in this form. But you didn't answer my question."

"No, I'm fine. I only had one, didn't really give myself the chance to have really bad effects. Man, that stuff was good, I may have to go back there just for that."

"They can probably make them other places."

"Really? Huh. Uh, but don't tell my parents, okay? They'd have a fit if they heard about me sucking down alcohol before I was 21."

"...Why?"

"That's the legal age where we come from. You get caught with booze when you're not of age, and it's big trouble for you."

"That is so stupid," Salmandmon snickered. "If I went around here saying I couldn't have alcohol because of some arbitrary age limit they'd lock me up again. You're telling me that was your first ever?"

"Er, well, not really. I snuck one from my brother last year, just kinda out of curiosity. I don't know if he ever found out, but since neither Mom nor Dad said anything about it, I'm guessing he didn't."

"That's so silly. Having to sneak around like that for something so trivial."

Reyn laughed quietly. "Well, when you put it that way...jeez, do you digimon have any rules at all?"

"Mm, not many. At least, not on the large scale. You try enforcing them on, say, Marsmon."

"Point. But what about the not-so-large scale?"

"Places where a lot of people live, there's more of that kinda stuff, but more along the lines of 'don't cause any trouble for people.' When you live in like a city or something, you usually have to sign a contract that promises you won't cause undue damage. If you do, you get kicked out and they don't let you come back for a long time if ever. I had to keep a few of these people from coming back to some of the places I played guard for. They didn't always leave quietly, either."

"I'm definitely gonna want to stick around cities and stuff if I'm ever here just visiting. It sounds like anywhere else is way unsafe."

"Ah, you gotta live a little. Besides, it's not that bad. Most digimon who would just start a random fight aren't looking for a death match. People who are part of some organization that's causing trouble, like Emperius or that Frozen Souls cult, they're a different story...it's kind of a shame we've mostly had fights to the death so far."

"Yeah...though I guess I'm more used to the thought than I used to be. Guess it's just me becoming a little more jaded. How common are fights?"

"Depends. Varies from place to place. I'll bet your early impressions of us are just kind of wild and crazy monsters that attack each other for the hell of it, but I swear it's not really like that. We can be plenty peaceful, too. It's just that, well, we're built for that kind of stuff, so it's less of a big deal for us. I'm guessing it's not for humans."

"Maybe less true than even we admit. We're not exactly made for it like digimon, but we seem to spend a lot of time working on ways to brutally slaughter each other. If we were less easily injured like you guys, we might be even worse."

"You'd probably like the combat tournaments. No one can be permanently injured in those. That'd be a great way to see if a human could square off against a digimon."

"Great for the digimon. I don't know if it'd be so great for the human."

"Ah, like I said, no permanent injuries. And hey, a good way to get some exposure, the arena combat circuit is massively popular all over the digital world."

"I should introduce you guys to some of our sports. I think you'd get a kick out of football or hockey. They're pretty full contact."

"I think you'll have plenty of attention just with that last part."

Reyn laughed. "So much for plenty peaceful."

(==========)

_I feel almost like a courier_, Bolteaglemon thought as she flew the skies, sailing over some rocky land that was an introduction to the forthcoming mountains. Over her back was slung a bag holding the Thunder Catalyst; her current mission was to return it to where it belonged, the Thunder Shrine high up in the mountains north of Hagrande.

It had been a long time since she'd visited the Thunder Shrine, yet she could remember it quite well. She had been training for years to fight for the defense of others, and the trek to the Catalyst was to be the true realization of that dream. It had felt like such an honor to reach the shrine and make use of the object that would help her defend others from what she herself had once suffered under...

_Now, I've been able to do so in so many ways...it's been a long journey, and I'm so glad I took it. Guess it's not over yet, though..._

The Thunder Shrine would be in view in just over an hour from where she was. She pushed forth, knowing that the longer she waited, the more unlucky digimon would arrive hoping to have her same experience, only to be disappointed.

(==========)

It had been mutually decided by Reyn and Salmandmon that they would check up on Skylar before trying to find anyone else, as, of course, it was easiest to find somewhere when you already knew where they were. Thus they found themselves ascending the steps to the castle of Oroetem once again, though at a markedly reduced pace from their last visit.

"Think they'll let us in without threatening to skewer us this time?"

"Hmm...well, let's put it this way: if you were Data, I wouldn't be putting money down."

"Maybe Skylar got on their cases about being overbearing. Then again, he can be overbearing at times, too, so maybe not."

"And even if he did, they don't exactly seem to be in the running for brains of the year, so maybe it didn't even stick."

"Now that's just mean."

"Hey, sometimes ya gotta be a little mean."

As they reached the top, the guards stiffened up as if preparing to attack, then relaxed as they saw who it was. "You! You're back!"

"Uh, yeah, that would be accurate," Reyn replied, resisting the urge for sarcasm.

"The holy one is inside!" the Harpymon informed them. "You can go in to see him!"

"Yeah, thanks..." Reyn rolled his eyes after they had passed through the doors. "Sheesh. Paranoid, borderline obsessive, and a whole bunch of other things my parents talk about on occasion. You'd think they'd ease up after a while."

"Hey, at least we got in right away. Guess your face is easy to remember."

"Why do you assume it's my face?"

"How many humans have you seen here so far?"

"Touché."

After several minutes of wandering, they encountered Skylar and Breezedramon in what could only be the castle's library. The table the two were at was a complete mess of rather large and laborious books strewn haphazardly over the surface. Skylar was hunched over a particularly large one, looking rather tired and frustrated. Breezedramon was lying on the table looking at a smaller one, though his distracted expression suggested he wasn't being very attentive.

"So, what are the nerd and the goofball up to now?" Reyn cracked as they neared the table. "Jeez Skylar, you're in a brand new world and all you can think about is reading?"

"Can the comedy routine," Skylar snapped back, as annoyed audibly as he was visibly. "We're having a hell of a time trying to slog our way through these books. I swear, what I wouldn't give for an ordering system..."

"Why not force some of your 'subjects' help you?" Salmandmon suggested.

"Please, I'm not a cruel leader. I've had some volunteers, but they can't stay cooped up the whole time, so they've been in and out. At least we've gotten one order of business done; that Catalyst has been put to good use."

"Excellent news. We managed the same. Got to a Catalyst yesterday, and a battle right after that. And it worked exactly how we wanted it to!"

"Great to hear. Breezedramon and I hadn't exactly tried that part out, though we're more than ready to when the time should come."

"You got that all yesterday?" Breezedramon piped up. "Then what took you so long to get back here?"

Salmandmon glared at Breezedramon. "Oh, clam. It's not like we were on a schedule. For your information, we were celebrating a successful defense of the place where the Catalyst was. Probably more fun than hanging out here with you."

"You? Celebrating?"

"Hey, I like a good party."

"No you don't. It interferes with your ubiquitous training schedule."

"Oh, it does not. It's not like that's all I ever did, I hung out with the other guys plenty and...wait a sec, did you just say that _right?_"

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

"...Uh, nothing, forget it. Just go back to your books. Friggin' feels weird to be saying that to you..."

"Hey, I'm not illiberatint or anything! Besides, I'm leaving the heavy reading to Sky, he seems to be able to get all of it pretty quickly."

"What are you looking for, anyway?" Reyn asked, picking up a book and reading the cover. "And who on earth needs to know about 'Cloud Formations, Air Streams, and Other Flight-Hindering Phenomena?' Sheesh, I hope that publicist got fired."

"We're looking for information on the weather control system of this castle! Since it's something supposedly made by Stormdramon, we figure they've gotta have something about it here! Except sometimes it seems like they don't."

"Unfortunately, that seems to be an accurate assessment," Skylar complained wearily, "They've got dozens of books about Stormdramon, and yet virtually nothing about the weather control system. I'm flabbergasted, really. They revered the guy, yet his greatest invention gets scant mention, and when they do, they pretty much leave it at 'he made this and it's great.' We've all but abandoned the books actually about Stormdramon at this point...right now, we're banking on someone from outside having looked into it, and can explain how it works."

"I'd assume it works by some guy barging into the place where it's housed and toying with it."

"Would that it was always that easy. What I've been able to gather, from talking with the villagers, is that the people who can control it freely are those who have some control over wind or electricity. Unfortunately, there is someone how one single person in the whole village who fits the bill. I had a couple people search for reperhasincetives in the nearby region, but no dice." Skylar frowned and shook his head. "That didn't sound right. Anyway, if that doesn't pan out, we want to figure out if there's any other way to control it, so that the guys here can take care of it and let us head out on our own."

"If all else fails, maybe we could go out and look for someone," Salmandmon suggested. "But what about Shinduramon? Are you guys giving up on him?"

"Nope!" Breezedramon shouted. "We've heard word that he's coming! Not sure how far away he is, but we're prepared to face him head on at any time!"

"Well, that's half the battle. Maybe we can-" Reyn paused as they heard a loud commotion nearby. A guard rushed into the library in excitement; Reyn recognized the type as Gargoylemon. "Holy one! We've captured a criminal!"

"A criminal? I'll be the judge of that." With a long-suffering sigh, Skylar got up from the table and followed Gargoylemon out of the library, the three others following suit at a distance. As they reached the entrance hall of the castle, they could see a mob of guards all gathered in a very tight circle, surrounding and obscuring the presumed criminal.

"All right, break it up!" Skylar shouted, getting everyone's attention. "What's all this about, then?"

"My liege!" Harpymon cried out, bowing in front of Skylar. "We captured a criminal trying to impersonate the young master!"

"Trying to impersonate..." The four looked over as the guards parted, one keeping his hand down on the captive to keep him from moving. Skylar gasped. "Another Breezedramon?"

"Ow...hey, leggo..." It looked and sounded a lot like Breezedramon, with the exception of being several shades darker in color and a slightly deeper voice. "I didn't do anything..."

"Hold your tongue, brigand!" shouted Harpymon. "You dare try to impersonate the young master Breezedramon, acolyte to the holy one?"

"They're the same species..." Salmandmon mumbled, holding his head. "It's not impersonation, it's his identity! Gah, it's like everyone's auditioning for the role of village idiot here!"

"Excuse me?"

"There'll be no fighting between anyone in here!" Skylar ordered before Salmandmon could further antagonize the guards. "All of you, get off of him, he's not a criminal, right now he's a victim. And for crying out loud, get out there and watch for Shinduramon. And be ready for a battle, if things start going badly I'm gonna want back-up."

"Yes, sir!" The guards parted immediately, getting to their look-out posts and basically forgetting about the extraneous Breezedramon. Skylar just sighed heavily and led the rest back to the library.

"Thanks a bunch, buddy," the other Breezedramon said gratefully once they were alone. "I thought I was a goner there. Those guys are way too uptight!"

"Tell me about it!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "They nearly took my head off, too! Skylar can't get them to stop worrying abut stuff!"

"Shame." The other Breezedramon looked Reyn and Skylar up and down with curiosity. "So...humans, huh? Guess it was only a matter of time before they started showing up. You came at a lousy time, though."

"Well, the circatumadancers warranted a visit."

"The who-whatta?"

"Er...forget it," Skylar mumbled, turning a bit red. "Anyway, what about you? I gathered that this wasn't a very common vacation spot."

"Eh, I was just passing through, and wanted to rest my wings for a while. Then your uppity guards thought I was trying to sneak in and switch places with this other dude here. I didn't even get a chance to figure out what was going on before they snapped me up and tried to suffocate me."

_He doesn't talk like Breezedramon, that's for sure,_ Reyn pathed to Salmandmon. The lizard suppressed a snort but not a smirk.

"Well, at least you're getting your rest now," said Breezedramon. "Where're you from, anyway? I haven't seen another one of me in...well, I can't even remember!"

"Eh, I come from a small town in Southern Tetraquaz, but I'm not going back. I hate the place. Too many people fighting...that war down there is never going to end, let me tell you. I don't know how those guys keep pumping in reinforcements, but damned if even the Kaiser can keep up with it. I'm mostly just flying around, trying to find the best place to live right now."

"Why not settle down here?" suggested Salmandmon. Everyone looked at him.

"Er...well, I'd be kinda nervous about this place, what with the guards thinking I'd try to impersonate this lot and all," the other Breezedramon said nervously, nodding his head towards Breezedramon.

"Ah, they'll get used to you. Besides, 'this lot' isn't sticking around for much longer...we've got important stuff we have to do. And I'm sure you'll be able to get into these people's favor pretty quickly."

Something seemed to click in the rest of the symbiotes; suddenly, they all understood why Salmandmon was making his sudden suggestion. "Y-yeah, that's a great idea," Skylar agreed. "I mean, this place is as good as any. Good weather...well, it can actually be made into good weather or bad weather, depends on how you feel."

The other Breezedramon stared at Skylar, uncomprehending. "I don't get it."

Skylar began to explain, but was cut off from a shout outside the library. "SIR! SIR! Shinduramon's appeared on the horizon! He's coming!"

"About time!" Skylar stood, almost instantly shaking off his previous doldrums. "Breezedramon, you ready?"

"Yeahyeah! Let's go!"

"All right! Reyn, Salmandmon, can you take that Breezedramon and head outside?"

"Wait, what? Aren't you-"

"We're just gonna take a moment to set the stage. Don't worry, this is our battle and you won't have to do anything. I just want to make sure you don't get caught up in any craziness inside here."

"Bit too late for that."

"Yeah, yeah. You gonna go or do I have to get the guards to 'escort' you?"

"Sheeze...not a cruel leader my bum..." Reyn muttered as he and Salmandmon took the other Breezedramon, who was still utterly bewildered by everything that was going on, out of the library and through the castle to the exit.

(==========)

A crowd had gathered outside, and the three of them decided to set themselves up near the front of it to get the best view of the action. "Hey, it's just like a little party out here," Salmandmon said dryly as he scanned the crowd. "Maybe together they can reach an average IQ."

"Okay, seriously, that's enough, Salmandmon."

"Bah. The truth shall not be suppressed!"

"The truth shall find itself in trouble if he gets on the wrong person's bad side."

"You snarked your brother constantly, and he could probably have pounded you before you started merging with me."

"Not unless he wanted to get in it deep with my parents. Besides, I was already on his bad side, hard to get more over there."

"Huh? He didn't seem to have that much of a problem with you."

"It's a long story. Hey, something's happening..."

The weather had turned; dark storm clouds had gathered around, the wind had kicked up ferociously, and lightning crackled in the sky. Curiously absent was any sign of rain, but it all pointed to a violent storm nonetheless.

Reyn snorted. "Way to go, Skylar...you chose quite possibly the most clichéd weather possible for a climactic battle."

"Now who's being the snark?"

"I'm not doing it within earshot of my target."

"But that's the best part!"

"You two are weird," the Breezedramon said, shaking his head.

Finally, the main attraction began when Shinduramon flew over the castle, shrieking angrily. "What the hell is this? Who dares interfere with my judgment? That castle is MINE! This weather is MINE to control!"

As if in response, a blur shot up from the castle, nearly decking Shinduramon in mid-air. The surprised chicken squawked and recoiled at the near miss! "Wha-wha-what the hell was that? Who the hell are you?"

"Bad news for you, Shinduramon!" cackled the blur, whipping in a circle around Shinduramon. Without warning it stopped dead behind him and then shot forward, walloping him in the back of the head. "You can call me...Stormdramon!"

"St-Stormdramon?" Shinduramon shook off the blow and turned to face down the almost insanely grinning dragon. "That's...that's just a stupid legend! There's no such thing as Stormdramon!"

"Well, then, you're about to get your ass whupped by a myth, then!" Stormdramon lunged forward again and decked Shinduramon with a dashing punch to the head. He flipped end over end several times in the air, completely disoriented. "Heh, man, you're making this way too easy!"

"Shut up! Positron Pulse!" A burst of lightning shot forth from the pointed protrusions on its back, zipping towards Stormdramon through the clouds, gathering charge from them to amplify themselves as they did. Stormdramon just grinned wider and shot down below the burst, allowing it to pass harmlessly overhead.

"Nice try, but no banana! Storm Ray!" Stormdramon extended a clawed hand forward and let loose a large beam of energy. Shinduramon squawked in alarm and ducked inside his protective shell, which was knocked high up in the clouds. It had fallen back through by the time Shinduramon had regained control, and slowly tried to make its way back up to Stormdramon, who just swooped around energetically. "Jeez, for a guy who's lightning element, you sure as a slowpoke!"

"Damn you, dragon! Take this!" He unleashed another Positron Pulse, which Stormdramon evaded with almost comical ease. "What the hell? This is my element, there's no way you should be outclassing me!"

"A-ha, but you're not the only one who's getting powered up! I'm getting a boost too! I intentionally implemented high !"

"...WHAT?"

From the ground, Salmandmon looked at Reyn in utter bewilderment. "Did you catch _any_ of that?"

"Hell no! He said it at like twenty miles a minute!"

Stormdramon just cackled wildly as he let loose with a powerful whirlwind in Shinduramon's direction. "You can't hold a candle to me up here! Maybe you should scram while you've got the chance!"

"I'm never gonna let youaaaagh!" Shinduramon's response was cut off as he was buffeted by the whirlwind, tossed and turned like a ping-pong ball in a dryer. "Leeeet meeee outtaaaaaa hereeee!"

"Not until you promise to leave and never come back!"

"Waaaauuuuugggghhh! Okayokayokay! I promise!"

"Glad to hear it!" Stormdramon killed the cyclone, leaving the dazed bird barely hanging in the air. "Finally learned your lesson, huh? You don't go messing with people, otherwise a living legend may just come around to kick your ass!"

Shinduramon shook his head several times to clear out the cobwebs. He then scoped out Stormdramon, narrowed his eyes at the smug dragon, and let out a deafening screech. "I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO SAWDUST YOU LITTLE WORM!"

Stormdramon rolled his eyes as Shinduramon charged, pronged weapon ready to fire off more electrical charges. "Don't say I never gave you the chance, bud!"

He whipped around, dodging several blasts of electricity by flying in a quickly-looping, unpredictable pattern. Even when Shinduramon got off one lucky shot, it only fazed him momentarily, after which he continued like he'd never been hit at all. After a couple minutes of this, Shinduramon's energy had been drained, and Stormdramon was still raring to go. He pulled the weapon off his back and expanded it, revealing a halberd of considerable length. "Hey, Shinduramon! What sound does a headless chicken make?"

Shinduramon's eyes widened as he saw the weapon, soon moving at him at high speed. "Oh shi-"

A loud SHOONK accompanied the full-rotation swing by Stormdramon, lopping off Shinduramon's head in one quick motion. The electric bird died instantly, head and body dissolving into data without any fanfare, carried away by the whipping winds in the sky. Stormdramon collapsed his halberd, re-holstered it, and descended down to meet the jubilant crowd beneath him.

Now that he was close enough to make out clearly, Reyn could finally get a good look at Stormdramon. Over eight and a half feet tall, with a wingspan at least as wide as that. His armor was bright green, and possibly even more streamlined than his previous form. He had sharp bladed extensions on his bracers which appeared to be able to fold back into the armor. The two jets on each wing had doubled to four, increased in size, and almost certainly increased in power as well. The glowing barrier over his eyes seemed to disappear into the helmet as he landed.

"Not bad, I guess," Salmandmon said, sounding impressed.

"Hey, he beat Shinduramon, so that's something."

The crowd stormed Stormdramon, shouting excitedly. at their hero. He let them go on for a couple minutes before making some gestures to calm them down. "Hey, thanks a bunch to all of you! I couldn't have done it without your support!"

"Liar," Salmandmon mumbled under his breath.

"Stormdramon, please lead us once again! Take your place as the king of the skies, and lead us back to prosperity!"

Stormdramon shook his head. "Sorry, I hate to gun and run, but I can't stick around."

"What? But...we need you, Stormdramon! Please don't go!"

"Hey, I've love to be able to stay and all that, but there's trouble all over the place, and I've got people countin' on me to lead 'em to victory! If I abandoned them now, they'd be pretty pissed off, to say the least! Don't worry, just think of it as me protecting you from afar!"

"But who will take your place here? Who'll be our weather master?"

"Oh, I got that covered. Yo, little Breezedramon guy!" The Breezedramon jumped, having not been paying much attention until his name was called. "I'm appointing you to be the guardian of the weather here!"

"Wh-whoa, wait a sec! Me? But, but I'm just a Rookie, and I don't know anything about all this stuff!"

"Don't worry about that, I'll give you the rundown before I head out! Besides, you did say you wanted to get away from all that junk in the south, right? Where better than to do it here?"

"Er...well...maybe it's worth a shot..."

"Fantastical! Then it's settled! You're the new king of Oroetem! Isn't he great, folks, give him a big hand!"

There was a lot of cheering and crowding around the Breezedramon as they hoisted him into the air. He chuckled a bit abashedly at all the attention. "Heh...what the hey, I guess a guy could get used to this kinda treatment..."

(==========)

It was pretty hard to miss the Thunder Shrine from up above; a bright yellow building stuck out pretty well against its drab surroundings. It seemed a thing of majesty from above, but as Bolteaglemon neared the surface, the details came into view that indicated that the shrine had seen better days. The walls showed the scars of blows as well as the wear of time, no amount of paint able to cover them completely. There were numerous cracks all over, from the walls to the pillars in front and off to the sides; one of them had crumbled completely, the rubble still strewn about the base.

_It's a relic of an earlier time, and a symbol of what we've come through in our existence...but man, it either needs to be refurbished or knocked down. It really isn't going to last much longer at this rate._

She walked inside. The interior certainly appeared as worn as the exterior, but at a glance at least seemed to be in better shape overall. She glanced around; there was no one around to greet her in the main chamber. She hoped that wasn't a bad sign. "Um...hello? Is anyone here?"

She felt some relief as she heard the traipsing of footsteps crescendo from the rear of the shrine. A figure stepped out from a hallway in the back corner, a shortish humanoid creature dressed like some kind of fantasy magician. "I'm sorry, we currently don't-! Ah! Is...is that...?"

Bolteaglemon nodded. "Yeah, this is the Catalyst that was stolen from here. Sorry it took so long to get back to you...it was kind of a rough trial just to get my hands on it in the first place!"

"My goodness! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart! It pained me so to have lost this...that someone would steal it, it's a crime against all of us who may wish or need to make use of it!"

"Yeah, well, it was my pleasure to get a few blows in on the jerk who snatched it in the first place." Bolteaglemon handed the Catalyst to Wizardmon, who wasted no time in returning it to the altar in the rear of the main chamber. "I hope you haven't had to turn too many away."

"More than I would have cared to," Wizardmon sighed. "Of course, one is too many, but it was...considerably more than that. The sadness in their eyes when they learned they had come all this way, braved all those trials for nothing...each one was a stab into my heart. I've spent years overseeing this temple solely to ensure nothing happened to the Catalyst, and I failed in that duty..."

"Don't beat up on yourself. No way Valkyrimon would have let you stand up to him even if you had caught him in the act."

"Val...Valkyrimon? The leader of Hagrande? He's the one who took it?"

Bolteaglemon nodded. "Yeah. He offered it as a prize for winning an arena tournament. As if most of them could even have used it in the first place. It was hard enough to win the tournament in the first place, and then he decided to show up himself and kill me for getting it. On the bright side, I made sure that's the last time he'll ever bother you."

"You went through all that...gracious. We must thank you somehow."

"Oh, well, I didn't go through all this for a reward-"

"No, I insist. At the very least, let us show you some hospitality. You must have come a long ways, stay with us and rest for a while."

"Well, all right. It has been a long trip."

"Wonderful! Please, follow me, I have to relay this wonderful news to the other protectors of the Thunder Shrine."

Bolteaglemon followed behind as Wizardmon eagerly pranced down the back hall towards a rather large set of doors. Pushing them open, they could see a comfortable chamber that was fairly sparsely populated. Three digimon snapped to attention as they saw the entrants.

"Wizardmon? What's going on?" asked a quadrupedal reptilian digimon garbed in black armor.

"It's wonderful news, Raidramon! The Thunder Catalyst has been returned!"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Completely! Bolteaglemon here was the one who brought it back to us!"

"Gods be praised," a blue-and-yellow armored bird digimon, Thunderbirmon, exclaimed, bowing down low to Bolteaglemon. "You have our eternal gratitude. We were worried sick about losing this precious artifact."

"Oh, it was my pleasure to bring it back here," Bolteaglemon replied. "The jerk who stole it certainly didn't deserve to have his grubby hands all over it."

"So now we don't have to turn everyone away again!" exclaimed a canid shelled in bright-yellow, jagged armor. "Finally! I hated making everyone so disappointed after all the traveling they'd done! You're the best!"

"Thanks, Raidenlupimon. I'm just glad to be able to help."

"I think this calls for a celebration," Raidramon said, grinning widely.

"That's just what I was thinking," agreed Wizardmon. "Let's let the staff know. It's going to be a grand feast for all of us!"

(==========)

"Not saying it wasn't fun, but I'm glad it's over," Skylar said as he and Breezedramon followed Reyn and Salmandmon to the transfer point, the setting sun setting a nice backdrop for their parting from Oroetem. "I was starting to get worried that Emperius would make a major move before I could get out of there."

"Those guys were way nice, though! If a little bit partinatinoidal."

"And I'm glad you finally changed out of that Stormdramon form," Salmandmon groaned. "Swear, frickin' impossible to follow you..."

"Oh, come on, you're exaggerating."

"No, he's not," Reyn said. "When I get the chance, I'm gonna record his mach-speed yakety-yak and play it back for you when you're split up, then you'll see what we're talking about. You had that poor Breezedramon completely lost."

"Hey, he got it after the fourth time!"

"He got it after you split the hell up!"

"Same difference. So where exactly are we going?"

"We're gonna spend the night in Rinikua, then use that as a launching point to search for the others. I figure we're gonna need to scramble around a bit, ask some people if they've seen any of the others around. I doubt they'd forget if they did."

"We should check where the Catalysts are first!" Breezedramon offered. "They're likely to have been around those places!"

"Yeah, but us getting to those Catalysts is tough. I know there's at least two Metal Catalysts, the one Data used at the Tech Shrine and one in Mechalopolis. The former is tough to get to because it's so out of the way - it's one of the few places where you can't get very close with a Transfer Point, because it's stuck smack dab in the middle of the mountains. The latter...well, you remember how they were last time we fought a battle nearby, they don't want anything to do with us. B.C. and Derek probably went to the Twilight Peninsula, since that's where virtually every dark-oriented digimon goes if they're in North Tetraquaz, it's easy to get to and there's some weird stuff down there that people like to see. Iris and Shockavimon...well, actually, I have no idea where those Catalysts are..."

"How do you even know about the ones you do know about?" Reyn asked.

"They told me. Duh. We are kinda, you know, long-time friends and comrades?"

"Oh, yeah. I probably should've expected that."

"Well, we can talk about it in the morning," Skylar said, barely managing to stifle a yawn long enough to say it. "Man, I'm beat. Hitting that next level takes a lot out of you."

"Tell me about it. I hope the others know from experience by now, that'll make things a lot easier in the long run."

(==========)

"I feel like a stuffed turkey," Bolteaglemon sighed as Wizardmon walked with her down the hall back towards the main chamber.

"A stuffed what?"

"Ah...never mind. Do you always eat like that here?"

"Oh, no, very rarely. Only the annual commemoration feast is on that scale. Normally we eat very modestly, and provide for the travelers who come around. But tonight was a special occasion."

"I'm glad I could make it so. There aren't as many people here as I thought there would be. Last time I was here, I didn't really get to see much of the behind-the-scenes stuff, I always imagined it was a really heavily-staffed operation."

"Yes, we make do fairly well without too many people. It's not exactly a popular choice of place to work...there aren't too many people coming around, and it does feel awfully secluded. But for those of us who have dedicated ourselves to the temple, there is no work more rewarding."

"Guess not. I hope I'm not imposing by staying the night."

"Certainly not. It's the least we can do. Besides, we have accommodations in place for many. After all, the trek is not an easy one."

They were back in the main chamber, and stopped for a moment in front of the Catalyst, taking in its soft yellow glow. "I almost began to take this sight for granted..." Wizardmon murmured, almost reverentially. "It's so good to see it here again..."

"I can hardly imagine what it must have been like," Bolteaglemon said softly. "It can't have been pleasant, knowing it was out there somewhere and you couldn't do anything about it."

"Certainly, certainly. And on top of that, the fear that even if it did get recovered, it might never see the inside of these walls again..."

"Hm? Why not?"

"Maybe they would decide not to bring it back to a place that wasn't secure. We were unable to defend it in the moment of truth...others may be enticed to try their luck."

"That's awful. What happened to acting with honor and decency?"

"I'm not sure. At least there are some who still do."

"Well, I try. I mean, the only ones I'm here to make enemies of are Emperius. Now you want to talk about a lack of honor...they're practically the textbook case."

"Ah...I have heard about their activities. Thankfully they have kept their dreadful presence away from us. It's such a shame...so many people in this world behaving like such fools, treating others so terribly, all in the name of seeking power. I suppose after that tournament they'll be clamoring for you."

"Not by a long shot. I'm kind of enemy number one on their list. They wouldn't be caught dead trying to butter me up."

A voice from behind them cut in without warning. "Someone hating a cutie bird like you? Now that's a crime!"

Bolteaglemon's eyes shot wide open as she heard that all-too-familiar voice. In a single move she twisted around and backhanded the Coredramon so hard he staggered through two full spins. Amazingly, that goofy grin was still stuck on his face even after that. "Yowza...now that's what I call a wake-up call!"

Sparks were flying off of Bolteaglemon as she clenched her fists. "You...you...I can't believe you followed me here! You realize that I could kill you when we're not in the ring?"

A snicker from the dragon. "Hey, what would life be without an element of danger?"

"Oh, dear...please, don't fight in the shrine!" Wizardmon cried desperately. "If you must, please go outside! We don't want to risk any damage...one shrine's already been closed because of that!"

"No worries, I'm not here for a battle. I just wanted to talk to the cutie bird for a minute. Heh, she's a spirited one, isn't she? No wonder you won that tournament, I've seen vets who didn't have half the spunk."

"I swear, if you've been spreading rumors about me-"

"No need, cutie, you're already the talk of Hagrande. Nothing involving me, unhappily, though I certainly wouldn't mind if you and I could start one of our own..."

Bolteaglemon snarled and launched a Spark Wave at the dragon. He stood there and took it, letting out only a small satisfied growl afterwards. "Rrr...do that again."

"Gah! Shut up!"

"Nah, that's no fun. But I wasn't lying, I did have a couple things to tell you, if you'd like to have a little private chat."

"Rngh...fine...quickly, and no funny business!"

Coredramon winked at her, only inflaming her ire. "Not unless you say so, cutie bird. Hey, magic dude, is there someplace quiet we can talk for a moment?"

Wizardmon still seemed somewhat frazzled, but nodded and pointed to a door at the side of the main chamber. "There's a small meeting room we use over there. Whatever you do, please don't cause any damage."

"Hey, no worries, I'm only reckless in the ring." Coreramon snickered and walked to the meeting room, Bolteaglemon following grudgingly behind. Once they were inside, the dragon turned and beamed at the avian, who just glowered in response. "So, how's life in the spotlight treatin' ya?"

"I'm not here for small talk, bozo."

"Oh, no problem. Nothing about what I do is small." Before Bolteaglemon could give an incensed response to that remark, he reached over his shoulder and produced a neatly wrapped scroll of paper apparently out of thin air. "Letter from Reps and his gal pal. Just a little thank you for helping them out."

Bolteaglemon blinked as she was handed the paper. "...Where did you get that from?"

Coredramon snickered. "Oh, just my little bag of tricks."

"I swear, if that refers to _anything_ other than a carrying case..."

"Ooh, that's a good one. Might have to work that into my repertoire. But not this time." Coredramon appeared to shrug something over his shoulder, despite there being nothing apparently there. But as soon as it was off of him, it appeared as if out of nowhere, a decent-sized bag with numerous pockets.

Bolteaglemon couldn't help but be impressed. "A stealth satchel. Those aren't cheap."

"Hey, I ain't just in the arena combat circuit solely for the sexy gals and guys, not that that's not a great perk. There's pretty good money to be made, too. Especially for a guy who likes the attention."

_Great, he's probably an ad whore, too. Some things aren't so different between the worlds._ "Good for you, I guess. I feel sorry for the people who have to put up with you, though."

Coredramon snickered once again. "Hey, is it really true? You're a human and a digimon combined together?"

Bolteaglemon wanted nothing more than to not tell him a single thing, but she supposed he got the story from Blackreptimon already. "Yes, it's true. What of it?"

"Heh, I thought there was somethin' about you. Gotta say, that's a good mix. There a lot of you around the other world?"

"No, and don't even think about it."

"Heh, so I guess that means you're not gonna show me what you look like as a human. Maybe I'll just have to make a trip over there myself someday and find out."

"I'll make sure they welcome you with guns blazing."

"Ooh, a challenge. You already know how to get me turned on. But just a little note for ya, you may want to keep that on the down low, if you know what I mean."

"What? Why?"

"Well..." Coredramon hung onto a pause for just long enough to irritate Bolteaglemon and just short enough to keep her from smacking him. "For what it's worth, all I have is rumor. But...this area of Northern Tetraquaz, they ain't so keen on the ideas of humans marching around. Never met one, never want to meet one. Some of them may just attack on sight. So, yeah, really not keen."

"Hrm..." Bolteaglemon felt something trigger in that part of her memory from the one who would know. _I'd heard about that...didn't even remember. That's right, they really weren't happy with the thought of humans. I think Hagrande was really the only inhabited spot in the area that didn't care one way or another, and I doubt they'd want to get their hands dirty protecting us, either._

"So, long story short, you may be better off just presenting yourself as the cutie bird you are now...though I can't say that's exactly a minus."

Bolteaglemon sighed tensely. "I suppose that's worthwhile information...I don't think I'll stick around here much longer anyway, I've got people I'm looking for."

"Why look for them when they could come find you? Word of the tournament's already spreading...who knows, maybe whoever's looking for you might learn about them and come look for you. Might wanna consider it."

That was a good point, Bolteaglemon realized; if they were searching for her, they'd probably go to Hagrande right away, or at least nearby. That would make it easier for her to find them, if not the other way around. "Hmph, I guess you're good for something after all."

"Glad to hear it. Now do I get a thank you kiss?"

And then he was back in her not-so-good graces. "How about a thank you thunder punch to the gut?"

He smirked. "Hey, I take what I can get from you, cutie bird."

That was enough to make her actually follow through, and she delivered a strong gut-punch with her strongest charge. Again, the dragon only made a pleased growling sound. "Ooh, yeah, that feels nice..."

"What are you, some kind of masochist?"

"Hey, you don't get far in the arena combat circuit without learning to love a little pain." He gave a quick little wave as he turned around. "Later, cutie bird. Any time ya feel the itch, feel free to come find me. I like to spread the joy, if you know what I mean."

The dragon sauntered out, leaving Bolteaglemon to collect herself. _If you like spreading joy so much, then why is it you're only constantly causing agony? Ay..._ She shook her head. He was gone, and she didn't want to dwell on him any more than necessary. She exited the room a minute later, returning to the main hall, where Wizardmon was staring out the door, presumably where Coredramon had just exited.

"Sorry about that, Wizardmon. He...kinda knows how to push my buttons."

"It's fine. You just had me a little worried, is all. It's not the first time we've had tensions flare in this place, but it always makes me nervous."

"I can see why. You said another one of these temples had been destroyed?"

"Destroyed is a strong word, but not too long ago a Fire Catalyst temple was damaged to the point of being shut down. These temples, they're relics of an earlier age, but many of them haven't been kept up very well. They're seen as obsolete, insufficient...incidents like the theft of our Catalyst are only going to convince people that new places to house the Catalysts are needed. They'll likely be more secure and more accessible, but I doubt they'll have the mystique and grandeur of these ancient walls."

"There is something to be said for appealing architecture. Maybe they can build it in kind of the style of the period, or something like that."

"Perhaps. At any rate, until that time comes, I'll continue to do my duty here. And maybe the new building will still need stewards, when that time comes...I just wonder if I'll still have the same passion then."

"I hope so. Someone still needs to greet those travelers when they come in for the first time." Bolteaglemon stifled a yawn with a concerted effort. "I'm kinda beat...I think I'm ready to turn in."

"Oh, yes, that's right. Let me show you our rooms. I'm sorry we got so sidetracked."

"Ah, it's fine. I think I got something out of it anyway." Her eyes lingered a moment on the Catalyst before following Wizardmon down the opposite hallway. _Appreciation for what we have...maybe I ought to think about that a little more myself._

(==========)

(==========)

Yes, I mentioned underage drinking. No, I don't condone it. No, I am not going to pretend it doesn't exist. If you tell me you didn't know one person who would have done it if they thought they could get away with it, I'm going to call you a dirty liar. I concede to reality on this one.

All right, on to non-trivial matters. That's all five with the new forms. Not I can get on to the next stage of this work! What's in store for the next few chapters? You'll just have to read them to find out.

I did break down and shift between focal points in this chapter, unlike the other next-level chapters. I hadn't originally intended to, since my idea was to have kind of a fixation on the advancing pair, but I just could not think of a way to expand the Reyn/Skylar line to my liking, and it actually worked out well for timeline consistency to shift to Bolteaglemon at this point. Ah, well, such is life.


	37. Chapter 36: Loose Ends

I'm pretty sure this is my biggest chapter to date. Hope that doesn't mean a drop in quality. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 36: Loose Ends**

"Unbelievable...how did this happen?"

"I wish I knew, Commander. The scouts couldn't exactly blend in and get information from random passers-by. But it appears to be the whole truth."

"And the tainted ones are nowhere to be found?"

"That is what they have said. It appears almost certain that they are in this world, but their precise locations are still beyond our grasp. For all we know, they could be anywhere in the entire digital world."

Havocravenmon let out a dark sigh. "Unbelievable..."

"I believe you've already said that, Commander."

"And I'm saying it again. I'm beginning to believe Craniummon gravely misjudged the humans. He said repeatedly that it would be a simple task to overcome them..." The birdling shook his head. "This is not what I call a simple task."

"Their resistance is fiercer than we imagined. However, I'm sure if our entire efforts were pushed onto them, we could overcome their defenses. Once the weapon is finished, we could launch a full-scale attack-"

"No."

"...Sir?"

"We've been undermining ourselves with this fool's errand. It's done nothing but sap us of manpower and distract us from out goals. We need to refocus ourselves on what should have been our primary mission from the start. Let's focus on this world before some other."

"Sir, while I understand your thinking, I must advise you that simply pulling out entirely is its own mistake. They will almost certainly not be content to wait around, just as the tainted ones were not. If we give them an opening to attack us, they may do so."

"Hm...you have a point. But still, the human world doesn't offer us enough to make it our primary focus. We need to recoup our losses, and we can only do that here. Our names are poison on North Tetraquaz because of Libertius, and recruitment is at its lowest in a long time. We need to expand, and we need to do it before an attack comes our way to stop us." After a moment, he hit upon an idea. "That means from their end, too...so our imperative should be minimal commitment, just enough to keep them apprehensive."

"So you believe we should limit our efforts there to sporadic assaults."

"Right. Send only enough to keep them on the defensive, and scouts to keep tabs on what they can do. Regulars who are familiar with the process should go and make quick hits, then return as soon as possible to minimize casualties. I don't want any suicide attacks, we just want them to think they can't spare any extra efforts on taking the force to us. Once we have established our dominance here, we can return to them. I don't like giving them extra time to prepare, but if we can win here our strength should overcome them, regardless of their...admittedly remarkable ingenuity."

"You may wish to be cautious expressing such sentiments around some of the people here."

"I know, but I'm not deluded. Ignoring that the enemy has skills of merit is only asking for defeat...if the majority of Emperius wasn't so convinced of their divinity, maybe they'd realize that. Hmph...if there's one thing I want my leadership to do, it's break them of their illusion of invulnerability. Even if providence is on our side, it won't fight our battles for us."

"Excellently put, commander. What are your plans, then?"

Havocravenmon thought a moment. "We need to expand our sphere of influence...Southern Tetraquaz has been mired in conflict for years. There must be many who are disillusioned with the way things are...we can offer them something better. Having the weapon finished will be huge, it should give us much more freedom. We'll be able to recruit from numbers who haven't heard of us, instead of trying to cull a few new members here and there from the groups that have rejected us here."

"Do you want to make a move on the Kaiser?"

"Not unless he moves to actively oppose us. He already doesn't think highly of us, but we haven't acted like a direct threat to him since I took over, and I think he's still regarding us with easy eyes. I don't want to lose that...we just finished off Libertius, and I don't want to have to deal with a whole new army, especially with the tainted ones lying in wait somewhere."

(==========)

Morning in Rinikua saw Reyn, Skylar, Salmandmon, and Breezedramon in a room in the inn, working on their next move. Trying to figure out a plan of action was proving to be more of a hassle than they had anticipated.

"All I'm saying is that we should start in the most obvious places. And that would be where the Catalysts are. Even if they passed by days ago, someone should remember them. And if not, well, it's not like we're worse off than we started."

"You make it sound so simple. I mean, the Catalysts are generally more accessible than they used to be, but a lot of them are still way out of the way. It could take us days to even reach them. There's got to be a better option."

"Well, I'd love to hear you come up with it, bonfire breath."

"That's a pretty weak attempt at a slam, Sky," Reyn said lazily.

"You stop talking unless it's something useful. This would go a lot faster if everyone contributed. Right now I'm the one doing all the heavy thinking."

"Well, you're so good at it I just figured I'd get in the way."

"Nice try. Now come on, what else are we supposed to do? We haven't got any kind of lead except that they would obviously have been going for some place where the Catalysts were being housed. Doesn't it make sense to at least give it a shot?"

"Well, you heard what Salmandmon said. That could take more time than would be reasonable. I think it'd be better to just search nearby areas. I mean, they wouldn't stay next to the Catalysts for long, right?"

"That could be miles of area to search. Even if they came and went in different directions, that leaves a bunch of area they might never have set foot in."

"And it'd still probably be faster than trying to get to the Catalysts themselves," Salmandmon countered. "I'm not just saying that to be difficult, you know. I think I know this place slightly better than you do."

Skylar grumbled but was forced to concede that point. "Fine. Tell me we can limit it at least a little bit, though."

"I'm not sure how much you want to try limiting. Remember, we still have no idea where they might have come from or gone, it could be just about anywhere."

"Well, is there any place where there might be some kind of artificial limiter? Like, say, a military compound or something? If there was a Catalyst stored in something like that we might be better off just searching in the perimeter of that."

"That's reaching a bit. I guess maybe a couple areas qualify. The Twilight Peninsula doesn't have a lot of towns or cities or anything...probably Moonlighton would be the place to look. The problem is, I don't know that they'd even let us in."

"Well, why the hell not?"

"They don't tend to trust non-dark types very much. B.C.'s told me about it before. The town is founded entirely on dark-type digimon who've been ostracized or scorned for being dark types by the rest of the world. And supposedly a few demons, too, though that would surprise me, they aren't exactly known for being trustworthy."

"Gee, I wonder why they wouldn't think much of you."

"Well, sorry, but when the majority of them actively try to perpetuate the stereotype, it's a lot safer to assume the worst than not. The bad ones can and will kill you for their own gain, even if they don't need to. If there are demons at Moonlighton, they're probably just as much there to stay away from other demons as non-demons. But anyway, they've got protective measures to keep out anyone they don't trust, and even if we got past those, we'd probably be run out before we could say hello."

"We could try Mechalopolis, but that probably wouldn't be much better," Breezedramon chimed in. "They've got more guns than any place I've seen in any world! Splegondiferous huge ones at that! Oh, and a whole bunch of other weapons, too. And they really, really, really don't like organics for some reason."

"I dunno why that is," Salmandmon added. "Data said it didn't used to be like that, but he won't say much more about it."

"I think he had some trouble there a while back, so that's why he doesn't like to say stuff about it. But man, a lotta people are scared silly that they're gonna start a war any day now."

"Well, maybe we should mount our own campaign on Mechalopolis. Yeah, they've got weapons galore, but we've got a pretty significant amount of firepower ourselves. We could blow a lot of stuff to smithereens, and if Isaac and Data were nearby, we'd get their attention pretty quick. Maybe cut a path to the Catalyst for them, even."

"Isn't that the kind of thing we normally defend people against?"

"This is different. They're xenophobes who are a potential threat to everyone. I don't think a little bit of preemptiveness is a bad idea."

"Well, yeah, I guess, but they can't all be bad, either."

"It's not like I'm suggesting genocide. I just think we could clean the place up a bit."

"Jeez, listen to you two!" Reyn interjected. "We're supposed to be trying to take on Emperius, not piss off even more people! What you're suggesting is insane, and there's no way it won't cause more problems than it solves!"

"Reyn plays party pooper, as usual," Skylar cracked with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, shut it, you know it's bonkers. All I'm saying is that we really should be staying away from easily avoidable conflict. We haven't exactly been treading carefully as it is, the last thing we need is to be looking for trouble."

A sudden loud commotion sprang up outside the building. They felt the room shudder as a blast of something went off not far away. A few seconds later, there was a shout from outside the door.

"Warning! A group of bandits is assaulting Rinikua! They are well-organized and fairly strong! Those who wish to offer assistance, it will not be turned down...if you don't, please stay inside your rooms until this has been taken care of!"

Reyn and Skylar exchanged looks - Reyn one of frustration and Skylar an even bigger grin. "You're absolutely right, Reyn. Why bother looking for trouble when it does such a fantastic job of finding us?"

"Shut up and prepare for battle."

Before long, Pyrekomodomon and Stormdramon were back in action, charging out from the inn to meet the threat head-on. The town itself was fairly clear, with only a couple of skirmishes going on. Down one road, there was a pair squaring off. The attacker was a spherical-bodied digimon, Mamemon; the defender was a tall humanoid armored knight digimon with a poleax, Palisademon. They had been going at it for a good minute, and both seemed to have been dealt a few blows.

"Had enough yet?" Mamemon challenged.

"I'll have enough when I toss you out of this town!" Palisademon countered.

"Big talk, but you haven't backed it up yet! You best run off home to mommy and daddy before you get hurt!"

"I've faced tougher bandits than you!"

"Really? Then let's see you take this! Smirk Bomb!" Mamemon launched a boxing-glove-shaped projectile at the Palisademon, who braced himself for the impact. It never came, as a small fireball met it in mid-flight and blew it up safely away from anyone. Mamemon turned to rage at the intruder, but quickly cooled off at the sight of the reptile in front of him. Pyrekomodomon was low to the ground, glaring viciously down at the spherical bandit, fangs bared, saliva dripping from the corners of his maw.

"Ah...buh...eh heh...uh, well, I, uh, maybe, uh, ya know, thinking maybe, ah, sorry, wasn'ttryingtocausetroubleI'lljustgonowkay?" Mamemon tore off like a shot, the battle all but forgotten as he tried to do everything in his power not to piss off the fiery beast. Pyrekomodomon straightened up and shook his head. "What a wuss. He sounded like you for a moment, Stormdramon."

"Whaddayamean?"

"Eh, never mind. Hey, Palisademon, you okay?"

"I'm...fine, thanks..." The knight seemed a little unnerved by Pyrekomodomon's display as well. "You're...you're on our side, right?"

"Relax, we're with you. And I'm not about to go berserker on you or something, I just figured a good death glare might settle this quickly."

"The drool was a nice touch, by the way!" Stormdramon added.

"Thanks. Palisademon, keep watch over the interior. We'll head out and face down the guys behind this."

"Okay. Thank you so much. Good luck."

The two kept going, passing by a couple more fights which didn't seem to require any intervention. A Prairiemon was being knocked head over heels by a Mummymon in a clearly one-sided match-up. A wounded blue Coredramon had a Kabukimon on the ropes, with the latter, looking about ready to run herself. Above them, a Devidramon was being tossed about by a Galedramon.

"Now that takes me back," Stormdramon said wistfully, looking at the long-bodied blue wind dragon let loose spheres of wind energy at the retreating demon dragon.

"We'll have time for nostalgia later," Pyrekomodomon said gruffly. "I think we've finally met our personal welcoming committee." Standing in front of them near the edge of town were a Mojyamon and a Centarumon. The metal on his gauntlets burst into flames as he blitzed the two, the tips melting into sharp claw-like points. With a vicious snarl, he sent Mojyamon flying with a violent upwards slash, sending a spray of blood all over, the creature eventually landing hard several dozen feet away. Without even missing a beat, Pyrekomodomon pivoted on his foot and rocketed a left hook right into Centarumon's forehip, throwing his front half a full 90° around, the centaur digimon barely keeping himself upright. In one more fluid motion, the fiery reptile reversed direction and let loose a vicious roundhouse kick at a Cerberumon who had attempted to ambush him from behind, followed by an Infernal Fang to the flung canine, who could do nothing but take the full force of it.

A loud roar of pain came from above as a red Veedramon, trying to strike at Pyrekomodomon from above, was blasted by Stormdramon's Storm Ray. Spinning in the air, he righted himself only to be nabbed by Stromdramon. "Nyaha, time for a nice ride! Shuttle Slam!" Before the Veedramon could react, Stormdramon pulled him upwards, looped around, then careened towards the ground with his prey in front of him. In mere seconds, the two slammed the ground hard, Veedramon taking all the force of the impact, Stormdramon swooping away like nothing had happened. Mercifully, the red dragon lost consciousness immediately, offering him brief respite from the immense pain he would no doubt feel for weeks.

Another airborne enemy, a BlackPegasusmon, went for Pyrekomodomon while Stormdramon was occupied. Pyrekomodomon made an impressive leap for the flying equine, but it swooped up away from his trajectory; undaunted, spun in midair and unleashed a burst of heat to propel himself at Blackpegasusmon, catching him by surprise and clocking him on the head before gravity pulled him back to the ground. It was enough to knock him senseless, and before he could recover, Pyrekomodomon landed, leapt to right underneath him, and with a resounding yell of "Vulcan Pillar!" slammed a fist into the ground, sending a column of flame rocketing straight up into the air. Blackpegasusmon could not get out of the way in time, and was completely torched; he fell like a stone, caught in one hand by Pyrekomodomon just before hitting, the reptile simply tossing him away behind him. "Too easy."

An Asuramon and a Grapleomon tried to charge in along the ground, only to be intercepted by Stormdramon. "Hurricane Blast!" He launched a lateral cyclone along the road, nailing both of the oncoming attackers and tossing them backwards into a heap. Without wasting a breath, he grabbed his halberd and took off along the ground. "Whirling Cleaver!" At high speed, he went into a chaotic spin, his halberd whipping around unpredictably as he bowled towards Asuramon and Grapleomon. Asuramon managed to barely avoid the attack, while Grapleomon was caught and sliced and diced several times before being knocked away. Both tore off, not willing to risk life and limb against a superior foe.

Stormdramon landed and laughed wildly. "Damn, this is fun! These guys aren't any match for us!"

"Get a hold of yourself," Pyrekomodomon hissed. "There's more outside Rinikua. We can celebrate once we've driven them off."

"Ah, lighten up, ya rock in the magma! This'll be a cinch!" He charged off past the edge of town, quickly followed by Pyrekomodomon. It didn't take long for them to spot more enemies; just beyond the buildings was a kitsune digimon railing at some of the retreating digimon for being cowards. She was a Frostaumon, a variant of Taumon that was all white and had ice crystals dancing around her. She turned, looking ready to snap at the newcomers who she thought were more bandits running away, but her rage quickly turned to shock as she laid eyes on Pyrekomodomon. "Y-you!"

Pyrekomodomon raised an eyeridge. "Me? Do I know you?"

"You're the one that killed Zerodramon!"

"Oh, him. Yeah, he decided being char-broiled form the inside out was better than backing off. Friend'a yours?"

"You bastard! I was his second-in-command! Because of you, the Frigid Souls disbanded! Everything we had worked for, everything _I_ had worked for, gone in the blink of an eye! I swear, I'm going to make you pay!"

"Really?" Pyrekomodomon asked, unconvinced.

"Don't dismiss me! I'm more powerful than I look!"

"Yeah, are you more powerful than Zerodramon? Jeez, I wonder what you guys are even thinking sometimes."

"I think she wants a shot at you, dude," Stormdramon chuckled. "There's a few more guys over a ways, mind if I go play with them for a while?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Cool! See ya!" Stormdramon launched himself towards a group of digimon as Pyrekomodomon squared off against Frostaumon. his approach didn't go unnoticed, as several digimon turned to see him and freaked out.

"B-Boltleomon! One of them is coming this way!"

"He's gonna kill us all! AAAAHHHH!"

Boltleomon turned to face Stormdramon as the rest of the bandits beat a hasty retreat. Instead of being more of a golden color like a regular Leomon, his fur was a bright, startling yellow, occasionally sparking and arcing with electrical jolts. He had a small dagger drawn and was holding it in a threatening stance. "You wish to challenge me?"

"Heck yeah! You're causing trouble, so I'm just gonna stop it here, okay?"

"You certainly seem a upbeat fell-nznzt!" Boltleomon jolted suddenly, almost like an instantaneous seizure, before just as suddenly normalizing. "That will not last long after facing me."

"You all right, there?"

"Why does everyone insist on ask-azngng!-ing me that? I am perfectly normal." Boltleomon looked hard at Stormdramon. "Hm...I have heard rumors about an armored wind dr-ntzgn!-agon such as yourself. They say you liberated Oroetem from the likes of ztngt!-Shinduramon."

"Oh, yeah! That was me all right!"

The lion's eyes narrowed. "Then it seems I have some business with you of my own. You got in the way of my own ambi-ngzngt!-tions."

"Uh, are you sure you're all-"

"I am FINE! You should worry about yourself! I was supposed to take Shinduramon's place as the ruler of Oroetem! I wanted to be in charge there! You took-nzgt! my chance away from me!"

"Dude, you really thought Shinduramon would ever actually give up power to you? He wanted it all for himself!"

"He would have ceded it to me. I am sure of it. But thanks to you, now that will never happen! Now look at me, re-zngt!-duced to a lowly bandit, scrounging off of what I can steal, having to fight for every credit! You, you will feel-ngztnt my pain!"

"Well, if you say so, but I'm gonna be a harder fight than you think!"

"I doubt that! Thunder Beast!" Boltleomon wasted no time, launching a wave of electricity reminiscent of a roaring lion at Stormdramon. The dragon just cackled and swooped above it, then countered with a Storm Ray that Boltleomon dodged in the nick of time. With a roar, he attacked again. "Raging Bolt!" From the sky above, bolts of lightning surged down at the ground all around them. Stormdramon got lower to the ground, shooting around to try to outlast the attack without getting hit. His luck was with him as none of the bolts struck him, and before Boltleomon could re-initiate his attack, he grabbed him by the arm, swung upwards, flipped head over heels, and flung Boltleomon at the ground, the leonine unable to do a thing as he crashed into the ground. He got up shakily, battered but not ready to give up the fight.

Meanwhile, Frostaumon was having her own struggles against Pyrekomodomon. "Ice Spell!" She launched glinting paper seals of ice at Pyrekomodomon, who almost lazily raised his Blazing Guardian to snuff them out before they even got to touch him. He then bounded forward and lashed out at Frostaumon, delivering a body punch that sent her flying. She hit the ground hard and took her time getting to her feet. From her cloak she produced a large paintbrush, which she raised and swung through the air, creating a strange symbol. "Talisman of Frost!"

Pyrekomodomon watched as the symbol glowed and fired something at him. "Neat trick...let's see how it fares against this! Searing Wave!" He drew his hands back and launched them forward, unleashing a massive fire wave that met the icy attack in mid-flight. The fiery blast easily overpowered the cold energy, engulfing it and killing it and continuing on to Frostaumon. She quickly raised her hands. "Guardian Sign!" A protective shield formed in front of her, blocking out most of the Searing Wave; however, it failed to block out Pyrekomodomon, who come up almost as soon as the fire wave ended and crashed through the shield to claw at her with his flaming gauntlets. It was a quick one-two-three as he slashed downward with his left, down-across with his right, and used the momentum from the second to spin into a tail slam that sent her flying for a second time. This time she was unable to rise fully to her feet, instead staying down on one knee.

Boltleomon had tried once again to hit Stormdramon with his Raging Bolt, but even after two strikes Stormdramon was only slightly fazed. "Nyahahaha! Is that all ya got? Shinduramon could hit harder than that!" He landed on the ground and grabbed his halberd. "I'll show ya a real attack! Cyclone Pillar!" He swung upwards then downwards, unleashing a rapidly-rotating slashing wind column that whipped along the ground towards Boltleomon. He tried to jump out of the way, but the heavy winds around the attack actually caused him to be sucked into the meat of the cyclone, whereupon he was rapidly slashed and buffeted by the swirling tower. Eventually it dissipated, leaving behind only a battered, bloodied, and defeated Boltleomon.

"Ngh...I...can see why...Shinduramon...fell to-ngztg! you..." Boltleomon managed to huff out, barely able to prop himself up with an arm let alone stand.

"Yeah, you didn't really stand a chance," Stormdramon replied immodestly. "Now are ya gonna give this up or do I have to get even rougher?"

"...Well, it depends...this is a...joint ent-bztntgnt!-erprise...although it...appears my...partner is unli-gnzntg!-kely...to continue herself..."

Pyrekomodomon folded his arms and stared down Frostaumon. "Give it up. You have to know you can't beat me now. Your magic can't overpower my heat, and you aren't a close-quarters fighter. I have all the edges I need to destroy you. Maybe you'll be smarter than Zerodramon was."

"Damn you!" Frostaumon shouted back desperately. "You...think you can just get away with this? You ruined my life! You ruined all our lives!"

"Cry me a friggin' river."

"Are you really that soulless? You don't even care that you made all of us miserable, that you destroyed what some of us had spent our entire lives on? You think you're some kind of hero, but do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions are?"

Pyrekomodomon gave her a heated glare. "If you wanted to sway me with some impassioned speech, maybe you shouldn't have been trying to destroy the world by plunging it into an eternal ice age. Did you think about the consequences of YOUR actions? You would have destroyed a whole hell of a lot more than I did."

"That's...that's...that's, it's different-"

"No, it's not. Now, you can either shut the hell up about your ruined life and go away to make something better of it, or I can ensure you don't have to worry about it because you won't have a life to be ruined anymore. I don't really care either way, it won't be that hard to turn you to ash."

She was clearly furious, but Frostaumon gave in to reason. "...Fine...we'll leave this place quietly. But don't think you've seen the last of me! Someday, sometime, I'll see to it that I have my revenge on you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Grab your buddy and split already."

After a fair amount of fussing, the two managed to be on their way, Boltleomon needing to hold onto Frostaumon for support. Stormdramon bounded around Pyrekomodomon, clearly still full of energy after the brawl. "Man, that was awesome! I could get used to this!"

"You are like a little five-year-old kid I know," Pyrekomodomon muttered, shaking his head. "C'mon, we've got business to take care of."

"Okayokayokay! Hey, whaddaya think they're gonna do with the bandits who couldn't escape because we smacked 'em down so bad?"

"If they're lucky they'll be treated and jailed before I can eviscerate them. Attacking a city, they should be lucky they're still alive."

"Yeah, but ya gotta feel sorry for some of them, kinda, I mean, don'tcha think? I mean, some'a them are only doing this because theycan'tgetabreakinlifeandtheydon''thaveanytalent-" Pyrekomodomon growled quietly as he tried to tune out Stormdramon's steadily accelerating prattle as they walked back to the inn.

(==========)

"This is ridiculous! We should be going after the humans, not sitting back and letting them build their arsenal!"

Havocravenmon sighed at the incensed Blackwargreymon, one of the newer members of his council of generals; after the deaths of Marsmon and Suijinmon, he'd had to look long and hard within the ranks of Emperius for suitable replacements. Even now, he wasn't certain he'd found them. _I'm starting to wonder whether he's cut out for this...he's gonna have to control that temper of his if he wants to stay on my council._ "Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But we can't fight six different battles at once, especially ones that we keep losing. If all goes well, our gun-and-run strategy will at least disrupt their production."

"Why can't we just walk in and blow them to smithereens?"

"Were you not listening to what the Commander just said?" Kuzuhamon's voice almost made visible gashes in the air. "We have to assert our proper priorities. The human world can wait. Frankly, I don't see why you're so obsessed with it."

"They've been nothing but trouble! And they're going to keep being trouble for us if we don't take them down now!"

"We've got trouble on all fronts, Blackwargreymon," Havocravenmon replied. "You can't just have a tunnel vision view of the world. Being part of Emperius leadership requires a level head and a broad awareness."

Blackwargreymon scowled, but sat down and voiced no more objections. Satisfied, Havocravenmon turned to the rest of the council. "Any other points anyone wants to make?"

Not a sound from the other members of the council. Kuzuhamon, whom he knew would riddle any idea of his with holes if she found critical flaws, simply sat back and remained silent. Havocravenmon appreciated her terseness, even if it always stung when directed at him; unlike d'Arcmon's ceaseless derision, she wasn't constantly out to get him, and was ready with improvements whenever she spotted problems. Her sharp demeanor was just how she was.

Duftmon, as usual, appeared uncertain. Always fervently loyal to Havocravenmon, sometimes to a fault; Havocravenmon sometimes felt he stayed himself when it would have better served them all for him to speak up. The ill-advised attack on the human world was one of those occasions; he knew now that he should never have allowed so many to mount an assault when they had such a poorly-understood enemy opposing them. Kuzuhamon had said as much, but Duftmon had sided with him, only afterwards privately admitting he had his doubts. Still, in spite of that, it was good to know he had someone to count on to ensure an order was carried out.

He didn't expect much from Carcharomon, who he doubted had paid full attention at any point. The powerful shark had little in the way of attention, especially to strategy or forethought, and small wonder, given his nature. He was restless, wild, and could fly off the handle with such ferocity that it made Blackwargreymon at his worst look positively comatose. But he was a staunch loyalist to Havocravenmon, carrying out his duties without argument, and his strength made him a truly valuable ally.

The other newcomer to the council, Zeedramon, was as quiet and contemplative as usual. Havocravenmon still didn't quite know what to make of the dragon; his power was unquestionable, for sure, but otherwise he was rather an enigma. He spoke fairly infrequently, and when he did, it was very pointed and almost broken; often, it seemed like he was just there, almost as a passive observer rather than a decision maker. It was another choice Havocravenmon wasn't certain would work out, but the options had been limited, and of all of the possibilities, Zeedramon possessed the one he wanted the most: a belief, like his own, that relying on destiny was for fools.

With that matter apparently settled, Havocravenmon moved on. "So, that will be the approach to the humans. Now, to an equally-important matter: recruitment. We've been running dry here, and I'm of the mind that we need to move on."

"Quite," Duftmon said. "With Libertius out of the way, nothing's keeping us tied down here. And we've spent so much time in Northern Tetraquaz that we've rather exhausted most of the sources of recruitment. Moving to the southern land would definitely provide us with more ample opportunity to increase our ranks."

"And what of our influence in Northern Tetraquaz, if we all but abandoned this area?" Kuzuhamon riposted. "What do we stand to lose if we turn our attentions elsewhere?"

"Well, we can't just sit here the whole time if we want to achieve our goal of becoming the predominant force in the digital world. We have to move on at some point."

"Just move on? Leave behind everything we've worked at already? It's nonsense. We should stay here and just extend a few courtesies around. That would be effective enough."

"Or we could just leave a few smoking craters in the ground. They'd keep us in mind a lot if we did that," suggested Blackwargreymon.

"Gah, it's always 'destroy destroy destroy' with you, isn't it?" Carcharomon grunted.

"You're one to talk, berserker."

"At least I have the sense to tone it down when I'm out of my rage states."

"Let's not get into a brawl here," Havocravenmon interceded. "I don't think we're going to be thought of very highly if we're causing random mayhem. Remember, that's part of what got Emperius on a lot of people's bad sides in the first place. We stand a better shot of recruiting if we show them we want to use our power to improve digimon overall."

"I still think it's ridiculous to leave behind Northern Tetraquaz. Losing ground here means we just struggle to get back to where we started."

"What ground?" Zeedramon spoke suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"We have no ground. Emperius is hated here. We have no influence beyond our own force. We lose little if we leave. And perhaps gain. Let their memories of us fade. We return later, perhaps they hate us less then. Maybe we land more recruits."

"...You may be right. But I think a mass exodus like this is going to be noticed."

"So we wait yet. The project is almost finished. We take it, all of Emperius, and fly south. It's embroiled in wars. People are suffering, angry, desperate. They want power to solve their problems. We show them the path of power, choose the stronger side, crush the weaker ones. We end the war, take the strong ones in. Those caught in the middle, perhaps they appreciate us, choose to join. Word gets around. We look better. Perhaps our enemies even have a tougher time finding support. They may choose to leave altogether if the tide turns against them."

"A solid argument," Havocravenmon said. It hadn't occurred to him that they could use the war to their advantage in that particular way. _This might work out better than I had worried it would after all._ "Does anyone want to offer any dispute?"

Silence around the table. Havocravenmon nodded. "Then we'll settle on that plan of action. Now, on a related note, we should discuss preparations for the move. Most of it has been worked out, but let's make sure we haven't run into any complications."

(==========)

Bolteaglemon never felt better than when she was flying. It was something else, swooping through the air with the greatest of ease, able to see for miles in every direction, feeling the calming breeze of the passing air massage her all over. Not to mention being much faster than walking - even if she didn't have the jets of her blue dragon counterpart's higher forms, she still moved at a much quicker clip than if she'd been forced to trudge on foot.

The one and only drawback she could think of was that it was somewhat more tiring than walking. She'd been flying nearly all morning since leaving the Thunder Shrine, and she was beginning to feel fatigue set in; it didn't help that it was a bright, sunny, and warm day, which only sped up the process. Rather than exhaust herself entirely, she set down on a large rock, taking a few minutes to relax and recharge. She stared off into the distance, marveling at how distinct the perspective was from when she was high up above.

_It's really different down here...everything seems so much bigger, so much more imposing. Like you're surrounded by everything, rather than separated from it. No wonder humans have dreamed about getting into the air for so long...they must have realized on some level that it feels so much more safer and cathartic to be up above everything._

She stretched out a little on the rock, feeling the mild aches in her muscles dissipate. The area around her was pretty quiet, not much in the way of wildlife or other digimon - a perfect spot to rest, or so she had thought.

She heard the sound just a moment before it was upon her. With a surprised yell, she rolled off the rock and landed on her feet as the ambusher spun around to face her. "What the hell?"

"Damn you!"

"Machgaogamon? What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I'm here to make you pay for what you did to me!" The canid warrior shot towards her again, and she leapt up and took flight, giving her a little distance between herself and Machgaogamon.

"What are you talking about!"

"Barred from competition for a year! My career is ruined! And it's all your fault! You're the one who screwed me over!"

"You're the one who cheated!"

"I'd never have gotten caught if you'd just laid down and gave up like you were supposed to! And you're not even a digimon! They've all been talking, saying that you were some kind of human and digimon combined!"

"So? Nothing in the rules about that, and I doubt it gave me any kind of unfair advantage given what kind of competition I was up against. There is something in the rules about not wearing crap you're not supposed to have, and you did get an unfair advantage. You've got no right yelling at me for your own failing."

"Shut up! I'm gonna make sure you end up like you should have in that match - and this time, there's no system that's gonna keep you alive!"

"...You really are a nutcase. I beat you once before, and now I'm not only stronger, but I can actually fly here. You really want to try my patience?"

"Oh, you talk so big, but I had you on the ropes until you pulled that little stunt of yours!" Machgaogamon jumped up at her, and she swung away and flew upwards higher.

"Guess I am gonna have to hand you your ass. All right, here goes!" She quickly evolved up to Thundergarudamon, then swooped down to meet him head-on. He jumped up to try to hit her again, and this time was met with a kick to the jaw that knocked him backwards and caused him to botch his landing. "Yeouch!"

"Serves ya right, ya dumb dog," she taunted.

"Eat me, bitch!" Machgaogamon shook off the blow and jumped at her again. This time, Thundergarudamon raised her hands and created a ball of electricity between them. "Lightning Bomb!" She hurled the ball down at Machgaogamon, who had no means of moving out of the way. The ball hit him square, expanding rapidly as it surged through him. He howled in pain and anger as he once again hit the ground.

"You know, this isn't really too difficult for me, you realize that?"

"Shut up! Come down here and fight like you mean it!"

"You're trying to kill me. Why should I make it any easier for you?"

"This isn't a real fight! You're just too chicken to face me on the right level!"

Thundergarudamon shook her head. "This isn't arena combat anymore, you moron. This is real life. In real life, you don't always fight face-to-face on ground level. I've got no reason to indulge you. You want to see eye-to-eye, sprout some wings."

"Gah! You drive me crazy! You just wait, I'm gonna follow you until you get down low enough for me to hit you, and then you're gonna really pay!"

"Hm, that doesn't sound very appealing to me. How about this, I'll blast you from up above until you can't move, then leave you for scavengers or bandits to find. How about that?"

"You don't scare me! I know you're just up there because you're not strong enough to beat me! You're bluffing!"

Thundergarudamon smirked. "I think that's my cue to prove otherwise." She spread her wings wide, charging them with electricity. "Fury Bolt!"

The powerful bolts of lightning surged towards the ground. Machgaogamon yelped and quickly made to dodge, but even his enhanced speed didn't help him enough as he was jolted by the edge of the attack. Thundergarudamon wasn't done; she swooped down a little closer to the dazed canid and let loose with another attack. "Electron Web!"

More lightning shot from her wings; this time, it was in tighter streams which hit Machgaogamon but didn't disappear; instead, they wrapped around him, binding him and continuously sending their charge through him. He howled a little in pain, finding himself having a tough time breaking free. Thundergarudamon didn't give him a chance, she dove at him, body crackling with electricity. "And now the main course! Coulomb Blitz!"

She tackled him at full speed, leading with her shoulder, sending a powerful charge from herself into Machgaogamon on contact. He yelped in agony as the combined physical blow and electrical surge tore through him; he hit the ground and tumbled limply, his nerves temporarily fried from the shocks.

Thundergarudamon landed in front of him, hands on her hips. "I think that's enough of a demonstration, don't you?" His only response was pathetic whimpering. "Aw, what's the matter, can't talk right now? About time, you talked more than enough before. Now time for you to listen, you idiot. Even if you'd managed to beat me in the match, you would have been tossed out once I told them about the band. You won't ever be a real winner if you don't play the game the way it's supposed to be played. Maybe next time, actually train hard and do things the right way, and you might have a chance. Oh, and if you don't want to play by the rules in the ring, you don't get the right to bitch about someone not playing by your rules out of the ring. Understood?"

Machgaogamon didn't respond, but she didn't really care. She had had enough of him and just wanted to put him out of her mind. She reverted to Bolteaglemon form and took off again, using the remaining adrenaline in her system to counter her fatigue long enough to get him out of sight. _Yeah...there's no doubt about it, flying really is the best way to go._

(==========)

"What's this I hear about abandoning the assault on the human world?"

_It would have to be d'Arcmon,_ Havocravenmon thought as he tensed up at the familiar voice behind him. _I doubt it's any use trying to reason with her, but what else can I do?_ "We're not abandoning it, d'Arcmon, as I'm sure you full well know. We're simply putting our focus on the avenues that are most likely to benefit us more quickly."

As expected, d'Arcmon wasn't satisfied with that answer in the least. "We have a goal to achieve over there, one we should be able to achieve with less trouble than our victory over here, and you're pulling the plug? This is why you're a lousy leader, you pull out when victory is right within our grasp!"

"Victory is not even remotely within our grasp. You haven't heard what I have, d'Arcmon. They have exceeded expectations yet again, and made our campaign over there even more dangerous. Continuing such a folly would drain us even more."

"Who cares? If they lose to humans they weren't worthy of Emperius anyway! Only the strongest belong here, and those who lose clearly aren't strong!"

Havocravenmon was getting tired of this. "Has it possibly occurred to you that there are strong digimon out there that aren't on our side? That perhaps the humans have defenses capable of standing against our strength that, thanks to those tainted ones, they have had the chance to prepare?"

d'Arcmon had to pause as her argument was shattered, but was far from giving up. "It's your fault. You should have had the tainted ones killed."

"What do yo think I was trying to do with all those warriors, d'Arcmon? Throw them a party? Do you still not realize that they're a threat?"

"They should have been a minor inconvenience. If I was the leader of Emperius, they would be dead by now!"

"Oh? And what exactly would you have done?"

"That's none of your business! I'm not going to give you my ideas just so you can take credit for them!"

"In other words, you haven't the slightest damned clue."

"I have plenty of ideas! Just because you can't think of them doesn't mean they don't exist! It just means that you're not intelligent enough or clever enough to come up with what I can come up with! And you wouldn't appreciate them anyway! You never did, not when I tried so very hard to help Craniummon!"

"You called that helping? Half the time your suggestion was 'why don't we just kill them,' which was in fact what we were looking for ideas on how to do. And when you actually gave it the thought to go beyond that, your proposals were ridiculously simplistic and easily thwarted. Let's not forget the infamous 'land mines against the air brigade' suggestion."

"I told you, I misheard something!"

"Which is why you stubbornly insisted on it even after I voiced my objections to the idea and Craniummon corrected your misconceptions."

"Craniummon misunderstood me, and you were just out to make me look bad!"

"As if I needed the help. If your current ideas are anything like your earlier ones, go ahead and keep them to yourself. I want something that actually has a chance of working."

"Pah! As if anything you've ever come up with has helped us in any way!"

"And whose ideas do you think led to the capture of Libertius and the defeat of our fiercest opponents?"

"I could have done that better than you did. And that alleged defeat just created the tainted ones."

"Which I could no more have foreseen than yourself or anyone else. In fact, you believed the scouts were lying when they first reported it, claiming that such a thing was beyond possibility and they were just trying to make excuses for failing in the human world."

"Well, you just have an answer for everything, don't you? You continue to screw up over and over again, but there's always an excuse at hand, just so you can keep pretending you're not an incompetent fool who fails at everything he does!"

"I'm going to take that as a sign that you've run out of arguments. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do. Why don't you slink off and reload for the next time you feel the need to have a pointless tirade against me?"

If looks could kill, d'Arcmon would have probably halved the population of Northern Tetraquaz with the glare she gave Havocravenmon. But she had no more words, and simply marched off without a sound. It was quite a relief to Havocravenmon; dealing with her was always one of the most stressful parts of his life as Emperius' leader.

_There is just nothing I can do with her. She's not particularly strong, she isn't bright enough to be of any use in strategizing, and her entire life seems to revolve around ruining me. Is it even any use allowing her to stay? Not that I'd be likely to force her to leave, unless I had her killed...but I doubt that would reflect well upon me as a commander. Gah, I hate when I don't know what to do. Maybe she'll just flip out and leave on her own...maybe that's the best I can hope for._

(==========)

"Ike...Iiiiiike...you wanna re-establish your connection to the server, buddy?"

Isaac snapped out of his trance and looked down at his partner. "Sorry, Data. This room is just so cool, I can't help but wonder how it all works."

"Well, you'll have time for that later. C'mon, Mekitsumon's asking for us. Some kind of weirdness that we might be able to help out with."

"Weirdness, huh? Never a dull moment in this world." The two left their accommodations and soon met up with the robotic fox, who was directing various projects, including the dismantling of the geodesic dome Raidenmon had erected.

"I know it wasn't exactly a nice symbol, but did it have to go away?" Isaac asked. "I thought it looked kinda cool."

Mekitsumon looked back behind him. "Oh, hey, you two. Yeah, I'll admit it was impressive but it was a memory hog. We need the space for something useful, and it's just such a drag inside. But that's kind of why I asked you two to come here. I know it's gotta be a pain for you, since I know you've got your own stuff going on, but if you're willing to stick around just a little bit longer, we could really use the help."

"Hey, I'm not in any rush. This place is awesome."

"Glad you think so. It is pretty sweet. Anyway, right now there's some craziness going on inside the dome. It's pretty well-contained right now since we erected the electrobarriers, but I'd rather not count on anything."

"What kind of craziness?" Datacarnomon asked.

"Some robotic digimon are wreaking havoc on the stuff inside. It's not stuff we intended to save anyway, but it's the principle of the matter. We don't want them causing any damage to places that are important, or to other people in the city for that matter. So we want to try to stop them."

"Of course. Some of Raidenmon's cronies don't want to give up, huh?"

"Well, that's where the tricky part comes in. We're not convinced they're doing this of their free will."

"Really? Why not?"

"Well, for starters, they aren't behaving like robots trying to carry out Raidenmon's mission. They're pretty much attacking indiscriminately, and what few words we can get out of them are more the machinations of random madness than Raidenmon's particular lunacy. We think they might have been infected with a virus or something that was set to go off if he was destroyed."

"Seems like an odd failsafe for a guy so convinced of his own superiority."

"Maybe one of his lackeys programmed it. Either way, we're trying to subdue them with as little damage as possible. If they can be fixed, we want to fix them rather than scrap them."

Isaac nodded. "Sounds fair. But I can see why that would need some extra manpower. It's one thing to be blasting them to pieces, but this is a tall order."

"Right. We've gotten most of the prisoners out of the hypostatic cells, but they're not in much shape to fight. It's tough coming out of those, and the only remedy is time to readjust to a normal time flow. We've got as many others as we could get on the job, but every little bit helps."

"Gotcha. We'll try to help out as best we can."

"Excellent. I've ordered the go-ahead to create an opening in the electrobarriers when you get to the dome. They'll know it's you, so you should be able to just go on through."

"Right. Thanks, Mekitsumon."

"Hey, the thanks is all yours, for helping us out."

"No problem. Always glad to lend a hand." _Especially since not everyone in this place has one,_ he pathed to Datacarnomon.

_Cheap shot,_ the robo dino pathed back with a snort of laughter.

It was as easy as Mekitsumon had suggested, as the Mekanorimon guard they met (who Isaac thought might have been the one he stunned at the jail when he'd first arrived) went to work on the barrier the moment it saw them. In mere seconds there was a small hole for them to walk through, and they wasted no time getting through so the barrier could be completed again.

The dome was a lot lighter now that a good portion of the top had been removed. They couldn't see anything in particular upon entry, but there was enough noise around that they had no shortage of ideas of where to look. "Guess he wasn't exaggerating when he said there was craziness," Isaac remarked as they started walking towards one of the sources of the noise. "These guys must be going nuts in here. Who knows what they're doing to the buildings and stuff."

"Probably nothing that wasn't going to happen to them anyway," Datacarnomon said. "Still, it'd be a shame if they got to something that mattered. I'm just wondering what the heck is wrong with them."

"Maybe they need a sample to look at. Drat, if I'd thought of that when we were talking to Mekitsumon I'd have asked him. Hey, you think you can reach him through networking or something?"

"It's possible, but maybe there's someone in here we can ask instead." Datacarnomon went quiet for a moment. "...Hey, there is! Chaosdramon's not too far away, we're going almost right towards him!"

"Excellent! Maybe he can help!" The two picked up the pace and in a couple minutes were within sight of Chaosdramon. He was facing down a robot that looked like a giant block with four legs and four arms, two each in the front of its body and the back of its body, with two dark glass half-spheres visible on the front of the block. Isaac didn't recognize it right away, but he tapped in to Datacarnomon's data bank quickly and identified it as Megabytemon.

Chaosdramon appeared to be fairly frustrated as two of the arms pushed him backwards. "Gragh! Hold still, you bucket of bolts! I'm trying to help you!"

The Megabytemon didn't even respond as if it registered what Chaosdramon was saying. It stepped forward, two slots opening on its body and producing a missile each. "Bit Missile initiated. Commencing launch."

Isaac and Datacarnomon readied their weapons, but Chaosdramon signaled them to hold their fire. The missiles launched at Chaosdramon, each impacting with a direct hit, but not leaving so much as a scratch on his armor. He then lunged again, while Megabytemon was reloading, trying to grab the robot and claw at the top of it. "Dammit, c'mon!"

"Hey, can we help out?" Datacarnomon asked.

"It's fine, I can handle this...I just...can't quite...get this..." Megabytemon began trying to push away again, and Chaosdramon had to do a robot impression of a bear hug to keep from being pushed away. "Rgh, why couldn't I have been designed with claws that were more dextrous?"

"If it's dexterity you want, I might be able to manage," Isaac offered. "What's the target?"

"There's some kind of weird chip or something on top of him. Damned if I know what it does, but I know it's not standard spec, so I'm trying to get it off."

"Weird chip, huh? Lemme have a look, I might be able to get it."

"All right, but be careful, it looks like it's embedded pretty good."

"Heck, I might have something for that, too. Just hold him still for me, okay?"

Chaosdramon nodded and restrained the Megabytemon, now using his wrapped arms to his advantage, pulling the robot towards him and off its legs. The heavy robot struggled fiercely, but he was no match for Chaosdramon's raw strength, and he clamped down to ensure that the bot couldn't move more than a few microns.

With the robot immobilized, Isaac got in close and flipped up the laser cutter in his arm. The chip wasn't hard to spot; it was small enough that being reasonably far away would render it basically invisible, but close up it stood out markedly against the flat gray metal. True to Chaosdramon's word, it refused to budge under his fingernails, so he turned to the laser. With just a thought it burst to life, and in just a few seconds, he'd disconnected the chip from the robot's hull.

"Now this is definitely more what it was meant for," Isaac cracked with a grin, holding up the chip to examine it.

"That is some arm you've got there," Chaosdramon said, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing in there quite as powerful as you, but there's something to be said for versatility."

"Lacking one, the other is a decent recourse. Ah, excellent, I think he's coming back to normal function."

The Megabytemon had indeed settled down, and Chaosdramon released him. It buzzed and whirred in relief. "Oh, thank goodness, I thought I was a goner! Damn Raidenmon!"

"So it was Raidenmon who did this to you?" Chaosdramon asked.

"Me and a whole bunch of other robots! I thought maybe if he was destroyed it would have prevented it from being activated, but I guess not!"

"Do you know what this thing is about?" asked Isaac. "It sounds like you're saying it wasn't put into place as a failsafe if he was destroyed.

"I wish it was that simple! Those little chips were insurance, but not in the event of his death! See, the thing that most people don't know was that Raidenmon was planning to wage war against the rest of the world. He was going on and on about how they didn't deserve to live, how they were completely inferior to robots in every way! That's part of why he built all this stuff, it was far more than needed to keep just passing organics out...he wanted a stronghold for taking on their armies! And he was trying to mass-produce robots to attack them!"

"Whoa...you mean all this wasn't about just subjugating Mechalopolis, it was about taking on everyone else in the freaking world?" Datacarnomon exclaimed.

"Yeah! That's why he was so hard on the cyborgs and everyone, because he thought they'd sympathize with the organics rather than the robots when it came down to it! What he didn't expect was that most of us were freaked out by it, too! When we didn't react like war against the organics was the greatest thing ever he went ballistic, that's what started that robot mass-production - he just wanted obedient slaves to do his bidding! And for the rest of us, he put these chips on us so we couldn't get the word out! It we were outside his contact range more than 12 hours, we'd go haywire and start attacking indiscriminately! Even if we tried reaching the organics, we'd probably be seen as defective and they'd have to take us down lest we kill them!"

"So it would end with them dead or you dead, and none the wiser about the war," Chaosdramon concluded. "I'd heard rumors, but I was never sure that he was really working towards that end...I guess this proves it. He was a worse monster than I ever imagined, and I imagined some pretty awful stuff. So are all those chips external?"

"Yeah, he wanted the visual feedback that they were still on and active. You have no idea how annoying all those extra wires are, especially ones going right to your hull."

"I might know the feeling a little better than you think," Isaac said with a grin. "You go get that dealt with, we'll work on the others that are afflicted with those chips."

"How many more do you think there are?" Datacarnomon asked.

"Dozens, possibly," Megabytemon replied ruefully. "Not many managed to escape having one of them installed."

"So we have our work cut out for us," Isaac said. "Maybe we need to recruit some more help, some guys who have the weight to hold down robots and others who can finesse the chips off of them."

"Sounds like a lot of work, but I guess it can't be helped. I'll send out a network transmission calling for volunteers, hopefully we'll get enough to not make this take forever." Datacarnomon went quiet as he started sending out the message, but he'd only gotten partway through when there was a loud crash in another area of the dome.

"Whoa!" Isaac shouted as he felt the ground rumble slightly. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting a signal of something BIG off to the northwest!" Chaosdramon reported. "We can't let anyone more in here until we get rid of it, it's not safe!"

"Right! Ike, let's make ourselves useful!"

A minute later, Chaosdramon and Cyberrexmon were in the source area of the crash. It was all too easy to see what had caused it, since it was far more massive than either of the two of them. It stood open treaded legs, its arms had huge laser cannons, its body was a hulking mass of metal, and it had one eye in the center of its small head.

"It looks like a Cycloptitanmon, but as a robot," Cyberrexmon said. "Raidenmon must have been having it built before he was destroyed."

"I don't think we're going to be able to save this one," Chaosdramon said ruefully. "If it could even be saved in the first place...it might be like all the other builds of Raidenmon, a mindless drone."

"Mindless drone or not, the electrobarriers don't stand a chance against it. We have to destroy it fast!"

"Right!" The two began blasting with their powerful cannons. However, despite each one being remarkably powerful, the shots were dissipating harmlessly against the hull. The metal behemoth began moving forward, very slowly but surely. The arms raised up, pointed at Chaosdramon and Cyberrexmon, and fired large energy blasts at the two. Neither one was able to avoid the completely, evading the initial pulse but being tossed aside by the radiated energy on impact with the ground. Quickly they picked themselves up, and retreated from the advancing titanic automaton.

"Our cannons didn't even touch it," Chaosdramon growled. "It must have some kind of hyperprotective shielding, like the buildings in Mechalopolis! That's about the only thing my cannon doesn't get through!"

"It can't be completely encased, otherwise the internal components would overheat," Cyberrexmon said. "There's gotta be a weak point in that thing."

"It would have to be the openings. The eye and the cannons in its hands!"

"Then let's give it a shot!" They went on the offensive again, shooting at the body to draw the titan's attention. It didn't take long before the hands went up again, ready to fire. Wasting no time, Chaosdramon and Cyberrexmon fired charged shots into the openings for the laser blasters. There was a loud blast, then a crackling sound as the cannons emitted a shower of sparks.

"Did it work?"

"I don't know...it's still moving forward, but it's not firing at us..."

"The cannons look disabled. At least we're safe."

"Don't count them out entirely, they might be engaging in self-repair. We have to try for the eye, fast, before we're targets again."

Chaosdramon and Cyberrexmon charged their cannons again, and let loose with powerful blasts right at the distant eye. Their aim was true, but when the beams hit, they careened off the eye and sailed off into the ceiling, bringing down part of the geodesic dome.

"You gotta be kidding me, the eye is protected too?" Chaosdramon said in disbelief.

"It's not the same type of protection, though, it's reflective rather than dissipating. It may be the material it's made of...it might require a more solid projectile rather than an energy blast."

"Damn, Raidenmon didn't want to make things easy. Do we have anything like that? Wait, you have that rail gun, would that work?"

"It might not do enough damage, that thing is way more massive than even Raidenmon and I'm pretty far away, the shots are going to lose a lot of momentum. But...I've got something else in my arsenal that just might do the trick."

Cyberrexmon bent down and put on hand on the ground, raising his back up as high as he could. His back opened up, and a rather large missile emerged from the opening. Chaosdramon's eyes widened. "Is that...is that a cruise missile?"

"Yep...this baby is the Tomahawk Rex. Capable of an explosive output of up to 30 megatons, though I'm dialing it back considerably for this, about .1% of maximum output. If this doesn't do it, I don't know what will." He quickly calculated the trajectory and set the guidance protocols; everything was clear and he had enough time to escape from the titan's inexorable advance should something go wrong. "All right, here goes! Launching Tomahawk Rex!"

The missile flared to life, shuddered once, then blasted off with a loud FWOOSH, moving at high speed right at the robotic titan's eye. Cyberrexmon made a couple very minute adjustments through the guidance system - it was all he could do, the missile was moving fast and at its target in just a few seconds. It was a good move, though, as the missile broke through the reflective coating of the eye just in the lower right side, barely avoiding the hull. The explosion blew open the titan's head, sending pieces flying everywhere. The treads stopped, and the arms fell to the titan's side.

"It's dead..." Chaosdramon made a sound much like a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness...that could have caused a lot of damage."

"Yeah, no kidding. That was probably one of the machines Raidenmon was planning to use in his war. I wondered what he was thinking he could do against so many powerful digimon, even creating his own robots there are limits."

"We were really lucky that we were able to stop him when we did..." Chaosdramon shook his head. "I can't believe I actually worked for that nightmare at one point. What the hell was I thinking?"

"I'm just glad you came around at the right time. Well, I guess we'd better get back to the job we were doing in the first place."

"Oh, yeah. Jeez, this is just turning into a fun little day, isn't it?"

(==========)

"So, yeah, some Beelzemon guy told me all about this place. I think it's great! Perfect for showing those idiots what's what, you know? Of course, I'm stronger than pretty much anyone I know, even Megas can't hold a candle to me..."

The Algomon blathered on, oblivious to the fact that Havocravenmon's eyes were glazing over. He'd heard it countless times before - new recruits eager for a quick jump to the higher ranks giving him their life story, as if they imagined he'd care or be impressed in any way. He imagined all the feats given were wildly exaggerated - they usually were, since the prevailing impression was that strength equaled superiority and thus stronger digimon were inevitably leaders rather than followers.

Of course, that was the challenge, since that was the ideal Emperius had been founded upon, and that Havocravenmon believed. Craniummon had instituted it and glorified it, not a surirpse given his approach to Emperius in general. Havocravenmon, however, found himself straying from that when dealing with ranking; he'd seen enough in his time in charge to realize that mere power wasn't enough to take care of the threats they faced in their campaign. It was reflected in his council: it wasn't just strength that decided who was there, but also the right mentality, and not a complete shortage of brains to boot. It flew in the face of what Emperius and himself stood for, and indeed he had passed up candidates that were stronger than any currently on the council, but whom Havocravenmon could not feel he could rely on. His personal justification was that he would fix that oversight once they'd won, but since most of Emperius had it in their minds that they already had won, it was hardly an effective argument. So to others, he spoke of some kind of hidden strength that wasn't normally demonstrated.

"...oh, and one time I kicked a Dinorexmon's ass so hard he was wiling to bow down and call me his new master, so I think I should be given a pretty high position here, because you know you don't want me on your bad side...hey, are you listening to me?"

An inflated sense of strength and self-importance was not particularly endearing to Havocravenmon, and it seemed more and more of their recruits were like that these days. Of course, the likely reason was that most of the continent had been scoured already, and few who would join them hadn't done so already. That was why he was itching to move on to another location, and why he'd commissioned the project that would allow them to do so. The few who still trickled in were wooed mainly by the idea of being unable to lose, and it meant that they got more people who weren't particularly capable but believed or pretended they were. And after a time, it started to get tiresome.

"You're starting out at the bottom like anyone else."

"What? That's not fair! I'm super-strong! I could defeat any one of you here, actually, all of you here!"

"You want to know how many times I've heard some variation of that mantra from new recruits? It's in the triple-digits. The number who have been able to back it up I can count on one hand. If you were me, do you think you'd start believing it every time?"

The Algomon paused. "Er...well, maybe not everyone, but I'd sure believe me! I mean, because I'm clearly just that good, you know? Everyone says I'm the best, you calling all of them liars?"

"So far all you've done is talk. If you want me to buy it, you'll have to demonstrate it. Don't worry, I'm sure there will be several of our top warriors willing to put their reputations on the line."

"Oh, yeah! You just know they'll be begging me for forgiveness afterwards!"

_When he gets his ass handed to him, I wonder how creative his excuses will be._ "You should take this far more seriously. It's your life on the line out there, you know. If you can't back up your attitude, you won't last long."

"What are you talking about? We're gonna win! There's no way we can lose! That's what Beelzemon said!"

Havocravenmon scowled at the Algomon. "First off, what makes you think we won't have to work to achieve what we're working towards? The idea that we've already won is lunacy, spread by those who want others to do the work for them and then take the credit and glory. We've got a lot of enemies who would like nothing more than to take us down, and they aren't any slouches themselves."

"But...but Beelzemon said-"

"I heard what you said he said. You'd best forget it now, rather than learn the hard way later on. But even if we were destined for victory as a whole, we've had many die in its name already. Even destined victory doesn't mean easy victory - a great many lives will be lost in the process. Yours included if you talk a better battle than you fight."

"Oh...uh, well, you won't have to worry about that from me! Maybe some other posers can't handle the heat when it comes down to it, but I'm the best there ever was, and I'll prove it to you as many times as you need, though I'm guessing just once will be enough once you know what I'm capable of!"

Havocravenmon sat back. "Very well then. Go out to the proving grounds, center of the compound with the large combat ring. I'll have your first competitor out there to see what you can do!"

"All right! I'm gonna be in charge here! This is gonna be great!" Algomon tore out of the room in a rush, the automatic doors only barely able to open in time for his exodus. Havocravenmon just shook his head. _Honestly, I don't know what some of them see in themselves._

"Your orders, Commander?" Phantomon appeared from behind the wall.

"He wants to be put through his paces...who am I to deny him? I know Blackwargreymon has been itching for some action lately, I think he would be a good start."

"I agree entirely, Commander," Phantomon replied, amusement evident in his voice. "I shall relay the message to him immediately."

"Thanks. And Phantomon...tell him not to worry about going easy."

"Certainly." Phantomon phased through the walls once again, and Havocravenmon smiled for the first time in a while. _It gets irritating sometimes, but there are some perks to being in charge..._

(==========)

Derek quietly closed the door to Ebondramon's recuperation room in Reichmon's manor. "He seems to be doing a lot better already," he said to Phelesmon.

"Yes, he is, which is why I would rather we kept this quiet. I don't want to cause him any stress if I can avoid it."

"Yeah, we understand. So what's the problem?"

"We've received a couple reports of unfamiliar presences in the forest not too far from Moonlighton. They just came in, from two different sources, and the indication is that they may be moving towards the town."

"Did there not exist mechanisms for the exclusion of undesirable characters?" asked Blackcanismon. "I distinctly recall protective measures serving as guardian to Moonlighton."

"There are barriers and such that are supposed to keep the Twilight Peninsula isolated from those who would do us harm. But...lately, we've been seeing them come in more frequently. I think either one of our barriers is on the fritz or they've found a way to circumvent it. It's hard to tell unless we're actively watching it...I think we're going to have to station some people out there to try to find the problem, but if it's caused by deliberate action it could be very difficult to nail down."

"If they know you're watching, they're not going to give away their secret."

"Precisely. Not only that, but it might incite them to move en masse. I would recommend just replacing the barriers entirely, but that would leave us vulnerable during the process."

"A regrettable reality. You wish to request our assistance in alleviating the current threat?"

"If at all possible. I wouldn't ask this of you, except we're trying to keep it quiet as much as possible. Right now the only ones who know there are potential threats out there are myself, Reichmon, the two who warned me, and you two. I'd like that to be the fullest extent if we can help it."

"Are you sure you don't want to warn everyone? If there are more than the two of them it could get ugly if they get close to Moonlighton."

"I know, but after everyone heard about Crescemon, they became very on-edge. The last thing I want to do is make that worse. Especially if, by some unpleasant surprise, the strangers turned out to simply be innocent wanderers who got lost. I'm not hopeful that that's the case, but it is a possibility, and in the state we're in right now, that might not come out until it was too late. So many here have bad histories with digimon in the greater lands, and that combined with the current nerves..."

"Unquestionably. Our assistance is proffered forthwith. Those brigands shall scarce intrude further upon the confines of Twilight Peninsula before their forcible removal is implemented."

"Thank you. There are only two of them, by the count of both of our reporters. They believe one is a Silphymon and the other is a Tyilinmon."

Derek nodded. "All right, I think we should be able to handle that. Good to know what we're up against for once. We'll be back in a while, if anything comes up we'll make sure to sound the alarm, but only if absolutely necessary."

"You have my gratitude. Be safe, you two."

Derek and Blackcansimon wasted no time, quickly making their way to the edge of Moonlighton. "Man, I sure hope they do something abuot that barrier soon. If it's got problems, they should probably just scrap it and start over, rather than wait to see if they can find them. Who knows how many people might get through in the meantime. It could be chaos."

"Certainly an undesirable situation, no doubt demanding attention on myriad fronts. I profess I possess doubts about the insistence upon suspicion, however. What capacity have we to proclaim an initial assumption of malicious intentions upon ourselves by unknown strangers?"

"I dunno. Do they have names ending in 'mon?'"

"...Such pessimism, Derek."

"After hearing about everything that these people have been through it's completely warranted. Come on, let's make sure they don't have a chance to cause any trouble."

The two merged together, and soon Onyxvargmon was stalking through the forest, all senses attuned to his surroundings in an effort to detect the invaders. It was about twenty minutes out before he began to hear their approach. He found a good spot to engage and crouched down in the brush to wait.

He didn't have to wait long. The two digimon, a Silphymon and Tyilinmon as suspected, soon entered his line of sight. Immediately he stepped out, swords in hand and held defensively. "Stop right there."

"What the?" Tyilinmon jumped back and braced himself as if expecting a charge. "There's one!"

"You!" Silphymon yelped, raising her fists. "What do you think you're doing? Are you protecting that town of monsters? Why would you keep them from meeting their justice?"

"Oh, for the love of...I've had just about enough of you freaks and your vendetta against these people. They're just trying to live their lives, why can't you leave them alone?"

"Leave them alone? They're murderers!" Tyilinmon snapped.

"Right. Of who, exactly?"

"Our wonderful, dear Crescemon!" Silphymon cried. "So good and pure, killed by these thugs! Cut down in his prime! He deserved a far better fate!"

"No, he didn't," Onyxvargmon snarled. "He was a creep that senselessly hounded an Ebondramon for no good reason, trying to kill him just because he was a dark digimon. And he was going to kill as many others in Moonlighton as he could once he was done."

"Such lies! Wonderful, noble Crescemon wouldn't do such a thing! It's those monsters in that town of darkness, those darklings and demons, hateful horrible beings of death and destruction, they pride themselves and the havoc they create! They murdered Crescemon out of anger and hatred!"

"I can assure you they didn't. I killed Crescemon, in order to protect an innocent life from being taken. And given that he attacked me pretty much on sight, I presume that the malice was much more on his part than anyone else's."

"You killed Crescemon?" Tyilinmon gasped. "You must be brought to justice for your crimes! You have done a great evil upon this world!"

"I thought your kind were pacifists? How could you support the kind of mass slaughter Crescemon was planning?"

"I may dislike violence, but I am no fool! When it must be brought as the solution to a problem, I will not stand in the way of what needs to be done for the good of this world. Crescemon was doing right in his crusade against evil!"

"He tortured an Ebondramon nearly to death!"

"That was an evil creature!" Silphymon shouted.

"He never harmed a soul!"

"The evil was in his heart! You could see it if you weren't blinded by the evil in your own heart! It is what makes a dark digimon, you know! The evil stains their bodies and makes them black as night!"

Onyxvargmon could scarce believe what he was hearing. "You're as sickening as Crescemon was! How can you believe this garbage?"

"I won't hear any soft-hearted denials from you, evil one!" Tyilinmon glowed brightly, wings raised and spread. "Perhaps I can save you from the darkness within! Wave of Reform!" He flapped his wings, sending a bright wave of light over the area. Onyxvargmon braced himself, but it passed over harmlessly, swooping past without doing much more than rustling his fur.

"Uh...was that supposed to be an attack?"

"It was supposed to lead you back to the path of goodness," Tyilinmon said ruefully. "But clearly, the darkness in your heart is too strong to be swayed by even my potent energy."

"Or maybe I'm just not evil? Did that ever cross your mind?"

"Not in the slightest!"

"Gee, I wish I could say I was shocked."

"If you will not reform, we have no choice but to destroy you!" Silphymon formed a ball of energy in her hands. "Let this be your fate! Static Force!" She fired the ball from her hands right at Onyxvargmon. He brought up both blades to block it, then with a swing sent it flying in the opposite direction, nailing Silphymon in the chest. She was thrown back into a tree, stunned momentarily.

"Wind Cutter Sword!" Tyilinmon tried to charge him from the side, but Onyxvargmon deftly swung to the side, away from the charge, and raised his hand as Tyilinmon tried to stop his momentum. "Sable Ray!" A dark beam launched from his hand and cut through the darkness, slamming into Tyilinmon's side. He was knocked roughly away and fell to his side.

"Astral Laser!" Silphymon was back up, but Onyxvargmon was more than ready, evading the duplicate launched at him and countering with another Sable Ray. Silphymon managed to get out of the way in time, only to be met with another attack. "Regaling Shade!" A blaze of dark energy surged through the area, raging around and through Silphymon. She could do nothing to block or mitigate the attack as it tore through her. For good measure, Onyxvargmon turned and launched an Umbra Swarm at Tyilinmon, who had just about recovered himself. The projectiles swarmed him and battered him until he could take no more. He fell again, breathing hard and not able to rise.

"Are you quite finished?" Onyxvargmon asked, dismissing his swords for the moment.

"You...how could you beat us..." Silphymon moaned painfully. "We're so good and pure...we can't lose to someone like you..."

"You people just don't get it. Forget it, I'm not even going to bother trying. You want to live on, it's as simple as this: tell me how you got in."

"We would never reveal that to you!" Tyilinmon gasped. "That is our only recourse to providing justice..."

"Too bad. I guess that means I have to find someone to threaten with a horse's head, then." He made one of his swords appear out of the air and started towards Tyilinmon.

"Wait!"

Silphymon's cry halted Onyxvargmon's advance. He turned and looked at her. "Yes?"

"We...we exploited a weakness in the barrier...there's a spot that overloads when a lot of energy hits it...it causes it to go down for a little bit, so we can get through!"

"Silphymon!"

Onyxvargmon nodded, and let the sword disappear again. "Now, see? It was that easy. Now I'm going to see your way out of here, and if I catch you in here again you won't get the benefit of a third chance. I'm sure you can find better things to do than harass people."

"This...don't think we're just going to let you get away with this!" Tyilinmon forced out.

"You might want to hold off on trying to save face until you're a ways away. I can call my sword back at any time, and don't think I need it for the rest of my arsenal."

"Tyilinmon, please, we can't lose you, too," Silphymon begged. "We can try again, but not if you're dead!"

"Rgh...very well, I suppose my options are quite limited at this point."

(==========)

_Mmmnh...brutal day..._ The lights in Havocravenmon's room were greatly dimmed; a haze was in the air, thanks to the light smoke from the paxi cylinder in the corner. The frustration of the trials and tribulations of the waking hours were slowly melting away, leaving him with a feeling of calmness and tranquility.

"Commander, may I report?" It was Phantomon again. Havocravenmon opened one eye to the slightly foggy figure of his deputy commander.

"Go ahead, Phantomon. How is progress coming?"

"Completion should be no more than a few days away. We should be able to begin moving ourselves in within the next two."

"Excellent. It won't be long before we're more capable than ever before. Hopefully it will be enough to stand against even those hybrids. At least without anyone else to back them up...if we can't even repel a mere group of five it's our own failing."

"I have the utmost confidence in our ability to turn such a small group away, even if they are individually strong."

"Glad to hear it. What of the fallback?"

"It is still some ways away from completion, but more and more time can be dedicated to it with each passing day. It should not be long before we can put it into action."

"Great to hear. If everything goes well we might be able to make a fleet of them...extra mobility is hardly worth passing up. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Anything else?"

"Nothing of note. Rest well, commander."

"Thank you." Havocravenmon closed his eye and sighed quietly. Despite everything that had happened recently, he was starting to feel more like things were on the right track. _We might yet be able to make this happen...all we need is the patience and wisdom to act properly, and we will overcome all to take our rightful place as masters of this world._

(==========)

(==========)

I know this isn't exactly a story-progressing chapter. I made it for two reasons. First, I wanted a little focus on Emperius, because they need some development. This chapter introduces the council of generals, a concept which was mentioned in an earlier segment but which I didn't have any particular intention of bringing into the spotlight until recently. I think it'll bring something more to the story to have them. Second, I had a bunch of ideas for chapters that never worked out because they were too short to actually comprise chapters of their own. But I didn't want to discard them entirely. This format worked pretty well for it.

The coming chapters will kick of the next segment of this story, which I am quite excited to be getting to. There are a lot of ideas in here which were formed a long while back, and I've had to sit on them until it came to be their time. Well, that's this next arc. I hope they live up to your expectations.

Of course, for that to happen, they have to be written. I guess I'd better get to that, huh?


	38. Chapter 37: Land Of Hostility

Sorry about going AWOL last week. There were...circumstances which had me traveling on rather short notice. I'd rather not get into them.

So, on to the next chapter, then. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 37: Land Of Hostility**

When Skylar awoke that morning, it took a few seconds and a throbbing pain in his head to remind him that it was for the second time. Reyn was standing over him, looking very serious. "You're awake!"

"Yeah, I...ow...what happened?"

"You tripped coming up the stairs," Reyn said seriously. "Jeez, Skylar, you had me worried there. Are you feeling all right? Any dizziness or confusion? Any memory problems?"

Skylar blinked at him. "What the heck is with this all of a sudden?"

"Hey, I'm trying to make sure you're all right. We can stay here for a couple days if you're not in shape to keep going."

"Oh, cool off, I'm fine. It was just a bump on the head-" Skylar sat up and tried to get off the bed. In a flash, Reyn grabbed his arm and forced him back down rather roughly. "Ah! Hey, what gives?"

"DON'T make light of this!" Reyn said harshly. "You were unconscious for almost five minutes! That means you had at least a fairly severe concussion, if not worse! I'm not going to go out there and let you face down danger when you might have serious after-effects!"

"Okay, okay!" Skylar stopped trying to rise and let Reyn get off of him. "Jeez, I hope your parents have better bedside manner than you. Never seen you get so riled up."

"I've had basic first aid drilled into me since before I went to preschool. They taught me to be cautious about many things, especially head injuries. Come on, I've got a few tests they taught me, we can see if you've got anything obvious wrong with you."

Skylar sighed a little, but went through the tests without any complaint. Everything checked out, and finally Reyn seemed to relax a little. "All right...I'll be keeping my eye on you, but seems like you're not suffering any immediate problems."

"Glad to hear it, doc."

"Oh, hey, you're awake." Salmandmon had just entered the room, looking somewhat frustrated. "Good thing, too. Reyn was freaking out."

"I was not freaking out, it's called taking action."

"Whatever, all I know is you started treating it like it was a big deal."

Reyn scowled at the lizard. "Not you, too. It _is_ a big deal. This kind of stuff can lead to brain damage or other serious problems. And he could have had worse, like a hemorrhage. I don't see any hospitals nearby where he could get treated for that."

"Small wonder. Bumps on the head are about the least we're concerned with."

"Hmph. Should've known. Of course _you're_ not worried about it. Maybe you oughta be...wonder how many digimon have lasting damage because of it."

"You need to spend less time around doctors. We're built pretty solidly, we can handle get a few konks on the noggin without any trouble. Heck, Breezedramon injures himself every other day, and about a third of those are hits on the head...okay, maybe that was a bad example."

"Hey, watch it," Skylar grunted.

"Relax, I'm just kidding around. By the way, I think maybe you've got him to blame for this little episode. You're probably absorbing some of his klutziness."

"Joy of joys. I just hope he's getting a little more graceful in return."

"Haven't really noticed, but then again, I haven't been paying attention. It shouldn't be too bad, it's not like we've been switching lives or anything. You'll just want to be a little more cautious around sharp objects."

"Yes, please," Reyn said with some asperity. "I'd really rather not have to try an emergency blood transfusion out here. For one thing, I think it'd be hell getting the materials."

"Now you're just being melodramatic," Skylar said with an accompanying eye roll. "And since when can you do an emergency blood transfusion?"

"I helped my dad do one on a camping trip a few years back. Some guy got mauled by a bear and needed the blood fast. It's not easy, but I could probably pull it off if I had to."

"Isn't that supposed to be kinda dangerous? What if you have the wrong kind of blood?"

"I'm O-neg. Universal donor. Maybe not a perfect match with all the other kinds of blood types out there, but it should work well enough if it has to."

"You know your blood type?"

"Hello? Son of two doctors here? It's only been mentioned half a dozen times in the last three minutes."

"Psh. Figures. I haven't a clue what mine is."

"Wait, hold on, I'm lost here," Salmandmon interjected. "Blood has types?"

"Well, it does for humans. It's determined by our DNA. I'm not even going to try to speculate about digimon, there's way too many issues to consider."

"Hm, yeah, you're probably right about that. But, hey, we have the same DNA translated, right? Does that mean I'd have the same blood as you?"

"...Iiiiii'm gonna go out on a limb and say 'not likely.' Translated equivalent or not, we're not even composed of the same matter."

"But if it came down to it-"

"I don't think I'd want to risk a transfusion on a distant possibility. Emergency experimentation is usually not a good idea in medicine."

Skylar chuckled. "Jeez, listen to you, you practically sound like you have a degree already."

"I've told you, it's been hammered into me for only as long as I've lived. I'm not claiming to be an expert, I'm just going with what I've been taught. And no, don't mistake it for an actual interest in medicine. I've told you, it's not in my future."

"Uh-huh. And your immediately jumping into concussion testing was...what, exactly?"

"Concern for your well-being and safety which is rapidly wearing thinner with each smart-ass remark you make."

"Now that sounds like a serious medical condition," Salmandmon cracked.

Any response Reyn wanted to make was stopped short as a loud BANG rang through the room. The door rattled, and a loud curse was issued from the person behind it. Reyn walked over and opened it to find Breezedramon sitting on the ground, hands on head, wincing tightly. "That hurt."

"Did we forget that doors open?"

"I was ementhusimatastic."

"And now you're in pain."

"Give him a concussion test," Skylar cracked from his bed.

"Screw you."

"They give out tests for hitting your head?" Breezedramon asked, mystified.

"Make it so he has to repeat some long, complicated thing," Salmandmon chimed in. "Oh, wait, you probably couldn't tell whether that was because he hit his head or because he's Breezedramon."

"Do you even want to know why he was in such a hurry that he decided to headbutt the door?"

"You're such a stick in the mud sometimes, Reyn. Okay, Breezedramon, what's the big news?"

"It's bigger than big, it's ginormous! I just found a bit of news about Ionavimon! She won a combat tournament in Hagrande! Some big deal that got her a lot of attention!"

Salmandmon's eyes lit up. "Excellent! Great job, Breezedramon! Finally, something to go off of!"

"Combat tournament?" Skylar asked. "What was she doing in one of those? That's not even remotely related to any reason why we're here."

"Well, that's another part of it!" Breezedramon yelped excitedly. "She won a Catalyst from the tournament! So we know she's already found one, which means she's probably gonna start looking for us too!"

"They had a Catalyst as a combat tournament prize?" Salmandmon nearly shouted. "What the flaming hell? That's way out of line!"

"Hey, I dunno, I'm just telling ya what I heard!"

"Okay okay, let's keep out wits about us, guys," Reyn said. "She can probably tell us the whole story herself. What matters is that we have somewhere to look for her now. If we're quick, we might be able to catch her in Hagrande or whatever it was. Breezedramon, did you hear anything about when the tournament ended?"

"It sounded like it was two days ago. Even if she could fly, she probably didn't leave until yesterday. So she can't be too far away!"

"So we've just got to find somewhere near Hagrande and start looking?" Skylar surmised.

"Bingo. Gimme a moment...I'm blanking on where Hagrande is...never been there, but I know I've heard of it. Let's see..." Salmandmon went over to a terminal in the corner of the room and started flicking through a map of the continent, getting a bead on the target city. The others saw his expression darken. "Hrm...southeast...that could be trouble."

"Trouble? Of what kind?"

"Some areas of the southeast are well known as human-hostile. They're closest to the isthmus that connects the Northern and Southern Lands." Salmandmon raised the map display and showed them what he was talking about. "When the Kaiser started talking about meeting up with the humans, they were the most vocally against it. Some even said they would attack on sight if they saw any strange creatures setting foot on their land."

"Yikes. Well, I guess I can't blame them too much...there's a lot of humans who would say the same thing for digimon in our world."

"Do you think Iris is in trouble, then?" asked Skylar.

"Had to say. Hagrande itself isn't particularly hostile territory, even though they're right nearby...but depending on where she went, she could encounter some unfriendly faces. And so could we, if we searched for her. Which means we're going to have to spend some time merged outside of combat."

"Well, that doesn't sound that bad."

"Sal's a bit emparinganoid," Breezedramon chimed in. "He thinks we're gonna be in more trouble merging than separate! For some reason."

"It's not just 'some reason,' goofball. Look, there are some digimon out there who see every new and unfamiliar digimon as a challenge to be overcome. Given that we don't match any known phenotype for obvious reasons, we qualify. They wouldn't in general do that with humans, since humans are known as not being as powerful as digimon, present company notwithstanding. They just wouldn't be a challenge."

"But no one's attacked us out of the blue when we've been merged before."

"Because we met the right people, plus they knew we were merged. It's not like they can automatically tell...even if we're somewhat different, we give off the general vibe of being a digimon."

"Still, what's worse - going into human-hostile territory merged and able to fight back against a stray belligerent, or separated and risking attack from just about everyone?" Reyn pointed out.

"I know, I know. It can't be helped. I just hope we don't run into any trouble we can't handle down there."

Skylar shook his head. "At this point, I think we can handle most of what comes out way, and whatever we can't we should be able to escape from. I'm not terribly worried, and we need to get caught up with the others, so it's worth it anyway."

Reyn nodded. "Agreed. So let's get to it. Where should we start?"

"Well, there's a few decent-sized cities to the west of Hagrande and a couple to the east. North and south are just mountains and barren lands...I guess she could conceivably fly over those, but it wouldn't make much sense. So let's start west, and then try east if we come up with nothing."

"So there's a couple of options west of Hagrande?"

"We should start closer by!" Breezedramon piped up. "That way if she's been through we'll know quicker!"

"You're talking tactics to the strategist, Breezedramon. Let's shoot for Allou. We should be able to go from there pretty easily."

"Well, I don't see any point in waiting around," Skylar finished, standing up from the bed. "Unless Doctor Kessilik here wants to keep me overnight for observation."

"Oh, shut up."

(==========)

After spending the night in a quiet little cottage in the middle of nowhere, Bolteaglemon found herself flying over the rocky land once more. She had mulled using a Transfer Point to move around more quickly, but decided against it on the off chance that someone was searching for her outside of the cities and towns. It was hardly implausible - if one of them went to Hagrande, and she figured they most likely would start there, they would probably try to catch up with her directly if they could, since they wouldn't know where she would land.

Her plan was pretty well set. She figured she'd stop off in towns and cities in a line, leaving behind a few people who might remember her. Someone would have to catch up eventually, especially if she didn't rush it, and even if they overshot her, all they'd have to do was wait. It was a sound plan, but like most sound plans, it ran into some unforeseen trouble.

Her first stop was somewhat west and a little north of Hagrande, a town called Wamilee. She figured to make a quick stop there and then make for Allou, the first large city further west. She landed quietly at the entrance to the town, then walked in, looking around at the architecture. It was a fairly small town, not heavily built up, and quiet by her standards. There were a number of unusual glowing light poles lining the roads, ones she had never seen before; the lights weren't bulbs or lamps but sustained glowing balls of light energy, dancing around a little above the pole tops.

When she got to the center of the town, she saw what powered them. Her eyes widened at the bright shining stone housed in a gazebo, power lines coming off of it every which way and burying into the ground, little sparks of light traveling through them. _Wow...I've never seen anything like this before. Where did that come from?_

"You must be new here." She turned to see a Jijimon walking towards her from the right. "That's how they all look when they see the Luxolith."

"Luxolith?"

"Yes, that's what we call it. If it has another name, well, we've never heard it. It's a very unusual thing...it contains a lot of power, but was remarkably easy to tap into. No one we've talked to has ever seen its like...it may not have come from this world at all."

"You mean it could be like a meteorite or something?"

"Possibly. It predates Wamilee...in fact, the town was founded around it. The first people who learned how to make use of the stone did not want to leave it, so they settled here and built around the Luxolith. It powers all our houses, all our lights, and all with no sign of running out. It really is a wonder."

"No kidding? I'll bet it's attracted a lot of jealousy, too."

"Oh, for sure, for sure. Many have attempted to take the Luxolith, and some have succeeded in the past. But we've always gotten it back. It means a lot to us, and we won't let anyone take it from us."

"I should hope not. Thanks for the background."

"Oh, it's my pleasure. I don't get to do much anymore besides talk about this fantastic stone. I'm glad to be able to do something. You take care, now."

Bolteaglemon watched him depart, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. _Yeah, don't get to do much...except gauge whether some random stranger is likely to try to take your town's one source of power. I'm guessing he's got means of contacting other people in the town if someone looks suspicious._

She hadn't intended to linger, but her stomach was starting to growl at her. _Jeez, I should've taken those guys at the cottage up on their offer for seconds. Well, I guess a meal couldn't hurt._

(==========)

"Bit of a dingy place, isn't it?"

"Careful, you might get some guys taking umbrage to that."

"They can take all the umbrage they want as long as they refrain from hitting us." Burnreptimon scanned around the entrance of Allou; despite the sunny weather, there was a lot of gray around, and the buildings looked to be in a pretty serious state of wear. "Wonder why it's so slummy here. You'd think they'd put some effort into making it look nice."

"Why don't you go up and ask someone? I'm sure they'd be more than happy to answer you, though I doubt it'd be with words."

"You need to lighten up a bit. Maybe you should evolve to Jetdramon, he's a lot more fun to be around."

"We're not here to have fun, we're here to get information about our friends. You pissing people off isn't going to help us achieve that goal."

"You don't know that for a fact. Anyway, relax, I'm not that devoid of tact. I just choose not to use it when I'm not talking to them."

The two walked for a while, trying to find a somewhat friendly face they could grill for information. Most of the digimon seemed to be rather busy or unpleasant, and they got some suspicious looks from quite a few more than they'd expected. They managed to get a couple to talk to them, but they were unable to help. Both were getting slightly discouraged as they reached what appeared to be a town square.

"Well, this is a great start. Maybe we should pack up and head elsewhere."

"Kinda early to give up, I think. We should at least try to find out where more informative people are."

"Yeah, just gotta find someone who won't be put off by the question." Burnreptimon looked around; there were a number of people meandering around the square, none of whom looked very happy or helpful, and a few vendors selling various goods. "Might be a challenge."

Skydramon didn't respond; his attention had been drawn to a conversation between a nearby vendor and customer, neither of which sounded very happy. "It's tough times. I'm not sure I can afford to be out here much longer."

"Maybe if we didn't have to pay that goddamn tribute to the Kaiser, we'd all be better off."

"You want to be overrun? We can't fight 'em off and you know it. Look, I don't like it either, but it's the only way. We've got to survive."

"That's crap and you know it. If he really gave a damn about us he wouldn't be bleeding us dry."

"...Yeah, I guess you've got a point. We're not much better off in here with nothing than out amongst the raiders with nothing. I doubt they'd care to go after us too much if we didn't have anything."

"Maybe that's what the Kaiser's trying to achieve. Some solution. You take care, try not to go broke."

"You too. Good luck with the house repairs."

"Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna need it."

The customer left, and the vendor went back to tending to his wares. Burnreptimon and Skydramon, on the other hand, were exchanging worried looks. "Tribute to the Kaiser? Kaiserhuanlongmon's never demanded tribute in his life," Burnreptimon said. "Heck, he's rejected the idea a bunch of times, even under some pressure to implement it."

"The most he's ever asked for is a nominal defense tax," agreed Skydramon. "And that's a collective on the part of the city...they're supposed to make it so that it's not an undue burden on anyone. And what raiders? I mean, I've heard of organized bands of bandits before, but they rarely make an attempt on actually entering a city - you never know how many guards they have."

"I should know. I had to fight off individuals before; gangs never got close, it was too risky. Not just the guards, but the citizens as well, they could gang up on you if you pushed your way in. Going after lone digimon who were careless was far easier and safer."

"Exactly. Someone's bleeding them dry, and it's not the Kaiser. I smell a scam."

"Right. Maybe we could get a few hints about that while we're searching for information on Iris and Shockavimon."

"Might be tough. You'd think if they knew they were being scammed they'd have already done something about it."

"Hm, perhaps...but maybe it's more subtle than that. Anyway, let's keep going. Now I'm all interested again."

(==========)

Bolteaglemon had planned on leaving right after she had lunch, which had been a nice little affair at one of the small-scale diners. She'd had a nice sandwich with some Wamilee cheese, a local delicacy which she found to be remarkably tasty. And not terribly expensive, to boot. She was already thinking she'd have to come back sometime.

Before she could take flight, though, she heard the panicked cries of a woman not too far away. Sighing, she folded her wings and ran towards the source of the cries. The woman, a Burgamon, was rushing around, almost in tears.

"What's wrong?"

Burgamon looked up at her, startled. "Oh, please, help me! I can't find my darling Kotemon! He didn't come home for lunch, and I know how ill he gets when he doesn't eat! What if he was kidnapped, or injured, or-"

"Okay, okay, please try to calm down," Bolteaglemon said quickly. "I know little kids, they don't tend to keep track of time very well. He's probably okay, we just need to look for where he would normally be. Is there a place kids gather around here that we could check out?"

"I...I think, yes, there's a small park, off a ways from the Luxolith, I know I've seen kids around there a lot, oh, please, if you would help me, I'd be ever so grateful!"

"Of course I'll help. Come on, let's try the park."

The Burgamon nodded, still trembling but a little more under control. The two walked swiftly towards the park, a nice grassy open area with a number of the same lights lining the street, as well as powering some playground equipment that Bolteaglemon thought bore a rather striking resemblance to some she'd seen in the human world. _Maybe some things really are universal._

However, a quick glance around the park didn't yield any sign of Kotemon. Sensing the Burgamon's returning panic, she quickly took control. "I don't see him around, but maybe some of the kids have seen him recently. If that's the case we'll be able to ask them and figure out where he went." She could sense Burgamon calming at that, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. _I just hope we aren't in for any nasty surprises...that may have been a bad thing to think..._

They walked around the park a bit; there were several groups of kids, and it was impossible for Bolteaglemon to tell which ones might know who Kotemon was. "Burgamon, do you recognize any of these kids as any of Kotemon's friends?"

"Y...yes, I think...those four, over there, I've seen him playing with them..." She pointed to a group that was rather quietly huddled, talked with each other. They didn't look very happy, and suddenly Bolteaglemon was finding herself becoming a little uneasy. Nevertheless, she walked over with Burgamon.

The kids noticed as they came over, and suddenly they all looked completely terrified. "Um...h-hi, Mrs. Burgamon..." stammered a Yuki Agumon nervously, eyes darting between the two of them.

"Is everything all right?"

"Uh...hey, did Kotemon happen to go back home by any chance?"

"Go back home? Did he say he was heading home?"

"I told you he didn't!" a Falcomon snapped. "He would have told us!"

Bolteaglemon, feeling this was about to get bad quickly, jumped in. "So you've seen him recently? Was he talking about going somewhere?"

All four kids looked at each other, almost trying to avoid her eyes. After a little bit, a Gaomon quietly spoke up. "We...we were playing hide and seek...and Lilamon was it, so we all went to hide...and she found the rest of us, but she couldn't find Kotemon, so we all went to look, but none of us could find him."

"Oh...oh, no..." Burgamon was quickly brought back into panic mode, as Bolteaglemon cursed herself. _Way to jinx it, me. I just can't ever make things easy on myself, can I?_

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Burgamon!" Lilamon cried out. "We looked everywhere we could think of! He said he had a really good spot, but he knew he should come out after all of us started looking! I don't know where he could be!"

"All right, it's not your fault," Bolteaglemon said. "We have to look again. And that means everywhere, even if you think be wouldn't he likely to be there. How far could he be?"

"The whole town is fair game, but you can't go outside it," Falcomon said. "And no hiding inside houses."

"That's a lot of ground, but it means he's outside and should be able to hear us. I'll fly around, that should get me around quicker. You kids search high and low, and check back in here at the park. Burgamon, you stay here in case he happens to drop by wondering what happened to everyone." Burgamon nodded, head in hands, trying to keep from crying uncontrollably. "All right, let's try to make this quick, kids, she's really scared."

"Yes, ma'am!"

(==========)

After a couple of hours, Burnreptimon and Skydramon were still batting zero. They found themselves back in the town square, no further along than the last time they had been there.

"This isn't working very well," Burnreptimon grumbled. "There's gotta be a better way of going about this."

"Well, I'm not thinking of it," Skydramon said dismally. "Who'd've thought this would be so difficult? I figured the hard part would be actually finding them, nbot finding people willing to tell us if they'd even seen them."

"They probably think we're just here to cause trouble. Then again, it's not like we can really project our motives to them...they'd probably distrust us even if we told them the truth."

"They haven't even given us much of a chance."

"True. And maybe the pair of us being together is intimidating, too...both of us approach one person, they're probably immediately on guard. We should consider splitting up, maybe that'll help."

Skydramon frowned. "It also makes us vulnerable."

"We can go to Ultimate at a whim. I think we'll be fine."

"Well, if you say so...but how will that help us any better? We still probably won't get many people to talk to us."

Burnreptimon thought for a moment. "Hm...maybe we need to find places where the lips are a bit looser. Or provide a little incentive to talk...you think you can get any money on you?"

"You want us to bribe people to task to us? What's to stop them from lying?"

"It was just a thought. Unless you can find some kind of truth serum or something, we're going to have to take the chance anyway."

"I guess, but I think I'd rather find a different way of convincing people to be more chatty."

"Well, suit yourself. Should we meet back here in an hour, then?"

"Sure. If we can't find anything before then, we can at least re-evaluate our approaches, maybe tweak them a bit for optimal results."

Burnreptimon rolled his eyes. "Even merged you're a nerd. At least you're the nerd with the good social skills."

"Yeah, and on that note, try not to piss anyone off when you talk to them. I'd rather not be run our of town by an angry mob if I can avoid it."

"Ha ha."

(==========)

It wasn't long before virtually all of Wamilee was involved in the search for Kotemon. They had been calling to Kotemon as loud as possible, searching high and low and everywhere they could, and with Bolteaglemon scanning from above, it should have been a simple task. But despite that, several hours had passed with no sign of the young digimon.

It was driving her crazy. _There is no way he doesn't realize he needs to come out when he hears so many people calling for him. So either he can't hear us or he can't come out. Or he's been taken outside the village...but if that's true, then finding him will be all but impossible..._

She shook her head, trying to cast away the worst-case scenarios. _Stay positive until I absolutely can't. I don't want to get myself distracted..._

Unfortunately, the light was starting to wane, and she knew if they didn't find him soon it could become much harder to search, especially from above - even her eyes wouldn't be able to pick up on any small motions. The activity around the town was almost a hindrance, drawing her line of sight when she least wanted it.

She made another sweep over the village, feeling fatigue start to set in. She willed herself to continue, descending a little to compensate for the fading light. Each scan saw various places where a digimon of Kotemon's size might be able to hide, but they had already been checked, often repeatedly.

And then she saw something. A brief, very slight, movement, but movement nonetheless. It came from a pile of debris next to what looked like a barn, looking for all intents and purposes like random clutter. She stared down, trying to see if it would move again.

_That can't be it...can it? That's way too small for Kotemon to hide in...but there's nothing else to go off of...maybe I should check it out just to be safe._

She descended down to the pile, watching it keenly for more movement. None came, and she felt a prickle of irritation. _Did I just imagine that?_ Still, she landed by the pile, examining it closer. It was partially stacked up against the barn, and as she figured wasn't large enough to hide him. Still, something about it struck her as odd. _It doesn't seem like someone would just push stuff up against the barn at this spot..._

There was a sudden movement again as the pile shuddered very slightly, jarring Bolteaglemon. Something was definitely up with it. Hurriedly, she pushed the debris out of the way, sweeping it to the sides. When she had cleared most of it, it all became clear in a hurry.

Kotemon was laying face-first in the dirt, partially underneath the barn. She could see a small recess which he had been crouched into. The debris had been piled on top of the part of the recess that was outside the barn, completely covering him and leaving no sign. The movement had come from small jabs of Kotemon's stick.

"Th...thank you much, miss," Kotemon said quietly. "I fear I had a slight mishap."

"It's all right, I'm just glad I found you," Bolteaglemon said, picking up Kotemon and setting him on his feet. "You've had a lot of us scared."

"Ah, I had feared so...I rather didn't know how long I was under there." He seemed remarkably calm given the circumstances. "Miss Burgamon must be worried sick."

"She is, as is everyone else. Did you do this intentionally?"

"No, ma'am. I thought this little hole would be a great place to hide, it's hard to see from anywhere. But then a whole bunch of stuff came down and covered me up. It became very hard to move, and my head was pushed down in the the dirt a little and I can't talk very loudly, so no one heard me when I tried to ask for help."

"Wait, you're saying someone covered you up? That's awful! Do you know who it was?"

"No, ma'am, it came out of nowhere. I was trying to get lower so no one could see me and then everything went a lot darker than it should have."

"I see..." Bolteaglemon shook her head. If this was a prank on Kotemon it was a very poorly-thought-out one. "We'd better get you to Burgamon, so she knows you're all right. I'll fly you to her."

"Okay, thank you." Kotemon wrapped his arms around her body and she did the same, then they took off, flying straight for the park. There were throngs of people around, trying to figure out a plan of action after their failure to find Kotemon. She spied Burgamon and swooped down next to her. "I found him! He's here!"

"Kotemon!" Burgamon wasted no time wrapping Kotemon up in her arms, squeezing more tightly than Bolteaglemon could imagine was comfortable, but Kotemon made no complaint. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right, I was so worried about you!"

"I'm sorry to have worried you, ma'am. I got into a spot of trouble."

"Where was he?" asked a voice from the crowd.

"He was hiding in a depression under a barn and someone pushed debris over the hole," Bolteaglemon said. "So if anyone knows anything about that, they'd better start talking."

Everything went dead silent as the twonspeople looked amongst each other, wondering who had made that mistake. But before anyone said anything, the lights in the park suddenly went out.

"What's going on?"

"The Luxolith!"

"Someone check the Luxolith!"

_It just never ends,_ Bolteaglemon thought in frustration as she took back to the air. It took all of a few seconds to lay eyes on the Luxolith, as brightly as it shone in the dim evening light; it hadn't gone far from its gazebo, and was currently on the back of something which had to be the cause of the problem. Wasting no time, she dove for the mischief maker, swopped down in front of him and barring his escape. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Gah! Dammit!" The creature set down the Luxolith and stood up on its hind legs. It was a Gryzmon, and it didn't look happy. "I thought you were gone already!"

"Guess you were wrong. Put that back."

"No! This thing can make me stronger! I'm not giving it up! I've been trying to get it for weeks, I'm not giving up when I'm so close finally!"

"Too bad, it's not yours. It belongs to Wamilee."

"It belongs to me now! I took it fair and square!"

"Doesn't work that way, bozo. What, you thought you'd just lie in wait, take the most important object in town, and suddenly it would be rightfully yours?"

"Lying in wait didn't help, that damn Jijimon was always around! And I finally manage to do something that draws him away and suddenly you're flying up there on patrol!"

"Wait, you're the one that trapped Kotemon? You ass, he could have been under there for days!"

"So what? I wanted my power stone! Who cares about some dumb little kid? Now get out of my way or I'll make sure you regret it!"

"Oh, I think you're going to be the one feeling regret," Bolteaglemon snapped. "Spark Wave!" She launched her thunder attack at Gryzmon, who took the brunt of it and shook it off.

"You think that little thing will stop me? I've been using this to power me up, I'm not gonna lose to that!"

"Well, then, I guess I just need to ramp things up a bit!" She evolved to Ionavimon, and used her much more powerful Dervish Bolt to nail him.

"Yeow! How the hell?"

"You're not invincible, you idiot. And you're not strong enough to beat me, no matter what you do!"

"We'll see about that! Crescent Dawn!" The crescent mark on its head glowed and fired out a large beam of light. Ionavimon ducked it and drew her spear, watching for an opening as Gryzmon charged forward, trying to pounce on her and hold her with his large gauntlets. She leapt up at the last moment, slashing his back and giving him a good jolt, then flipping over in midair and delivering a Lightning Talon to his back as he passed by. Gryzmon yelped in pain and crashed headfirst into the ground.

"You done flailing around now, or should I do some more damage?" Ionavimon taunted.

Gryzmon stumbled to his feet, turning unsteadily to face Ionavimon. "Dammit? Why? I want my power stone!" he pouted pathetically.

"Go find your own if you want one that badly! This one already belongs to someone! Now scram before I decide to really make you regret it!"

Gryzmon took the hint, tearing out of there surprisingly quickly. Ionavimon heaved a sigh. "Some people...just drive me freakin' crazy..."

"Oh, thank you!" She turned to see Jijimon walking over, panting profusely. "Ah, curse this old body of mine...I would have helped you had I gotten here in time!"

"No worries...he wasn't as tough as he thought he was. You need some help getting it back to where it belongs?"

"Oh, goodness, you've done enough for us already. We'll get some of the townspeople to help with that. Before you know it the lights will shine once more!"

"Yeah, well, I'm glad for that...oh, tell them that it was Gryzmon that was responsible for that whole incident with Kotemon, he did it to try to get the Luxolith. I don't want them thinking it was one of them when it wasn't."

"Oh, is that so? I had seen him around...I knew he wanted the Luxolith, but who would have thought he'd stoop that low?"

"Ugh...the things some people will do for power," Ionavimon muttered. "Well, I guess there's no way I'm getting to Allou tonight. You know a good place to stay?"

"Oh, certainly, certainly! I'll take you there myself. After what you've done for us, I'm sure it's the least we can do!"

"Thanks." They started walking, passing by the Luxolith which was being attended to by a SkullMeramon and an Andromon. _If there was ever a doubt as to why Catalysts aren't supposed to be in private possession...just look at all the trouble the less powerful stuff causes._

(==========)

_Maybe Skydramon doesn't know how to find people who are more willing to talk, but I think I do._ Burnreptimon stood outside a rather seedy-looking establishment, barely distinguishable from the rest of the architecture on the outside. As he pushed the door open, though, he had a feeling this was going to offer the best chance of openness they'd had since coming here.

It wasn't well-lit inside, but it was fairly clean and orderly for the most part. Digimon of various shapes were drinking, watching some kind of television program, or involved in various entertainment activities. _It's almost like what I imagine a bar in the human world looks like...maybe in a few years I'll actually be able to compare the two._

He figured it was best to start by blending in. He went to the counter and sat on one of the stools, trying to be as casual as possible. The bartender, a Weregarurumon, attended to him pretty quickly. "You want something?"

"Er...oh, uh, if you can make a Lava Plume, I'd love that."

An eye roll from the bartender. "You guys are all the same, you know that? I oughta just stop asking..."

"Sorry, maybe next time I'll shake things up."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." He went right to work, though, and a couple of minutes later had the hot bubbling drink in front of Burnreptimon. "You want a tab, or you just gonna pay now?"

"Huh? Oh, right, I'll just pay now."

"Hm. Not from around here, are you?"

"Figured that might give me away. I'm just passing through."

"Picked a hell of a place to pass through. Word to the wise, watch out for the tax men, they like to go after you when you least expect it, and they don't care if you're a traveler or a resident."

"Uh...right. I'll try to keep that in mind, thanks."

"Just warning ya. You want to come over so I can scan you?"

"Oh...uh, actually, I've been having some issues with my chip lately. Been meaning to get that taken care of, but it keeps slipping my mind. Can I just give you the number?"

"...I guess, but if I find out it's bogus..."

"I promise it's legit. Really don't want to be making enemies over money." He recited Salmandmon's chip number, and a moment later felt relief as it went through properly. _Would have hated to mis-remember that..._

He took a sip of the drink and felt the warm, comforting heat flow down through his insides. _Shame they probably couldn't manage this in the other world, I could get to like these. Course, Mom and Dad probably wouldn't let me have one for years anyway. Glad no one cards in the digital world._

He cautiously chatted up a couple of digimon, trying to fish for information without sounding too suspicious. It seemed tough going - some had heard of an Ionavimon, but hadn't come across her. Burnreptimon started to figure that the news of her victory in the tournament had probably put the name in their minds, which would only make things slightly more challenging. The ones who weren't aware of her tournament victories weren't at all familiar with her, so that avenue seemed a dead end, too.

_She probably hasn't come around here...maybe we should consider looking in another area. Perhaps she went north of Hagrande rather than south..._

"Enjoying yourself, handsome?" Burnreptimon was jarred out of his thoughts by a teasing growl just to the right of him. He blinked a couple of times and looked to his right to see a smirking green dragon with a rather large drink in his hand.

"Uh...what? I'm, I'm fine, thanks."

"Cool. So, what's a stud like you doing in a heap like this?"

_Oh, okay, I'm not imagining things..._ The Coredramon was clearly eying him up, and it was making him somewhat uncomfortable; nothing in any of his experiences had prepared him for something like that. The fact that it was a complete stranger didn't help matters. "I'm just passing through. Looking for a certain someone."

"Really? Could I be that someone?"

_People actually use those kinds of cheesy pick-up lines? And here I thought TV lied to me yet again._ "Ahhh...I don't think so."

"Could I be if I buy you a couple more of those?" The dragon certainly wasn't shy, and it was starting to be less uncomfortable and more amusing to Burnreptimon.

"Sorry, bud, I'm just having the one."

"You sure? I got nothin' else to do, and you look like you could use a little loosening up, if you know what I mean." Coredramon leaned in towards Burnreptimon, grinning ever wider. "You look like the kind of guy who knows how to have some fun and usually doesn't. I consider it a free service to change that second part."

Burnreptimon shifted a little; it was getting back towards uncomfortable. "No offense, but I'm really not interested in that. Or, uh, you, in that way."

The dragon snickered. "Kinda thought so. You new guys are kinda uptight...you gotta loosen up, or you'll never fit in. Must be that human in ya."

Burnreptimon barely managed to avoid choking on his drink. He took a moment to catch his breath and gape at the ever-grinning Coredramon. "How the hell did you...what?"

"Surprised? Hey, I may have the brawn, but I've got the brains, too. I've already found out about one of you, you're a stranger looking for a certain someone, and there's only one reason you'd make a pit stop at a mess like this. You provide the dots, and I connect them. Betcha you're looking for cutie bird, hm?"

_Cutie bird? Jeez, let's hope Derek never finds out about that, or he'll be a dragon-skin wallet in no time flat._ "Are you telling me you've seen Bolteaglemon?"

"Mmmmmaybe. What do I get in exchange for telling you what I know?"

Burnreptimon was starting to lose his patience now; idle flirting he could deal with, but being played with by someone who had information he needed was an entirely different level of irritation. "You get the opportunity to not have my fists make an introduction to your face repeatedly and forcefully."

"Aw, no foreplay then?" Burnreptimon let out a small growl, but Coredramon wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "She should be somewhere in this region...I believe she was sticking around to make it easier to find you. I figured word of the tournament would get around sooner or later, sooner being most likely, and let her know that she might be better off letting you find her than the other way around. In fact, she may not be far from this city...that's the direction she was headed, last I heard."

"So she might be close enough to arrive in the next day or two..."

"Yep, so no need to rush. You got time for a little R&R, if you get my drift." Coredramon winked at him slyly.

"Okay, enough of that. I will fireball you so hard..."

"Aw, you're such a tease. Gettin' me all hot already."

"Rgh. Look, I appreciate the information, but I have something to do, and I'm not in the mood for these kinds of games." Burnreptimon downed the rest of his drink quickly and set the glass on the counter. "Hope Skydramon's not far away, I'm gonna need him..."

"Oh, so that's what you're into? He can come too, the more the merrier."

Burnreptimon shot his most incinerating glare at Coredramon, who sat there grinning like a lunatic. "It just never ends with you, does it? Forget it, it's not happening. I'm outta here, and don't follow me."

"All righty, then. Offer's open anytime, stud. Be interesting to see what it's like with a human..."

The lizard made every effort to ignore that as he exited the bar. He fixated instead on his new information; if Bolteaglemon had been heading this way, they might be able to find her just by having Skydramon fly around nearby. _This could turn out simpler than we had feared. I just hope that dragon wasn't misleading me so he could have an excuse for me to find him again..._

(==========)

Skydramon landed at the town square, frustrated and fuming. He'd come up completely empty trying to talk to the digimon in the city; only a couple had even bothered to answer his inquiries, and they had little to no clue what he was asking about. _Maybe bribing them with money wasn't a bad idea after all...everyone in this place seems to be really hard up, maybe they would have been desperate enough to be honest anyway._

He leaned against the wall of a building, scanning for any sign of Burnreptimon. _I think he's late. What's keeping him?_

With his attention allocated elsewhere, it took a while for him to notice that the square was strangely empty. The vendors that had been there earlier were gone, and no one was walking around nearby. _That's odd...it's still midday, I would think it would be pretty active still. Maybe there's an event of some kind going on?_

After another couple of minutes, he spotted a group of digimon coming into the square. They looked fairly rough and rowdy, and he got the impression that they weren't the kind of people he should try to approach. Not that it ended up mattering; the moment they caught sight of him, they were on their way over.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" There were three digimon in the group - a Bluemeramon, a Flamedramon, and a Gawappamon. The Bluemeramon seemed to be the leader figure, with the other two flanking him as he looked down scrutinizingly at Skydramon. "I haven't seen your kind before. What do you call yourself?"

"Um...Skydramon. Nice to meet you. Can you excuse me? I'm kind of looking for someone, and it's a little tough to see around you."

"Looking for someone? I couldn't care less. You're interesting, and I think we need to see just how interesting you can get."

"Huh?"

"He's challenging you to a match," the Flamedramon said curtly. "So let's have it."

"What? No, I'm not interested in fighting. Look, I'm trying to find someone, have you seen a Bolteaglemon or an Ionavimon around?"

Bluemeramon didn't seem to take much notice of the question. "Who cares? Come on, let's see how strong you really are."

"Now cut that out, I'm not wasting time with this."

"In case you haven't picked up on it, that's not a request," Gawappamon said.

"Oh, come on. Do you honestly think I have nothing better to do than get into a pointless brawl with a random stranger on the street?"

"Maybe you do, but we don't. And if you don't start bringing it on, we're gonna chase after you and give you a beatdown like you've never seen before in your life."

"I have my doubts about that. I've seen quite a few horrible beatdowns."

Bluemeramon huffed. "Oh, really? Now you're saying you're above us? Think you're too high and mighty for a match with us? Or are you just scared that you'll get drilled into the ground by our strength?"

"Enough already. I'm not gonna get sucked into a fight I don't need. Get out of my face." Skydramon walked off to the side, trying to get around them and find a new place to watch for Burnreptimon. In a flash, the three were on him, trying to take him down from behind. He escaped only with a wicked Aero Nail to Flamedramon's helmet, which left furrows in the armor.

"Sonuvabitch!" The fire dragon backed off, nursing the scarred metal.

"Hey, he's got some fight in him after all!" Bluemeramon said. "C'mon, let's get more of it out of him!"

"Gah! Get the hell away!" yelled Skydramon.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Another person was running up behind Skydramon, and he whipped around in fear, only to relax when he saw it was Burnreptimon. "Jeez, and you said I was the tactless one."

"Flawless timing, Burnreptimon." Skydramon breathed a sigh of relief.

Bluemeramon wasn't quite so happy. "Hey! You're getting in the way of a good fight!"

Burnreptimon looked at the elemental, almost as if sizing him up. "You need to take a chill pill. If you're that eager for a smackdown, pick a fight with one of the guard patrols. We've got business to take care of."

"I have business, too, and it's with you two! You're not a familiar one, either...I want a match with you, to see what you can really do!"

"Piss off. We've got better things to do than play stupid games with ego-hungry jerks."

"Great job, Burnreptimon," groaned Skydramon as Bluemeramon's temper flared up.

"What did you say? I'll show you!" Bluemeramon charged forward, ready to throw a powerful punch. In an instant, Burnreptimon lashed out and slammed a fist directly into the creature's temple, knocking him out cold in mid-stride. He crashed into the ground and skidded a few feet, dazed and barely responsive. Flamedramon and Gawappamon rushed to him, shocked at how quickly the battle had ended.

"Well, that takes care of that." Burnreptimon cracked his knuckles and turned to Skydramon, who was staring at him in a daze. "You coming with me, or you gonna wait around for round two with these bozos?"

"Ah, right. Okay, lead the way." The two walked off, leaving behind the Bluemeramon, who was just starting to come around, and his confused flunkies. Only after they had put quite a bit of distance between them did they stop to get down to business.

"Was that hit really necessary?" Skydramon asked tentatively.

"Yes. Listen, I've got news about Bolteaglemon. Apparently, she's supposed to be hanging around this region, and might even be heading for this city."

"Really? How'd you find this out?"

"An annoying dragon who kept hitting on me. Apparently he's talked with her...hopefully not quite as irritating when he did it."

"Are you sure he was telling the truth?"

Burnreptimon nodded. "He knew about us, without me even telling him. He was telling the truth."

"Knew about us? Big deal, I'm sure our names have been spread around a bit-"

"Not about us, _about_ us."

It took a moment for this to click with Skydramon. "Oh...OH. Right, I think you're on to something there. So what do we do?"

"We're going to have to keep our eyes open. She can't be far away, unless something's delayed her. And if she's heading our direction, all we have to do is hang around until she drops in."

"But she might just pass over if she doesn't think we're around."

"Well, that's why you're going to fly around and be something to draw her attention."

"What? Why me?"

"Because you're the one with the wings, numbskull. I can't exactly get airborne like this, you know."

Skydramon sighed in lamentation. "Ah, man...just flying around looking at nothing is gonna get really boring really fast."

"Deal with it. Just think how bad I'm going to have it, I have to sit down here waiting for you. And this place ain't exactly the Louvre."

"Fine, fine. I guess I'd better start now. But you realize it's not likely we'll find her right away. Or vice-versa, or whatever."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll find a hotel, you can abort when it gets dark."

(==========)

(==========)

Ah, Coredramon. I just can't let you go.

I had way too much trouble thinking of what Bolteaglemon was going to be doing in this chapter. It probably shows, those sections feel a bit rushed to me, but I don't really have the time to go back and change them at this point. Maybe in a revamp. Might spruce up the action, too, since there's not much of it here.

Anyway, I'd better get back to writing. I've got the next three chapters half-written, which would be good except I need fully-written ones when I put them up. The last couple weeks haven't been good to me in terms of time and energy to write, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.


	39. Chapter 38: Power Seekers

Finally, isn't broken anymore! Here is the next chapter, in all its...well, "glory" is probably far too strong a word. Anyway, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 38: Power Seekers**

"I kinda wish we could've stuck around a while longer," Isaac said as the made their way to the Transfer Point outside Mechalopolis. "Man, there's so much more I coulda learned, I'm already itching to start building more..."

"We can come back all we want once we've finished dealing with Emperius," Datacarnomon said. "So, the question now is, where do we go from here?"

"Well, don't look at me. You're the native to this place."

"True. Hm...well, I know a couple of places where Catalysts are, but after all this time, I'd wager they found them long ago. So anyone could be anywhere at this point."

Isaac rubbed his head. "Well, that doesn't make things easy. Isn't there anywhere that we might be able to get a lead?"

"Well, I remember Sal saying once, 'when in doubt, check home base.' Although I think that was in regards to a game of capture the flag. But anyway, we should try the Libertius compound. Maybe they've stopped by at some point to check in with Gallantmon. Heck, if fortune's good to us, maybe Dynasmon or Crusadermon recovered enough to take over again. It'd be nice to not be the only ones who have to face down Emperius."

"I like the sound of that. All right, lead the way."

(==========)

"You okay, Blackcanismon?" asked Derek as they lazed around a guest room. Gallantmon had been busy preparing accommodations for all of them, and had gotten rooms set up that were a remarkably good size fit for humans.

"Marginally, Derek. I confess I am unable to banish my negativity at the untimely fate of my compatriots at the behest of Emperius. I long for the return of activity within this architecture."

"I guess I can understand. I mean, it's not totally empty, but it sure seems like it because of how big it is."

"Correct." Blackcanismon stood up and stretched out, letting out a long yawn. "I feel desirous of ambulation. Do you care to accompany me?"

"Sure, why not. I'm not gettin' anything done just sitting around here. There's gotta be some way of finding the others...I mean, I would think they'd all eventually try to come here, so logically it would be best not to wander off too far, but still, I guess I'm worried about them."

"Naturally. Your concern for your friends is hardly unprecedented. I too harbor certain misgivings about their statuses, although as experienced militants they possess a greater degree of survival preparedness than the average individual."

"And then there's that. I mean, no doubt they can hold their own against digimon, but I don't think any of us are particularly familiar with this kind of traveling around. Humans tend to stick to one place for the most part, especially kids. It's weird for us to be constantly moving."

"Perhaps a consequence of traveling being markedly less convenient."

"Yeah, I'd think so. Well, I guess there's not much else I can do except wait and wonder. Maybe we should try to pick up open the current events of the world, that might tell us if they're doing all right."

"Capital idea. Perhaps we shall retire to the lounge area and peruse the latest information periodicals."

(==========)

"What the hell happened?"

"Huh?" Isaac stared out over the compound. Nothing appeared to be significantly damaged, as far as he could tell, so Datacarnomon's horror seemed misplaced to him. "Everything looks fine to me."

"Are you kidding me? There's like no one here! There should be people all over the place, but I can't see anyone!"

"Wait, didn't you say you guys lost a huge battle before coming here?"

"That wiped out most of the Elite Guard, but there was a lot more to Emperius than that! There were hundreds more guys on our side!"

"Oh...oh, boy. Uh, maybe they're all hiding inside?" Datacarnomon shot him a look. "Okay, okay, maybe that was a stupid idea. Someone's gotta be there, let's check it out."

"Yeah...man, and here I thought we might be able to get some support..."

(==========)

"Novel theorizations have been constructed concerning that very matter. Judging by the radical disparities in data manifestation, scientists predict that our diversity results from significant cyclical influences in coding output."

"Cyclical influences?"

"Precisely. Numerous loci within our attributors draw information from the coding of preceding areas, and tailor their own outputs to reflect such activation. These outputs in turn trigger reinforcements of previous activations and influence the genesis of new reactions. Thus, despite the apparent morphological limitations of our attributors, we retain the exceptional variation you observe within us to this present day."

"Huh...honestly, I would have thought humans would have something like that, too. I mean, it can't all just be isolated from each other."

"Oh,. undoubtedly so, but because our particular manifestation is significantly disparate from your own, the allowance for alternate activation is magnitudes greater. Remember, for every single base point in your organic material eight points exist in our digital material. The spiderweb of activity becomes that much denser."

"Ah, okay...man, how do you know all this, it feels like I'd need a college degree to figure this stuff out."

"I happen to possess slightly more than a passing interest in composition sciences. The level of fascination which with I am provided exceeds the normal bounds of my scope of learnedness. I have occasionally considered the possibility of undergoing the training required to become a specialist in the field."

"So you want a college degree in it, huh?"

"I presume you are talking about your organic terrestrial equivalency, and thus will respond in the affirmative."

"Hey! You guys are here!" Derek and Blackcanismon were jarred out of their conversation by Isaac's shout. They turned to see him and Datacarnomon sprinting up the hallway. "Man, am I glad to finally see someone else from our group!"

"I should say the same," Derek replied with a grin. "Though, I guess I also have to say I wasn't expecting it to be you."

Isaac glared at him. "Would that happen to be a crack at my tendency to occasionally be late?"

"Hey, how about that, it does learn. Now maybe we should see if it passes the Turing Test." Isaac made a very rude gesture that Derek took absolutely no notice of. "So, would I be wrong to guess that you've seen your next form?"

"I'm a tank! Almost literally, even! Cyberrexmon rocks! He's bigger than before and strong enough to pummel the daylights out of even huge monster robots!"

"Hmph...a big lummox. How fitting."

"Are you actually happy to see me?"

"Why, of course, Isaac, I'm very happy to see you. You have no idea how boring it is to make fun of you when you're not around."

"Ass. Maybe I oughta turn to Cyberrexmon right now and change your attitude a bit."

"You'd have to catch me first. Onyxvargmon is a speed demon with superb skill with the blade. I would reduce you to your components without a second thought."

"The hell you could. One good blow and you'd be down for the count."

Datacarnomon shook his head. "You two. Shouldn't we be focusing on delivering violence unto our enemies rather than each other?"

"Such concern is unnecessary, Datacarnomon," Blackcanismon responded. "They simply are expressing their pleasure at their reunion in their unique manners."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Speaking of reunions, have you seen any sign of the others?"

"Regrettably not. They remain beyond our ability to contact, although certain events have granted us possible insight, provided we possess the capacity to interpret them."

"O...kay? I'll take your word for it-"

"So, what were you two jabbering about before?" Isaac interrupted. "You were in your own little world until I yelled at you."

"Oh...well, Blackcanismon was just telling me that they already had some suspicions about the whole genetic translation thing."

"Not precisely, we had discovered the existence of repetitions within our digital network attributors. Cognizance of translative properties was decidedly absent."

"Wait, I thought that was just a guess," Datacarnomon said. "They actually had data for that?"

"It surprises me that you of all our comrades would be so behind the curve. Numerous documents have explored the possibility and unearthed evidence of its reality."

"Wait, hold on a sec," Isaac said. "You guys all have translated code equal to our DNA? Then how the hell do you all look so different?"

"You're just now thinking of this?" Derek countered. "I thought you were the genius. It didn't surprise you before that all five of them looked so different from each other, despite over 99% of their code being the same?"

"Hey, you can't have been thinking of it before, otherwise why'd you be so into it now?"

"Easy. I didn't know Blackcanismon would know the answer. I didn't realize he was so into this kind of thing."

"Oh..." Isaac looked down at Blackcanismon. "You know, you coulda mentioned something earlier."

"You wouldn't have understood a tenth of what he would've said about it anyway," Datacarnomon cracked.

"Oh, yeah..."

"Don't worry, I'll try to explain it later, in little words so you can understand it," Derek snickered.

"Screw you. Hey, since you've been here a while, maybe you can tell us what's going on with this place. Data's been freaking out over how there's no one here."

"I have not been 'freaking out.' I expressed my initial surprise, that's it."

"Semantics. Is there at least someone here who can get us some chow?"

"I suppose we could divert our attentions momentarily," Blackcanismon sighed. "Although our mission of information collection on the whereabouts of our remaining compatriots shall suffer significant delays."

"Oh, relax, whatever news there is isn't going anywhere. We can check that afterwards."

"I concede the point. Very well, let us not tarry further."

(==========)

"Wow...so it's been pretty bad here, huh?"

"Regretfully so. Emperius possessed a marked advantage over the entirety of Libertius' regular forces...the likelihood of successful defense was remote."

"You're right...hey, I'm sorry to hear about Glademon, too. Man, that must suck big-time, I thought he was a good guy but it has to be even harder if he's a good friend."

"I greatly prefer not to dwell unnecessarily on the matter."

At the other side of the table, Isaac and Derek were mired in their own discussion. "The place is really always like during the night? That sounds way too weird."

"And a city completely populated by machines doesn't?"

"No way! I mean, that would be a lot easier to do than actually killing all the daylight!"

"Hm...well, I suppose you're right on that account. They don't really know how it happens, so that would make it hard to replicate at the very least. Anyway, I'm guessing being in that place was like a dream come true for you."

"Well, it would have been more of a dream come true if it hadn't been so chaotic. I didn't have nearly enough time to really appreciate everything. So, yeah, first thing I do when all this stuff is over is going back there."

"I guess I should be ready for you to become Robo-Isaac, then."

"Hey, I'm not that kind of fanatic! I'm not gonna turn myself into a robot until I know how to do all the maintenance."

"You're serious about that, aren't you?"

"Goodness! When did we get another human here?" All eyes turned towards Gallantmon, who had just entered the cafeteria.

"Commander!" Datacarnomon exclaimed. "Good to see you're still around, at least! Sorry, we were gonna drop by after Ike got something to eat!"

"That's all right, it just surprised me. Data, I'm glad you're doing all right. And you...who would you happen to be?"

Isaac grinned and saluted the knight. "Name's Isaac Wherrels! Nice to meet ya!"

"The feeling is mutual. I presume you are much like Derek and Blackcanismon?"

"You're talking about the symbiosis thing, right? Yep, we can do that, too! Not to mention I've gotten a rather sweet benefit from it!" He held up his metal arm.

"My...that came about from your combining?"

"Yep! Pretty snazzy if I do say so myself, plus it really comes in handy when the hordes are breathing down your neck. Come on, pull up a seat!"

"Isaac, cool it," Derek said. "He's the commander around here, he's probably got things to attend to, business to take care of-"

"I'm afraid not," Gallantmon interrupted with a shake of his head. "With so few people around, there's not really that much for me to do...I can't very well send anyone out on a mission in this state. Besides, I think it would be interested to learn more about humans...we only know what we do on a very raw observational level, it doesn't tell us much about what you're really like."

"Well, I'm sure we can tell you plenty!" Isaac said, casting a smirk in Derek's direction.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't be averse to that. It would definitely help make any future contact a lot easier."

(==========)

Their chat continued for a good while, with the humans and digimon comparing and contrasting their respective worlds. They had after some time come to the consensus that despite initial appearances, the two weren't quite as dissimilar as any of them had expected.

"Which I think is a very good sign," said Gallantmon. "Finding good common ground will make it a lot easier for our worlds to connect."

"And that will be especially important after they've had the first impression of digimon as murderous psychos," added Datacarnomon.

"No doubt...I truly regret that we could not have gotten there first."

"Well, we did, kind of."

"I meant Libertius as a whole. A lot of chaos and fear could have been averted if the first revelation of our existence was us as defenders rather than destroyers."

"Unfortunate, to be sure, but the relationship was rather reasonably salvaged," Blackcanismon replied. "Certainly, not the ideal situation, but workable enough."

"You're right. At least we managed to do something..." Gallantmon stopped as he saw another digimon enter the cafeteria, a Monodramon who looked rather uncertain. "Monodramon, do you have news?"

"Yes sir. Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but there's a group of digimon outside the compound gates. About ten strong, I think, and of indeterminate strength. They're demanding to see the unfamiliar ones we've got in here, or else they're threatening to attack the compound."

"Well, that's just great. Is it Emperius?" asked Datacarnomon.

"I...don't know for sure, but something tells me that it's not...they aren't exactly known for asking questions before attacking."

"That is true," Gallantmon said quietly. "Damn...I don't want to have you all go out there, but I don't know that we could fend off an attack at this point, especially against a group that size. If we could tell how much of a threat they were, it might be easier...but if they're elite, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Don't worry about it," said Isaac coolly. "They're looking for us, right? We'll make sure they don't so much as scuff up the ground."

"Already that eager for combat, are we?" Derek said with an eye roll.

"Well, what else are we going to do? Talk them to death?"

"Perhaps it would be advisable to approach the situation with intention of defusing tensions without resorting to immediate combat," Blackcanismon offered.

"So, yes, then. Fine, I guess we can give that a shot, but really, how often has that worked for us so far?"

"If you're that worried about it, then let's try to make a show of it," suggested Derek. "Maybe they'll be less eager to throw themselves at us if we show off our strongest forms. Sure, there's a bunch of them, but we've faced down sizable groups before."

"Now that's an idea I can get behind. All right, I'm in."

Gallantmon bowed. "I'm in your debt. Please be careful."

"The digimon are just outside the walls of the compound, near the front gate," Monodramon informed them. "There aren't many places to hide, so an ambush is unlikely, but we will keep our eyes out and try to send someone to alert you if there is anything else coming."

"Thanks," Derek said with a nod. "We'll make sure to keep things quiet in here."

(==========)

"Now, remember, we talk first, and attack if that doesn't work."

"For the last time, I know," Cyberrexmon grumbled. "I'm not an idiot."

"Given the importance of our task, I feel that a little reinforcement will help. We don't want to get in over our heads when we're the only defense."

"You know, they can fight if they have to."

"Yes, but if they overpower us they won't be putting up much of one. Now clam, we're getting close."

There were indeed ten digimon milling around not far outside the gates of the Libertius complex, looking varying degrees of impatient: ShadowWeregarurumon, Minotaurmon, Shawujinmon, Shadramon, Sagittarimon, Mikemon, Gorillamon, Buraimon, Sealsdramon, and Musyamon. "That's a nice healthy mixture," Cyberrexmon remarked as they walked out to face them.

"A variety of styles and strengths," agreed Onyxvargmon. "They've probably been pulling stunts like this for a while."

"Eh, we should still be able to take them."

"Sure, but remember, we're going to try talking, first."

"Rgh, enough already. If I'm gonna start shooting anyone it'll be you if you don't stop harping on me."

As they exited the gates of the compound and faced down the group, the digimon took notice of them. The ShadowWeregarurumon laughed triumphantly. "See? I told you! There really are unfamiliar guys here!"

Sagittarimon smirked. "Well, I'll be damned, for once you were right."

"Hey, I'm right all the time!"

"Uh-huh...maybe for the broadest possible definition of right."

"Oh, just shut up!"

"Sounds like a cohesive gang we've got here," Cyberrexmon cracked.

"Oh, please, how often have we jibed one another?" countered Onyxvargmon. "The banter is meaningless. It's how they react to us that will tell the story."

"C'mon, guys, business awaits," Shadramon said testily.

"Right, right." ShadowWeregarurumon pointed to the two hybrids. "You two are new around here, aren't you?"

"More or less," Cyberrexmon grunted. "What does it matter?"

"It matters because we haven't matched against your kind," Musyamon said. "Therefore, that much be remedied."

Sealsdramon nodded. "As they said. We heard there were unfamiliar digimon in the area. Naturally, we seek to test our mettle against you."

"Uh...what?"

ShadowWeregarurumon snorted. "Isn't it obvious? We're challenging you to a fight."

"That much was fairly clear to me," Onyxvargmon droned. "For what purpose are you making this challenge? I don't really see the point."

"It's a matter of honor and pride! We're among the strongest digimon in North Tetraquaz, and it's our duty to maintain that level by defeating all the new digimon that come around here! Especially ones that have never been seen before, no better way to show your superiority than by testing yourself against the unknown!"

"You're joking, right?" Cyberrexmon certainly wasn't laughing. "Is this Emperius' way of introducing itself?"

Sagittarimon laughed. "Emperius? Hah! They're posers, they're not made of the right stuff. We're better than all of them combined!"

"You'll forgive me for doubting that, I hope. I've met stronger digimon in the last week."

"You've met digimon who thought they were strong because they were some arbitrary level class," Musyamon said. "We've been honing our skills for years, matching up against those who fail to understand the true course of power. The two of you are about to learn that lesson."

"I think not," Onyxvargmon stated bluntly. "We have better things to do than provide you with validation, or humiliation as it might very well be."

"Oh, really? Such as what?"

"Such as finding our comrades and taking down Emperius so we can prevent this world and the human world from falling into their clutches."

Shadramon cackled loudly. "Please! They really think they're gonna take over this world? The human world, maybe, but we don't even know what they've got up their sleeves. They're just pretenders, you shouldn't even bother with them!"

Cyberrexmon sighed, patience ebbing. "We have our reasons. Anyway, you don't have any business ordering us to fight in the first place. We've had more than our share already and it's only going to get worse, the last thing we need is extra fighting that doesn't serve any purpose."

"Whaddaya mean, doesn't serve any purpose?" Gorillamon shouted. "It serves a great purpose! It proves that we're as strong as we say we are!"

"You oaf," Mikemon huffed, folding his arms. "He means it doesn't do anything for _them_. If you had half a brain-"

"Shut it, kitten," ShadowWeregarurumon growled.

"Oh, come on, Shady. This is stupid. If they don't wanna fight, they don't wanna fight."

"Yeah, haven't we gotten ourselves in enough trouble by pushing the issue?" Shawujinmon added. "You remember those Incendramon a couple weeks ago..."

"That's the point! Our reputations are at stake, we can't just let this opportunity pass us by!"

"Yeah, how are we ever gonna prove ourselves if we just let them go for nothing?" Sagittarimon asked. "We'll be seen as a bunch of wusses who don't take on the real challenges!"

"Badgering someone into fighting you isn't a real challenge, it's simple idiocy," Buraimon countered evenly.

"You shut your beak before I shut it for you," Minotaurmon rumbled, leering into the face of the avian samurai, who did not even flinch at the intrusion. "I'm getting tired of your sanctimonious garbage. Half the time you don't even try in our battles, don't you dare get on us about taking on a real challenge!"

"I'm not here to fight every random passer-by that exists within the same area as I. I saw no point in raising my blade to those Incendramon, they wished to be left alone."

"Who cares? They were there, we had to prove ourselves!"

"To who?" Sealsdramon asked.

"Oh, great, now you're getting in on the act?" Shadramon hissed. "Just gonna start questioning everything, like you all of a sudden don't get it!"

"I am simply asking a very serious question. Who are we proving ourselves to? I have heard you mention it many times lately, but never who was the focus of the effort. I thought this was about self-improvement."

"We are proving ourselves to everyone!" Musyamon seethed. "To the world! If you are too simple to understand that, perhaps you need to be taught a lesson of your own!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone, Musyamon," Shawujinmon jumped in. "Let's not go overboard here. We're just trying to be reasonable here-"

"You're just pansying out on us again!" Sagittarimon shouted.

"Wait, pansying out? I just didn't think it was smart to start random trouble!"

"Oh, so we're troublemakers now?"

"Well...I mean...if you just go up to every digimon and try to start attacking them, isn't that kinda the definition?"

"I will not tolerate this kind of insult!" ShadowWeregarurumon snarled, causing Shawujinmon to back up a step. "I've put up with a lot from you, but it's clear you're not getting the message. I'll give you one last chance to drop the attitude, or else!"

"Whoa, chill. I wasn't trying to be against you, I just think it might be good to rein it in a little-"

"So now you accuse me of being out of control? That's far enough. You are no longer welcome with us, Shawujinmon. I suggest you leave before we show you just how 'out of control' we can be."

"What? Hey, that's totally not fair!" Mikemon snapped.

"Siding with him, kitten? Then you're out, too."

"Oh, yeah, real mature! You've just been waiting for a reason to get rid of me!"

"And now I have it. Anyone else want to kill any chance they have of being a living legend?"

After a moment of silence, Buraimon nodded his head. "If this 'living legend' is going to be nothing more than a gang of thugs, then I refuse to be any part of it."

"Shocker, the chicken chickens out," Minotaurmon spat.

"Your hateful words did not rile me the first five hundred times, they will not do any better now." Buriamon went and stood alongside Shawujinmon and Mikemon. A moment later, they were joined by Sealsdramon.

"You gotta be kidding me, Sealsdramon!" Shadramon said, aghast. "I thought you were one of us!"

"I thought so, too, but apparently you have decided that my questions are not worth considering. I don't feel the same way, so the answer is clearly that I do not belong."

"So you bail on us, after all we've done for you? You owe us!"

Sealsdramon folded his arms. "If you were only supporting me so you could use me later, then perhaps we were not so close to begin with."

"I can't believe you!" ShadowWeregarurumon barked. "How dare you slander us like that! You're just jealous, you were always the weak links! You never could keep up! We had to carry you, and now you're bitter over it!"

"Traitors should be dealt with in the harshest manner possible!" Musyamon shouted, drawing his sword and holding it threateningly at the imminent exiles. "We'll make sure you pay dearly for this travesty!"

"Knock knock!" Ten heads turned towards Cyberrexmon, who had his cannon pointed at the aggressors in the now-divided gang. "Didja forget about us over here? I don't particularly like guys like you, especially when they're trying to gang up on the few who have the sense to be reasonable about something. So you can just hightail it outta here or I won't even give you a chance to 'prove yourselves' or however you put it. Got it? And before you choose, keep in mind that I can see any of your attacks coming and my cannon shoots VERY fast."

There was a quiet, brief standoff, before ShadowWeregarurumon, realizing they were outflanked, finally stepped back. "Don't think that we're running away and that this is over! We just need some time to regroup...we'll be back, you'd better be ready then!"

They took off quickly, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. Cyberrexmon relaxed his arm and straightened up. "Looks like I was right about the cohesion."

Onyxvargmon sighed quietly. "I suppose I must concede the point. However, I thought we were going to refrain from violence?"

Cyberrexmon looked back at the canid. "Technically, I did only fire harsh words. I think that counts more as talking."

"Oh, please. You were a feint away from blasting them to kingdom come."

"Hey, I've got plenty of restraint. For instance, I put up with you for this long."

"Wow, comedy gold there, Cyberrexmon." Onyxvargmon went up to the remaining group of digimon. "Well, I'm glad we could end that without a lot of bloodshed, but wow, did they ever turn on you guys in a hurry."

"Eh, not really," Shawujinmon sighed. "I guess it's been coming a while. I mean, before it was all about improving ourselves and making a difference, but somewhere along the line the second part got lost. It became just attacking and provoking attacks to show we could beat them, and they just kept aiming higher and higher."

"And then those idiots went and picked a fight with two Incendramon," Mikemon hissed. "Got their asses torched, like they deserved. Only Buraimon and I were smart enough to sit it out, and we got so much heat for it. Shady didn't like me much anyway, no idea why."

"In retrospect, it was perhaps not a smart decision," Sealsdramon admitted. "I went with it because I trusted them, but it appears that was not reciprocated. It's odd...at some point it went from bettering ourselves to proving ourselves, and I'm not really sure when that happened."

"Most likely it happened when their egos outgrew their brains," Cyberrexmon grunted.

"You would be familiar with that, wouldn't you?" Onyxvargmon jabbed.

"Hey!"

"Well, don't leave an opening like that if you don't want to get pierced. You brute-force guys are all the same. Easily stabbed by either a rapier or a rapier wit."

"Now who's getting the big head?"

"Excuse me..." Buraimon cut in before Onyxvargmon could form a response. "Dark one...you are a student of the blade, are you not?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess. And call me Onyxvargmon."

"Very well. If it would not be too much trouble...I would like to test myself against you."

"Wha? After all that you're still gonna challenge us to a fight?" Cyberrexmon asked, bewildered.

"I am not seeking some kind of beatdown or all-out assault as those who have left us. I simply would like to cross blades with someone who has such experience. I so rarely come across someone with those skills, and it makes it quite a challenge to examine my personal development."

"...Well, that sounds reasonable enough. I could use the practice against a good swordfighter anyway." _Though I hope it won't have to come to that,_ he thought grimly as the dark blades formed in his hands. "Cyberrexmon, if you'd be so kind as to step away, unless you wish to be diced into a thousand pieces."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm movin'."

"This should be fun," Mikemon snickered as the others backed away as well. "I don't think I've ever seen Buraimon in a real good sword fight. Shady always kiped the good enemies."

Soon they had backed off enough to give the combatants reasonable space. The two warriors stood face-to-face, several yards apart, weapons drawn and at their sides. They were quiet for a time, sizing each other up with their eyes. Tension laced the air as everyone waited for the first move.

It came in a flurry. Both surged forth, and with a cry from each one blade met one, then the other met the other. Both pushed away, jumped back, and charged again, Buraimon trying three quick cuts and Onyxvargmon parrying all three with deft moves of one sword before slicing up, Buraimon leaning back just out of reach. He attempted a cross slice, which was just too far away but caused Onyxvargmon to slide back anyway.

Both fighters took a quick moment to recover their balance, then renewed the dance. Several slices and thrusts from each were met with quick parries from the other, sometimes simultaneously with each hand. A quick feint gave Onyxvargmon and opening, and he took it with a slice that Buraimon was forced to use both blades to block. Onyxvargmon tried to follow with his second underneath the first, but Buraimon knew full well of the follow-up and kicked his legs up, spinning over Onyxvargmon and pulling away from the block. He landed behind the canid and slashed down both swords at slight vertical offset, which Onyxvargmon deftly countered by scissoring in his swords to block each individually. He smirked, impressed with the quick turnabout. _Nice move. He's been at this a while._

They both pulled away again, panting slightly as they recovered from their second blitz. The spectators were dead quiet, almost reverent of the sight they were witnessing. Within a few seconds they had started again, with Onyxvargmon this time pulling away from Buraimon's initial slashes rather than meeting them with his sword. He sliced hard upward with his right, met equally hard by Buraimon's right just above his head, then twisted into a quick thrust with his left that Buraimon turned his body just enough to avoid. He pulled his right upward to catch Buraimon's right before he could use the position to his edge, then flipped the sword in his left and and pulled it back and up to meet Buraimon's left as he slid it away from the earlier block. With his back now to Buraimon's front, he was in an awkward position, so he pushed Buraimon's blades away as best he could in order to spin around. Halfway through he saw that Buraimon took the moment to spin himself, bringing a sword around hard for a vicious cross-cut. Onyxvargmon aborted the spin and caught it with his outside hand and held firm, so Buraimon tried to spin the other way with his other sword, forcing him to pull in towards Buraimon's body and block with his own free sword, leaving them back to back. They performed several quick matching turns, each holding one sword firmly locked and bringing the other around to strike or parry. At the end, both swords locked and once again back-to-back, they both jumped into the air and flipped backwards, pulling their legs in, still holding their blades away from each other as much as possible. Their feet met on their way over the top, and they pushed off from each other, landing several feet separated.

The moment he landed, Onyxvargmon spun around, ready to make things somewhat more interesting. "Umbra Swarm!" A wave of dark projectiles kicked up around him and launched themselves at Buraimon. Momentarily shocked, Buraimon recovered fast and spun his swords in his hands, deflecting the projectiles away from him. When the wave had passed, he countered with one of his own specials. "Phoenix Wing!" Enveloped in energy, he blitzed forth, one sword thrust out in front of him. Onyxvargmon quickly stabbed one sword into the ground and grabbed the other's blade with his free hand, holding it straight up to block the blow. It was a punishing hit, but he held firm, and when the brunt of the energy had dissipated he pushed upwards, knocking the sword away. Buraimon backflipped through the rest of his momentum, landing and bringing his swords in for an upwards slash, which Onyxvargmon, having retrieved the other blade, parried once again.

They didn't hesitate this time, continuing to spar, both still resolutely trying to get the upper hand. They swung hard, each blow ringing loudly around them now. Soon Onyxvargmon gave Buraimon a shot by blocking the avian's left-hand downwards swing with his own left hand. Thinking fast, he brought his right underneath his left and awkwardly parried the right-hand downswing that quickly followed. With his movement restricted, he surprised Buraimon by flipping left, using the force of their matched blows as a counterweight to turn upside down. He pushed up hard, freeing himself from the blades and rising up into the air, swords pointed down at Buraimon's head. Buraimon brought his own blades up together to keep them from plunging down, but at the last second, Onyxvargmon turned the tips inward to a point, so they hit right where Buraimon's swords met. With his downward momentum assisting, he split the swords, pushing them away and landing right behind Buraimon, and with one final swift motion cross his swords at Buraimon's neck.

"My match."

Buraimon nodded carefully. "I concede." The swords were drawn safely away from him, and he turned to face down Onyxvargmon as he resheathed his own blades. "Remarkable...I've seen few of any with that kind of speed."

"You kept up, I think that counts. You were a lot different from the last swordster I faced. He was all about speed, you matched it with technique."

Buraimon nodded. "That has been my primary focus. It is a necessity if I wish to match the challenge of stronger foes. I have not the raw power, but skill can make up for that deficit."

"Makes sense. You're damn capable, I'd hate to go against you in a fight to the death."

"You mean that wasn't?" Cyberrexmon interjected. "You coulda fooled me right up to the end!"

"Well, I wasn't about to go halfway. He wanted to spar with me, not a shadow of me."

"Indeed, I would have been insulted if he held back. As I am sure he would have been if I had."

"Now that was something!" Mikemon exclaimed. "Too awesome, the way you guys moved so quickly and almost like you knew where you were gonna be attacked, man, Shady woulda been kicking himself!"

"It is his loss. There is no shame in restraint, and quite a bit of sense in it. He fails to value that, as do his supporters...they will not end well because of it, I fear."

"Eh, forget them," Shawujinmon said dismissively. "I was getting tired of that stuff anyway. Best to just move on, we can get far with what we've learned."

"You guys want to take a load off for a bit, get something to eat and rest a while before moving on?" Cyberrexmon asked. "It's been kinda empty around here, it'd be nice to have a few guys to talk with."

"I'm game for that!" Mikemon said instantly. "Haven't eaten a thing all day!"

"After that bout, some time to recuperate sounds divine," agreed Buraimon.

"I will join you as well," Sealsdramon added.

"Make that unanimous," Shawujinmon finished. "Lead the way, uh...who might you be again? I caught the wolf's name, but not yours."

"Oh, whoops, right. I'm Cyberrexmon! Nice ta meetcha!"

"Same to you. All right, lead the way, Cyberrexmon!"

(==========)

"Wow, seriously? Over two hundred digimon in one invasion?"

"Yeah, it was no simple task making sure they didn't destroy everything. They did a fair amount of damage, but I don't think any humans died in the attack."

"Emperius must have stepped up its game since the last time we came across them. I didn't think they had even set foot in the human world, much less launched that kind of assault."

"It didn't help that Libertius got handicapped when we got sealed. Would have been nice to know ahead of time what kind of support we'd find over there, as it was we were pretty sure the only way we'd survive would be a lot of luck."

The four now-friendly digimon were held in the thrall of Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon, fascinated by the discovery of the merging and stories of their experiences in the human world. Cyberrexmon was left with most of the talking, with Onyxvargmon providing a colorful comment or two and only taking over when it came to talking about the leadership and the issues they had with the government agencies.

"I still can't believe you guys are humans and digimon combined," Shawujinmon said. "I mean, I believe it, but at the same time, I can't believe it. How does that even happen?"

"We don't really know ourselves," Cyberrexmon said. "It's not something we've ever experienced over there...truth be told, I was hoping maybe we'd learn something more about it over here, this whole changing forms things is a bit more commonplace on this end."

"And it's possible that we may never actually know the truth," Onyxvargmon added. "Though I guess that doesn't bother me too much. I can't say the same for the rest of our comrades, but I think they're probably of similar minds."

"I dunno, it'd drive me crazy," Mikemon said.

"There's a few things we could look to for information, but who knows if they'll pan out. Whatever the case, I'm glad it happened, we probably would have been toast if it hadn't."

"Yeah, as it was, even though they kind of came after us, just being able to fight back gave them a lot more time to help bring up their defenses. You should hear about this crazy bomb they built..."

Cyberrexmon's attempt to start another story was cut short, however, when Monodramon came barreling in, out of breath. "I...I'm sorry, but we need your help! There are more digimon out there! I think some of the same ones that came by earlier...I mean, other than you guys. And there's some big ones, too!"

"Jeez...don't tell me they actually came back?" Shawujinmon groaned.

"Sounds like it, and it sounds like they brought some more friends to play with as well," Mikemon said. "Just like Shady, if he can't get his way he'll bring bigger weapons."

"Well, we sure as hell can't let them do any damage here," Cyberrexmon said, standing up. "Better go take them on, Darkwolfmon."

"Well, it's their loss," Onyxvargmon agreed. "Let's get out there."

"Hang on, we're not just sitting in here waiting for something to happen," Shawujinmon said. "We'll come out with you."

"Right, we've got our own score to settle with them," Sealsdramon agreed.

"You sure about this?" asked Cyberrexmon.

"C'mon, we've been at this a while, too, I think we know what we're getting into," Mikemon responded eagerly.

"Right, sorry, I should've realized that. Well, I sure as hell ain't gonna turn down the help."

"Nor would I." Onyxvargmon looked over at Buriamon. "You ready to go, Buraimon, or do you need some more time?"

"I am fine, thank you," Buraimon said, standing up and stretching. "And more than eager to provide assistance as I can."

"Good to hear. All right, let's move out!"

(==========)

"Well, he wasn't kidding when he said there were big ones," Cyberrexmon cracked as he saw the retinue in front of the compound gates. There were a Tyranomon, a DarkTyranomon, a Tuskmon, a MasterTyranomon, a Growlmon, and a GeoGreymon, with one of the smaller digimon riding each one.

"No doubt about it, that's Shady and the gang," Mikemon groaned. "I remember when they beat up on these guys and cut a deal with them that he'd let them live if they helped out whenever he asked. Guess he really thinks you're that much of a threat."

"For someone who supposedly takes so much pride in proving himself, this seems a little removed from that goal," Onyxvargmon remarked.

"Which means this is probably mostly about revenge," Sealsdramon said darkly. "These are perhaps meant even more for us than you, though I don't doubt he'd be happy to be rid of you as well."

"I think we can take them," Cyberrexmon chuckled. "Let's show them a good fight, if that's what they want."

The six spread out, each one taking one of the dino and rider tandems. Cyberrexmon couldn't help but worry as he stood down MasterTyranomon and ShadowWeregarurumon. _I'll be just fine taking on this bad boy, and Onyxvargmon probably has something up his sleeve as well, but those other guys...I hope they know what they're doing. It can't be easy for them to beat such massive beasts._

"Now you'll see what kind of force you're up against!" the wolfling howled from the top of MasterTyranomon's head.

"C'mon, you think I'm worried about this?" Cyberrexmon roared back. "I faced down a robot the size of a hundred of your rides, and I was the one who came off best! This is small fry!"

"Small fry? You won't be so cocky once we break you down to bits and pieces! MasterTyranomon, crush this worm under your foot!"

"Hey, I agreed to help you, not be your little battle pet," the dinosaur shot back. "I'll fight the way I want, thanks."

"Fine, whatever, just do it!"

"Aw, is the wolfy too scared to face me down himself?" Cyberrexmon taunted. "Don't worry, I'll make quick work of the big guy. Reptile Rocket!" A swarm of small missiles burst forth from openings on his shoulders, easily locking onto the big target in front of them. MasterTyranomon was rocked by the blasts, knocked off-balance and went crashing to the ground on his back, ShadowWeregarururmon getting away just in time to avoid being tossed a few hundred feet.

"What the...how could you...how could you take him down so easily?"

Cyberrexmon folded his arms. "Seriously, dude, I'm built for heavy demolitions. Given that I wasn't even going for a kill shot, that was a cake walk."

"Grr...fine, if I have to destroy you myself, I will!"

"By all means, give it your best shot. But I think I've got a better chance than you expect."

Meanwhile, Onyxvargmon was facing down Musyamon and Tuskmon. "Well, aren't you going to come down and face me like you wanted?"

"I don't wish to waste my time with you. Tuskmon crushing you will be proof enough of your inferiority."

"I see. And if he doesn't?"

"You think you can beat me, you little gnat?" Tuskmon snarled. "That's insulting, really. How much damage is your little sword really gonna do, that'll be like a toothpick if anything!"

"Silly brute. Allow me to demonstrate."

"Hah. Fine, make it quick."

Musyamon looked down at the creature he was standing on. "Wait...you're going to let him attack you?"

"Please. What is he gonna do?"

"Only this." Onyxvargmon raised his hands and brought them forward; at the moment he did, a strange dark sphere appeared around Tuskmon and began to warp, distorting the view of the large reptile. He scarce had time to question what was happening before Onyxvargmon played his hand. "Twilight's Embrace!"

The sphere contracted, compressing Tuskmon within, then suddenly exploded, sending the dinosaur flying through the air. He did a full backwards somersault before crashing hard onto the ground, sliding many yards before stopping, knocked out cold.

Musyamon, having barely escaped before the contraction, got to his feet after a bad landing, and he didn't look happy. "Damn you! I refuse to lose to the likes of you!"

"Wow, you're kind of a dramatic one, aren't you?" Onyxvargmon called his swords to him and held them out in front of himself. "I was defeating digimon of your level back when I was just a shadow of my current self. Don't think I'm terribly worried about what you're going to bring."

"If I don't finish you, one of my comrades will. They will make quick work of the traitors and join me in overpowering you."

"Mm, yeah, don't think that's gonna be happening. Maybe take a look around you before we start our own battle." Indeed, the heavy artillery didn't seem to have helped the gang much at all. Tyranomon was on his back, dazed beyond all help after Shawujinmon had slammed him under the jaw with a water pillar that had the force of an uppercut; he was engaged with Sagittarimon, the two exchanging attacks from a distance. Buraimon had dislodged Minotaurmon from GeoGreymon with a Phoenix Wing attack to the dinosaur's helmet, and the fall had left Minotaurmon rather unsteady on his feet already. Selasdramon had brought DarkTyranomon to his hands and knees in excruciating pain through a series of blows targeted at his most sensitive points, and didn't seem to be relenting on Gorillamon. Growlmon was lying on his side, incapacitated by a fit of giggles after being tickled into submission by Mikemon, who was now deftly weaving through fire waves launched by Shadramon.

"How...how can they have been overcome just like that?" Musyamon asked, aghast.

"Did it not occur to you that they've fought them before?" Onyxvargmon shot back. "They've all already devised strategies for defeating enemies with such marked size advantages. Did you expect them to just jump in blindly without a thought for how best to approach the battle? Goodness, you and your group claim to be such expert fighters, and you don't even think ahead?"

"We face down challenges of the unknown! There's no point in planning when you have no clue what you're planning for!"

"Wow. You really are that big of an idiot."

"What? You'll pay for your insults!" Musyamon charged Onyxvargmon, who blocked the wid slash with one blade and cut across Musyamon's chest with the other. Musyamon staggered backwards but recovered quickly to try to strike again, only to be easily evaded. Onyxvargmon pummeled him with a Sable Ray, throwing him backwards, and then swiftly rushed forwards to buffet the samurai digimon with blinding-fast slashes. It was over quickly, Musyamon falling to the ground, unable to continue.

"I did warn you," Onyxvargmon said simply.

"Curse...you..."

"Oh, don't be a sore loser. You didn't even put up half the fight Buraimon did, and we weren't even trying to harm each other. Granted, he had two swords, but still, you were a disastrously easy fight."

Musyamon growled and tried to rise, but couldn't manage more than his hands and knees. "You think you're so much better..."

"I'd say our little spat all but proved it. It's clear you don't have the proper mindset for battle. You act as if it's your life, but you refuse even the most rudimentary forethought? Strategy is vitally important to battle, and knowing how to deal with anything is key to succeeding. Seems some of you learned your lesson about that, but you didn't appreciate that."

"I won't hear any criticism from you!" Musyamon finally struggled to his feet, appearing ready to try to take the battle up again. But before any move could be made, he was slammed from the side by ShadowWeregarurumon, who had gone flying into him. Cyberrexmon stomped over, cannon arm emitting heat waves.

"Yeah, that's smart. Jump right at the guy who has a cannon trained on you. Where the hell did you learn how to fight?"

"Can it, junk heap!" ShadowWeregarurumon picked himself up slowly, obviously worn down but not ready to concede. "I've been at this longer than you have! I'm the expert here!"

"You're annoying, you know that?" Cyberrexmon shifted his arm to its claw form as ShadowWeregarurumon came at him again. "Well, you want it, you got it! Titan Slicer!" He made a clear feint to the left, then sliced upward to the right where ShadowWeregarurumon predictably had tried to go. The slash neatly sliced through the leather belt across the wolfling's chest, leaving only the shallowest of gashes in his body. "Wow, you are _really_ bad. Anyone who was anyone should have seen that I was going for the fake-out."

"Gah...you...but...rgh..." ShadowWeregarurumon glared daggers at both Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon, but it seemed he'd finally seen the writing on the wall. "Damn you both! And damn all you traitors! Insulting us like that, making us look like fools, we'll make you pay for this someday! Fall back, everyone! Well, deal with this some other time! Just put them on the list!"

With that ShadowWeregarurumon turned tail and sprinted away, soon followed at varying speeds by the rest of the gang, all of whom were looking much worse for wear. They completely ignored their king-sized back-up, though none of them looked particularly eager to accompany them. "Ugh...never listening to them again..." MasterTyranomon grumbled as he and DarkTyranomon tried to wake up Tyranomon. "Bunch of idiots, dragging us into this thing again..."

"Whoo! That was something else!" Mikemon bounded up to Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon, panting but looking completely exhilarated. "Woulda liked a few shots at Shady, but man, it was good showing up those duds!"

"No kidding," agreed Shawujinmon, also looking tired but pleased. "Gotta say, I expected more out of them. I don't think the big guys learned a single thing from the last time we fought."

"Chyeah! I mean, Growlmon didn't even bother trying to keep me from tickling him down. What, did he think I didn't remember doing that to him before?"

"Impressive performance, for sure," Cyberrexmon said with a grin. "You guys, you know your stuff. I don't know where those other guys get off claiming they're so great, seems like they made mistake after mistake."

"It all comes back to them forgetting their reasons for undertaking these trials in the first place," Sealsdramon asserted. "They became obsessed with winning, not bettering themselves. It leads to their ignorance of their own capabilities."

"Indeed, I am glad to be done with them," Buraimon agreed. "Their path was not the one to success. My training could only have been hindered by remaining with them. We were done a favor by their exile."

"I'm with that," Shawujinmon said. "Though it does kind of leave us in a spot, since we don't have a place to go at the moment. Guess we'd better start looking."

"Look no further," Onyxvargmon said. "You'd be gladly welcomed into Libertius. It's safe and there's plenty of facilities for you to use to hone your skills. Not to mention it's for a good cause."

"Really? You think we'd fit the bill?" Mikemon asked.

"Libertius has never exactly been one to exclude anyone who wants to help," Cyberrexmon said. "And with your experience and ability, I'd say you'd be a big help, especially after everything we've been through lately. Maybe we can actually start helping people out again."

"Well, I don't need my arm twisted. I'm in!"

"I guess it's as good as anywhere else, probably better since you guys have a fighting history," Shawujinmon agreed. "Okay, I'm game."

"As long as I can continue my training at a high level, I will be satisfied," Buraimon said.

"I suppose I will round off the acceptance," Sealsdramon said. "Provided...there are decent facilities for mechanically-inclined digimon such as myself, correct?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Cyberrexmon assured him. "Some of the best outside of places made specifically for robots. I'll give you the grand tour."

"Thank you. That was one thing I have lacked for quite some time...it will be nice to be in an environment more of my style again."

"Wonderful. Glad to have you all on board," Onyxvargmon said with a bow. "We had better inform the Commander and get you all situated. I hope you find our accommodations to your liking."

"After Shady's idea of accommodations, I think I'd take just about anything else," Mikemon said. "C'mon, who's up for a celebratory drink?"

(==========)

(==========)

Yet another chapter appearing earlier than originally envisioned. Originally it was supposed to be more Isaac/Datacarnomon in Mechalopolis and Derek at Libertius, both doing god-knows-what. That last part is the reason I decided to just dispense with it entirely - basically, lack of ideas for what to do with them. The idea that became this chapter was originally Chapter 40; in a couple weeks, you'll see what I put in to replace that one. It also went through a few modifications before I settled on the direction I wanted to go. Ah, the best laid plans...

That swordfight scene was a bear to write. A lot of fun, but very challenging. As I think I've mentioned before, I tend to have a difficult time putting my mental images into words; that only gets worse when the scenes get more intricate. I have no real way of knowing if you're reading it the way I'm imagining it, because even when I read what I wrote I'm still putting to mind what I think. There are times where I wish I had the skills to animate, because that would be so much better than trying to write out the scene. I also would have liked to expand that last battle a bit more, but time pressures combined with just the utter mess it would have been compelled me to restrict it a bit. It may be something I revisit if I edit chapters later, but I might just write it off as being too chaotic to write well.

This is another instance where I'm not exactly thrilled with the final sequence. It's so hard to write something that seems final enough. However, I did like being able to include the conversation with Derek and Blackcanismon near the beginning. Sometimes these explanations literally come out of nowhere - I wasn't even thinking about the story at the time I got the inspiration for that part. And I think it makes sense within the context of the story, which is always a good thing.

Just wanted to quickly address a couple points mentioned in a recent review. The part about Stromdramon, I was trying to set it up so that it wasn't actually clear whether or not Stormdramon actually existed before. He's "legendary" in Oroetem, but that doesn't mean anyone knows of him outside of that. Also not clear: whether the current Stormdramon just took the name for the fun of it. One thing I haven't brought up yet in the story is that they don't have names until they take the forms, and it's not exactly clear whether the names get assigned to them or they come up with them themselves. As for Valkyrimon, don't read into it any; I just used it because it was an evolution of Hawkmon, which was really the only point of any importance.

Okay, enough of my extra yapping. I gotta get the next chapter finished.


	40. Chapter 39: Dirty Rotten Liars

Hey, look at that, I can actually update on time. Let's see how long this lasts. (Hint: not long) Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 39: Dirty Rotten Liars**

_Ugh...it's about time..._ Ionavimon landed on the ground just outside Allou. She felt like she'd been flying forever, even though it hadn't been all that long of a trip, comparatively speaking. Part of it was just lingering fatigue from all the action yesterday; it had her contemplating whether a night in this city wouldn't do her some good.

She walked through the gates, noting grimly that the state of the city was indeed as it had appeared from above. _What is it with the southeast lately?_ she wondered as she gazed around at the disrepair and dilapidation. _I mean, I guess Wamilee wasn't too bad, but so far they're the exception rather than the standard._

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and consider her course of action while she was here. But before she could dwell on that in any depth, she found herself surrounded by three rather large and imposing digimon.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" asked the first, a Cyclomon.

"...What are you talking about? I'm just walking. Is that a crime?"

"Maybe," the second, an Ogremon, growled as he smacked his club in his hand threateningly. "Have you paid up?"

"Paid up? What do you mean?"

"Hm, she hasn't paid up," the third, a Raptordramon, cackled evilly. "You could be in big trouble for that, missy."

"You don't get to be in Allou without paying the protection fees," Cyclomon said. "And if you don't pay the protection fees, you might find that some very unpleasant things could happen to you. Attacks on the street by muggers, with no one around to protect you. Could be very dangerous..."

Bolteaglemon was not swayed. "Are you threatening me?"

"Take it how you will," Raptordramon said, "but everyone needs to pay. I think 50,000 credits should be a good sum for someone just passing through."

"WHAT?" Bolteaglemon was more shocked than most of her victims. "You can't be serious! That's practically a mugging itself!"

"Don't blame us for it, birdy. That's what we gotta get to the Kaiser for his protection. So you might want to start setting up that transaction now."

Bolteaglemon's eyes narrowed. "Kaiser? What's he got to do with this?"

"Do you have trouble listening?" Ogremon grunted. "This is his protection fee. We give it to him and he protects us. It's that simple."

"Is that so? Well, I happen to personally know a good friend of the Kaiser. He's been catching up with him lately since we've been in the area. Perhaps I should ask him about this new protection racket thing. In the meantime, I'll come back later, I'd rather visit somewhere that doesn't charge you for existing."

She turned around and started to walk away. In an instant, all three surrounded her, getting very close. "I don't think you want to do that," Cyclomon snarled.

"Oh, and why is that? Because you're lying through your gnarled teeth?"

"You'd better pay up now or we'll make you regret it!" Ogremon yelled.

"Give us the money so we can give it to the boss!" Raptordramon snapped. "Or else we'll have to get rough!"

Bolteaglemon smirked. "Well, those are my only options, are they? Very well, boys...let's see how rough you like to get."

(==========)

Skydramon flew around lazily, bored to death. _Man, I love flying, but this place sucks, it's all so dreary and dead even from above._ He glanced off to the north, where a rather large and expensive-looking building stood out from the rest of the city. _Well, except for that place. I dunno why they're able to have such nice stuff when everyone else is rotting down there. I'd think they'd be the biggest target._

He took his eyes away from the building and kept scanning the ground. And then, by the west gates, he saw a familiar bright yellow at the entrance. And three other figures that didn't look so familiar, and didn't look very friendly, either. _Oh, no! Bolteaglemon's in trouble! I...I'd better get Burnreptimon, she might need help!_

As fast as he could, he dove towards where he knew Burnreptimon would be waiting for him. The lizard was instantly attentive as he saw the dragon's breathless state. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Burnreptimon! I saw Bolteaglemon, and then some guys started approaching her! They looked big and nasty!"

Burnreptimon leapt to his feet. "Well, don't just stand there flapping your wings like an idiot! Go and help her!"

"Ah! Okay!" Skydramon rocketed off back towards the fight Burnreptimon following along on the ground. _Dammit, this wasn't how this was supposed to happen! I hope you can hang in there, Bolteaglemon..._

(==========)

"Dervish Bolt!" Cyclomon went flying from the force of the attack, sliding across the ground several feet before finally coming to a stop. Ionavimon whipped her spear behind her, jabbing it into the neck of Raptordramon and sending a charge through it that brought a howl out of the cyborg. "Trying to sneak up on me, huh?"

"Raaagh!" Orgemon leapt with his club, and Ionavimon pulled her spear out of Raptordramon and brought it up to block his swing. She then swung her legs forward and delivered a double Lightning Talon to his gut, knocking the breath out of him sharply. She grimaced as he doubled over and fell backwards. "Yikes, get a TicTac or something."

Cyclomon stomped over, launching his oversized arm at her. She easily sidestepped it and lunged forward, slashing with her spear across his chest and loosing a charge that dropped him to his knees.

Raptordramon tried again. "Crash Charge!" He surged forth, rushing as fast as he could at Ionavimon, preparing to swipe at her with the blades on his back. She simply turned and let loose another Dervish Bolt that stopped him cold, jarring his mechanical components. He fell forward, heaving and gasping. "Gragh...ah, it hurrrrrts..."

"She's too strong! Get away before she kills us all!" Despite the urgency in their voices, the three could do little but stagger away, none of them in much shape to move quickly. They barely even took notice of Skydramon as he flew in from above, landing and looking between Ionavimon and the retreating trio. "Um...whoa, okay, maybe you didn't need the help."

Ionavimon grinned. "Nice to see you were thinking of me. Is it just you here?"

"No, Burnreptimon's here, too, he's just groundbound so he's kinda slow."

"Don't let him hear you say that." She saw Burnreptimon appear around a corner, running at a brisk clip at first but slowing down as he saw that the threat had passed. "Well...either I missed all the action, or Skydramon is a dirty liar."

"She walloped 'em before even I got here!"

"Ah, lame. They could've had the decency to let me get a few blows in."

"Good to see you, too," Ionavimon said.

"Oh, hey, didn't mean to pass you up. Boy, it's been too long, we've gotta catch up with everything. Nice job at that Gam Rona Tournament or whatever it's called."

"Heard about that, huh? I guess that's to be expected. Well, I think I'll just have to catch up with the events that didn't make international news."

"Good idea! Let's go find someplace quiet to talk!" Skydramon said.

"Guess the hotel's better than most, and it's got a diner so we'll be able to chow as well," suggested Burnreptimon.

Ionavimon nodded. "Sounds like a plan, I could do with some food. Haven't eaten since I got up." She took off into the air, followed by Skydramon. "Don't wait up, hothead."

"Hey!" Burnreptimon growled as he was forced to sprint after the faster fliers. _Dammit, I wish I could just jump on the rooftops, stupid city policies..._

(==========)

Bolteaglemon sipped at her drink. "Well, sounds like you two have been busy as well."

"Tell me about it!" Skydramon said through bites of his sandwich. "Seems like we can't go anywhere without some kind of trouble popping up! Were lucky we've been able to handle it!"

"Ah, it hasn't been THAT bad," Burnreptimon mumbled, holding a mug of a thick, bubbling liquid. "Sure, we've had our scrapes, but we got out all right."

"Either way, I missed you guys. Kinda boring being alone all the time; when you can't safely split up, it's harder to hold a conversation."

"Some of us don't find it any easier with certain other individuals," Burnreptimon said, rolling his eyes.

"Why do I get the feeling that's a shot at me?" Skydramon muttered.

"Because you're the smart one."

Bolteaglemon shook her head. "It's like I never left. How'd you two know I was coming this direction, anyway?"

"Well, we didn't at first, we just kind of took a shot in the dark. So we heard you won this tournament, and decided to stop down here and see if anyone'd heard about you. Seemed like a bust at first, but then I met someone in this bar-"

"Bar? Really?" Bolteaglemon sounded quite amused. "Doing anything in there that your parents wouldn't approve of? I've been looking for some good blackmail material."

"I'm not saying a word."

"Hah, I knew it! I'm so using that against you sometime."

Burnreptimon narrowed his eyes at the bird. "Right. Because I'm sure your dad would love to know that you spent three days fighting people for entertainment."

"I think he'll be able to deal with it once he hears that I won."

"Grr...anyway, this guy said that you might be coming this direction, so we might want to stick around. He knew about what we were, too, so I had more reason to believe him."

"Knew about what we were...oh, no..."

Skydramon looked at Bolteaglemon. "Oh no? Is this a bad thing?"

"Well, not in the sense of...tell me, was he a green Coredramon?"

Burnreptimon nodded. "Yeah. Really annoying type, too."

"Ugh...he's here, too? It's like he's tracking me or something, I can't get away from him."

"So you do know him?" Skydramon asked.

"He's one of the guys I fought in the tournament. And yeah, he's annoying as an Internet meme. Goofs off, always has an answer for everything no matter how stupid, and he seems to like flirting with me, if you can call his awful lines flirting."

"You too, huh?"

Boleaglemon started and stared at Burnreptimon. "Don't tell me..."

"Uh-huh."

"Ngh...I'd pound him into the ground, but I think he'd just enjoy it. I hope he at least didn't go overboard with it."

"I guess not? Kind of a new experience for me on any level, I wouldn't really know overboard. And I guess he helped, since we did end up meeting up here and all. Though if I can avoid him finding that out I will, because there's no way I want him to spend his time gloating and trying to cash it in for favors."

"Couldn't blame you, knowing what his favors would entail."

"What do you mean?" asked Skydramon.

Bolteaglemon and Burnreptimon both leveled gazes at him. "Were you not paying attention at all?"

"Wh...oh, yeah, sorry."

"Anyway, forgetting about that doofus for a while. Did you have any other plans? Isaac and Datacarnomon and Derek and Blackcanismon are out there somewhere...hopefully together, or at least paired."

"Well, I figured we'd go about it as systematically as possible," Burnreptimon said. "Try to find the most recent information and work off of that. Trouble is, they haven't done anything as noteworthy as you have, judging by what the communiques pay attention to."

"I think it would go quicker to split up and search where they might be more likely to have been," Skydramon said.

Bolteaglemon frowned. "Let's not, okay? We've spent enough time apart, I think we should try to stick together as much as we can from now on. Besides, it's not like we'll be cutting the possibilities that much, they could be pretty much anywhere by now."

"I guess you're right...well, then we'll have to coordinate a plan."

"Before we do anything, I think it would serve us to look for the latest news," Burnreptimon suggested. "If there's nothing to go off of, we haven't lost anything, but who knows, maybe there's something important that can help guide us."

Bolteaglemon nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. So...this might be a long shot, but do either of you two know why those goons decided to make me beat them down?"

Skydramon shook his head. "Not really, but from what I've been through, they don't really like digimon strangers any more than they like humans. We've had to work at it just to get people to have a civil conversation."

"Sounds like a pile of joy. So have they all been demanding money?"

"Huh?"

"The goons and everyone else. Those guys were going on about some kind of massive payment to be protected here."

"Massive payment to be protected...hey, Burnreptimon, you remember that conversation we overheard? About some supposed tribute to the Kaiser?"

"Yeah, that's right...and that Weregarurumon bartender was warning me about the tax men...I think that might be what they were after."

"So someone's hustling the people in the city?" Bolteaglemon surmised. "What fun. And here I thought I'd be able to rest for a change. Any idea who's behind it?"

"No, but I think I know how to find out. We search for the most overblown, ostentatious display of wealth this side of Cowboys Stadium."

"No need to even do much searching," Skydramon said. "I remember seeing some garish building in the north side of the city when I was flying around. I remember it because it stuck out so much from the rest of this place."

"What a shock," Bolteaglemon sighed. "I thought Hagrande was bad, but Allou looks even worse."

"At least we might be able to do them a favor here," said Burnreptimon. "If we can find out who's gouging them, we should be able to put a stop to it."

"Well, no time like the present then, hm?"

"Sounds good to me!" Skydramon agreed. "I'm pretty sure I know the way, I can lead you guys there!"

Burnreptimon stood up. "Then I guess we're in agreement. Let's go!"

(==========)

"Yeesh...what kind of insecure little ball of avarice needs to show off this kind of sickening glut of wealth?"

Burnreptimon's question was largely rhetorical; the massive structure in front of them had numerous statues and other testaments to its owner. It was a Princemamemon, a spherical digimon which carried itself like royalty. The building was quite like a palace, built with a grandeur and décor not unlike a modern castle. It wasn't exceptionally tall, and didn't stick out in the skyline, but it made up for it with latitude, covering a large tract of land that shoved out most of the rest of the city structures in the north end of Allou.

"I feel marginalized just looking at it," Skydramon said. "And I'll bet most of it goes completely to waste because there's no one to use any of it."

"I dunno, a guy like him is bound to have servants and such."

"Who are probably shunted away into a little dingy corner that no one likes to acknowledge."

"Aren't you two jumping to judgment just a touch quickly?" Bolteaglemon asked with a hint of reproach.

"What, you think this guy has any chance of being decent?" Burnreptimon replied. "C'mon, someone's gouging these people and I think the one guy with a lot of money in the entire city is the most likely culprit, don't you?"

"Just jumping in with an accusation is liable to get you in trouble. We shouldn't go in assuming he's guilty, maybe there's more to the story."

"You mean like he's got to pay off some criminal mastermind who's running everything behind the scenes?" Skydramon suggested.

"Well...I was going to say that's kind of out there, but let's face it, at this stage in my life nothing is too out there anymore. Anyway, we won't find anything out unless we actually get in there and ask."

The three walked a rather long path up to the central doorway of the palace. Despite the immensity of the building, the doors weren't overly large, but they more than made up for that in style; silver-coated with gilded edges, ornate busts of dragon digimon mounted on each one. "Forget whether he's guilty or not, I haven't even met him and I'm sick of him flaunting his money already," Skydramon said with a mock gag.

"I can't argue that one," Bolteaglemon said with a sigh.

Burnreptimon rapped on the doors. After about fifteen seconds, the door slowly pushed open and a lavender-furred weasel digimon with two crescent-shaped crests protruding off the backs of his shoulders stepped out. "Welcome to the great abode of great master PrinceMamemon, Mustelimon is here to greet you, how may Mustelimon be of service?"

The three symbiotes exchanged glances. "For starters, Mustelimon could talk in first person," Burnreptimon said.

"Mustelimon never talks in such a way, not since Mustelimon became important, Mustelimon wants the name of Mustelimon to be mentioned as much as possible so others may know of Mustelimon."

"Not even a pronoun? Sheesh..."

"We want to see PrinceMamemon," Bolteaglemon jumped in. "Do you think you could see us to him?"

"Ah, you wish to see the great master PrinceMamemon himself? Mustelimon would grant you your desires for the fee laid down by the great master PrinceMamemon, 250,000 credits per visitor."

"WHAT?" Skydramon yelled. Mustelimon jumped and fell backwards in the doorway, reappearing a moment later, wincing in pain.

"Mustelimon asks that blue dragon person be quieter when voicing his disbelief."

"You gotta be kidding me! A quarter meg just to lay eyes on the guy?"

"Rules were not laid down by Mustelimon, but by great master PrinceMamemon. Mustelimon may not modify or defy them in any way. Each one must submit payment or be turned away, no exceptions."

Burnreptimon shook his head. "No way we can afford that. Okay, sorry to bother you."

"Such a shame. Oh, well, farewell strangers." Mustelimon pulled the doors closed. Just seconds later, another knock came at the door, and once again he hastened to open it. "Welcome to the great abode of great master PrinceMa-"

A large metal-clad fist thumped the weasel on the top of the head, knocking him out cold. He lay in a heap in the doorway, the three now-evolved symbiotes stepping by him on their way inside.

"Couldn't we have done that slightly differently?" asked Thundergarudamon, looking back at the unconscious digimon.

"You wanted in, I got you in - in five seconds, no less," Pyrekomodomon replied dismissively. "Come on, let's go find that self-absorbed smiley face."

"Yeah, come on, time's a-wastin'!" Stormdramon said eagerly.

Just inside the doors was a gigantic entry hall, with half a dozen doors on each side, divided over three levels. "So many places to go, who knows where we should start?" Thundergarudamon mused. "Guess we just pick a door and go with it?"

"Yeah, but we can't be caught wandering the halls aimlessly!" Stormdramon exclaimed. "Someone's gonna get suspicious!"

"It'll be fine. Just leave the talking to me." Pyrekomodomon started for one of the first-level doors. The other two followed behind and they entered a large bi-level hallway where there were a number of digimon milling around. Without even a lick of hesitation, Pyrekomodomon strode forward, acting for all intents and purposes like he was supposed to be there. Thundergarudamon and Stormdramon exchanged a quick nervous look then continued behind.

It didn't seem that anyone was paying any particular attention to them. The digimon around them seemed to be absorbed in their own business. One conversation had a few lines that stuck out as they passed by.

"How do you do it? I haven't met quota yet, and I've tried to shake down as many as possible!"

"Ya gotta be discerning. The guys who sell things out in the open, they don't get nearly enough to be worthwhile. It's the underground where the real money's at, those are guys who get it mostly from outside the city."

"Wow! I never even knew about that!"

"Well, of course. They like to hide from us. But a few of us are always trying to suss out where they're moving. Sometimes it takes a while, but the payoff's great."

As they passed away from that pair, another one caught their attention.

"Don't report me, man, I'm not trying to get out of anything!"

"You're making it difficult for me not to. If you don't think you can do this job-"

"It's not that! Look, I just think that people are just gonna start leaving by any means possible if they get bled too dry. If we just laid off the guys who don't have much for a bit we could get more in the end."

"Yeah, well, that's not your decision to make, it's the boss's, and he wants us to collect regardless. You got a problem with that?"

"All right, all right, I was only sayin'..."

"PrinceMamemon doesn't pay you to say, he pays you to bring in the credits. He's the rich dude, clearly he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah, you're right..." The rest was out of their hearing range, but it was enough for them. Pyrekomodomon gave Thundergarudamon a pointed look "Any further objections?"

Thundergarudamon rolled her eyes. "Okay, you win. The guy is scum."

"Excuse me!" The three turned to see a Volcamon approaching them. "I haven't seen you around before. Identify yourselves!"

"We're new guys supposed to be assigned to collections," Pyrekomodomon replied nonchalantly, the other two doing their best to not look flabbergasted. "We've been wandering around here for a while. You think you could point us in the right direction?"

"Oh, collections, huh? You're on the wrong side of the palace. You looking to go to the west wing. Go through the second floor of the main thoroughfare, left side, ninth door down you'll find the entrance to collections."

"Ah, thank you. The guy who talked to us was a little light on the details. Pretty jumpy, I think he was scared of us. Said that was a plus, though, that there were too many softies."

"Oh, yeah, we've had a few guys lately who just really aren't pulling their weight. I mean, I just heard that one big bird beat up three guys, no way we can have that. They could very well be on their way out."

"Well, we'll fill the gap quite nicely, I think. Thank you, excuse us."

"No problem. Have fun, collections is the best offer you can get here." Volcamon walked away down the hall, and the three hybrids turned the opposite direction and headed back towards the main area. It was only when they were out of earshot of Volcamon that Stormdramon grabbed the back of Pyrekomodomon's vest and yanked him into a corner.

"Are you out of your goddamned mind?" he hissed, trying to voice his outrage as loudly as possible without arousing suspicion from anyone nearby.

"No, I'm getting us to our destination," Pyrekomodomon replied defensively. "What, did you think I was just going to waltz up and ask someone where to find PrinceMamemon? I'm sure that wouldn't sound suspicious at all."

"He's got a point," Thundergarudamon said. "Though, really, I wish you would have warned us before pulling that excuse out. I thought for sure he'd notice that we weren't totally on board with that."

"Would've, but I'd just thought of it the moment he asked. C'mon, let's go."

"You're not actually going to go there?"

"Why not? Could be useful."

"And when they find out we aren't actually new recruits? You gonna just hammer them on the head like Mustelimon?"

"You had a problem with that, too? I'd like to see you get us in so easily."

"Okay, settle," Thundergarudamon broke in. "Stormdramon, let's go with Pyrekomodomon on this one, okay? We're not going to get anywhere wandering aimlessly, going somewhere where we know what we're getting into is best."

"Ngh...okay, okay, okay! But you'd better know what you're doing!"

"I always do," Pyrekomodomon replied simply. "Shall we?"

They were quickly on their way again, passing through the main hall, where they snuck by before Mustelimon could pinpoint them, and up through the left second floor door on the left side. At the ninth door down, Pyrekomodomon turned them in and through the door. Sitting at a desk was a Babamon, who seemed surprised to have visitors.

"Oh, hello, what can I do for you three? I haven't seen you around."

"We aren't from around," Pyrekomodomon said, once again as smoothly as if he'd practiced it a hundred times. "We came from Dyanstis. Word around there was that some guy named PrinceMamemon was looking for personal bodyguards. It's hell down there, so we could really use the job."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry, he's already taken on bodyguards to his liking. But I am sorry to hear about your situation. The Southern Lands are such a mess."

"Too much. Is there anyone we could talk to about getting involved in anything? We spent the last of our money just getting inside here, leaving with nothing would put us in a really bad spot."

"Well, I could see about fitting you in here. We operate collections, gathering money from these people here to fund our lovely enterprise here. But I would need you to take a combat test before I could authorize you to take part here."

"That's fine. Where do we go?"

"Just to the end of the main hall on this side. Oh, and it's on the right side, so you'll have to cross over on one of the walkways. Good luck to you, dearie!"

"Thank you." Back through the door into the main hall; their next destination wasn't far away.

"If this leads to a fight, it's all yours," Thundergarudamon said.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing." Pyrekomodomon wasted no more time heading off towards the spot Babamon had indicated. Once again Stormdramon and Thundergarudamon followed, trying to imitate their reptilian companion's brashness.

Upon entry into the testing room, they saw a rather large combat arena behind a barricade, where several pairs of digimon were squaring off. Only one digimon was nearby, Goldeaglemon, a tall bipedal avian digimon encased completely in golden armor. His eyes were trained on the battlefield, not wavering once upon their entry. "State your business or scram."

"We need your help."

Goldeaglemon did a double take and looked at them finally, Thundergarudamon and Stormdramon doing much the same. "My help? What's this about?"

"It's about our lives. You're not supposed to know this, so keep it quiet. We're PrinceMamemon's shadow agents."

"His...shadow agents? Really? I'd heard rumors, but I thought..."

"We prefer to keep it that way. Rumors are good for us...they rarely touch on the real truth. And it's important that as few people know as possible. We make sure things keep running smoothly - that payments keep up and that no one on the inside is acting subversive. But a few of the collectors found out about us and now they're trying to take us down, because they've got something to hide and we're closing in on it."

"Hah! I knew some of those guys were shady. It's Palisademon, isn't it? Knew he was up to no good."

"Good eye. Don't trust anything he says, he's angling to achieve his own ends. We haven't discovered what those are yet, but we know he's a threat. We need to warn PrinceMamemon personally. Problem is, he's only met us on the outside, and we haven't been able to get in touch with him lately. This is critical enough that it merit a personal visit."

"No kidding! Okay, he's got a tricky set-up. On the third floor, there's a kind of elevator, it normally just goes up and down, but press a certain keycode and it moves forward, towards the area of the building reserved exclusively for him. The code is supposed to be a secret, but it's a poorly-kept one. 3274118354. Rumor has it that's how many credits he spent to build this place. I sure believe it."

"You've done us, and him, a great service. We'll make sure to let him know how much help you were."

"Really? Awesome! Getting his favor is tough, I'm glad to have any advantage!"

"We'll be on our way then. Remember to keep this quiet."

"Yeah, definitely! Good luck!"

The three exited once again into the large hallway, where finally Stormdramon could put words to his shock. "There is no way that worked!"

"Really? I'd say it worked well."

"You know what I mean!"

"I'm surprised you managed to get that out of him," Thundergarudamon agreed. "Where did you come up with these stories?"

"A little overhearing here, a little BSing there. One guy yesterday mentioned something about shadow agents, so I figured maybe it was ripe for the rumor mill. And you know there's people around here who are suspicious, all I did was drop the hint and he filled in the rest for me."

"Wow...you really did a great job there!" gushed Stormdramon. "So we got what we needed, let's make tracks!"

"Agreed," said Thundergarudamon.

(==========)

"You think he's going to have us attacked right off the bat?" Thundergarudamon asked as the elevator brought them towards where Princemamemon was supposedly residing.

"Maybe...maybe not. Hard to say. If he doesn't, he'll probably be on a hair trigger, so watch your words. That means you, Stormdramon."

"Why're'ya picking on me?"

"Because you're the one prone to outbursts. Let's try to keep him blind to our reason for being here as long as we can...maybe we can corner him before he can call for his guards. Of course, I'm not against beating a few guys up, either."

The elevator doors opened to a sickeningly gaudy chamber the size of a basketball court. The walls were a bright golden color, with a number of decorative patterns breaking the monotony every now and then. It was rather sparsely furnished, with most of it being at the far end of the room and including a massive desk and a chair that seemed more akin to a throne. Sitting in said throne was Princemamemon, wearing the smuggest grin any of the three had ever laid eyes on.

"Well! Didn't expect any visitors today. Someone must be slacking off downstairs." He hopped out of the chair and disappeared behind the desk, appearing again from around the side and prancing over towards the doors. "Have you had the grand tour? It is an impressive place, is it not?"

"That's one way of describing it," Pyrekomodomon said toxically.

"Yes, amazing, and of course I should have no less as a testament to my greatness," Princemamemon continued, seemingly oblivious to the reptile's tone. "I'd considered building it in an empty spot, but I figured, why should people be denied the honor of being associated with me? I'm sure Allou could not be more grateful to have my stellar presence, it's elevated the stature of the city from just another hellhole to a place with some class."

"Class? Whatta-" Stormdramon was cut off when Thundergarudamon grabbed his muzzle and held it shut, shooting him a warning look. "Yeah, class, I'd say it's a lower class, though," she said evenly.

Princemamemon began walking back towards his desk, the three symbiotes following behind. "Oh, it's not surprising you might think that, after all, compared to me, nearly anyone would look the same. Of course, it hasn't helped that the Kaiser is taxing them blind. Not that that would ever affect me too seriously...I've made so much money that anything he demands is just a drop in the bucket. Why, I could buy most of Northern Tetraquaz if I was so inclined!"

"Yeah, we're not really interested in hearing you prattle on about your riches. Especially when you're getting them at the expense of everyone else."

"That's the business, sweetheart. The money has to come from somewhere. It's not my fault I've made so many good business decisions."

"She's not talking about that, you idiot!" Stormdramon finally burst out. "She's talking about your BS tax racket you're using to steal from everyone in Allou! You're getting rich off of stealing from them!"

Princemamemon turned back around, appearing stricken. "Goodness! I'm shocked and hurt you would ever suggest I would do such a thing! I will admit to the collectors getting somewhat pushy at times, but the Kaiser demands his due, and I've taken it upon myself to make sure it gets delivered, for the sake of the safety of this fine city."

"You must think you're really slick," Pyrekomodomon snarled, losing his patience with the calm approach. "Where I come from, bad things happen to people who lie, especially for personal profit and especially when it's at the expense of good, honest people who are taken in by those liars. You're not far from joining them."

"Wh-why are you blaming me for the poor conditions of the city? It's not my fault the Kaiser is trying to rob them blind. He wants to charge for protecting the city from the evils of this world, go complain to him!"

"Shut your filthy trap. The Kaiser's never asked for anything like that in his life."

"Oh, please. What would you know?"

"Plenty. As it happens, I know the Kaiser personally. We talked just a few months ago, during which time he just so happened to mention that he'd heard about people charging for 'protection' and thought it was deplorable that someone would take advantage of others like that. The Kaiser tends to be one very true to his word...so when I hear someone who's claims contradict his, my first tendency is to believe that it's not the Kaiser who's running the scam."

Princemamemon's eyes had gone wide, and he was shaking somewhat. "You...you're bluffing. There's no way you know the Kaiser...no way..."

"Would you like to come with me and test that theory?" Pyrekomodomon leered threateningly towards Princemamemon, eyes aflame with anger. He stepped back nervously, looking around him.

"I...ah..."

"You don't look too confident...in fact, I'd say you realize the game's up and you're trying to worm your way out of it," said Thundergarudamon. "You really shouldn't make this harder on yourself."

"We're not gonna just back down, we're not intimidated by your riches!" Stormdramon shouted. "So give it up now, or else you'll find yourself in a lot worse trouble!"

"N...no! Never! You can't make me!"

"We'll see about that!" Pyrekomodomon took one step forward and that was all it took.

"Guards! Guards! Help! I'm being attacked!" As if waiting in the wings for just such an order, from three different directions a digimon immediately burst into the room: Regulumon, Rosemon, and Dominimon. Princemamemon pointed a shaky finger at the hybrids. "They're the attackers! Get them! Don't let them leave!"

"Figured it was a matter of time before he set the goons on us," Pyrekomodomon said with an evil grin, glaring down Regulumon. "What say we make quick work of these fools, hm?"

"Yeah, let's show 'em why we're bold enough to march in here and confront this nitwit!" Stormdramon cackled, drawing his partisan and facing Dominimon.

"I'm game for a round, if that's what it takes," Thundergarudamon rounded off, pointing her spear at Rosemon. "Maybe the little snot will learn he can't push everyone around."

"Hey, don't call me that!"

"Princemamemon, ignore them and let us handle these scabs," Regulumon growled fiercely. "I'm sure we can make quick work of them."

"You really think? Let's test that then!" Pyrekomodomon charged and drove into Regulumon with a full body tackle before the latter could react, sending them both crashing through the door on the left side of the room. The two traded a couple blows before Regulumon managed to fling him off, tossing him down a long hall. He landed safely and twisted instantly to face down the snarling beast. The hallway was lined with sturdy metal on one side and large windows on the other, with few features aside from an occasional door along the wall, and none of them seemed to be producing more guards. _Good, just one to focus on, that'll make this faster._ He smarked to himself as Regulumon started running up to him, bracing himself for their next clash.

Meanwhile, Stormdramon had drawn Dominimon through to a similar hallway on the opposite side of Princemamemon's chambers and was now bedeviling the angel digimon with Cyclone Pillar attacks. "Nyaha, let's see ya try to get through this!" he cackled as the winds buffeted Dominimon. With a shout, the angel finally managed to burst through and raise his sword for an attack, only to have it met by Stormdramon's halberd. Stormdramon pushed him back and started swinging wildly, too fast for Dominimon to get through and forcing him to step back as he parried. Stormdramon then leapt backwards and charged his weapon. "Next course! Storm Halberd!" He slashed half a dozen times, sending sweeping waves of wind energy through the hall and nailing Dominimon repeatedly. The angel was knocked to the ground and had to get up slowly. "Howdayalike them apples, bozo brain?"

"Gah! Shut up!"

In the main room, only Thundergarudamon and Rosemon were left. Rosemon had tried to lash out at Thundergarudamon repeatedly, only to be ducked and dodged over and over again. The moment she let up, Thundergarudamon let loose a Fury Bolt that flung her backwards and sent her crashing to the ground. Struggling to gain the upper hand, she pushed back with a Danger Thorn attack, sending the sharp spikes shooting out and cutting Thundergarudamon in a few places. Then she leapt forward and tried to stab with her rapier, which Thundergarudamon ducked under and countered with a swipe of her spear which left a shallow wound across Rosemon's stomach. This was followed by a leg sweep that knocked Rosemon off her feet, giving Thundergarudamon a moment to prepare. As Rosemon got up and tried to attack, she raised her wings. "Electron Web!"

Rosemon had no chance to dodge, as the width of the attack covered any move she could have made. Soon she was jolted and wrapped up in the web, unable to escape despite her struggles. "Let...go of me!"

"No way," Thundergarudamon replied bluntly. "I think I'll just let you sit there until you're unconscious. You'll be a lot easier to deal with."

"I'm not going to lose! Ngh...I've got one last trick up my sleeve! Forbidden Temptation!" Rosemon began to glow, and a shower of rose petals burst forth from her body.

Thundergarudamon was unfazed. She raised a hand and replied with "Static Shield!" Nothing appeared to have happened, but as the petals got close to her the ones in front of her were zapped a couple of feet in front of her, turning to ash before they could get close to behing harmful.

Rosemon was aghast. "No...that's not possible..."

"Huh, I could've sworn it was not only possible but actually happened. Right, let's speed this up, then. Fury Bolt!" She launched another powerful bolt of lightning which hit Rosemon square and left her unconscious. Satisfied, she turned and glared down Princemamemon, who was cowering in the corner of the room.

"D-d-don't come near me! I'm warning you-"

"Oh, shut up. You haven't given me one reason to be afraid of you." Thundergarudamon started for him, them jumped back at the sound of a large crash and the sight of Stormdramon tumbling back into the room after being hit with a light ray, wrecking the doors on the right to match the left. He tumbled to about the center and then quickly swept himself back up to his feet. "Hah! You think that's gonna stop me? That was nothing!"

"I'll shut you up yet!" Dominimon shouted as he rushed through the broken doors, sword raised and ready to strike. Stormdramon brought his halberd up to block it and then shoved Dominimon back before unleashing a Storm Ray that the angel barely managed to dodge. There was another crack as their weapons met, both fighters straining against each other's strength.

Back in the left hall, Pyrekomodomon and Regulumon were still locked in heated combat. Both had delivered their share of blows, and neither one looked particularly ready to call it quits. Regulumon had just been tossed down the hall by Pyrekomodomon and then scorched by a follow-up Searing Wave, but rushed back in just as quickly to punch the reptile and then batter him with a Beast King Wave. He roared as he saw Pyrekomodomon get up still raring to go. "You're an irritating little worm!"

"So what? Better than than a smelly hairy brute like yourself!"

"WHAT? SMELLY?"

Pyrekomodomon snorted. "Really? That's sad, that that's what sets you off. That's only the tenth thing wrong with you."

"I'm gonna drive you into the ground!" Regulumon raced for Pyrekomodomon, who launched a Searing wave down the hallway right at him. The beast jumped the attack and flipped to land on the ceiling, then propelled himself down at an angle at Pyrekomodomon. The fire lizard waited until the last moment, then leapt straight up, causing Regulumon's aim to be low; as Regulumon began to pass underneath, he flipped in mid-air, unleashed a burst of heat to propel himself downward, and launched his fist down, slamming Regulumon right in the back. Regulumon kept going forward, taking Pyrekomodomon with him a short ways before the lizard flipped off and landed safely. The beast tried to rise, but Pyrekomodomon was on him in an instant and grabbed one of his legs.

"That was a bad effort. Now, THIS is how you drive someone into the ground!" With a strong effort, he swung Regulumon up in the air by his leg, leapt up in a flipping motion, Regulumon swinging around helplessly, and as he came down, swung with all his strength down. Regulumon was slammed into the floor with brutal force, his head taking a very hard hit and knocking him completely senseless. Pyrekomodomon's momentum carried him down onto the prone body, which he jumped off of quickly just to be sure his foe was out of it.

"Hm, you might not remember long enough to take the lesson. Ah, well." He picked Regulumon up, tossed him into the air, and jumped and let loose a spinning kick that drove Regulumon all the way down the hallway, back into the central room, and right into the remaining sparring pair of Stormdramon and Dominimon. Neither one had any time to react as the beast's body careened towards them; they were knocked apart and both hit the ground in separate heaps.

"Oh, watch out for that flying lion-wolf-thing, by the way," Pyrekomodomon said nonchalantly as he re-entered the main room.

"Gah! Watch where you're throwing people!" Stormdramon got to his feet, rubbing his shoulder. "Coulda taken my head off, dammit!"

"Looks like he almost did take Dominimon's head off," remarked Thundergarudamon; Dominimon was unconscious on the ground, his helmet knocked askew. "You think they'll be all right?"

Pyrekomodomon shrugged. "Eh, if they're not dead now they'll probably make it."

"Probably?"

"What am I, a doctor? Who cares. Let's just deal with the rich bastard." He turned and shot an especially fearsome glare down at the now-very-scared Princemamemon.

"N-no...this can't, this can't be happening! Please, don't hurt me! I don't wanna die!"

"Can I attack him just to shut up his whining?" Stormdramon snapped scathingly.

"Augh! Nonononono, please, mercy! MERCYYYYYY!"

Thundergarudamon folded her arms. "Well, we're not usually inclined to show mercy towards creeps like yourself, but perhaps we can work something out, for the right price."

"Oh, yes, yes, of course! I'll pay you any sum of money you want! Anything, you name it!"

"Not US, you twit. I'm talking about making things right. I'm talking about repaying the people you bilked. You return every penny to them twice over, and never con them out of their money again, and we'll consider letting you be."

"Wh-what? But...but that's not fair!"

"How in the hell is that not fair?" Pyrekomodomon snarled. "You robbed them, you made their lives miserable, you threatened them with your goons, for all this trouble twice over is pretty generous! And don't tell me you don't have it, after all the gloating you did earlier I doubt it'll even cramp your style."

"But...but...but...what about meeeeee?"

"You get to keep living and keep being a childish prick like you have been this entire time!" Stormdramon yelled. "Now shut your goddamn mouth before I just say to hell with it and blow you right into the Lascadian Ocean!"

Trembling, Princemamemon nodded, now too terrified to speak for fear of setting of Stormdramon's temper.

"Glad to see you're getting the picture," Thundergarudamon said. "I suggest you start now, so we don't get the impression you're trying to squirm your way out of it. We'll be watching to make sure you hold up your end."

"Y, yes, of course, right away!"

(==========)

"Well, hopefully that will be the end of it," Botleaglemon said as they watched the throngs from afar, all clamoring for the return of the money they'd been bilked out of. "I dunno if Princemamemon's really going to keep his word about not starting anything in the future...maybe we'll have to drop by on occasion, just to keep him honest."

"That or have the Kaiser drop by," Burnreptimon said. "But you're right, I doubt we can trust him...he's lied again and again, I don't doubt he'll do it again. What a shock, a greedy rich guy lying to get more rich. Like we've never seen that before."

Skydramon looked over at Burnreptimon. "Wait...this coming from the guy who lied his ass off three times over just to get to that greedy rich guy?"

"Your point?"

"My point? You're getting on his case for lying, and you just did the same thing!"

"Not really. He was lying so he cold screw people out of money they had earned and deserved. All our lies did was help set things right. Our reasons were entirely different."

"So the ends justify the means?"

"...Uh, yeah, of course? Sometimes they do. It's reality, get over it."

"Hey, now wait a sec!"

"Easy, Skydramon," Bolteaglemon jumped in. "As...brusquely as it was put, Burnreptimon's right. I mean, look at what we're doing, trying to take out Emperius entirely for the sake of peace in both our worlds. It's a lot more bloodshed than any of us would like, but do you see another option?"

"...No, I guess not. Emperius is too irrational to be reasoned with, so..."

"Exactly," agreed Burnreptimon. "So quit worrying about it, we've got better things to worry about. C'mon, let's go see if we can find anything on the others. If we're lucky, maybe we can actually get back on track tomorrow."

(==========)

As the trio retreated, they were unaware that they were being watched from afar.

_I had a feeling..._

Coredramon grinned as he sank back into the alleyway; word of what had happened had traveled fast, and though he had managed to charm his way out of being taken for anything, he was nonetheless pleased about the outcome. _Guess you were right, Kaiser...though I guess I wonder why you weren't certain of it in the first place. They're the ones who've breached the divide, all right. He'll be ecstatic...it took long enough for it to happen._

_Northern Tetraquaz should be in good hands with them. Still...perhaps it might be worth it to offer a little of my...special assistance._ He pulled a small bag from his invisible satchel; the contents rattled a little as he wrapped the drawstrings around a finger. _After all, as any good fighter knows, you can never have too many advantages._

(==========)

(==========)

See, there's a reason I kept using Coredramon! Although I suppose it's entirely possible I thought of that use for him only well after I introduced him and planned on re-using him. Oh, well, I don't suppose it matters that much either way.

This chapter took a little too long to get finished; I'm almost glad there was an error keeping me from posting for a while, because I needed the time to get a little bit ahead. Writing has been slow lately, thanks to a bit of a creative dry spell, some tough chapters, and Pokémon Black sucking me in like one of Stormdramon's hurricanes. I'm starting to get back some of that balance that I tend to lose when I start a new game, so things should be a bit smoother, but I've got a couple of toughies to write, so we'll see how well it goes.

And no, don't bother going back to look for any mention of shadow agents. It's one of those offscreen things.

No update next week as I will be out of town. Hopefully I'll get a good update in two weeks from now. Until then!


	41. Chapter 40: Malevolence

Phew...this one kept me stumped for a while. And it doesn't seem like it's going to get smoother in time. Well, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 40: Malevolence**

"You seriously want to just putz around here and wait for fortune to shine on us? Forget boring, isn't that kind of counterproductive?"

"It's not a matter of wanting to, Isaac, it's a matter of it being the best course of action for the time being. If you can come up with a better one, by all means, lay it out."

"Oh, gee, I dunno, maybe going out and searching for them? I mean, they gotta be somewhere, and the faster we reunite the faster we can get back to whaling on Emperius in earnest. I mean, come on, if we just sit around they're gonna get further ahead of us!"

Derek sighed. "Datacarnomon, would you please remind Isaac how big this 'somewhere' he's talking about is?"

Datacarnomon started, having tuned out of the argument a while back. "Um...hang on, carry the two...about 15,197,000 square miles. Give or take."

Derek looked at Isaac. "That is a hell of a haystack."

"Ngh...okay, maybe it's a bit too big to search just randomly. But it's not like we don't have anything to go off of at all, I mean, we can find information about the Catalysts, and we know at least Iris and Shockavimon made an impact somewhere, shouldn't we be off checking those areas?"

"That was days ago. They wouldn't just be sitting around twiddling their thumbs, they'd be out looking to find us. Were I in any of their situations I would do the same; the difference with us is that we're at a nexus that is more likely to be a destination than anywhere else. They're far more likely to find us than the inverse."

"What if they're captured or can't get to a spot where they can use a Transfer Point?"

Blackcanismon shook his head. "Goodness, such pessimism. Certainly without warrant. Considering the situation you found yourself and Datacarnomon mired in, my expectations for their security are considerable."

"Yeah, it's not like they're liable to get into worse trouble than you," agreed Derek. Isaac scowled, but Datacarnomon couldn't suppress a snort of laughter.

"Fine...I guess you've got a point, but still, I'm gonna go nuts from sitting around here doing nothing."

"Go spar with some of our new comrades or something, then. Use the training grounds, you can go all out without worry."

"Oh, yeah, not much to worry about when your cannon can blow through advanced alloys without much of a thought."

"No, he's right," Datacarnomon jumped in. "They're specially designed with protective mechanisms. The blows act like regular ones for the most part, but don't do any damage. We'll be fine and so will they."

Isaac didn't look entirely convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Ike, I've been there dozens of times, and I sure as hell haven't come out on top every time. Yet I'm still here. I'm sure."

"...Okay, I guess it's better than just sitting here. What about you two?"

"Our participation is hardly a necessity," Blackcanismon said. "We shall eventually peruse the network transmissions for further information, which may entice us into eventual action."

"What he said," Derek agreed.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I know what that was. C'mon, Data, let's get out of here before I decide to forego the training grounds and just start shooting here."

(==========)

"Tera Blaster!" Cyberrexmon's cannon arm let loose a barrage of shots, chasing the quickly-moving Buraimon as he sped across the battlefield. The avian's speed kept him ahead of the shots, but the intensity of the gunfire was making it challenging for him to get closer or launch an attack. His efforts went largely towards trying to get behind the cyborg, but Cyberrexmon was savvy enough to try to keep this from happening.

Eventually, Buraimon took a different tactic. He leapt into the air and flew a loop over Cyberrexmon, who tried to keep up with his cannon but found himself outmatched for speed. Buraimon landed behind him, and Cyberrexmon had to pivot fast as he unleashed a powerful flaming energy cutter. "Blazing Sever!"

Cyberrexmon quickly shifted his arm to claw form and countered. "Titan Slicer!" The first slash attack reached him before he could launch, but he weathered it and sliced through the air to unleash his own, much stronger crackling cutter, wiping out the next couple waves and forcing Buraimon to evade the blow.

"Reptile Rockets!" Cyberrexmon smirked as a couple dozen of the rockets emerged from his shoulder chambers, watching them loop around trying to get a bead on Buraimon. _Now this should really test his agility._

Buraimon took off, but quickly realized it would be fruitless to try to outrun the rockets; instead, he slashed at them as they neared, constantly moving in order to avoid being struck. He managed to nail a half dozen without too much trouble, but when one slipped through and and nailed him it was all over; he couldn't recover fast enough and was repeatedly struck by the rest of the barrage. He lay on the ground, exhausted and unable to continue.

"All right, cut it!" Cyberrexmon ordered. The barriers around the training field was dispersed, and Buraimon was helped to his feet by Shawujinmon. Cyberrexmon walked over to check on him. "You okay?"

"Yes, thank you...I suppose I underestimated those rockets you sent out."

"Easy enough...they look small but they pack a wallop. You did fine, considering the advantages I have. Definitely tough keeping up with you."

"I will have to continue working...clearly I have not yet reached the level I need to be at to defeat all the challenges that come my way."

"Hey, one step at a time, right?" Cyberrexmon turned and waved over Sealsdramon, who had been watching from the wings. "All right, you ready for your turn?"

Sealsdramon nodded. "Absolutely."

"Great. All right, barriers back in place! Let's start the same way." Another nod from the cyborg dragon, who leapt back and stood ready for action a few dozen feet from Cyberrexmon. Satisfied, Cyberrexmon shifted his arm back to cannon mode and prepped it for fire. "Ready? Go!"

The cannon burst to life again, and Sealsdramon began moving. He didn't have Buraimon's raw speed, but it soon became apparent that he made up for it with a smooth movement pattern that saw him slink through gaps in the cannon fire that Cyberrexmon could hardly have compensated for. Before he could react, Sealsdramon had gotten right up next to him and delivered a kick to his chest that sent him stumbling backwards.

"Oof...well, that's something I haven't seen before...okay, guess it's adaptation time!" The canon was dispensed with, replaced again with the fearsome claw. Now he was daring Sealsdramon to get close, and the smaller cyborg obliged, using a burst of speed to try to get a second kick in. This one was blocked by Cyberrexmon, and Sealsdramon had only a moment to notice Cyberrexmon's left hook coming for his head. He went sprawling, and quickly got back to his feet, trying to shake off the blow.

"Hey, pick it up, or you'll get the Shredder Beam!"

That got him moving again. He tried to fake out Cyberrexmon, jumping around a couple times before leaping in to deliver a punch. Cyberrexmon wasn't fooled and caught and held Sealsdramon's fist, leaving him open. But in another slick move, Sealsdramon slid down low and went for the leg sweep, forcing Cyberrexmon to let go and step away in order to avoid getting caught. He followed it up with another punch that would have been perfect if he wasn't just out of reach and just glanced off of Cyberrexmon's chest. Cyberrexmon responded with a Titan Slicer that tore through Sealsdramon, ending the fight in an instant.

Once again Shawujinmon was there the moment the barriers allowed him to get there, helping a dazed Sealsdramon to his feet. "Man, I'm glad I wasn't you right then."

"Ngh...yeah, you're the lucky one..."

Cyberrexmon shook his head. "You're pretty slick, there, but you gave me a lot of openings. I think you'd really benefit from being a touch more defensive. Someone faster than me would exploit that even more, and even for someone like me, all it takes is one good shot to end it, as you just felt."

"Right...I'll take that under advisement. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"Hey, I always like to help out, especially for something that could mean the difference between life and death. We can all use a little feedback on our strengths and weaknesses, all the better to accommodate them."

"You didn't ask them for feedback," Shawujinmon said.

"I didn't need to ask. After every battle I get a detailed report from my internal mechanisms about the battle and where I excelled and fell short. Everything is documented so I can make up for it the next time I encounter a similar situation. This practice is good for that...now I have a better idea of how to face down those types of combatants."

"Nice. Wish I had something like that. Anyway, I think it's my turn."

"You want a go, too? Heh, fine by me. Better get Sealsdramon out first, though."

"I'll be fine, I can manage," Sealsdramon said, standing upright and shaking off the fatigue. "Again, thank you. I'll take your advice to heart."

"Cyberrexmon, sir!" The three turned to see Monodramon running up breathlessly. "Sir, Gallantmon wishes to talk to you! He wishes to perhaps ask you for assistance on a matter that just came up!"

"Assistance? I wonder what's up. Sorry, Shawujinmon, can we take a rain check?"

Shawujinmon nodded and waved dismissively. "Hey, business before pleasure, right? I'll still be here when you get back, just don't forget!"

"Heh, don't worry, it all sticks in my hard drive."

(==========)

"Thanks for coming, all of you," Gallantmon said as the four gathered in the small meeting room. "I hope I'm not getting in the way of anything."

"Perish the thought," Blackcanismon said dismissively. "Our objectives have not befallen any necessity of urgency, ample time exists for intervention in alternative matters."

"I'm glad. I wish I could do more myself, but we aren't exactly well-equipped for such a thing at the moment." He nodded down towards a small blue insectoid digimon with a ragged yellow scarf around its neck. "I'll leave the background information to Kokabuterimon...he'll be able to explain it better than I can."

Kokabuterimon looked up nervously at Gallantmon. "Are...are you sure? I don't want anyone to get hurt..."

"Trust me, they have far more mettle than they might display. They will be willing and capable."

Isaac looked down at the insectoid. "Jeez...you're just a kid, aren't you?"

After a moment of hesitation, Kokabuterimon nodded. "This is the first time I've been away from somewhere I really know well. I...I wanted to come with someone else, but they never showed up."

"Well, good for you!" Datacarnomon declared. "Can't stay holed up in one place forever! The more you get out there, the more you'll get used to it. Pretty soon you'll be going wherever you want whenever you want!"

"Really?" Kokabuterimon sounded more nervous than excited about the prospect. "It's such a big world...I don't even know what's out there..."

"Ah, ya see, this is the drawback to more and more kids being raised in little towns and cities. They get so comfortable with a small area that the rest of the world seems too much to handle!"

"And you're one to talk, mister 'I didn't so much as leave Mechalopolis for the first seven years of my life?'" Isaac countered.

"Hey, do as I say, not as I do, right?"

"Please shut up so Kokabuterimon can tell us the reason he came here," Derek cut in. "Maybe you two are happy to yak away, but I'd really like to know why he ventured all the way out here instead of asking someone from where he lived."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Jeesh, Donnie Darko, you need to lighten up. Okay, so what's the deal, Kokabuterimon?"

"Um...well, it's...there's trouble in my town. I, uh, I come from a little place called Bithwit. By the Capragas Mountains, it's...uh...I don't remember, I think south and west or something?"

"The Capragas Range? That's southeast," Datacarnomon said.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, I get all those directions confused. Um, anyway, it's not really anything special, just a kind of quiet and calm place, or at least it was. But the thing is, there's another town not far away, called Paquom. They kind of came in not so long ago, but they never really got along with Bithwit, and Bithwit doesn't really get along with them. But recently it's been worse, they never attacked and did mean stuff before but now they do, and so do people from Bithwit to them. It's been getting worse and worse and I'm scared that there's gonna be a big fight if someone doesn't stop them."

"And you came all the way out here for that?" asked Derek.

"Well, I, um, I heard about these guys called Libertius a long time ago, someone said that they were trying to help people out. I mean, I guess I didn't really know, but I don't know anyone else who could help from outside Bithwit or Paquom, and I guess I just thought I would try to see if they could do something. I guess something must have happened, though, because Mister Gallantmon told me that they would have a tough time sending anyone to help."

Blackcanismon nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, an accurate assessment. The organization is enduring a period of sizable difficulty. Nevertheless, perhaps our mediation would be sufficient to organize reconciliation between your respective communities."

"You mean you'd help? But...I dunno that they'd be okay with it..."

"Hey, no worries," Isaac said. "We'll make sure things work out just fine. It sounds like they've been throwing rocks, but so far they haven't been in all out attack mode, so we should be able to talk them down without too much trouble, right?"

"You make it sound easier than I care to expect," Derek remarked. "But I'm game to help out, too."

"Yeah, don't worry about guys who aren't happy to see us, we've met plenty of those in the past and we've come out just fine," Datacarnomon said eagerly.

"O-okay. I'll, uh, take you there. I just...I hope they treat you okay. Some of them haven't been very nice lately...it scares me kind of that they might do something bad enough to get us really attacked."

Isaac and Derek exchanged a worried look. "All the better that it's us who tests the waters first," Isaac said finally. "We've met some of the marauders out there...I don't like the prospects if some of them meet that kind of hostility."

"Absolutely," agreed Derek. "The worst thing would be for one of them to go after a much larger digimon...the whole town could be leveled before anything could be done. You need anything before we go, Kokabuterimon?"

"No, I, I think I'll be okay. I want to get back before too long, they don't know I'm gone and I'm not sure they'd be happy about it."

"All right then, let's not tarry."

(==========)

"Sir? Can I ask what that was about?"

Havocravenmon sighed at Galfmon's question. "I was authorizing a force to attack Pomezly. Not what I would rather be focusing on at this time, but apparently the rumors are swarming that they're in the process of constructing weapons which could potentially be of threat to us...it seems we can no longer be satisfied with trying to dissuade them peacefully."

"I guess it was too much to expect from a city harboring so many Libertius sympathizers. Do you think they'll be successful?"

"Cannondramon and TigerVespamon are certainly confident of their success. Perhaps too confident. This is not like the other locations we have used force against...they are ready for us and willing to fight with all their valor. If the tainted ones managed to get wind of it and join in, it would make an already challenging task perhaps impossible. They managed to give a significant army a run for their money with only a handful of supporters, imagine what they could do with a whole town of the same."

"Perhaps we'll be fortunate. Anyway, I have a question to ask. Some of the techs have been asking what we're going to be doing about some of the redundant technology. For instance, the Illusion Generator-"

"We'll leave the Illusion Generator running."

Galfmon paused as his train of though was interrupted. "Sir? Do you think we'll be coming back? Or do you just not want it found?"

"Oh, I have little doubt it will be found, generator running or not. We've been immensely fortunate that it hasn't been found by someone who would be interested in it already. I'm just hoping that by the time someone finds it, we'll be well on our way elsewhere. If not...well, I doubt they've a force enough to threaten our new home, but all the same, I'd rather not end up in a massive melee."

"Who would be fool enough to try to attack us? We have most of Libertius in captivity, and no one else has made any real effort. Even the tainted ones would have to pause when faced with the majesty of our new command center."

"I would be reluctant to make assumptions about what the tainted ones would or would not do. With all the trouble they have caused us, I don't want to let up even for a moment. If only we could keep eyes on them..."

"It's infuriating, sir. We've caught sight of them, but they never stay in one spot. We can't follow them through the transfer points, so each time it's like we have to start over from scratch. Are you sure about-"

"If this is about my order not to engage one-on-one, yes, I am quite certain about it. They wiped out some strong members of our force even on ambush, and given that some have been spotted near the locations of Catalysts, it's almost certain that they have used them and become even stronger. We've had our numbers thinned enough by them, the last thing we need is some foolhardy glory hound committing suicide for pride. It would take at least a small force with all focus centered upon them to be a worthwhile match."

"...Are you suggesting they may be stronger than us?"

"What gave it away?"

"Sir! Saying things like that won't help your standing among members of Emperius!"

"If they have no desire to face reality, I won't demand it of them, but that doesn't mean I'll turn a blind eye to it. Duftmon, do you honestly think there aren't digimon out there that would wipe the floor up with any of us individually? The entire purpose of Emperius is to form a collective of the strong to rule this world, as it should be. That does not mean we have all the strong digimon in the world yet. We have touched but a fraction of the places we could find them, it's only natural that many remain to be brought into our fold, and that some remain that we must crush for their opposition."

"I...I see. You're right, of course. I was foolish to think otherwise."

"At least you can accept it. There are some among us who would refuse even that modicum of sense. As for the tainted ones, it takes no stretch of sanity to realize that they're individually incredibly strong. The battles we have fought against them are proof enough. If we could convert them, it would be a coup for the ages, but I realize that's mere fantasy. The best we can do is stay ahead of them."

"How do we do that, when they're gaining in power so rapidly?"

"Well, one thing that works to our advantage is that they aren't always putting us directly in their focus. The more they are waylaid by other matters, the more time they give us to prepare and gain ground on them. We have to use that to our benefit while we can, because they won't stall forever."

(==========)

"Hm...kinda old-timey, I think."

"Old-timey compared to what you're used to."

"Compared to the human world, too."

"Not necessarily. I mean, farms towns haven't magically disappeared with the advent of urban living."

"I'd still call 'em old-timey." Andrexmon glanced down at Kokabuterimon, who appeared to be somewhat worn out from the traveling. "You okay, little guy? If you need a rest, we can head up there ourselves."

"O...okay...I guess so." Something about the way he said it caught Andrexmon's attention.

"Hey, is everything all right?"

"Um...yeah, I, I think so."

This didn't quite convince him, but he decided not to push it further. "All right, then, you wait, here, we'll head up and try to get a handle on things."

"Okay. I'm just gonna go to the forest spot then. Be careful."

The two began walking the short rest of the distance to Bithwit. "Be careful? I wasn't expecting to hit a danger zone just by getting there," Andrexmon said. "You getting the feeling he's not telling us something?"

"Perhaps there is slightly more to the story than he has been letting on," agreed Darkwolfmon. "Although what that could be, I could hardly hazard a guess. Proceeding with caution is a necessity, though I suppose that is a given for anywhere we go."

"Yeah, our safety isn't exactly guaranteed anywhere. Well, just gotta roll with it, I guess." They were almost to Bithwit and could already see a couple digimon going about their daily business. As they neared, however, they found a not-so-pleasant reception waiting for them.

"Meteor Dance!"

Both symbiotes turned and saw a Baromon preparing its attack. They split, allowing the meteor to slam into the ground between them. Darkwolfmon scrambled to counter, but to his surprise, Baromon was ignoring him completely.

"Damned metalhead! Get away from here this instant!"

"Whoa, hold on a sec! What's the big deal?"

"I said get away! White Spell!" Baromon produced a white ball of light that began firing beams all around. Andrexmon was hit a couple of times, and while not significantly damaged it was getting him worked up.

"What's the big idea? I haven't even done anything!"

"Stingmon! Now!" Baromon called out, and suddenly another creature was coming for Andrexmon, spikes protruding from both arms.

"Nightmare Tangle!" Shadowy tendrils grabbed Stingmon and stopped his momentum before he could put Andrexmon in danger. Darkwolfmon appeared from within Baromon's shadow and grabbed him. "Now if you would so kindly explain to me why you attacked my comrade, before I turn you into dust, I would appreciate it," he snarled.

"You...you're on this thing's side? How could you? They're trying to ruin us, destroy everything we have! We won't let them do it, and if you're going to help them you're no better!"

"Great...it would have to be this kind of crap again..." Darkwolfmon knocked Baromon to the ground, then phased into a shadow quickly and reappeared behind Andrexmon. "I think we're going to have to retreat for the moment until we can ascertain the situation a bit better."

"Rgh...I guess so...dammit, what is their deal?"

"I don't know, but perhaps or little blue friend can help." Darkwolfmon used his Nightmare Tangle to toss Stingmon into Baromon in order to keep both from attacking as they turned tail and left.

They didn't stop until they were in a small woodsy area a fair ways away, hidden away somewhat from anyone who might have been trailing them. Kokabuterimon was there as he said, and when he saw the state the two were in he was instantly nervous. However, Andrexmon rounded on him and beat him to any words he might have said.

"Well, so freaking much for smooth sailing! Care to explain why I just nearly got an impromptu installation of nonsanctioned ports?"

"Andrexmon! Cool it!" Darkwolfmon growled. "It's not his fault!"

Andrexmon glanced between the two, then shook his head. "Right...sorry. They're the ones who went after me, not you. You should have said something, though!"

"I'm...I'm sorry! I thought...I thought they'd at least try to listen, if it wasn't someone familiar...I didn't think they'd just attack like that! They hate robots and anything like robots, but I thought if it was someone else..."

"I think I got that impression pretty well! So why the hell do they hate robots so bad?"

"Because...because that's what everyone from Paquom is." Both hybrids did a double-take and stared at Kokabuterimon, who was staring at the ground. "They're all robots or cyborgs or something like that. Their town has a lot of machinery and mechanical stuff. It's way different from Bithwit."

"Oh, man...Kokabuterimon..." Darkwolfmon groaned. "I know you're trying to help, but we _really_ could have stood to know that beforehand..."

"I'm sorry...I just...I didn't want any of you to not help because of it. I mean, I really thought I could tell them and they'd understand..."

"It's all right," Andrexmon sighed, finally having cooled off. "What's done is done. We'll have to find some other way of dealing with all this. The direct approach didn't work, maybe we can get through to them some other way."

"I would think it rather difficult given that both of us are unwelcome there," Darkwolfmon said.

"Yeah, but maybe we could get some help from Libertius. I know they can't spare a lot of people, but Mikemon and Buraimon maybe could...hang on a tick, I'm getting something on my sensors, something's coming our way..."

"Enemy?"

"If it is, it's a bold fellow. Can't be a high level..."

The question was moot a moment later, when they heard a young metallic voice call out. "Kokabuterimon! You found someone!" Coming up the path was a small robotic insect with a pronged head that appeared to be sparking.

Kokabuterimon's eyes lit up. "Kokuwamon! You made it! I was worried when you didn't show up this morning..."

"Yeah, they didn't want me going anywhere because they saw someone from Bithwit hanging around."

"Oh, no, not again. I keep saying they're being mean, but..."

"I take it you two are friends?" Andrexmon surmised.

Kokabuterimon nodded. "Yeah...friends in secret. My parents would flip out if they knew I came out here with him."

"So would my caretakers. They hate the idea of me associating with an organic. Especially from Bithwit."

"Great...I'm already thinking it might be a lost cause to try reasoning with them," Darkwolfmon griped. "I suppose we have to try, though."

"They'd better not test my patience," Andrexmon grumbled. "I had more than my fill of anti-organic BS back in Mechalopolis. If they think I'm gonna put up with it out here..."

"I can take you there," Kokuwamon offered. "I'll tell them I went to try to get help with the whole thing with Bithwit. I mean, that's what I wanted to do, except for they wouldn't let me go in time."

"All right, kid, just make sure to stay clear. If the response is anything like Bithwit, I'm not sure it'll be safe to be close to us."

(==========)

Paquom wasn't even close to being on the scale of Mechalopolis, but it had the same futuristic sense to it, buildings composed mostly of metal and a lot of technological accentuations visible even from a distance. "Well, it certainly resembles what I would imagine a town of robots and cyborgs would look like," remarked Darkwolfmon as they approached.

"It's like a little mini-Mechalopolis, presumably complete with pre-Cyberrexmon racism," Andrexmon grunted.

"I sense a certain hostility."

"I wasn't kidding when I said I was tired of that crap. I'll be honest, I'm dreading this through and through. I'm not even sure we can count on them not firing at you on the spot."

"I share your concerns, otherwise I would have had Kokuwamon come with us." The two had left the young robot back away from the fray out of concern for his safety. "They might allow him to explain our presence, but if they don't see him he'd be in serious danger."

"Don't have to tell me twice. Uh-oh..." The two stopped as they saw a welcoming party in front of them, consisting entirely of one Tankmon who wasted no time proving their pessimistic predictions correct.

"Hyper Cannon!" The Tankmon shot at Darkwolfmon, who phased into a shadow and reappeared behind Andrexmon. More shots were launched at the duo, ending up hitting an invisible obstruction in front of the cyborg dinosaur.

"When did you get a shield?" Darkwolfmon asked.

"Same time I got the healing program. But it sucks, I made a bunch of mistakes when writing it and now I can't correct them until we get back."

"Seemed to work fine to me."

"Not even close. It's constantly cycling so it continually drains me, and if they don't use solid ammo they can find a way to account for the cycling and get through it anyway. It needs a lot of fixing."

"HEY! Did you hear me? Why are you protecting that little clod?"

"I heard you fine, I just don't give a rat!" Andrexmon roared back.

"So you're betraying us?"

"Dude, you fired on my partner the moment you laid eyes on him! Why would I side with you after that?"

"You're a cyborg! You're one of us! You shouldn't be cavorting with scum like him!"

"What I am is someone with a functioning logic board! You want my help, you'll have to accept both of us!"

"Forget it! No one of _their_ kind is allowed in Paquom anymore! Not after all the trouble they've caused! Now beat it or I'll make sure you get to join him!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Andrexmon growled as he turned tail and stomped off, Darkwolfmon beating a rather hastier retreat.

Before long they'd made it back to where the two kids were hiding behind a rather large rock. "Well, this is just freaking fantastic," Andrexmon grumbled as he slumped against the rock, folding his arms. "So far all we've managed to do is get them both pissed off at us. At this rate we'll be responsible for an all-out war by the end of the day."

"I'm sorry about this," Kokuwamon said apologetically. "The way they've been acting is just how they've often told us we shouldn't act. I don't know why they're doing it."

"We can hardly blame you two, you're the ones caught in the thick of this," Darkwolfmon replied. "I only wish there was some way to work with them."

Andrexmon shook his head. "If they're firing on sight I highly doubt they plan on making it easy for us. We need more information, something we can use to get them to actually listen." He looked down at the two kids. "Do you have any clue what their deal is? Whatever you can tell us, we could really use the help right now."

Both kids looked down sadly.

"I don't really know. I'm sorry."

"Neither do I. I mean, I think they've talked about it before, but I didn't really understand any of it, and I can't remember what they said."

Suddenly Kokabuterimon perked up. "Wait! Miss Lillymon might know!"

"Oh, yeah! Miss Lillymon!"

"Miss Lillymon?" asked Darkwolfmon.

"She runs a school a little to the north of here! We all go there, even though we're not supposed to because she won't refuse to teach anyone."

"A teacher ostracized for teaching? This place is more screwed up than I thought."

"I think the key word is 'anyone,' Darkwolfmon. I'm betting she'll teach kids from both towns, and that's what has them upset."

"Hm, point. But that means she's also a neutral party...that might just be what we need at this point. All right, can you two take us there?"

Kokuwamon nodded. "Sure! And you don't have to worry, she won't get angry about either of you, I'm sure of it!"

"That's good to hear. I'm tired of people getting angry at me, especially for no good reason."

(==========)

The schoolhouse, as it turned out, looked very much like a classroom from an elementary school; colorful, decorated with simple visuals, designed to stimulate and enrapture the woefully short attention spans of the young as best they could. Lillymon herself seemed very nurturing and mothering, much like a teacher of younger children. However, Andrexmon and Darkwolfmon could tell as soon as the kids had been ushered out to join their friends that something wasn't right with her; her demeanor dropped almost instantly, features overwritten with concern and despair.

"My dear lady, I fear that you have your share of troubles as well," Darkwolfmon uttered as soon as the door had closed.

Lillymon nodded somewhat absently. "You'll have to excuse me...I've been in a bad state lately. One of the children...I'm sorry, I don't mean to lay all my troubles on you. You came looking for help, not more trouble..."

"If there's a problem, we can come back."

"No...I...I can't really do anything about it. And I couldn't ask you..."

"Does it have anything to do with the problems between the two towns?"

"Yes. It's more than that...but at the same time, that's a very large part of it. I just don't know what to do about it..."

"If it's related, we'll be more than happy to get our hands dirty. I don't yet know what the deal is here with these towns, but I can already tell that someone needs to get involved and settle it before it gets worse."

Lillymon sighed sadly. "It's been a real mess. The kids don't really have a good refuge except for here, and their parents don't want them to be here because the other town has kids coming here. If they had it their way, I wouldn't have anyone here at all."

"I'm rather surprised they haven't had their way," Darkwolfmon said. "As incensed as they are over this matter, I would have expected one or both of them to take action."

"They know better. The kids don't want to be kept away, so nothing short of an attack on the school would change anything. And I have a guardian nearby, a long time friend of mine. He wouldn't stand for anything like that."

"Really? I'm afraid I didn't see anyone."

"You wouldn't," Andrexmon said. "He's underground. My sensors are picking him up, but only just...he must be pretty far down."

"Yes. He's a Terradramon. He lives down in a deep cave he hollowed out for himself." Lillymon giggled softly, though it was still underlain with sadness. "Such a big, imposing guy, but painfully shy. He never was very good with people."

"So you're safe. That's good...these kids need a safe haven."

"Absolutely. I just wish these two would get over their petty feud so the kids don't need to be afraid of coming here."

"Petty feud...what exactly is this? Kokabuterimon and Kokuwamon couldn't tell us anything about it, but they said you would know."

Lillymon nodded. "It's just so silly...but it's caused so many serious problems."

"We are unfortunately all too familiar with such things," Darkwolfmon said.

"My condolences. I guess it started when the mechanical digimon founded Paquom. Bithwit was already here and had been for a pretty long time. They felt a little threatened by the newcomers...thinking they might try to change their way of life, or just expand endlessly and force them out. Paquom was pretty irritated by the accusations, thinking Bithwit was foolish and old-fashioned or just scared of change. So it started off less than stellar, but there was at least peace, if not tolerance."

"That all changed a little over a year ago. There were a few big discoveries made...the land around here is teeming with minerals and other compounds that are worth quite a bit. Perhaps the most important is Mount Selnati itself...I never heard exactly what was in there, but the excitement was pretty intense."

"Naturally, the tensions only escalated from there. Bithwit claims they have full entitlement to everything in the land, because they were here first and longest. Paquom says Bithwit wouldn't know what to do with it, and they have the technology to safely and efficiently harvest the bounty without doing undue damage to the land. They've been trading jabs over it, each group causing trouble for the other town, harassing them, trying to get them to give up and ship out so they can have it all to themselves."

"Such pointless greed. If there really is that much, surely it could benefit both of them?"

"That's what I tried to say, but they won't listen to me. It's a matter of the times, I suppose...cities and the like are becoming more common every year here, and with them come those who wish to have more and more. Can you imagine such a thing?"

Darkwolfmon and Andrexmon exchanged looks. "Pretty well, I think," the cyborg finally said.

"It's sad, that it's becoming more and more common these days...anyway, that wasn't the only point of contention, either. Paquom wanted to go into Mount Selnati and harvest what's in there, as well. Bithwit absolutely refuses to let it be touched...they hold great reverence for the Petrus Shrine deep inside."

"Petrus Shrine...wasn't there a Catalyst in there?"

"Long ago there was. It got moved out ages ago...well before I ever came here. But it's still considered very important to Bithwit, and the idea that it or the mountain holding it could be mined, it doesn't sit well with them. Paquom says they're being ridiculous, that they could work so safely that it wouldn't disturb anything, but Bithwit won't have any of it. And that was how things stood until a few months ago."

"What changed?"

"Both towns firmly believe that there will be a sign one way or the other who really belongs here and who should be allowed to have their way. More silliness having to do with a supposed prophecy from the Petrus Shrine, if I remember...but I thought nothing of it until a few months ago. That was when I was visited by a rather large cyborg digimon...a Boltmon, I believe."

"Boltmon? I wonder...was he by any chance heading to Mechalopolis?" Andrexmon asked.

"Why, yes...he said he was going to try to deal with some trouble there. He didn't mention what, but he sounded rather serious about it. Have you met him?"

"Yeah, I did. And it was rather serious, but it's done with now, and he's doing fine."

"Oh, that's good to hear..." Lillymon paused and bowed her head. "Though...what will I tell him if..."

"Is something wrong?"

"...I'm sorry, let me continue. When Boltmon dropped by, he brought with him a child. He said he had found him wandering alone in a city somewhere...apparently, he had a guardian killed by bandits while trying to get to safety, and the bandits had dumped the kid in that city because it wasn't worth it to keep him for ransom or anything, since he apparently didn't have any other caretakers. Such monsters...Boltmon cared for him for a while, but he didn't want to bring him to Mechalopolis. I suppose it likely had something to do with the state it was in. So he brought him to me. I have been caring for him since..."

"So, what does the kid have to do with anything?" Darkwolfmon asked.

Lillymon. "The child...he's a Bytedramon."

Darkwolfmon simply cocked his head in confusion, but the words had a much more profound impact on Andrexmon, whose eyes widened in horror. "Oh, no...they didn't..."

Lillymon nodded. "It brought them up in arms. They saw it as the key that would tell them who the bounty belonged to. It's absolutely vile, to put such stress on a child, especially one who's been through so much already!"

"I'm sorry, I'm kind of confused here," Darkwolfmon cut in. "This is a new one to me. What exactly is a Bytedramon?"

"A Bytedramon is a rather unique type of dragon digimon," explained Andrexmon. "It's a cyborg in its base state, but has a special internal biorhythm which changes depending on the kind of life it lives and what abilities it uses. This biorhythm decides how it evolves. If it relies heavily on its cybernetic enhancements, it takes a technological route in its evolutions; if it instead uses its natural body and abilities, its evolutions lose them and it becomes highly attuned with a natural environment; if it balances the two, its evolutions reflect that balance, and it remains a cyborg."

"I see...ah, now I understand. Each town tried to pressure it to shift one way or the other."

Lillymon nodded. "Yes, that's correct. Both towns believe that which path it chooses will determine who gets the right to do what, and as such have been putting fantastic pressure on him to choose their side. He hates it, and I can hardly blame him. I've made an effort to shelter him from it as much as I could, and the children are much more understanding with him. But it has still been difficult for him."

"I can imagine. But I feel like that's not the end of the story, is it?"

Lillymon nodded; she was tearing up now. "A few days ago...he was out playing with the other kids near the school. I heard shouts, and I ran outside...he was gone. The kids told me he had been taken by a much larger digimon...and brought into Mount Selnati. The entrances were blocked by large boulders...Terradramon moved them, but by the time he was able to, they were deep inside...I couldn't deal with the stranger alone, Terradramon is too large for the caverns, and no one from Bithwit or Paquom will help me. They say this is the moment of truth for Bytedramon...that he'll channel the power of whichever side they want him to in order to protect himself and their bounty..."

"Damn them!" roared Andrexmon, pounding a fist on the table and making it shudder under the blow. "Those bastards don't even care about the danger this kid is in! They can't see anything but their own fortunes!"

"Andrexmon, calm down, getting enraged isn't going to help anyone," Darkwolfmon said calmly. "We should deal with Bytedramon first. Lillymon, do you know anything about the digimon who abducted him? Knowing what we're up against will help us plan our course of attack."

"I...know only what the children told me. It wasn't much...it happened so fast...they said he was very heavily armored, though...and that he had a large lance. And...oh...yes, a cape of some sort, a blue cape."

It registered with both symbiotes simultaneously. "CHAOS DUKEMON?"

Lillymon started at the combined shout. "Goodness...you know him?"

"Know him?" snarled Andrexmon, fists clenched so tightly they almost broke under the pressure. "That soul-sucking son of a bitch is the reason two of my good friends are dead! He hunted them down and sent me trophies just to spite me! He's Emperius scum, and he's one of the worst!"

"I've lost a good friend to him as well!" barked Darkwolfmon. "I faced him down after that, but he got away from me that time...ooh, I've been waiting for a chance at that fiend! One of the most vile creeps ever to walk this land...he's been known to take hostages and slaughter them once his demands are met, and rain death upon towns that refuse to support Emperius!"

"Oh my goodness...Bytedramon..." Lillymon trembled fearfully.

"I don't even want to imagine what that sicko might be doing to him...if he harms one scale on Bytedramon, I'll bring down the mountain to kill him, as if I needed any more motivation!" Andrexmon stormed out of the building, leaving Darkwolfmon behind.

"A little hasty, you are," Darkwolfmon muttered. He turned back to Lillymon. "Don't worry, Lillymon, we'll do everything we can to get Bytedramon back safely. Knowing Chaos Dukemon, he's using him as bait for something, so chances are good he's alive and unharmed, for now. We'll see to it it stays that way."

"Th-thank you...I'm so sorry to put this on your shoulders..."

"My dear lady, trust me when I say I am not sorry in the least to have another showdown with that abomination which masquerades as a digimon. Now if you'll excuse me, I had better make sure I don't fall too far behind my comrade."

"Good-bye...and good luck...both of you," Lillymon murmured.

(==========)

Andrexmon had already taken his Cyberrexmon form and was quite some distance from the school before Onyxvargmon caught up to him. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think? I've let that bastard get the better of me for too long. I won't fail to take him down again!"

"Charming sentiment. Did it occur to you that I might want to be along with?"

"We've got more than one task to take care of. Those two towns are still at each other's throats. You should work on taking care of that, so that if the worst happens at least one of us will-"

"If you have any sense in the world you will shut your mouth right now," growled Onyxvargmon darkly. "Listen to me, you big galoot, there is no way in heaven or hell I am going to let you go into that mountain and face down Chaos Dukemon yourself. And not only because I want a few shots of my own. Believe it or not, I value your safety, and so long as I can stand and draw breath I'm going to help you and make sure you stay safe. Those towns can wait."

Cyberrexmon seemed reluctant, but eventually nodded. "All right...I guess you're right. We're probably better off trying to rescue Bytedramon together anyway...I don't trust Chaos Dukemon to not try to kill him the moment he sees us."

"Quite right. Let's make sure this is the last life he infects with his evil."

(==========)

The entrance to the Mount Selnati was hard to miss; it was huge, big enough for some of the larger land-based digimon. "Man, that's a big tunnel...they're concerned about digging out after all this?" Cyberrexmon asked.

"Apparently. They don't appear to have been behaving in an entirely rational manner this entire time. Well, let's get on with it, then."

They entered the cave mouth, and it didn't take much walking for the light to grow very dim. Some strange glowing rocks were providing a small amount of light, but not nearly enough to make seeing things any easier.

"You're gonna have to watch my back, Onyxvarmgon," Cyberrexmon muttered as he tried to alter his visual input to something better suited for the darkness. "You're a lot better in this kind of environment than I am."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing sneaks up on you."

"Good. I have no idea what could be down here...we have to be prepared for anything, including Emperius cronies who decided to join Chaos Dukemon down here."

"There might not be many of those...he's not terribly popular with them, from what I've gathered."

"No shock there...he's a psychopath and I doubt they trust him to stick on their side any longer than he has to."

As they ventured deeper, the caverns became much more winding and disorienting. Despite their concerns, it proved to be an uneventful trek. There didn't appear to be any other enemy digimon within the tunnels, no were there any traps that might put them in danger. Not that this made them any less nervous; even if no one else was around, they had no idea where they might run into Chaos Dukemon.

"You sure you can't pick him up on your sensors?" Onyxvargmon whispered.

"I wish I could...there's so much distortion in this mountain that I can't make heads or tails of anything. It's all I can do just to have a map that can get us out of here. I really need to make some improvements to this system to eliminate the interference."

"Lillymon did say there were rare compounds in this mountain. Could they be the culprit?"

"I'd have no clue without actively testing them. Any number of things could be the issue...rare compounds in the dust in the air, a really strong magnetic field that's overriding my compensatory algorithms, or it could be something Chaos Dukemon laid down himself. Given that he was probably trying to goad the townspeople, he might have set something up to make things difficult for Paquom's populace."

"That's true..." After Onyxvargmon fell silent, the two continued that way for some time, just making their way deeper without any conversation. Onyxvargmon preferred this; it was easier to focus on just sensing things without the added distraction of extra sound. It wasn't much longer before they both began to get the feeling of being close; Cyberrexmon was able to detect the presence of a large chamber nearby, and Onyxvargmon was starting to sense the presence of living creatures.

The chamber had only slightly better lighting than the rest of the cavern, but it was enough to see that it was certainly made for a purpose; there were ornate designs in the rock, decorations meaningful to those who would have made the pilgrimage to the Catalyst long ago, and several structures built for purposes long since lost to the ages, at least for the two of them. At the far end of the chamber, they could make out two forms; one large one with an imposing presence, and one small one huddling as far away from the larger one as possible. There wasn't any mystery to either one of them as to who belonged to those forms.

"Game's up, Chaos Dukemon!" Onyxvargmon spat as they entered.

Chaos Dukemon turned and stared. After a few seconds, he responded with a knowing tone. "Well, well, well...I've never seen either of you two before, yet I already know who you are. It's been too long since I've had the chance to torment you, and here you turn up right on my doorstep. Almost too perfect."

"You're not getting away this time, monster!" Cyberrexmon roared. "We'll take you down once and for all!"

"I very much doubt I'll have to get away. Once your blood is painting these walls, I'll pretty much be set. I have to say, I'm rather sorry I couldn't decorate them earlier...I rather expected those fools to come darting in here after the child they pretend to care about so much. Wiping them out would have been quite the beautiful lead-in to what I planned to inflict on the boy. I guess the two of you will have to do. Oh, I assure you, he will welcome death once I'm through with him."

"You are a sick son of a bitch," Onyxvargmon snarled. "The only one who's going to die here today is you. The world's endured enough of your toxic existence!"

"Do you really think you can beat me? Heh...that's funny. I guess I'll have to teach you both yet another lesson. Maybe those other fools you're with will take it to heart. Although it would be a pity if I didn't get my shot at them as well."

"The only thing I regret about them not being here is that they won't be able to partake in your extermination! I'm sure they'll be plenty happy to hear you've been deleted!"

Chaos Dukemon raised his lance and shield. "Well, then, if you think you have what it takes, just try to even touch me!"

Onyxvargmon dashed forward as Cyberrexmon began firing his Tera Blaster. Chaos Dukemon was quick on the draw, blocking the fire with his shield as he unleashed a powerful electrical attack in Onyxvargmon's direction. The lupine swept aside and leapt forth with a powerful slice, met with a loud crack by Chaos Dukemon's lance. The knight slipped his lance forward and tossed Onyxvargmon to the side, sending him sprawling to the ground. He then fired a burst of energy from his shield at Cyberrexmon, who was driven back by the force and let up on his assault.

Onyxvargmon tried his Shadow Pulse, but found he couldn't lock into Chaos Dukemon's armor like he had Glademon's. He settled for unleashing a couple uncharged bursts, one of which nailed the knight before he got his shield around to block the other. He countered with a Chaos Shot that Onyxvargmon dove to avoid, and a second right where he landed, blowing him back into the wall of the chamber. He attempted to follow up with a charge, but Cyberrexmon was on him, trying to slash through him with his charged claw. Chaos Dukemon lunged with his lance, which Cyberrexmon grabbed with his metal arm and tried to pry away. The knight responded with another surge of lightning which hit Cyberrexmon full force, stunning him and allowing Chaos Dukemon to get another direct hit with a shield blast, actually lifting Cyberrexmon off the ground and sending him skidding along the ground as he tried to shake off the blows.

"Umbra Swarm!" Onyxvargmon jumped back in to try to give Cyberrexmon time to recover. Chaos Dukemon swung around to block the dark projectiles, but this time they were too numerous to wipe out completely, and he was forced to step back to keep from being overrun. Onyxvargmon took his chance, rushing forth to slash with his swords. Chaos Dukemon didn't make it easy, still blocking and parrying despite being off-balance, but he managed to sneak in two good cuts before he was forced back by a powerful sweep of the knight's lance.

It was enough for Cyberrexmon to get back into the fray from afar. His rail guns emerged from their shoulder compartments and he let loose a vicious volley of bullets, hoping to punch through Chaos Dukemon's armor with at least a few of them. Incredibly, they didn't; the few that made contact bounced off, the impact certainly not painless but not nearly as damaging as he had hoped. Finally he anticipated a blast of energy coming from the knight's shield, and he made a clumsy dive to avoid it. He scrambled back to his feet in order to get in position for a followup, but fortunately Onyxvargmon charged in to give him a moment's respite.

Onyxvargmon was trying to swing away with his Shadow Saber, and continually finding himself blocked by either Chaos Dukemon's shield or lance. Whether unleashing energy blasts from afar or trying to get in close with the steel, the knight had an answer for everything. In contrast, he was struggling to avoid everything that was getting thrown at him, even despite his speed. At one point, he had to bring up both swords to keep from being impaled on Chaos Dukemon's lance, and his eyes widened when he saw the shield be brought up. It was a moment of real fear before Cyberrexmon's flying tackle brought the threat away from him; unfortunately, it ended up being transferred to the cyborg, as Chaos Dukemon shifted and unleashed a much more powerful torrent of energy than before from his shield, throwing Cyberrexmon all the way to the other end of the chamber and plowing him into the wall, where he was battered continuously.

Onyxvargmon swung into action. "Regaling Shade!" The ground darkened under Chaos Dukemon, wisps of shadow rising up from below, and suddenly a blaze of darkness energy burst forth, enveloping the knight in an instant. Now he let out a cry, his armor doing nothing to reduce the impact of the unblockable energy wave. It didn't stop him entirely, however, as he was well within his means to bring up his lance and let loose a Chaos Shot that Onyxvargmon didn't see coming until it was too late. He managed to avoid a full-force impact but took a partial blow and was knocked for a loop. Shaking his head, he caught sight of Cyberrexmon kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily, and Chaos Dukemon gathering himself after the end of the Regaling Shade...and then realize with a start that something was missing.

"Bytedramon! Where's Bytedramon?" The young cyborg dragon was nowhere to be found in the chamber; in all the chaos, he had simply disappeared. Onyxvargmon felt a surge of terror; the best case scenario was that he was lost in the caves, and he could think of several worse outcomes that were not terribly unlikely, given all the activity in the chamber...

Chaos Dukemon let out a loud, cruel laugh, clearly not bothered at all by the absence of his hostage. "Who cares about that whelp? I have better prey now! Who would have thought you could really stand against me for more than a few seconds? And here I thought this was going to just be boring!"

"So glad we can make this _enjoyable_ for you!" Onyxvargmon snarled.

"Ah, and you have! It's always so much more pleasant when they squirm, but it's rare that any of them manage to make me work for it. Even a foregone victory is sweeter when it lets me demonstrate the full extent of my power!"

"You won't be laughing when I separate your head from your shoulders!"

"Empty threats! I'm worthy of the legends of the gods, you can't hope to overcome me! Already you're wearing down, you don't have a prayer of enduring my onslaught!"

"Hey, asshole..."

Both eyes turned to Cyberrexmon, whose eyes were glittering with unfettered malice. His arm was drawn in front of him, the ends of his cannon glowing brightly.

"Endure this."

Onyxvargmon's eyes opened wide. "Wh-no! St-" Any attempt to stop him was cut off by the roar of the Tera Blaster crashing through the chamber. Chaos Dukemon made an effort to escape the dangerous beam, but Cyberrexmon followed him and managed to finally envelop him, driving him into the recesses created by the beam wiping out the walls of the chamber. Finally the energy died down, and Cyberrexmon collapsed to one knee. He didn't get much of a rest as a powerful tremor ripped through the chamber, brought on by the shifting of rock to fill the void left by what had been blasted away by the deadly cannon.

"It's collapsing!" Onyxvargmon barked in a panic.

"Damn...I don't know if we can get out in time!" Cyberrexmon stood and attempted to shake off his fatigue, but he knew he wouldn't be able to run at top speed, and even if he could it likely wouldn't be enough. "We need another way out! A fast way!"

"I don't know if there is one!" Onyxvargmon's eyes dashed around the chamber, but before he even had a chance to ponder an alternative, the ground opened up underneath him. With a yelp, he fell.

"Onyxvargmon!" Cyberrexmon tried to get over, and didn't get two steps before the same thing happened to him. He landed hard in a very cramped pit, barely wide enough for him to stand, and before he could make sense of what was happening it closed in on him, trapping him fast within the rock. The pressure was intense enough to keep him from moving, though just short of enough to actually crush him.

_What the hell is this? Is this some kind of trap from the temple? Or did Chaos Dukemon set this?_

He strained, trying to break free from the enclosure. He had the sensation of being moved, though he couldn't tell where. The best he could do was struggle, pushing out as much as possible given his unfavorable position. Then, without warning, he felt the rock give - but not under his force. He tumbled forward and landed flat on his face. "Oof!"

"Ugh...what in the world?" Onyxvargmon was sitting on the ground amid a heap of rock, apparently having gone through the same ordeal. "That was...unpleasant, to say the least."

"You said it...at least it didn't kill us, whatever it was." Cyberrexmon picked himself up and shook his head. "Where in blazes are we?"

The two were in a large chamber that was dimly lit by some strange stones on the walls. In front of them was a path that descended steeply into the unknown; there was nothing else on any other side of the chamber. "Guess our options are kind of limited..." Onyvargmon sighed. "Well, shall we?"

"I suppose..."

The two took the path in front of them. Though the lighting was poor, they could tell right off the bat that it opened up much wider down below. Cautiously they made their way downwards, wary of any sign of attackers, but nothing jumped out at them. As soon as they hit the bottom they could see the cave open to a very large room, one furnished as a living space for something of considerable size. That something was on the left side of the room at that very moment, standing over a very small other something, watching them intently as they entered.

"Ah...good, he didn't slip in. Are you two all right?"

Both were caught off-guard for a moment before they remembered. "You're...you're Terradramon, aren't you? Lillymon's friend?"

Terradramon was a massive quadrupedal dragon with a body seemingly built like a mountain - his hide looked like the rocks around him, and his wings, far beyond capable of letting him take flight, had adapted to form large lithic growths of either large and heavy blocks or thin sharp spires. He settled back as he confirmed the safety of the situation. "I am. When I heard the commotion up above, I thought someone from the villages had tried to face down that fiend. Rather surprising to see total strangers instead..."

"You saw us? How?"

"You wouldn't have seen me...I was within the walls, looking through the rock to see you. I'd been waiting...hoping to use a distraction to rescue the little one." He nodded towards the smaller form in front of him, and finally the two recognized it as Bytedramon.

Both symbiotes dashed forward and checked on Bytedramon; he shied away at first, but Terradramon gently assured him of his safety and soon he allowed Onyxvargmon to examine him. "He appears to be all right physically," the canid finally said with unending relief. "Thank goodness..."

"So you were right there the whole time?" Cyberrexmon asked.

"Not the whole time...it took me some time to get up there. Fortunately, you two gave me enough time to act. Had that knight noticed my presence he most likely would have killed me before I could do anything to stop him...it is rather difficult for me to attack through the rocks."

"Were you the one who brought us both down here?"

"Yes. I felt the mountain begin to shift as a result of the battle, so I used my powers to create an enclosure to bring you down through the ground safely. Though I had to make sure that knight didn't hijack one of them before letting down my guard."

"We owe you a great deal, Terradramon," Onyxvargmon said gratefully. "I very much doubt we would have escaped that chamber without your intervention, to say nothing of Bytedramon's safety. Our lives are in your debt."

"Consider it just returns for your courage. I've been lamenting my inability to save him since this ordeal began...I just feared too much that I could not grab Bytedramon and escape fast enough to avoid his wrath. If only I could have returned to a smaller form, perhaps I could have managed..."

Cyberrexmon shook his head. "You might have ended up dead yourself. Chaos Dukemon knows nothing of mercy, or even sanity."

"Too true," agreed Onyxvargmon. "Heh...looks like you almost kept your oath, Cyberrexmon. You nearly brought the mountain down to try to kill him."

"Jeez, I wasn't really trying to. I mean, I wanted him dead, but I wasn't actually intending to change the topography."

"I will tend to the damage and make sure Mount Selnati doesn't collapse," Terradramon said. "Please, see Bytedramon safely to the surface. Lillymon must be terribly worried after what just happened, she needs the relief of knowing he is all right."

"Absolutely." Cyberrexmon picked up the small cyborg dragon, who clung to him tightly. "There we go. All right, I'm ready for some sunlight. What's the best way out?"

Terradramon nodded towards a small opening on the far end of the room. "You will be able to reach the surface from there. Farewell, and thank you."

(==========)

"Nice guy and all, but he really should consider an elevator," Cyberrexmon grumbled as they continued along what seemed to be an interminable spiraling path up towards the surface.

"Aw, is the big strong dino getting tired?" teased Onyxvargmon.

"Oh, please. I'm just talking about speed here. Way more efficient to have some kind of automatic system that just takes you straight up or down."

"We're probably among only a very small number of people to have ever taken this in the first place. I'll bet the only one who's used it routinely is Lillymon. Not really that much point in going through all the trouble to build an elevator."

"It has to be faster than building this weird corkscrew thing."

"Not if you can move the ground at your whim."

"Hmph...I still think he should consider it. Whatever...hey, did you happen to see if Chaos Dukemon ate it? I kind of put everything I had into that blast, I didn't really get a chance to catch up until everything started coming down, and other things were on my mind by then."

Onyxvargmon shook his head. "I couldn't see him in the end, but he had his shield up when you finally hit him...it probably protected him enough to keep him alive, and since you pretty much blew him out of the mountain, I'm guessing he got away from the collapse too."

"Damn...how many times is he gonna squirm his way out of justice?"

"We'll have time to hunt him down later. Let's just deal with what we've got right now."

"Right...and he's with Emperius, too, so we'll probably run across him once we get back on track with that."

"Provided he doesn't decide to turn on them in the meantime. I don't know how they can trust him...I can't help but see him as a betrayal waiting to happen. You know what he's like, if he got strong enough he'd probably just do away with them in an instant regardless of whose side he was on."

"Because Emperius is so well known for making rational and well thought-out decisions. They probably just saw how strong he was and welcomed him aboard. Oh, hey, wouldja look at that, we're almost back to the surface! About freakin' time!"

"You would think something mechanical such as yourself would have a lot more patience," Onyxvargmon said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey, I'm all about defying expectations."

"Funny." The two emerged into the bright sunlight, covering their dark-adjusted eyes. "Yeow...now that's not the way I like to be greeted after being in the dark for so long."

"Surprise, surprise, the dark mutt doesn't like the sun."

"Oh, well, now that was completely uncalled for."

"What, the mutt remark? Jeez, why do you take that so personally? It's just a kind of dog."

"It's a rather derogatory term for a canine and I'll thank you to refrain from using it in the future."

"Fine, but no promises if you start irritating me. Uh-oh..." As they were both able to see properly again, they became uncomfortably aware of two rather sizable crowds of digimon near the entrance to Mount Selnati. It hadn't come to blows that they could tell, but the clamor indicated that that wasn't necessarily a permanent thing.

"Hm, in hindsight, I probably should have expected that they'd notice a mountain starting to fall," Cyberrexmon remarked. "We might want to avoid them if at all possible."

"Agreed," Onyxvargmon said. "We should just find Lillymon and-"

"BYTEDRAMON!" Both symbiotes jumped as Lillymon rushed them, taking Bytedrmaon from Cyberrexmon's arms and holding him in a nearly crushing embrace. "Oh my goodness, I was so scared when I heard all the commotion! Thank heavens you're all right!"

"...Or maybe she'll find us and give us away," Onyxvargmon sighed as he saw attention from the crowds turn in their direction. "I hope you've still got some juice left in that cannon of yours, Cyberrexmon..."

"Whatever happened to solving things peacefully?"

"I'm not saying you should fire...unless it comes to that. They aren't exactly the most peaceable of communities..."

The masses were quick to descend on them, all trying to sort out what had happened. Cyberrexmon held them back with a few threatening gestures from his cannon. "Hey, back off! Cool it, the last thing this kid needs is people swarming him!"

"So tell us which side he chose!"

Cyberrexmon didn't know who said it but it instantly raised his ire. "What? What are you talking about?"

"The child! Did he side with the robots or the organics? Tell us!"

"We know a battle took place! He must have taken the power of the worthy side!"

"He didn't take a side!" Onyxvargmon shouted. "That battle was between us and Chaos Dukemon! We went in to ensure his safety!" This turned out to be the exact wrong thing to say, as this news caused a brand new furor to break out amongst the throngs.

"What? You interfered?"

"Why would you do that? This was supposed to determine the future of this land! How will we know who deserves what if the child doesn't pick a side?"

"We'll have to make him choose here! There's no point in waiting any longer, this needs to be settled so we can get to mining!"

"You aren't going to be mining anything! He's going to choose us!"

"You don't have a chance! He's going to make the right choice!"

"You're asking for it!"

"You want to fight? I'll show you a fight!"

"You heap of scrap, I'll turn you into-"

"SHUT UP!"

Cyberrexmon's roar almost shook more than the shifting earth minutes before. Suddenly all the argument ceased as eyes turned towards the saurian, who's expression of rage had some of them backing up a few steps.

"I have had it with you idiots! It wasn't enough that you started a blood feud over some idiotic dispute that if any of you had half a brain in your body could have been settled overnight! It wasn't enough that you went so ultra-bigot on each other that just the two of us trying to do something about this whole stupid thing was enough for you to try to blow our goddamned heads off! No, you had to go plunge off the deep end by torturing a child - a CHILD! - so you could force him to alter his entire life just to suit your own whims! And then you left him in the middle of a freaking cave with one of the incarnations of evil itself just so you could try to make him do what you wanted! And now you have the _gall_ to go off on the few people who actually gave enough of a damn to do what should have been done in the first place?"

A ringing silence followed his outburst. Without waiting for a response from anyone, Cyberrexmon turned and stomped off. "I'm done with this. Blow yourselves up for all I care. You all deserve it. But for frag's sake leave the kids out of it. They have enough to deal with in this world without you making idiots of yourselves."

All eyes were on him as he stormed off, including Onyxvargmon's. Despite trying to think of something else to say, he could only manage two words: "Well put." With a shrug, he followed after, leaving only the stunned stares in his wake.

(==========)

"You're the one who left first."

"I know, I know. And I'm not saying I regret it. It's just...it's been bugging me since I got back. We didn't actually fix the problem. Even if we saved Bytedramon, that goes down as a failed mission."

"We cannot create miraculous happenings with impunity. Our capabilities do not extend infinitely. Even minimal successes should be recognized as such."

"Doesn't mean we have to be happy about it. I mean, you can't say you've never come back from a mission for Libertius and been okay with not getting an outright win. I know I have."

The four were in a lounge within the Libertius compound, recuperating from their latest excursion. Isaac and Datacarnomon were somewhat displeased with the way things had been left, while Derek and Blackcanismon were more than happy to let it lie.

"Look, I'm not saying I'm planning on going back there or anything. I get that it didn't work. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

Blackcanismon shook his head. "It occurs to me that perhaps your idealistic outlook towards our situation is that of perfection rather than general success. This is welcome in some instances but not universally. We cannot afford to let ourselves get mired within our inability to resolve the more trivial objectives when our accomplishments towards the major ones are far more favorable."

"And keep in mind, we're kind of limited in what help we can offer when people don't want it," added Derek. "They were more than willing to shoot us the moment they laid eyes on us."

"What about the kids who worked up the courage to try to get our help?" Datacarnomon muttered in response. "We didn't exactly do them many favors."

"Well...I mean, that's unfortunate, and I wish we could have. But how long would you have been willing to put in to this? It might have taken us days just to be allowed into each town, to say nothing of getting them to listen to our pleas for sanity. What if the others came back during that time? Would you have kept them waiting while you tried desperately to solve this?"

Neither Isaac nor Datacarnomon responded; they exchanged a look but their mouths stayed shut. Derek was starting to suspect they were actually thinking of responding in the affirmative, but before anyone could they were interrupted by a familiar face. "Begging your pardon..."

Datacarnomon smirked. "Hey, Monodramon. Got another message from the boss man?"

Monodramon grinned sheepishly. "Er...not this time. Sorry, I guess I've become the bearer of bad news lately..."

"Concern yourself not, Monodramon. A messenger such as yourself plays a vital role in this organization, especially considering our current condition. You should be commended for your dedication despite these unfortunate circumstances."

"Thanks. Uh, what I have actually is a message from a Lillymon, came through the network just a few minutes ago...it was addressed to you guys, so I thought I'd just bring it here to you."

"Thanks." Derek took the message. "Lillymon, huh...we did kind of leave without much of a goodbye. Now that's something worth feeling bad about...we probably should have gone back and talked with her at least."

"After all the yelling we did she might not have been that eager anyway. What's the message say?"

"Let's see...

'_Dear Andrexmon and Darkwolfmon,_

_I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to thank you for rescuing Bytedramon in person. I couldn't be more grateful for what you've done. Bytedramon was very thankful as well, he's very happy to be back playing with the kids rather than stuck in that cave with that madman. He says he wants to be like you two when he gets older. I would be so proud if he was._

_The leaders of Bithwit and Paquom come by and apologized to me as well. The harsh words you had for them appear to have sunken in; for the time being, at least, they're being more civil to each other, and it sounds like they're working on starting talks about resolving their differences in a more peaceful manner. Whether it lasts or not will be difficult to tell, because of their history, but I'm going to try to help however I can, for the sake of the kids. Perhaps the future will be brighter than the past has been. If it is, I will have you to thank for that as well._

_If you ever have time, we would love to have you come by again. The kids would be thrilled to see you. Thank you again for all you have done._

_ Gratefully yours,_

_ Lillymon_

Heh...maybe there is some hope for them after all. Who'd've thought having a cyborg dinosaur verbally eviscerate them would be more effective than an actual evisceration?"

"Yeah...maybe we didn't do as bad a job as I thought," Isaac agreed, his mood doing a complete turnaround from earlier. "I guess all that yelling was good for something. Maybe I oughta try it back home."

"Just watch who you yell at," Datacarnomon cracked, also much brighter as a result of the message. "I don't think your parents would be swayed that easily."

"Hey, the last time I talked back to them they got on board with me."

"Only because you would have done the same thing regardless of what they said. I wouldn't get any ideas if I were you."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, I think we still owe Shawujinmon that training session."

"Oh, yeah, right, let's go see if he's up for it." The two were off just like that, chatting eagerly amongst each other. Left behind rather unceremoniously, Derek and Blackcanismon exchanged perplexed looks.

The two walked off together, continuing to discuss their problem-solving ideas. Blackcanismon shook his head at their retreating forms. "Rather peculiar behavior from either one, judging from my previous observations."

Derek nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that was like night and day...I wonder where it came from?"

(==========)

(==========)

Did this one ever take a swerve. It started out so simple. A conflict between two towns, one that hates machines and one that hates non-machines. The obvious obstacles to resolution are there. It wasn't supposed to be complicated: fix the issues, fight a battle, move on. A simple enough conceptual skeleton.

It was trying to determine a suitable conflict that really started this whole mess. What could they be fighting over? And how can it be fixed? That's how I normally go about it - try to think of the conflict and resolution together; it helps keep me from writing myself into a corner. Then I remember Bytedramon; I conceived it a long time ago, for reasons unrelated to this work. Suddenly the conflict was inspired: they each want him to choose their side. From there it kind of spiraled out of control.

It's weird. I've had a general grand plan since well before I started posting this story. Some of the details weren't worked out, but in general I knew what was going to happen. Now I'm starting to wonder how much control I actually have; sometimes it seems like the story has a mind of its own, with all the changes I make leading to chapters and ideas I hadn't even dreamed of when I started writing it. How does this happen? Someone please tell me, I'd really like to be able to harness it.

(And yes, I know I'm mixing Japanese and English names. Just go with it.)

I've been having some trouble keeping up lately. Part of it is distractions - I've been exceptionally busy at work getting things together for a conference (which was where I was last week). And part of it is just having some difficulty with the writing. The next couple chapters have been tough to come up with ideas for, and I'm not sure about the writing of what I do have so far. In order to let things jell a bit and touch up what I have, I may take next week off for this story and put up instead a Pokémon one-shot I wrote a while back. I hate to keep skipping weeks for this when it's already been updating so slowly, but I have to recognize my own limitations as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some good consistent writing soon so that I don't leave this hanging as much.


	42. Chapter 41: By The Sea

Good holy crap, this one felt like it took FOREVER. And it's not even that long. I think I'm on my way out of a rough patch, though. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 41: By The Sea**

"You have any idea what's taking him so long?" Skydramon asked impatiently. He and Bolteaglemon were down in the lobby of the hotel, waiting for Burnreptimon, who was nowhere to be found despite his having set the time for their meeting.

"It's not like him to miss one of his own deadlines," Bolteaglemon said. "He probably has a good reason for it."

"It's just kind of irritating. You're supposed to show up on time, especially if it's your time."

"It just bugs you so much because Isaac does it so frequently."

"Hey, that's not the only reason!"

"But it's a big one."

"That's...that's not important!"

Bolteaglemon chuckled. "You're too easy. Oh, hey! There he is!" Burnreptimon was indeed coming down the stairs, a contemplative look on his face. He also was holding a small satchel of some sort, one that neither one of them had seen before. "Uh...hey, what's that?"

"I was hoping one of you two knew." He held the bag up in front of them. "I found this on my bed this morning. No notes, no explanations, I only found it because I rolled onto it. It's got a bunch of Power Fragments in it."

That got their attention, and they stared at the bag wide-eyed. "Power Fragments?" Skydramon said incredulously. "Those aren't easy to find! You think someone who stayed in that room before might have left it behind?

"Right, I always go to sleep without even looking at my bed. It wasn't there before, I assure you. Besides, I think it was left deliberately."

"Really?" Bolteaglemon asked. "That sounds kinda creepy...what makes you think that?"

"Well, for starters, there's a bunch of fragments, but they're all only five types. And they just so happen to be the types that correspond to the five of us, despite only three of us actually being in the city. I'm pretty sure this would be the coincidence of the century if it were just accidental."

"So someone here knows about us...and all of us, not just the ones in this city. Who could it be? We haven't met anyone all together..."

"Maybe Gallantmon knows something. It'd be a stretch, but right now that's the only thing I can think of."

"You sure it's not a trap?" Skydramon asked warily. "Someone planting fakes to try to screw with us or something?"

"Positive. I felt a bunch of the Fire Fragments. It's easy enough to make them look fake, but you can't replicate the power in them. Probably someone's idea of helping us, though I still have no clue who that might be. In any event, I think we should just be happy they weren't trying to kill us like so many others have."

"Agreed," Bolteaglemon said. "So, where to, then?"

Burnreptimon thought for a moment. "Well, if the leads won't come to us, maybe we should go where the leads all go. The networking headquarters in Ramaiya might give us something to go off of that we wouldn't get through the filters."

"What, do you think they're hiding things?"

"Not hiding so much as leaving out information that they can't confirm, or might be too vague to report. Look, I'm grasping at straws a bit, I know, but it's worth a shot. We haven't lost much if it doesn't pan out."

Bolteaglemon nodded. "I guess you're right. All right, I'm in favor."

Skydramon shrugged. "Hey, I don't really have any better ideas at this point, so whatever you think works for me."

"Glad to hear it. All right, let's blow this dump."

(==========)

Once they were well outside Allou, the three symbiotes split back up into their components for the first time in days. It was a rather unusual feeling for them to finally be divided again after their longest period of continuous merging since they'd first met up, but the oddness quickly passed and they were soon back to their old selves, chattering excitedly and feeling good about their progress as they made their way to their destination.

Where the next nasty surprise was lying in wait for them.

"Whaddaya mean we can't use the Transfer Point?"

"I told you, it's out of order," said a Hagurumon sitting in front of the Transfer Point while a Guardromon worked on the insides. "We just had to perform an emergency rescue for a guy who got spliced. He's lucky it was just a leg, otherwise he probably would have been dead before anyone could have reached him."

"Please tell me 'spliced' doesn't mean what I think it means," Skylar mumbled with a shudder.

"It does," the Guardromon said, looking up from his work momentarily. "And that's why we're here. It'll be several days before it's back online, and even then it won't be used until it's been safety-tested to ensure that it's fully functional."

"But what are we supposed to do?" Breezedramon protested. "We gotta be days away from the next closest Transfer Point!"

"Down here? More likely than not. Give me a moment, I'll try to access the map and tell you where the nearest one is." The Hagurumon hooked up to the computer and went silent.

"Great, just when we thought we were back on track," Shockavimon groaned. "It's gonna take us days to walk to the nearest point, and that's if we even find it without losing track of where we're going."

"I thought these things were all over the place," Reyn pointed out. "How far away can they be?"

"A few dozen miles at minimum, most likely. This isn't an area where they've installed all the ones they've had planned...the conflict with Emperius caused a lot of delays in a lot of areas, and sometimes they just put in a couple near the most populated areas and move on until things calm down. It's not so bad if you can get around quickly, but unfortunately, you guys can't fly."

"You could carry us," Salmandmon suggested.

"Uh-uh," Reyn countered instantly. "No way, I'd be freaking out."

"Aw, come on, it's not that bad."

"Nerves aside, we'd be sitting ducks in the air if we had you on our backs," Skylar said with a shake of his head. "If we got attacked it would put us in really hot water, and you know Emperius has to be hunting for us. Unfortunately, the slow route is most likely the safest."

"Well, that's just fantastic," Reyn sighed. "Guess we're going to have to put the kibosh on Ramaiya for the time being. Maybe we'll get lucky and stumble across the others, but the way things have been going I don't think luck is something I want to put too much stock in."

A whir from the Hagurumon drew their attention. "I have found two within similar distance from here. One is to the north, in the middle of the rocky lands. The other is to the west, not far off the southern coastline. It's a slightly longer distance, but it'll be a lot harder to miss, there's really not much in the way of landmarks for the first one."

"Even if it's a little closer, we could spend days out in the open trying to find it," Salmandmon said. "There's gotta be a couple towns or something along the coast. Let's go that way."

"All right. Just go all the way south until you reach the ocean, then just a straight shot west until you get past the red cliffs. Then head back north again. It'll probably be two or three days walking. You may want to try to get more specific directions from one of the towns on the seaside, I can only get a general impression from the map here."

"All right...thanks, Hagurumon." Reyn looked to the rest. "So...I guess we've got no reason to wait around here. Shall we?"

Iris nodded. "Please. The faster we go, the sooner we can get back on track."

(==========)

It was a very different experience from their previous travels in the digital world; rather than moving rapidly from once point to the next, they were forced to take a slow plodding course, requiring several hours just to get to their checkpoint. It wasn't an overly pleasant journey; the heat had decided to make its appearance, and without much in the way of shade there was little respite from the blazing sun. Said sun was well on its way through its downward arc before they spotted a port town off along the coastline.

"Gah, it's about goddamned time!" Skylar burst out as he confirmed the appearance of the town. "Maybe they'll have some kind of caravan or something, I'm getting sick of this already!"

"All right, easy there, buddy..." Reyn sighed. "Going nuts isn't gonna help anyone. Let's just get there, spend the night, and get back on our way, caravan or not. Maybe we'll be better prepared once we've had a rest and can stock up."

"He's right, though, this is boring!" Breezedramon moaned. "And hot! It's like a billion degrees out here!"

"I don't think it feels that bad," Salmandmon cracked.

"Not endearing yourself in the slightest, pal," Shockavimon grunted.

"You're the ones who didn't want to fly."

"Count me in among them," Reyn said with a shudder.

"Bah. Reyn, you're not making this easier."

"Sorry, Salmandmon. There's just something really uninviting about the idea of flying on one of their backs, no restraints or protection or anything."

"Tch, I need to get some daredevil in ya. Well, if that's what you want, I guess I can deal, but just remember, I was totally willing to take the fast route."

As they began to near the town, they stopped at a small shelter; it was a simple thing, just a spot to get some shade from the sun and heat, built of some kind of dried plant matter. They all wasted no time getting off their feet, except for Reyn, who remained standing and looking out at something, none of the others about to figure out what.

"Now if only there were more of these out there, maybe we could have stopped for a rest earlier!" Skylar moaned, holding his head. "What I wouldn't have given for some clouds..."

Iris shook her head. "Couldn't you have made some, Mister Weather Control Person?"

"...Er, yes, because that's exactly what I want to do, call attention to us when we're wide out in the open and completely vulnerable to attack. Capital idea, Iris."

"In other words, you forgot."

"Look, one of these days once I've had these capabilities for a while, the idea will come naturally to me. I'm still used to just having to take the weather as it comes, it'll take some time for me to be able to change that."

"Wait, you mean all this time we coulda had clouds and stuff to give us some shade?" Breezedramon yelped. "Sky! Come on!"

"Hey, I didn't hear you throwing out any ideas, goofball."

"You guys need to calm down," Salmandmon said, though despite his words he seemed to be quite enjoying the chatter. "Hey, Reyn, are you ever gonna take a load off, or am I gonna have to go out there and drag you in?"

"That's something, coming from you," Reyn jibed back. "You were the one pushing me to get more active in the first place!"

"That was before I found out all I had to do was keep merging with you and you'd do it naturally. Don't make me have to backtrack!"

"Chill. I just wanna scout ahead a bit, make sure the coast is clear." Reyn wandered further away from the shelter, trying to stay alert as possible. He wasn't sure if it was just a mirage or if he really had seen something moving nearby, but he wouldn't be satisfied until he had made sure the coast was clear, especially with the others as tired as they were. There still wasn't much in the immediate vicinity to hide behind, but a few rock formations were definitely capable enough of hiding something much larger than he was. He didn't want to get too far away, in case something decided to sneak up on the others while he was out, but he figured he'd probably be safe just checking out anything directly between them and the town.

Before he could even get to the nearest structure, though, he spotted something unusual in the ground in front of him. It was cleverly concealed by the rest of the terrain, dug out in such a way that it would be virtually impossible to see from anywhere more than a couple dozen yards in front of it. _A perfect hiding spot,_ Reyn thought grimly as he began to cautiously approach the hole.

"Hold it!"

Suddenly a rabbit-like creature jumped out of the hole, and before Reyn cold react it was in his way, trying to push him backwards. "I'm sorry! I have to stop you here! I can't let you get to Rectanius!"

"Whoa, hey, hold on a sec!" Reyn stumbled backwards, trying to put a little distance between himself and the digimon. It was a Lekismon, about his size and looking less hostile than nervous. "What's the deal? I'm not gonna cause any trouble!"

"Please, don't make this any more trouble than it has to be! I'm sorry, I don't mean to cause you trouble, but I have to keep you from getting any closer to Rectanius!"

"Rectanius? Is that that port town in front of us?"

"Yes, it is. Please, don't come any closer! Oh, no, more of you?"

Reyn could hear the others running up from behind, and guessed that was what Lekismon was referring to. Maybe having that advantage could get a little more out of the rabbit digimon. "Okay, calm down a moment, I'm completely confused here. What's going on?"

"I..." Lekismon definitely was put off by the arrival of the others, especially since they looked a lot more ready for an attack than Reyn did. "I'm sorry...it's for your good as well as ours. Please..."

"Reyn, what's going on?" Iris asked, sounding like she was about to jump into the fray. "Who is this? Is she trying to-"

Reyn put up a hand, cutting her off. "It's okay. We're just trying to sort something out. Lekismon, what's going on in Rectanius that we can't be there? Is there some sort of danger there?"

Lekismon nodded, still looking very nervous. "It's not safe for you! If you go there, they'll come after you?"

The group exchanged worried glances; they'd forgotten about the area's less than enthusiastic opinion of humans. "Is this place that hostile to humans?" Salmandmon ventured. "I mean, we can try to explain-"

"It's not that. Just...please, don't-"

"Well, what are we supposed to think when you won't even tell us?" Shockavimon cut in. "You sound like you're trying to hide something, and if that's what's going on, all you're doing is making us suspicious."

"I...I'm not trying to hide anything from you. It's...I just..."

"You're trying to hide something from someone else who you might not want to hear it?" Breezedramon asked. "Come on, there's no one else out here but us! Ya gotta just spit it out already!"

"Ah...I...okay, maybe...come here..." Lekismon looked around rapidly as the others came close, then dropped her voice low. "The people here don't really care one way or the other about humans as long as they aren't troublemakers. But there's a group there who's with that awful group Emperius! You must know about the Declaration of Purification!"

That got everyone's attention. "Emperius? They're stationed at Rectanius? Where?"

"I couldn't tell you, they're hiding out somewhere in the city and we don't exactly want to go looking for them. But they're bad news! They've threatened to cause a lot of trouble for us if we don't accommodate them!"

"What a funny coincidence," Shockavimon said darkly. "We've been trying to cause a lot of trouble for them. Too bad the others are gonna miss out on this one. Can you tell us more about them?"

Lekismon looked among them uncertainly. "Are you sure you want to do this? They're very dangerous..."

"Appreciate the concern, but we're better suited to this than most humans would be," Reyn reassured her. "Besides, beating these guys into the ground is why we're in this world in the first place. We couldn't just pass by without taking care of them here."

Lekismon looked amongst the group, almost as if trying to find someone protesting this course of action. But seeing the looks on their faces, she finally relented. "All right...I'll trust that you've made your own good judgments. You'll have to follow me, I'll try to take you in where you'll be least likely to be seen and bring you where they won't find you. You'll have to be careful and do your best not to draw any attention, though."

"We can manage that," Skylar said with a nod. "Lead the way."

(==========)

Their hideout turned out to be the basement of a restaurant in the middle of the city, though they didn't get there from the restaurant itself but from a tunnel underneath another building near the edge of the city. This meant they could travel above ground for only a very short amount of time, in order to maximize the chances of not being seen.

Once they were safely underground, they settled in and started to appraise the situation with Lekismon. Reyn and Salmandmon were a little late to the game, as they had decided to go upstairs and get some food. After several minutes, they returned with enough for everyone. "Chow's here. What'd we miss?"

"Not much," Shockavimon said before digging in. She managed to get out between bites, "Apparently there's about a dozen or so members of Emperius here. Causing trouble, threatening people, the usual."

"A dozen or so? That doesn't seem like much," Reyn replied. "We've faced down groups like that before, in less favorable situations."

"Yeh, that'th nuffin'-" Salmandmon had to pause to swallow before continuing. "-that's nothing, we've had plenty of experience with groups like that. This should be a cinch."

"Not if they're especially strong," countered Iris. "Maybe we shouldn't just jump in head-first. Anyway, Lekismon says they aren't quite the usual fare, either."

"How so?"

"While they've been here, we've been piecing together why they might be sticking around, rather than staying at their base," explained Lekismon. "And from the impression we've been getting, they aren't here just to cause trouble for us. They're here because it's a safe haven for them. They're almost a rogue division within Empierus."

"Rogue division? Someone actually broke away from Emperius?" Reyn shook his head. "And here I thought they were a lot more cohesive than that. If they're already fracturing that's only good for us."

"Well, it's not quite that simple. They haven't really broken away, but they're acting in defiance of their commander. Apparently, there's a certain subset within Emperius that thinks he's not the legitimate leader or something, that's not totally clear. But whatever the reason, they're not listening to him. The ones here want to use Rectanius as a kind of a hideout so they can plot his overthrow."

"Who's 'he' exactly?"

"I wish I could say. No one's telling."

"Typical," sighed Shockavimon. "It's like the best kept secret in Northern Tetraquaz, no one seems to know outside of Emperius. I don't think he's done a lot of leading from the front lines, so we can't identify him that way, either."

Salmandmon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, if only we had the manpower to get spies in there. I wonder why he's so secretive?"

"Well, you remember what happened to Craniummon. Maybe he thinks he's safeguarding himself by not revealing anything about his identity."

"Ah, yeah, true. And it probably is, I mean, how are you going to strike at the head if you can't even find it?"

"Craniummon?" Skylar asked.

"He was the head honcho of Emperius before he ate it in a huge battle. Dynasmon got to him. We knew Craniummon was in charge before, but he must have had someone waiting in the wings to take over if he got nailed...problem is, no one's been able to figure out who that's supposed to be."

"Huh...but if this group is so against him, why aren't they telling anything about him? I mean, you'd think that'd hurt his chances."

"But it could hurt Emperius altogether, too!" Breezedramon piped up. "If they're gonna go after the boss, they're probably not just gonna leave it at that! I mean, yeah, Libertius may not be strong enough at the moment, but who knows if someone else might want to try?"

"He might be actively keeping it secret, too," Lekismon added. "I've heard of ways to selectively silence people, or put in mental blocks to keep them from saying specific things that might be considered damaging. Someone desperate to keep their identity secret could go to those kinds of lengths, though if I was in Emperius I would be pretty outraged to find out something like that was done to me!"

"Wow, don't tell our world, there'd be no end to the number of people who'd want to get their hands on that kind of technology," Iris said.

"So what's our course of action here?" Skylar asked.

"Well, whether they're trying to screw with their leader or not, they're still members of Emperius and still have the same end goals, and they're definitely causing problems for the people here," Salmandmon said. "I think it's pretty clear, we're gonna have to kick them out."

"But we don't know where they're hiding," Lekismon said. "How are you going to find them?"

"No problem. They'd be on us in a heartbeat of their own volition. All we have to do is show up and draw them out."

"But...you could be killed!"

"Which is hardly any different from any other day we've been here so far," Reyn countered. "This isn't anything we haven't seen before, and we're better equipped to deal with it now than ever before. Maybe I don't want to tempt fate by saying it'll be a piece of cake, but if we aren't sloppy we should weather it fine."

There was a sudden thump from above, and a Guilmon poked his head through the door. "Sorry to bug you, but there's a rather nasty commotion outside, and I think it's our least favorite people. They keep saying someone saw the humans entering the town."

"Looks like it's a moot point now," Salmandmon said, hopping to his feet. "C'mon, let's go kick some Emperius ass!"

(==========)

The Emperius rogues were not a pretty bunch. Thirteen in all, the whole gang was crowded outside the door to the restaurant, headed by the Bastemon who was leering down at Burgemon threateningly. "I know they're here somewhere! We saw them come in, don't think you can hide them from us! Now tell me where they're hiding!"

"I-I-I-I don't know wh-what you're t-talking about!" Burgemon stammered, scared out of her wits.

"Insolent piece of crap! We let you live and this is how you repay us? I could end your life right here, and you still don't want to talk? Tell me where the tainted ones are, NOW!"

"All right, cool your jets, lady." A voice cut in from nearby, and instantly Bastemon and the rest of her troop turned to see Pyrekomodomon standing on top of one of the buildings, eyes burning. "You want us? You got us. But don't cry if you don't like what you get."

Bastemon didn't appear to care anything for the taunt. "You! You've been in our way for far too long! Now you're in for it!"

"That is such a tired and cliché line," the reptile responded without any trace of humor. "You know that unoriginal evil never wins, right?"

"Shut your trap! You act tough, but your blood is tainted with that of those pathetic humans! You will never be a match for a truly strong digimon!"

"Seems to me he's been a match for more than a few already." Another mass turn to see Thundergarudamon perched on a balcony. "As have the rest of us. Funny how you're supposedly all about strength until it comes in a package you don't like."

"You think we have to answer to you?" A GrapLeomon spoke up. "You're nothing! Just because you've gotten lucky a few times-"

From directly above them Stormdramon busted out in peals of laughter. "Aw, man, you guys are just too much! Lucky? You don't kick as much ass as we do just on luck! Face it, you guys have just been outmatched!"

"I can't believe they're mocking us like this!" An Astamon shouted angrily. "You won't be laughing once we're done with you!"

"I disagree! I think I'll be laughing just as hard!"

"I've had enough of this!" A Mummymon raised his weapon and pointed it at Stormdramon. "This is for Emperius and all who are truly strong! NecrophoooOOOAAAAGH!"

Mummymon was cut off as a whirlwind kicked up around him, wrapping him up and spinning him up into the air as the rest of the gang scattered to avoid being caught up. He was suddenly flung upwards, right into the path of Stormdramon, who let loose with a powerful kick that sent the unfortunate Mummymon in the direction of Pyrekomodomon. The reptile leapt off the roof, did a foreflip, and landed a flying heel drop right square on the mummy's body, sending him rocketing to the ground. He bounced once on impact before settling, knocked completely senseless.

Pyrekomodomon landed gently a second later, straightened up, and made a provoking 'come get me' gesture. "There's more where that came from, if you want it. Like I said, don't start crying if you get hurt."

"Argh! Get them!" Bastemon yelled. There was a flurry of activity as the gang split into groups to go after the symbiotes. Pyrekomodomon dashed off, leading his group away from the restaurant, and Stormdramon flew up high to draw most of the flying foes. Thundergarudamon, left with Bastemon, Astamon, and a BlackGargomon and a NeoDevimon, flew down off her perch and drew her spear. All four took aggressive stances as Bastemon glowered at her. "You'll pay for all the trouble you've caused!"

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing! Fury Bolt!" She discharged her lightning towards the group, forcing them to scatter. Astamon and BlackGargomon wasted no time opening fire, trying to gun down Thundergarudamon before she could do any damage, but she was savvy to their threat and took off into the air, looping around the bullets and dive-bombing Bastemon, putting her directly in the line of fire. Rather than put their comrade at risk, the two gunners ceased fire momentarily, giving Thundergarudamon time to focus on just the feline digimon in front of her. Bastemon lashed out with her claws, meeting with the avian's spear then trying to jump into a follow-up, only to be kicked away roughly.

"Static Shield!" She raised her electric shield as Astamon and BlackGargomon saw their chance to open fire again. Seeing the ineffectiveness of their attacks, the two bull-rushed her, trying to force her to drop the shield. She waited until the last moment then jumped into the air, letting the two predictably slam into each other and fall in a heap. "Tch...you'd think you'd be a little smarter than to fall for such an obvious trap."

"Shut up!" Bastemon had recovered and was making for her now, with NeoDevimon trying to come up behind her. She blocked NeoDevimon's slashing claws with her spear and unleashed a Fury Bolt towards Bastemon, the feline ducking and rolling away. She then turned and tossed a Lightning Bomb at NeoDevimon's chest, tossing him several feet backwards. Sensing Bastemon nearing, she then quickly vaulted herself into the air using her spear, going right over Bastemon as she dove with her claws outstretched. The feline faceplanted into the ground and quickly recovered, twisting to try another charge.

Thundergarudamon was ready this time. Her body crackled with electricity as she raced for Bastemon herself, eyes focused on the deadly claws. The moment she saw Bastemon's feet leave the ground she slowed, took aim, and leapt into her chest, avoiding the claws and unleashing her charge as she made contact. Bastemon yowled in pain as she went flipping head over heels and crashed into the ground. This time she was slow to rise, panting in pain and fatigue.

Astamon and BlackGargomon were both back on their feet and taking aim. This time they seemed to have wised up, Astamon playing gunner while BlackGargomon tried to move in for a physical blow. Thundergarudamon wasn't about to let them outflank her, though; she took off into the air, getting well up high before holding position with her Static Shield, not letting BlackGargomon get anywhere near her. She smirked as she saw Astamon's frustrated scowl, his gun once again falling silent as he went back on the defensive.

NeoDevimon came for her again, flapping his wings and unleashing a sallow cloud in her direction. She flew over it and landed behind him, slashing him three times before letting go with another Lightning Bomb. He was sent tumbling across the ground, also slow to rise. Seeing Astamon and BlackGargomon taking aim again, she let loose her Electron Web, shocking them and arresting their fire.

Bastemon had almost shaken off her blows, and Thundergarudamon knew she had to hurry if she wanted to get off her next attack. She drew on as much energy as she could muster, then leapt to the center of the improvised battlefield, situating herself so that there was an enemy in front, behind, and on each side. _Fortuitous positioning, in this case,_ she thought as she saw Bastemon readying herself for another assault. She fell forward, hands outstretched on the ground. "Thunder Cross!"

Instead of a concentrated beam, she let loose her gathered energy as an expanding wave in the shape of a cross, the force engulfing all four of her opponents. Bastemon, Astamon, and BlackGargomon were all badly battered by the coursing electricity, and as the assault came to an end she saw that NeoDevimon had been wiped out completely. _That leaves three...and in those states, they shouldn't put up too much more fuss._

Less fuss than even she expected, in fact; Astamon shakily got to his feet, but he wasn't firing. "This wasn't what I was expecting! I'm outta here!" And with that he took off down the road.

"I'm with ya!" BlackGargomon yelped, scrambling away as far as his legs could carry him.

"Deserters!" screeched Bastemon malevolently. She fired several curses at each retreating form, but as her eyes fell on Thundergarudamon, the reality of the situation sunk in to her. "You...this isn't over! I promise I'll make you pay for this humiliation!" And finally she too followed suit, skittering off in another direction and hurling more insults the avian's way as she disappeared.

"Well, that wasn't quite how I'd seen it ending..." Thundergarudamon shrugged. "Ah, well, whatever gets them out of here, I guess." She spread her wings and took off into the air, searching for where the others had gotten to.

She didn't have to look long, catching sight of a BlackVeedramon not too far away from her. He had let loose an attack at someone along the ground. Thundergarudamon expected this was Pyrekomodomon, and was validated only seconds later as a column of flame shot up and enveloped BlackVeedramon. The dragon roared as he was scorched, and tried to escape the harsh flames.

A moment later she saw Pyrekomodomon leap high into the air, catching BlackVeedramon by the neck. "Going down!" He pushed the dragon's head down as he propelled himself forward, then let loose a burst of heat that sent them both careening towards the ground. Thundergarudamon heard a sickening SPLAT as they made impact, followed soon by the dark dragon's data fluttering up into the air. She flew over to where they had landed, and indeed it was as unpleasant a sight as the sound had indicated; blood and other biological matter was strewn all over the road, and the amounts had her suspecting that it hadn't all been the latest victim. At least one had survived, though, if the escaping figure of GrapLeomon was anything to judge by. Pyrekomodomon was staring after him, his expression completely serious.

"You made kind of a mess, didn't you?" she remarked as she hovered nearby, not quite wanting to land due to the condition of the ground.

"Jealous?" If he was kidding around, he certainly wasn't making it obvious by his tone of voice.

"Wh...jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

Pyrekomodomon shrugged. "Hard to make that much of a statement with that little spear of yours."

Thundergarudamon stared at him for a moment, then shook her head quickly. "Whatever...just make sure no one innocent gets caught up in anything unpleasant while you're painting the town red, all right?"

Pyrekomodomon rolled his eyes. "Fine, _Mom_. I'm gonna make sure GrapLeomon is good and gone, whether that means dead or just out of town. Don't wait up." He sprinted off, leaving behind Thundergarudamon, who was just scratching her head. _Something about that seems...strange for some reason. Well, no point in worrying about it now._

"Ahahahahaha! You guys aren't even close to getting me outta the air!" She looked up overhead to see Stormdramon having the time of his life, whipping around three foes like they were standing still.

"Dammit, shut your trap, dragon!" Dinobeemon buzzed in endless irritation; Thundergarudamon had the feeling that Stormdramon had been toying with them for quite some time.

"Never! Now eat this!" Stormdramon drew his weapon at top speed and slashed wildly at the trio, nailing each of them at least once and almost knocking ShimaUnimon out of the air. "C'mon, you guys aren't even trying now!"

"He's frickin' insane!" Searchmon squealed.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Dinobeemon spotted Thundergarudamon flying up towards them and went instantly into panic mode. "Oh, crap, that bird's here! There's no way we can handle two of them!"

"Gah! Gangway!"

"Bastemon's on the run! I'm not stickin' around!"

All three were suddenly in a desperate race to get away. This apparently brought Stormdramon no end of glee, as he laughed and taunted their receding forms. "Rahahahahaha! See ya later, losers! Come on back when you feel like giving me more target practice!"

Thundergarudamon scowled at him. "Goddammit, Stormdramon, do you want them to come back and keep fighting?"

"Sure, why not? Those guys were pushovers! No way they're they cream of the Emperius crop, their commander probably had nothing to worry about in the first place!"

"Regardless, they've still caused more than enough trouble for everyone here. Let's not give them any reason to cause more trouble, okay?"

"Yeahyeahyeah! All right, victory celebration! Who's with me?" Stormdramon flung himself into a rapid dive, narrowly missing crashing into the side of a building as he dropped to the level of the skyline.

Thundergarudamon put a hand on her head. "I swear, sometimes it feels like I'm the only sane one here..."

(==========)

Iris opened her eyes. She hadn't quite fallen asleep, though the sounds of breathing (and in Breezedramon's case, a very strange kind of squeaking snoring) told her she was in the minority. It wasn't that the room was uncomfortable; they'd been given one of the best in town, a nice suite overlooking the sea, and completely complimentary thanks to their having sent Emperius packing. There was just something niggling at her, keeping her from being able to get to that state of rest she was looking for.

She took a quick glance around and realized that she wasn't the only one not in slumber; Reyn's bed was empty, and after a moment she saw that he was out on the balcony, staring over the ocean. Curious and slightly concerned, she slid out of bed and went to the balcony herself. Ryen's head turned as he heard her approach. "Oh...hey, Iris."

"Hey, Reyn...you're still up? Is everything all right?"

"Mm. Just having a little trouble sleeping...stuff on my mind."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Eh, it's...just kind of personal, kind of silly I guess."

"It can't be that silly if it's keeping you up."

Reyn chuckled quietly. "Never underestimate the power of silly things to keep eating at you. I'll be fine, I just need to...decompress for a bit, I guess."

"Well, okay..." She didn't like to hear that something was bothering him, and certainly was curious about what exactly it was that had him up and about instead of asleep, but she resisted the urge to overtly pry into it. "Well, if I can do anything to help, you know you can talk to me anytime."

"Yeah. Thanks, Iris. How are you holding up through all this?"

Iris thought for a moment. "I guess the only way I can put it is 'better than I would have thought a year ago.' I mean, how do you really prepare for this kind of thing?"

"I sure don't know. Man..." Reyn stared out over the sea, watching the stars above and below twinkle in time with each other. "The more I think about it, the more absurd it is. I mean, a bunch of kids like us, not only are we caught up in this unreal adventure, we're practically headlining it. Who could have imagined so much would hinge on a bunch of people not even out of junior high?"

"You mean aside from every RPG writer known to man?"

That got a laugh out of Reyn. "Okay, yeah, good point. I always did find it weird that so many of those people were so young. You'd think it would make more sense for it to be twenty-something adults. Or even thirty-something, you know, some old guys."

"They probably all said no. 'What? Go out and save the world? I have a day job! Those inns won't run themselves! Go ask those punk teenagers!'"

"I guess schools must have a pretty lax attendance policy in those worlds. Either that or they shut down just in time for the next great world-destroying evil to come around, like ours did."

"Or maybe you get a special exemption, like if you're sick for a long time. Makes me wonder who'd have to sign the note excusing that absence. Would be kind of awkward if you make some big speech to the evil whatever about how you're going to destroy him and all that and then ask him to sign some paper allowing you to retake all your tests once you get back. And of course they won't sign them, because that's the evil thing to do!"

Both were laughing pretty freely at this point, arresting further conversation along those lines. After a couple minutes they had composed themselves. "Phew...thanks, Iris, I needed that," Reyn said, sounding a lot more relaxed than he had before. "Nothing like a good laugh to help ease everything."

"Glad I could help. To be honest, I've kind of been worried sometimes...I mean, considering everything, I've been doing okay, but you, I guess it's because I'm not used to seeing you acting like you're in charge..."

"Can't say I find that surprising...before all this, I probably wouldn't have been. It's really kind of new to me...you think I'm doing all right?"

"Yeah, but, you know, are you okay with it? This is kind of a tall order for someone who's never been in that kind of position."

Reyn nodded. "I guess...to be honest, I don't feel like I usually have to do all that much. You guys seem to know what you're doing for the most part anyway. It's basically just simple organizational stuff for the most part. It's not like I've had to order you guys around." He chuckled. "Can you imagine that? Me giving orders like some high-strung drill sergeant?"

"That would go over great with the guys," Iris laughed. "I can just imagine Derek looking at you like you've lost your mind."

"Hey, if that happens, I probably will have. But don't worry, I don't plan on going crazy like that any time soon."

"Good to hear. I still can't help but worry at times, though, you know?"

"You're always worried about us. But that's what I like about you. You always care, even if you don't really know who you're caring about. I've always been familiar with that as long as I've known you, and you know how much it meant to me from the start."

"Yeah...I'm glad I was able to do something for you."

"Mm...you know, I don't know if I ever really appreciated how much that meant to me. After everything that had happened, it was like...a brand new experience for me, someone who was willing to listen and cared about my feelings even though they didn't know me from anyone. You really made my life a lot better, Iris. I'm really glad to have you as a friend."

"Aw...thanks, Reyn, I'm really glad to have you as a friend, too." She pulled Reyn into a soft embrace which he returned, and the two stayed together quietly for a minute, looking out over the sea, stowed away in a momentary refuge from the chaos of the world around them.

(==========)

(==========)

It's been a while since there's been a good battle against Emperius. I'll be throwing in another one in the next chapter (spoiler alert). Don't worry, before long, they'll be the focal point baddies again.

I know there's been a lot of sidetracking from the core plot lately. If it helps any, I do have an endgame in mind with all this sideline stuff. Looking back on it, I probably could have condensed some things, but right now I've got a path pretty well plotted out, and some writing already done for the path I have; changing it now would mean even more writing and not being able to use quite a bit of what I've already done, which would only drag it out more. And we certainly don't need any more of that than we already have!

I will be going out of town next weekend, and probably won't have time to finish the next chapter before then, but I've got another Pokémon short that I'll post before I leave, so if you're interested (or for some reason desperate to read something I wrote), that will be there for your enjoyment. The good news is that I've got my writing impetus back on track so after this I think I'll be able to get back to weekly, at least for a little while. Here's hoping!


	43. Chapter 42: Protectors

And we're back! Good to have you with us once again! Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 42: Protectors**

It was the earliest of early hours of the morning, yet the entire town of Pomezly was buzzing with activity. Various digimon, many of them armed with weapons not native to their kinds, were dashing to and fro, getting themselves organized for combat. Automated weapons were being set up along the walls, atop buildings, everywhere they could be placed.

"This is no freaking town, this is a fortress!" Cyberrexmon said in awe as he led Onyxvargmon, Shawujinmon, Mikemon, Sealsdramon, and Buraimon through the bustle. "No wonder Emperius has their crosshairs on this place, it's practically war-ready on its own!"

"I don't know about that...if it was, I doubt they would be asking for our assistance," Onyxvargmon countered.

"Oh, come on, you can never have enough back-up."

"He's got you there," Shawujinmon jumped in.

"Fair enough. Cyberrexmon, are you picking anything up on either of the Commanders?"

"Nothing so far, but that's hardly conclusive...if they are here, they don't want to be found, so they could easily be jamming signals. I kind of hope they aren't, this would be a really dangerous situation for them."

"I thought Gallantmon was your commander?" Sealsdramon wondered.

"Acting commander," explained Onyxvargmon, "after Dynasmon and Crusadermon were seriously injured in an attack. No one knew where they were sent,but there were rumors it was somewhere sympathetic. I had no idea this was what they might have meant by sympathetic, though."

"You didn't know about this place?"

"Not a clue. It was well known that Libertius had connections, but the details of those connections were always kept secret, only known by the very top of the leadership. Even being high up in the Elite Guard wasn't high enough. Gallantmon would be making a very contentious decision sending us here if Libertius wasn't in the state it is now."

They soon arrived in front of a very large and very well-fortified building, its color almost a perfect match for the pre-dawn sky. Cyberrexmon introduced the group to the guards and they were let in without much fuss, though the cyborg was well aware of the security systems tracking their every move.

They didn't have to go far inside to find the person in charge, a tall digimon with large wings covered entirely in light blue armor. He was busy giving direction to a small crowd of digimon who were listening raptly to his every word. They waited patiently as the crowd received their orders and dispersed, before Cyberrexmon stepped up and got the knight's attention. "UlforceVeedramon! We're here from Libertius, the reinforcement you requested!"

UlforceVeedramon turned to face them. "Here already? Well, your promptness is definitely appreciated. I hope you don't mind the early hour."

UlforceVeedramon stepped forward and bowed towards them. His eyes lingered on Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon as they returned the gesture.

"You must be the ones Gallantmon told me about. Incredible...had he not told me what you were, I would never be able to tell just by looking at you."

"That actually comes in handy over here," Onyxvargmon replied.

"I would imagine so. Have no fear of letting it be known around here, though. We are all your allies, and there's nothing we'd like better than to join you in bringing down Emperius once and for all."

"Good to know. You all certainly seem busy here. I guess that's not surprising, given that Gallantmon said there was an attack coming, but I'm impressed at how calm and orderly it is."

"Thank you. It isn't easy to establish such a well-oiled machine...I suppose it helps that we've all got a sense of camaraderie already, given our history with Libertius."

"I see...given what I knew before, I had just expected maybe a place that was siding with us. I guess the situation isn't quite as simple as that, is it?"

"Far from it." UlforceVeedramon began leading them through the halls to a quieter location. "For all intents and purposes, given the closeness of our relationship, we're basically an extension of Libertius. Unofficially, of course; it has served us well to not be overtly linked. A lot of us here were fighters for Libertius at one point. Some remain here due to lingering injuries, others came because combat was less suited to them, or because the stress of the battlefield laid into their combat ability. Whatever their reason, they're here to recuperate and to offer a measure of assistance beyond the battlefield."

"Why not just offer it at the Libertius compound?" asked Mikemon.

"Keeping the seriously injured in a more private location keeps them safer. We aren't the only ones in the league with Libertius, though I would say we are the most linked to them. Other locations have also taken up the mantle of keeping the injured and otherwise combat incapable. We don't know all the locations of the others, in order to keep the information hard to leak out, but it's just good to know we're not alone."

"Are they in any danger, then?" Shawujinmon asked. "If Emperius is going after you guys, what's stopping them from going after everyone else?"

"Well, they're only going after us because they know about us. And they only know about us because we haven't exactly been keeping quiet. You see, Pomezly's been in the process of developing technology to give Emperius fits, and even though Libertius was depleted, we stuck with our mission. We've launched a few covert operations through some of the mercenary bands, and driven Emperius out of locations where they've been trying to recruit or coerce the people to get them supplies. They've been sending us threats, telling us to back off, and I guess they decided to follow through on them."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Quite a variety...and in incredible quantities, too. I don't know what they're working on, but whatever it is they're going all out on it. That's what we built the Pomezly Cannon for - taking a shot at them if they come at us with something massive, be it mon or machine."

"Lots of information to take in...so what's the current situation?"

"Reports indicated a fairly small outfit coming our direction; they're about an hour out as of the most recent communiques. Numbers seem to be around fifty - no doubt they were hoping to get the jump on us by attacking in the early hours, otherwise they'd have brought more. I think they're still underestimating our capabilities."

"That wouldn't surprise me; Emperius is terrible about judging anyone else's ability relative to their own. It's one of the few things that's kept our fight alive even in these poor circumstances." Cyberrexmon paused for a moment. "You seem like you've got a pretty tight outfit here, why did you need the back-up?"

"We're better off than most, but you have to remember that we're still primarily composed of digimon who are either on the mend from injury or not at full fighting capacity for other reasons. They will defend themselves if it comes to it, but they would be at a significant disadvantage if they were to attempt a frontal assault. Automated weapons are only so useful, and if they had some way to get around them or disable them we would be in much worse shape. What we're hoping for from you is that you can delay their advance, possibly thin their numbers a bit, and keep their attention divided. The more time our weapons have to work, and the less fire they have to take themselves, the more likely we are to come through all right."

"Fair enough. What's your plan, then?"

"We'll be at the ready with our weapons and defensive mechanisms. We have a small fighting force with enough strength to put up a fight if they manage to get inside; if we can get them down to fifteen or twenty we should be able to be at least on even ground. Those who aren't part of that force will be armed enough to at least mount some defense, though we will do all we can to keep it from coming to that. As for how you six plan to approach the initial strike, I'll leave that up to you."

"Sounds good." Cyberrexmon turned to the rest of the group. "Should we convene for a battle plan, then?"

"No time like the present, especially if they're on their way," Shawujinmon said.

UlforceVeedramon nodded. "I'll leave you to your plans; I have to make sure things are in order here. Thank you, and best of luck to you!"

"We'll make sure we don't leave you too much mess to clean up," Onyxvargmon assured him.

(==========)

Within a couple minutes, the group had returned outside and were huddled together trying to settle their plan of attack, as well as themselves.

"Jeez, just us against fifty Emperius fighters? I'm not looking forward to that," Mikemon said. "That's gonna be a tall order."

"Actually, I'm pretty happy with this," Cyberrexmon stated. "We're in the best position we've been in in a long while. Usually it's either just us, or just us with maybe a small group against a huge one. Having a battery of weapons, a capable fighting force, and a smaller group of enemies really puts things much more in our favor than usual."

"This is a smaller group for you guys? Yeesh, I'd hate to be in your shoes."

"I believe our priority should be to deplete as quickly as possible," Buraimon offered. "Precision strikes against weak points. While it leaves others at full strength, it minimizes danger to ourselves and decreases numbers more quickly. If the weapons here are as strong as they appear, they should be able to handle even untouched enemies fairly well."

Onyxvargmon nodded in agreement. "That sounds like the best plan to me as well. Not only because of the numbers but because only one of us is really heavy firepower. We'll have to be fast on the draw, otherwise they're going to organize and try to overwhelm us individually."

"Heavy weapons...hey, Cyberrexmon, how heavy exactly can you get?" Sealsdramon asked.

"Hm? Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm thinking...I like Buraimon's strategy, but if we can nail them with something massive right off the bat, something that they're not ready for, we might be able to knock a bunch off right off the bat, and we'll probably leave the survivors in chaos, meaning they'll be less organized in their attack and more likely to be picked off either by us or Pomezly's weapons."

"Hm...you're right. I think I might be able to manage something like that. We'll have to move quickly once I set it up, though, because if we leave them too long they'll regroup, or retreat and come back with a larger force. And we definitely don't want to have to do this all over again with a bigger numbers disadvantage."

"I don't think speed is an issue for any of us, except maybe yourself," Shawujinmon snickered.

"Har-de-har. Well, if you're that confident, then I guess we should lay out a specific battle plan along those lines. Let's settle this quick, we've got a pretty strict time limit."

(==========)

Pomezly was almost within striking distance. The attack force could see it bustling with activity, preparing themselves for a speedy defense. "TigerVespamon, they appear to have foreknowledge of our arrival," an Andromon reported uncertainly.

"That's all right...they're in a state of disarray, they aren't ready for us. We'll be on them and have them overpowered in short order."

"Keep moving forward, hold off on the full charge until we can swarm them," Cannondramon ordered. "They'll never know what hit them. Kyukimon, are the troops prepared?"

Kyukimon raced up to Cannondramon's side. "Yes, sir. We're ready to launch a strike at any moment. All you need is to say the word."

"Excellent. It won't be long now. We don't want to give them too much time to prepare...we may begin our assault slightly farther out than expected, just to ensure that we have the element of surprise."

Suddenly, a Sabirdramon above let out a panicked squawk. "Missile! Missile! It's heading right for us!"

"What?" Suddenly the unit was in pandemonium, everyone trying to break off and get to safety. There wasn't nearly enough time, as the missile flew into them and unleashed a catastrophic explosion. In less than a second, a third of the attack force was obliterated, with most of the rest injured, shaken, and completely out of sorts.

"What the hell?" TigerVespamon cried out, emerging from the carnage mostly unscathed but seriously shaken. "What kind of weapon was that? Was that Pomezly? How didn't we catch it?"

"TigerVespamon!" Cannondramon roared out yet another alarm. "I'm getting strange readings on my sensors! Some of the tainted ones are here! That missile, that may have been-"

"-That cyborg!" As devastating as the attack had been, they couldn't pull out now. TigerVespamon made a quick decision. "Everyone! Ignore the welcoming committee, get past them and attack Pomezly directly! If you see the tainted ones, leave them, Cannondramon and I will engage them, you are not to throw away your lives on them! Destroying Pomezly is all that matters!"

There was no argument from the ranks, and quickly they went forth in a haphazard fashion, intent only on getting to the current bane of their existence.

(==========)

"I'd call that a resounding success!" Cyberrexmon roared eagerly as he witnessed the carnage from afar. "I got at least twelve, probably more!"

"And with plenty of others took hits, that's perfect!" Shawujinmon said. "Now's the time to make our move!"

"Right! I'll try to work over any flying guys that managed to make it out of the way, you all take care of the rest!"

The group charged forward, meeting the enemies head-on. Despite the effectiveness of the missile, there were still quite a large number left for them to deal with, but the lack of cohesion was giving them a defensive edge - the attackers weren't effectively able to take shots at them without communicating with their comrades.

Onyxvargmon quickly found himself in the unusual position of having to actually pursue opponents; they weren't coming after him, and in an unusual twist were actually avoiding him as much as they could. He'd only taken down a single one and most of the force was already past him. As he jumped over to confer with Cyberrexmon he could tell by the cyborg's expression that he was experiencing similar difficulty. "Aim a little off today?"

"They're doing everything they can to avoid my fire," Cyberrexmon growled. "This is ridiculous, I've never seen Emperius so unwilling to engage."

"Me neither. Though they don't seem to be hesitating so much on the others." Indeed, Shawujinmon and the other newcomers were facing much more active resistance, though the attackers didn't have much to show for it. And Pomezly's weapons had come alive for those that had gotten past, not wasting any time with the initial breakthrough. "Maybe our reputation precedes us."

"You might say that." Onyxvargmon and Cyberrexmon turned to see two digimon facing them down, both looking plenty angry and itching for a fight.

"Oh, and who might you be?" Onyxvargmon raised his swords and stared down the newcomers. "Another pair of nitwits who think the world of themselves?"

"I'm TigerVespamon! I'm here to take you down, tainted ones!"

"And I am Cannondramon. We're in charge of this operation...and it was going fine until you miserable bastards wrecked everything."

Onyxvargmon smirked as he faced down TigerVespamon, deciding to leave the larger Cannondramon for his compatriot. "Is that so? I guess we exist only to be a thorn in your side, then. If you're here for us, though, you probably should have brought better back-up, they chickened out on you pretty quickly."

"How dare you accuse them of being cowards! We ordered them not to engage you! Your power would make mincemeat of them too quickly, we would never get a chance to attack the city directly!"

"So you decided to take the fall instead? Aw, how touching. The softer side of a genocidal cult."

Meanwhile, Cannondramon and Cyberrexmon were also squaring off. "I didn't need any more reason to want to have your head, freak, but somehow you managed to make me want it that much more," Cannondramon snarled at Cyberrexmon. "No one told me there'd be freaking cruise missiles out here."

"Watch me not shed a tear," Cyberrexmon returned bluntly. "Maybe you and your kind shouldn't've gone and tried to attack us on our world. You ever heard the term 'awaken the sleeping giant?'"

"Don't take me for a fool. If this starts going badly, you might see such a demonstration on our end."

Cyberrexmon had no idea what kind of retort that was supposed to be, but he wasn't about to waste time finding out. "All right, then I guess I'm tempting fate. Now eat Tera Blaster!"

"Take my Dynamo Cannon!" The air was lit up with blaster fire as the two erupted in a shower of shots, each trying to overpower the other. Meanwhile, a much more delicate engagement was taking place between Onyxvargmon and TigerVespamon. The two were well-matched in speed and swordplay, and neither one was quick in getting an edge.

Onyxvargmon stayed more on the defensive at first, letting TigerVespamon unleash her fury on him with as much force as she could muster. He was quick to parry every blow, but it wasn't long before he realized he couldn't stay this way, as TigerVespamon was showing no signs of slowing down. Instead, he started trying to undercut the attacks, and get quick blows in through the swings. TigerVespamon was quick to catch on to his new strategy and adjusted accordingly, attempting to strike lower and make it more difficult for Onyxvargmon to find open space.

Onyxvargmon tried to adjust again, this time trying to drive to the outside and force TigerVespamon off-balance so he could get in a stronger blow. But it was once again quickly foreseen and prevented by the insectoid cyborg knight. This went on for a while, Onyxvargmon trying different strategies to get an edge and TigerVespamon swiftly countering them and trying to exhaust the canine's stamina.

Finally Onyxvargmon came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to win in a straight swordfight. _She's too skilled for me to outthink, and I'm gonna start lagging pretty quickly here...I don't like it, but I'm gonna have to try something else._ He formed a crude plan between slashes and then made a bold move, leaving TigerVespamon a brief opening to deliver a driving blow to knock him away. It was terrible swordplay, but that was the point to Onyxvargmon, and TigerVespamon finally played into his hand, hammering the blades and tossing him back and a little into the air. In a flash, he spun around in the air and let loose a Sable Ray, catching TigerVespamon in a bull rush, knocking her back in kind and disrupting her rhythm. In a brief moment, Onyxvargmon landed and zipped forward, just getting in in time to strike TigerVespamon before she could engage her defense again. He got in six quick blows before getting knocked back again, getting a breather as TigerVespamon needed a moment for recovery.

The battle was going much more smoothly for Cyberrexmon against Cannondramon. The larger cyborg dinosaur had the weaponry to match nearly anything and was heavily armored, but he had all the mobility of a brick, and it was not helping him at all against the more motile Cyberrexmon. He had been hit repeatedly with barrages of small missiles and blaster fire, enough that he was really starting to feel it, and try as he might, he was unable to move around quickly enough to keep his own fire focused in the direction of his constantly moving target. Cyberrexmon, for his part, was looking to disable Cannondramon's weapons so he would have time to unleash his Shredder Beam, which he knew would quickly finish this battle.

Cannondramon had had enough, though. "TigerVespamon, our siege is collapsing! We're not going to win here, we have to use Plan B!"

"Ngh...you're right, they weren't able to get through...I guess there's no choice." TigerVespamon lowered her swords and pulled a small device out. "You're an infuriatingly good match, dog, and it's a shame I won't be able to finish you directly. But we have our priorities...Pomezly can't be allowed to remain standing beyond this day, and if our forces couldn't do it, we'll have to do it ourselves!"

"Not a chance!" Onyxvargmon leapt forward, but slashed only empty air; TigerVespamon had hit a button on the device and disappeared, apparently taking Cannondramon with her. Cyberrexmon ceased fire as it clearly became useless.

"Well, damn...I wanted to break out my machine breaker on that guy. Where'd they go? I can't see them on my sensors, they can't have just gone invisible."

"They may have gone back to Emperius," Onyxvargmon sighed in frustration. "Hrmph, maybe they were just making empty threats...though Emperius is known for at least trying to back them up. Still, they couldn't get through with that many, and if they come back with more Pomezly will be able to get reinforcements. How do they think they're going to take it down before the day ends? They probably just wanted to get out of here with their own hides."

"Maybe...I dunno, though, they didn't sound like they were leaving just to prepare more troops."

"Maybe not, but-" Onyxvargmon was cut off by a powerful tremor that nearly knocked him off his feet. "Whoa! What the hell?"

"Onyxvargmon! Something's coming up from the ground!" Cyberrexmon pointed in front of them; about a mile off or so, a structure was indeed rising up from a large crack in the earth. They could do nothing but watch as it rose...and rose...and rose...

"Mother of night..." Onyxvargmon gasped. "It's...I've never seen anything that large."

"That thing..." Cyberrexmon took a couple steps backwards as the recollection came to him. "No...it can't be...damn, that's what he meant by the sleeping giant?"

Onyxvargmon looked over at his partner. "Please tell me this horrible feeling I'm getting that you've seen this before is wrong."

"It's that titan robot from Mechalopolis! A nasty creep called Raidenmon had been building it in order to wage war against the rest of the world, and it went active after I tore him up. How the hell did they manage to repair it and commandeer it so quickly...?"

"You mean to tell me you already destroyed this thing once?"

"Well, not destroyed entirely, but I thought I did a hell of a lot of damage to it. Enough to stop it in its tracks, at least!"

"So do it again!"

"I can't! It has defensive shielding, my shots don't do jack to it! Last time, I took it out with my cruise missile! I already used that, you saw, and it'll be at least a few hours before I can generate another one!"

Onyxvargmon looked like he was about to have a fit. "Damn it all! We have to stop this thing somehow, otherwise it's going to wreck the whole city!"

"We've got to let UlforceVeedramon know about this! Come on, let's hurry!"

"Will we have time?"

"It's not exactly a speed demon, but those cannons on its arms could cause a lot of damage well before it gets there! Our only chance is to run like the dickens!"

"Then I hope you don't mind if I outstrip you!"

"That's fine, just get to UlforceVeedramon!"

The two tore off towards the city, Onyxvargmon predictably leaving Cyberrexmon in the dust. The canid was making good time, slowed only every time he glanced back to mark the progress of the giant machine. Cyberrexmon had been right about it being slow, but those arms with those deadly cannons were rising up to aim at Pomezly, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Just as he was about a hundred yards from the city walls, he heard them fire. Massive bursts of energy blew through the air, zeroing in on Pomezly with a vengeance. Onyxvargmon threw himself to the ground and covered his head, bracing himself for the impacts. They came, but not with the explosive destruction he expected; instead, he heard them impact on something that let out a loud electrical crackle when they hit.

_Defensive shielding!_ In the rush, he had forgotten how capable Pomezly was. _But even that won't hold for long under that kind of assault, they'd better have something else up their sleeves!_

He raced into the town, and quickly found himself stonewalled by a Knightmon. "No access beyond this point! We're in critical emergency mode!"

"What? I have to see UlforceVeedramon-"

"Up to the command port, then." Knightmon pointed to a capsule raised up on a platform over on the west wall. Without wasting a moment, he leapt up onto the rooftops and jumped over to the capsule, screeching to a halt just long enough for UlforceVeedramon to open it up and let him in.

"That thing got to you, huh?" It was said in such an even tone that for a moment Onyxvargmon wondered if he hadn't been tricked somehow.

"It's...absolutely massive! And it has protective shielding! Cyberrexmon took it on once, it took his cruise missile to stop it! And he can't use it now, he spent it taking out the initial wave-"

UlforceVeedramon raised a hand. "Please calm down. This is certainly a serious threat, but we have spent a long time preparing for serious threats." He leaned over and brought a microphone to his mouth. "All is clear. Raise the cannon!"

Onyxvargmon turned and watched as the ground in the center of the city opened up, and a large, black obelisk began to emerge from the opening. There was some kind of large crystalline sphere structure not far from the top of the spire, glittering brightly in the darkness.

_That's right...he mentioned a cannon earlier. But this thing...pretty as it looks, it doesn't look like it has even remotely the firepower to take down that behemoth..._

"Charge to full power! It's got shielding, we're not going to take any chances!" On cue, the orb began to glow brightly, little wisps of light flashing like they were being drawn inside. The shine lit up the buildings around, almost making it seem like they were in full daylight. Onyxvargmon was once again simply a bystander, staring wide-eyed at the obelisk.

"We're at maximum power!" a voice came through to the capsule. "Our target is locked! Thing that big and slow, it wasn't difficult!"

"Excellent! Fire at will!"

Onyxvargmon jumped as a vivid, pulsating beam screamed through the air, shining blindingly bright. The world itself seemed to glow for an instant as the raw power of the beam made its presence known; he thought he could feel it even through the capsule.

It took less than a second for the beam to make impact on the mechanical menace, blowing through its body like it was made of tissue paper, the defensive shielding so resistant to Cyberrexmon's attacks folding easily under the incomparable energy of the beam. The body took on its own bright glow as it absorbed some of the energy, and in just a few short seconds more, numerous critical internal components failed catastrophically, sending a series of explosions through the robot within the hull. The last of these was a titanic blast that Onyxvargmon knew had to be some kind of power reactor; the size was enough to finally reduce the monstrosity to shrapnel.

The sounds of cheering and whooping rose up from outside the capsule. Onyxvargmon, in contrast, found himself in a state he was quite unfamiliar with: speechlessness.

(==========)

"Ho-lee _crap_."

By the time Cyberrexmon got back, Onyxvargmon and UlforceVeedramon had left the capsule and were back on the ground to meet him. He seemed to be almost in a dazed state as he approached them.

"Okay...I know you guys said you had a cannon...but when you said that, I thought that you meant...well, you know, a _cannon_ cannon. I was not expecting to see a freaking wave motion gun!"

UlforceVeedramon snickered. "You like?"

"Do I like? Does a Numemon stink?"

"I think that makes two of you. It took a couple minutes just to get your friend to say two words."

"I'm certainly almost never at a loss like that," Onyxvargmon said with a shake of his head. "But that...that was something else. No wonder Emperius is so concerned about you, I don't know if I can imagine anything capable of standing up to something like that!"

"Well, that's why we made it. And that's why we wanted to make sure we had more help defending the city. Can you imagine if Emperius got their hands on a weapon like that? We have so many safeguards in place to make it incredibly difficult to activate without certain procedures in place, but it would be foolish to take the risk of even letting them get that close in the first place. Thanks to your help, we were able to keep them out."

"Definitely glad to help!" Cyberrexmon said. "Man, you guys are really something. Looking at how things stand, I would have thought we'd be the ones asking for assistance!"

"Well, don't count out the possibility. Next time Emperius rears their ugly head, we'll be ready for the call to offer whatever help we can."

"Thanks, man. I'll make sure to remember that."

(==========)

Just outside the city walls, the gang of six were on their way to the Transfer Point back to Libertius headquarters. The ground was littered with shrapnel from the mechanical monster for a solid half-mile radius, if not more, and all of them could only remain in awe of the spectacle.

"That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life!" Mikemon in particular seemed to be unceasingly enamored of the cannon. "I'm so going to join them sometime, just so I might have a chance to see it again! Wow!"

"When that robot came up, I was petrified..." Sealsdramon said with a shake of his head. "The last thing I would have expected to happen was it be strewn all over the place like that."

"I could say the same thing, and I've stared it down once already," Onyxvargmon agreed. "That's like a robot straight out of my nightmares. If I never have to fight anything that big again it'll be too soon."

"Everything went well in the end, huh?" Shawujinmon remarked. "Pomezly didn't get too badly hit, we took out a good battalion of Emperius, and they're down one huge weapon from their arsenal. I'd say we ended up with a win there!"

"That's always preferable to the alternative," Onyxvargmon chuckled. "And it's good to know we have an ally like that at our backs...I would have liked to give the commanders an update, but I guess that'll have to wait a while."

"I'm sure someone's keeping them up to date. So let's just keep focused on our current challenges." Cyberrexmon took a long look back at Pomezly, feeling a sense of ease he hadn't felt in a long time. _It's not easy feeling like it's just you against the world...but maybe there's more at our backs than we thought. Maybe it'll be enough to even the odds..._

(==========)

(==========)

This one's kind of a shortie, but honestly it feels more complete to me than some of the larger ones I've written. The coming ones will probably be longer anyway, so let's call this a midday snack.

I didn't like how I originally conceived of this chapter, but it ended up going a lot better once I got an idea of what Pomezly could actually be. When it was basically Generic Location #82452938, it was a lot harder to think of something to do with it, but filling in some details made the ideas come a lot more easily. Hopefully I'll be able to see similar results with future chapters.

...Damn, this story is over a year old. It's hard for me to believe. I plan to have it wrapped up well before it gets to the two-year mark, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans. I'm just going to try to keep up with it as best I can, and hopefully keep people entertained for a while yet. I hope you guys still like it, and I'll keep trying to do my best!


	44. Chapter 43: Sky Of Rage Part 1

Before getting to the story, just a reminder to all of those out there from the US of A: Take a moment this weekend to honor the memory of those who have given their lives in service of our country. Especially if they are part of your family. Write a letter, call, e-mail, let them know you're thinking of them.

Anyway, on to the chapter. And it's the start of a two-parter! How about that. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 43: Sky Of Rage, Part 1**

The new day brought yet more walking for the fire, thunder, and wind duos as they made their trek along the base of the cliffs. The heat, as with the previous day, was causing them plenty of stress, though Skylar managed to slightly mitigate it by creating some clouds every now and then to cut down on the direct sunlight without drawing too much attention to them. However, that did nothing to curtail the stress of the long walks, the lack of knowledge about the fates of their companions, and nervousness at the prospect of being ambushed.

And Breezedramon, as usual, was getting bored. "Are we there yet?"

"For the hundredth time, Breezedramon, NO," Shockavimon groaned tiredly. "And I swear, if you ask again I'm gonna jolt you into next week."

"Then I should ask again, maybe by next week we'll be there."

"At this rate someone's gonna kill someone else by the time we get to the Transfer Point," Reyn remarked. "I'm tempted to just have us all merge and get on with it, exhaustion be damned."

"We still need to ask around for guidance to the Transfer Point, remember," Iris reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe we should just have one of us scout around for it-"

"No! I don't want us to be separated again! We've spent enough time searching for each other as it is! And I especially don't want to leave anyone on their own again as long as I can help it!"

"All right, all right, you win."

They continued on in relative silence for some time, no one wanting to say anything that would rile up someone else. _Talk about testing friendships. No wonder trips to the wild are such good team-building exercises...if you can stand to look at who you work with after one of those you can surely survive dealing with them at the office,_ Reyn pathed idly to Salmandmon.

_This is what it was like for smaller digimon long ago. Transfer Points have spoiled us. I know I'm capable of handling myself on a trek like this, but some of my old comrades...well, let's just say they were awfully lazy for freedom fighters._

_And Breezedramon?_

_Did you ever have to take a road trip with your younger siblings?_

_Say no more._

And then, without warning, Breezedramon landed and said the last thing anyone expected. "Uh, hey, guys...can we take a bit of a detour?"

The rest of them stopped dead and either stared or glared at Breezedramon. "Excuse me? Mr. 'Are We There Yet' wants to stop and take a little side trip?" Shockavimon spat irritably.

"I know, I know, I just...well..." Breezedramon hesitated, looking up the cliffs they were walking beside. "I kinda want to go up to that place in the cliffs."

"Gah! Were you even listening to that guy at the Transfer Point? He said there was trouble up there! It's already bad enough that we keep ending up in places where trouble wants to find us, we don't have to go looking for it ourselves!"

"But that's why I want to go up there! That's Pinion Peak, I used to live there! I'm worried about everyone up there! Even if...well, I'm worried about them!"

Skylar's eyes lit up in recognition. "So that's the place...are you really sure you want to go back right now?"

Breezedramon nodded. "It's been a long time, and I guess I feel like I should. Plus, if there's trouble, I don't want to just leave it!"

"Hold up just a moment, I am not going to climb that entire thing," Reyn interjected. "It's hard enough walking on relatively flat ground, that kind of ascent is way beyond what I can handle at this point."

"You don't have to climb all the way! A little ways up there's some platforms that can bring you up most of the way. But if you guys don't wanna come, you don't have to, we're fast enough merged that we can catch up to you-"

"Agh, how many times do I have to tell you guys I don't want to split up if we can avoid it?" Iris interrupted. She then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Look, I think we all need a break. We're not gonna get very far at each other's throats like we are now. I think the detour's worth it."

"Isaac and Derek are gonna be pissed off," Reyn sighed. "But they're who knows where and can't hurt us. All right, you talked me into it. Let's get going."

(==========)

True to Breezedramon's word, they found a set of fairly large platforms on a plateau not far up the cliffs. Two of the strange, glowing blue rock panels were enough to hold all six of them. "Uh...what makes these things go up?" Reyn asked uncertainly as he stepped onto the platform, the last one to do so.

"Whirlwinds!"

"What?" Reyn had no time to get an answer as the platform started rising. Sure enough, he could see, under the one holding Skylar, Iris, and Breezedramon, that there was a spinning vortex of wind pushing them upwards. The block itself didn't spin a bit, a fact which nearly everyone was very thankful for.

After a good two minutes of rising, the platforms halted at the edge of an obvious path. They could see the village in question not too far off. "Well, that was definitely better than trying to get up on foot," Salmandmon said. "Glad I'm not bothered by heights, though."

"Wish I could say the same," Reyn said nervously. He wasn't exactly an acrophobe, but he certainly didn't feel very comfortable as far up as he was.

"Most of the village doesn't really hang over any cliffs, so you won't have to worry about falling and stuff," Breezedramon explained. "There's some caves on both sides of the cliffs, but we probably won't have to go any of those places, and they're not really part of the village anyway."

"That's a comforting thought," Reyn said very sincerely.

"I hate to break it to all of you, but that place looks kinda like a ghost town," Shockavimon said, looking into the distance at the village. "I don't see much of anything going on."

"Oroetem looked like that when I got there, too," Skylar said. "They may be scared of something, and shut up in their houses. We might as well take a closer look."

They made their way towards the village, keeping their eyes open for any signs of life. They came across nothing on the path as they approached, and they were greeted similarly upon their entrance. After knocking on a few doors and getting no responses whatsoever, Shockavimon's assessment was proving to be depressingly accurate.

"Jeez, this place is quieter than Datacarnomon on mute," Salmandmon quipped after looking inside a building window. "I don't see anyone. Just a whole lotta statues."

"You're not kidding about the statues," Reyn replied, taking a close look at one of them. "They must have had a decoration fetish or something. Whoever was the designer was pretty damn good, though. They look pretty realistic."

"Pretty realistic? I'd have mistaken them for the real thing if they were in color. Pretty expressive too, almost like they're in pain or something." Skylar leaned in close to the arm of one of the statues. "Man, this one's even got a scar on it. You don't usually get that kind of detail. Must be a really good statue maker."

"Wait! A scar? What's it like?"

Skylar looked down at the suddenly agitated Breezedramon. "Huh? It's a scar. It's kinda jagged, and twists inward near the elbow-"

"Oh no! It can't be! That's...that's Karatenmon!"

Iris looked at the statue in question. "Well, it certainly looks like one-"

"No, no, that IS Karatenmon! No one here makes statues! He's...he's one of the people who lives here!"

"Wait, wait, you're saying he's been petrified?" Salmandmon shouted.

"It has to be! And...and that's Halsemon!" Breezedramon pointed to a quadrupedal avian creature not too far away. "He's been petrified too! All of these guys must be people who were petrified!"

Breezedramon started whipping around, gasping and crying out in horror whenever he saw someone he recognized. Reyn facepalmed and sighed in aggravation. "We picked a hell of a place to detour..."

"It just never ends!" Salmandmon snapped angrily. "It's like everywhere we go it's all gone to pot! Is it too much to ask for a quiet little place to get our bearings?"

"I doubt a Kokatorimon could have gone rogue and stoned all these guys before being brought down," Shockavimon muttered as she looked around. "We should figure out what caused it before we become the next victims."

"That's a good idea, but I'm not sure how to even go about doing that," said Iris. "Doesn't look like we can ask anyone around here."

Skylar thought for a moment. "I've got an idea. Breezedramon said there were caves in the cliffs, right? Maybe someone took refuge in there. We could try exploring those."

"Brilliant, Sky. Anything that won't get us killed?"

"Har har. By 'we' I meant Breezedramon and Shockavimon, at least initially. We can take if from there if we have any success."

"I'm up for that," Shockavimon said, "but you'll probably have to shore up our little blue buddy before he can do anything." Breezedramon was a wreck by that point, barely containing sobs as he sat in front of one of his old friends, who just stared lifelessly into space.

Skylar knelt by Breezedramon. "You okay?"

"I-I-I just can't...th-this is h-horrible!"

"Hey, we've gotta figure out who did this so we can stop it and reverse it. We need you and Shockavimon to check out the cliffs, see if anyone decided to hide in there and get away from whatever did this, okay?"

"O...(sniff)...kay." Breezedramon swallowed hard and wiped his eye. "Yeah...yeah, I can do that. I can't just sit here."

"That's the spirit, buddy. Let's get cracking."

Breezedramon nodded and took off into the air, flying over the ledge several yards away from the houses, Shockavimon on his trail. Skylar sighed and shook his head. "I sure hope they find something. Breezedramon's gonna take it really badly if they don't."

"Jeez, no question. I can hardly imagine coming back from a place I used to live only to find out everyone'd been turned to statues," Reyn mumbled.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen back home," Iris said with a shudder.

"Great, now that's all I'll be able to think about-"

"Guys! Hey!" Breezedramon and Shockavimon swooped back up in view, clearly excited about something. "We've got something!"

"That was fast," Salmandmon remarked. "Not that I'm complaining."

The six reconnoitered close to the ledge. "There's one of those whirlwind platforms down at the opening of one of the cliffs," Shockavimon explained. "Chances are that someone's down there. Maybe they'll know what happened."

"That's great, but how do all of us get down there?" asked Reyn. "You guys can merge, but all that'd do for us is make one less smear on the ground."

"Ew! Reyn!" Iris shouted.

"Sorry, but it's the truth!"

"There are more of those platforms over there!" Breezedramon said, pointing to a spot a short ways away. There were several of the blue blocks, though unlike the other ones they were not glowing.

"Those look broken."

"Nah, they're just not active! All you need to make them active is someone who can control wind, like me and Sky!"

Skylar looked at Reyn. "It's better than nothing...you trust me enough to ride one of those things with me?"

Reyn nodded. "Of course I do."

"Excellent. Breezedramon, can you show me the ropes quick?"

Skylar and Breezedramon walked over to the platforms and got on top of one. Skylar grasped the concept pretty quickly, and found that it wasn't terribly complicated. He also learned rather quickly that up and down were not the only ways the platform could move, and in just a few minutes he had it maneuvered right in front of the others. "Hey, guys, air taxi's here."

"Just so long as you don't charge by the mile," Reyn cracked as he stepped up, then helped Iris and Salmandmon on. Breezedramon and Shockavimon guided Skylar down to the mouth of the cavern they had spotted, where they saw another one of the inactive platforms.

"Most of those creatures up there looked like they could fly," Iris pointed out as they disembarked into the opening. "Are we sure this isn't some hapless visitor like us?"

"They'd need someone wind-aligned to use it," Skylar responded.

"Well, we'll probably find out soon," Shockavimon said as she squinted into the cave. "Gets dark in there pretty quickly. We might have our work cut out for us."

"No problemo. I'll handle that." Reyn created a fireball and held it up in midair in front of them. "Bingo. Natural light."

"Nothing natural about that, pal," Skylar chuckled.

"Bah, details."

"Can we get going already?" Iris snapped.

The six began making their way deeper into the cave. The walls were bare, nondescript rock, offering them no hints as to what, if anything, might be residing inside. They stayed quiet, all eyes and ears trained on the danger of an ambush, but there didn't appear to be anything in there except themselves.

Until they came to a fork in the path. "Well, this is tough. Which way now?" asked Reyn.

"Wait a second. Reyn, kill the light a moment."

Not sure what Shockavimon was getting at, Reyn doused his fireball. It got darker, but they could all very clearly see that there was some soft light coming from the right bend in the fork. "Whoo, good eye, Shockavimon!" Salmandmon complimented.

"Thanks. Let's see what's down there."

Quietly they crept down the right bend. They didn't have to go far to find the source of the light: a small orb mounted in a stand in the chamber at the end of the bend. As they got to the mouth of the chamber, they saw that someone had furnished it with a few token amenities - a small table, a rug on the ground, a small fire-pit, and a small thatch bed near the wall. Which happened to hold what probably was that someone.

"That...that's Falcomon!" Breezedramon said, a little too loudly. The noise startled the sleeper out of slumber, and he sat up quickly, eyeing the newcomers. Even in the dim light, he seemed to recognize Breezedramon almost instantly. His eyes went wide.

"B...Breezedramon?"

"Uh..." Breezedramon lowered his head and shrank back a bit. "I...uh..."

"BREEZEDRAMON!" Falcomon rocketed out of the bed towards Breezedramon. Before the dragon could react, the bird glomped him, sending them both skidding across the ground. He gacked as Falcomon clenched to him tightly, sobbing loudly.

"I sh-shouldn't have said anything! I'm sorry! Please don't hate me anymore!"

Skylar rubbed his head as he watched Breezedramon try to disentangle himself from Falcomon's death grip. "Well...that was not the reunion I envisioned."

"Could you clue the rest of us in?" Salmandmon asked.

"Maybe it's better if they do it."

"Falcomon!" Breezedramon finally managed to gasp out. "I'll-ACK!-forgive you if you let me get some air! Augh, you're worse than Benny!"

Falcomon finally loosened up a bit, allowing Breezedramon to get upright. The avian was still a quivering wreck, clinging to Breezedramon loosely and begging for forgiveness. Breezedramon looked up at the others. "Uh, could you guys give us a moment?"

(==========)

"You've been living down here since I left?" Breezedramon said incredulously. "Why?"

Falcomon sniffed. "B-because...because I made you leave! Everyone was so angry at me, and I was so angry at myself, and I...I just didn't feel like I deserved any more!"

"Why would everyone be angry that I left? They all said I was pissing them off because I didn't take them seriously! I thought that's how you felt!"

"I...I'm sorry! I-I didn't...I didn't mean it! I didn't mean to yell at you! You were just trying to make me feel better, you didn't deserve it! I was just so sad and I said stuff I didn't mean and oh please forgive me!"

"Jeez, calm down, I forgive you already! But everyone else said the same thing to me, why would they feel different?"

"E-everyone said...they said that even if you didn't take them seriously, you were always there and you always tried to make them feel happy and stuff...when you left they were so sad! And they were angry at me because I was the one who started it by making you feel bad...they didn't want to make you leave!"

"Well, they coulda frickin' said something! They all made me feel like they didn't want me around and stuff! I mean, none of them ever said 'Oh, Breezedramon, I don't like how you're tactless and inaperapropriast and all, but I like you anyway!' They shouldn't have blamed you for all of it!"

"Bu-but it w-was my fault! I yelled at you and-"

"And you were right to," Breezedramon interrupted. "I shouldn't have been acting how I did."

"N-no, I was-" But Breezedramon put his hand before Falcomon could continue.

"I was doing what I thought would help, but I wasn't paying the right attention to how you were feeling. What I was doing was wrong and only making things worse at the time. It's no wonder you didn't think I cared, I didn't act like I did. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you...if I hadn't behaved that way, none of this would have happened. This wasn't your fault, it was mine, and...why are you still crying?"

"E-everyone s-said this would h-happen! Th-they said you ch-change and w-wouldn't be happy anymore b-because we all m-made you feel sad! They didn't w-want you to d-do that!"

"Oh, Falcomon..." Breezedramon pulled Falcomon in and let the avian digimon sob on his shoulders. "I haven't changed that much. I'm still the same...ah..."

"Goofball," five voices said in unison.

Breezedramon let out a strained sigh. "Fine. I'm still the same goofball you always knew. I'm just a little better at expressing myself now. And I learned a lot from what happened. I was hurting everyone doing what I did, and I know how to not do that anymore. So, yeah, you don't have to beat yourself up over it anymore. Okay?"

Falcomon nodded and whispered, "...Thank you..."

They let go of each other after a minute, Falcomon finally fully composing himself for the first time since waking up. In half a flash, the others were back in the mouth of the chamber. "So, you two get everything straightened out?" Shockavimon asked.

Breezedramon folded his arms and glared at all of them. "You guys are _so_ rude!"

"Hey, you said give us a minute, you didn't say anything about eavesdropping," Salmandmon replied, unable to keep a grin from surfacing.

"It's called common courtesy! I wouldn't do that to you guys!"

"As refreshing as some comedic interplay might be at the moment, I think we have to get down to some actual business," Skylar said. "Remember why we came down here in the first place."

"Oh, yeah, right. Falcomon...do you know anything about why everyone was turned into a statue up top?"

Falcomon nodded sullenly. "It's horrible...no one expected it, and no one knew how to fight it off. I'll tell you what happened. I'm guessing all you guys know about Emperius?"

"They're the reason we're all here," Reyn said as he took a seat on the floor of the chamber. The others soon followed suit.

"We're pretty removed from everyone else up here on Pinion Peak, but our village leaders were still worried that they might try to come after us. When Emperius started getting stronger, they called upon Ornismon, a great bird digimon, to help guard the village. He agreed to do so for a small tribute. It worked out well for a long time, but a few months ago...everything changed. Ornismon started acting strange. His behavior became more erratic, he was out and about way more than he used to be and he didn't seem to really be going anywhere. When we tried talking to him, he wasn't making very much sense. And then, one day, he just started flying around, screeching at everyone, and dropping some weird dust on the village. When it fell on people, it turned them to stone. He still flies out sometimes, trying to catch anyone who got away before...I don't know if there's anyone left anymore, I haven't been up there in weeks."

"Being down here meant you didn't get exposed to whatever happened to everyone else," Shockavimon surmised. "Makes sense. But why the platform?"

"Last time I was up, someone said Ornismon was coming. I hurt myself trying to get away and couldn't fly, so I had to use one of the whirlwind platforms. I just barely got away from the village before he started dusting it again."

"Dusting it...how the hell does dust turn something to stone?" Reyn mumbled. "Makes absolutely no sense."

"Neither does staring at something to turn it to stone, but Kokatorimon does it routinely," Salmandmon pointed out. "Our world works just a tiny bit differently from yours, in case you hadn't noticed."

"I'll take the world where giant chickens don't turn me into a lawn ornament, thanks."

"But Ornismon doesn't have any abilities that cause it to turn things to stone," Breezedramon said. "Least of all a magic dust. There must be something else going on!"

Falcomon shook his head. "I couldn't tell you what it was. I've been too scared to go up and try to find out...I couldn't even begin to hope to stand up to Ornismon!"

"Probably a wise decision not to try," Skylar agreed. "We might be able to get a clue or something from the statues themselves, or perhaps something around them. Or maybe someone wrote something down before falling victim to whatever it was. I think we should try to take a quick trip back up to the village to scout things out."

"No! You shouldn't! That's way too dangerous! Ornismon could come at you with no warning at all!"

"What if someone watched for him?" Iris suggested. "Shockavimon or Breezedramon could watch wherever his den is and let us know if he was coming."

"I'll do it!" Breezedramon instantly piped up. "I'm quicker in the air than Shockavimon anyway, I'd be more likely to get away!"

Shockavimon huffed indignantly. "Excuse me, mister 'I get knocked out of the air by a slight gust of wind,' your speed doesn't help you that much when you're a total klutz."

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you? Besides, which one of us is the one that dropped like a stone when we got the to human world because she forgot how to fly?"

"I wasn't ready for that!"

"Well, neither was I, but that didn't stop my aerial acrobiotactics!"

"All right, settle down, you two," Reyn interrupted. "Let's have Breezedramon do the scouting...I think it would be a bit harder for him to have to be around all those lithified people anyway."

"That makes enough sense," Skylar agreed. "Let's get up there."

(==========)

"Jeez, you'd think if a guy was dusting this place constantly it'd be easier to find some of it," Skylar grumped. "Falcomon, are you sure that's what he was doing?"

"Yeah. The winds up here can gust pretty strong..it all probably got blown away."

"Then maybe we should check a spot with some windbreaks. If something like that even exists up here."

"Ravmon's manor sometimes blocks some of the wind, if it's not too strong. That'd be the only one I could think of..."

"Guess that's what's up. Hey, Reyn! We're heading towards the manor! Give us a shout if you need us!"

"Gotcha!" Reyn and Salmandmon were examining the statued digimon for any sign of peculiarities that could help determine what the cause of the petrification was. It was not going very well. "Man, I think this is pointless, buddy. I'm not seeing anything on any of these. I'm not the kind of guy who would be good for this anyway."

"I think you're right. I was hoping we could see something that might tell us what that dust is supposed to be." Salmandmon shook his head and sighed. "But it's like there's nothing there. Just like if it was a Kokatorimon."

"I still think that's completely freaky, by the way."

"You think that's freaky? Try actually being turned to stone."

"You're not serious."

"Totally. Happened once a few years ago, just before Emperius really started to be a problem. I got on the bad side of one of those birds, and before I knew it I was stone-ified. You know that when a Kokatorimon petrifies you, you remain aware the whole time?"

"What."

"Yeah, that was my reaction, too. I could still see and feel and hear and all that stuff, but I couldn't move even a little bit, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't feel my heart beat...that is goddamn _scary,_ let me tell you. Fortunately it wasn't for very long, the guy turned me back when his girlfriend bitched him out."

"So they can turn you back, too?"

"Yeah, you turn back if they turn you back or if the guy who did it gets wasted. Man, I wouldn't want to be the unlucky sap who has to wait for him to die. Fortunately there are also chemical remedies, and some digimon abilities cure it too."

"You think these guys are aware of what's going on?"

"Eh...it's hard to say. According to one of my buddies, not all petrification is the same. There's a bunch of different ways it can happen, and whether you remain aware or not varies with the method of being stoned."

"Hm, that sounds remarkably accurate even if you put it into the context of human terms."

"Oh, yeah, that's a drug use term for you guys, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh. I don't suppose your side has much interest in the whole mood-altering substances thing, though."

"Are you kidding? C'mon, Reyn we're not _that_ different from you guys."

"First it's this world is different, then it's this world isn't so different. Make up your mind."

"It's both. And seriously, what would make you think we didn't have any of that stuff?"

"Oh, I dunno, the whole 'one guy on a bender could wreck a quarter of the world' thing was the first thing that came to my mind. There's no way you would allow something like that with the kind of damage you guys could do...right?"

"Unpleasant truths don't matter, they exist and they're used. The guys who go on rampages end up as dust in the wind pretty quickly, though...most of the more popular substances are mellowers rather than agitators."

"Judging from previous conversations, I'm gonna take a wild stab and guess that it's pretty much an accepted part of life."

"Bingo. And judging from previous conversations, I'm assuming it's a little different on your side of the infinite divide."

"Infinite divide? Okay...yeah, it is. For the most part, totally illegal."

"Why am I not surprised? If they saw how you treated it on your end they'd be bewildered to no end. Then again, when your population includes creatures that could blow stuff up without much more than a thought, things that make that less likely are considered boons rather than burdens."

"Oh, please, we're perfectly capable of blowing ourselves up without a second thought. Often without a first thought, even."

Salmandmon snickered. "You should take more pride in your kind's ingenuity. It's about the only thing keeping you alive."

"That's up for debate. So, I guess things aren't THAT different, at least in some senses. Though I imagine the stuff you guys have is probably more potent."

"Eh, it caters to all kinds. I think you'd like one of the Heat Peppers."

"I'm guessing that's neither food nor spice."

"Nope, it's a little dust that makes you feel hot as hell. Works as a mellower for us fire guys, an agitator for anyone else. I've tried it a couple times, it's a pretty awesome feeling, like you're right where you belong. Of course, I've seen some joker ambush Breezedramon with some, too, and let me tell you, that was a hoot."

"Really? Maybe I could trick Wallace into taking a hit of something like that and put a video of it up on YouTube. I bet I'd get a million hits in three days."

"Oh, is that what you guys use your massive communications network for? Watching the suffering of your fellow man for your own amusement? Because if it is, I totally want in."

"Well, that's not the only reason-"

"Guys! _Guys!_" Reyn and Salmandmon turned quickly as they heard Breezedramon's frightened voice. "He's awake! Everyone take cover and get away!"

Breezedramon's body had just barely popped over the side of the cliff when a massive bird creature rocketed up behind him, screeching loud enough to nearly knock Reyn and Salmandmon over. It soar up and over the houses, bearing down on Breezedramon. With a wild flap of its wings, a violent shower of grey dust was thrown into the dragon, causing him to cry out in pain and plummet from the sky.

"_Breezedramon!_" Falcomon's horrified yell could be heard all the way across the village. The dragon couldn't respond as he slammed hard into the ground, giving a strangled yelp at the sudden pain in his body, at least where he could still feel.

The dust continued to fall down, coming close to Reyn and Salmandmon. The lizard fired a jet of flames into the air, incinerating some of the deadly dust coming their way. "Reyn, protect yourself! Don't let it hit you!"

"Right!" Reyn decided to pull a leaf from Burnreptimon's book and created a superheated dome around him and Salmandmon. The dust was instantly incinerated as it hit the protective barrier, giving Salmandmon time to focus on other areas, including the area where Falcomon and Skylar were. A sudden gust of wind kicked up, moving towards the ocean side of the cliffs, as Skylar too tried to clear the air of the dangerous powder.

But Breezedramon was still an open target, and couldn't do anything about it as Ornismon set his sights on him. He could hear the bird bearing down on him, ready to skewer him, even though his size would ensure the destruction of some of the houses - almost as if he had a personal vendetta against the little blue dragon.

A loud screech rang out from above him, giving him a ringing headache. But he could hear the bird backing off, and soon knew why as he heard a call of "Fury Bolt!" above him. _Thundergarudamon, I owe you one._

(==========)

Having sufficiently drawn Ornismon's attention, Thundergarudamon soared up high, drawing the bird further away from the village, high enough that any further dust would be drawn by the wind far away from where it could cause more trouble for them. She unleashed another Fury Bolt, which Ornismon didn't even try to dodge; it seemed almost single-minded in its pursuit of her, despite the fact that she could keep it at bay with her attacks. "Something is seriously wrong with you, buddy..." she muttered as she pulled away from him. "Let's see if this gets you back to your senses! Lightning Bomb!" She formed a ball of electricity in her hands and pitched it at Ornismon. It struck the bird directly in the head, then expanded and sent a powerful jolt through his head and upper body. The blow was enough to leave Ornismon ragged in the air.

"Well, that's more like it...huh?" Thundergarudamon watched as Ornismon suddenly took on some very strange behavior; he started flying in lazy circles, then stopped flapping completely, plunging several dozen meters before suddenly supporting itself again. Finally, it swooped downwards, back towards the village. Just before Thundergarudamon began to take chase, though, it swung out over the sea and descended below the village line; she saw it disappear into the side of the mountain, and then nothing more.

"Huh...that was...weird. I'd better see if the others know anything about this..."

(==========)

"Reyn!" The panic in Skylar's shout was very unfamiliar to Reyn. "Where's Breezedramon? Is he okay?"

"Don't come closer yet!" Salmandmon shouted back before Reyn could respond. "There's too much of that stuff on the ground! Let me make a path!"

Reyn helped Salmandmon flame a path from Breezedramon to Ravmon's manor; Skylar and Falcomon had taken cover in a small shed attached to the building. The instant they were finished, the white-haired boy tore towards his partner, almost running over him in his rush to get there. "Breezedramon! Can you move? Can you talk? Talk to me, buddy!"

"Ugh...Sky..." Breezedramon could in fact not move, and could only just barely talk. His body was almost entirely numb, and what he could feel was almost pure pain.

"Goddamn!" Thundergarudamon landed just in front of the two, as Reyn, Salmandmon, and Falcomon came up behind. "That was a hell of a hit you took! How'd it work so fast?"

"There's plenty of it around, let's figure out what it is fast!" Salmandmon bent down close to the ground, looking at the bits of dust as closely as he could without touching it or burning it with his hot breath. "Huh...it looks like...maybe little seeds or something. Seeds? That'd be weird...but it looks similar, like something that grows, and...and...UWAAAAAAAAGH!"

Everyone who could whipped their heads around just in time to see Salmandmon leap up, stumble backwards, fall on his butt, and then skitter back across the ground. "It-it-it-it-it-it's a FUNGUS!"

"A fungus?"

"Eyah! A creepy, icky, ugly, nasty, FUNGUS! Uagh, I can't believe I almost touched a fungus, ewewewewewewewwwwwww! Ack!"

"Are...are you...are you KIDDING me?" Reyn was very near hysteria of quite a different sort. "You're afraid of FUNGI? FUNGI? Something you can turn to ash with practically a thought?"

"H-hey, shut up! I'm allowed to not like some things! And I'm not afraid of it, I just really really really really really hate it!"

"I know what this is!" Thundergarudamon realized. "I remember hearing about this before! It's Basilisk Fungus! The spores release a chemical on contact that turns people to stone, and then it embeds itself and grows in the statue! The growths are so small that they can only be seen with the keenest of unaided eyes, so we couldn't tell just by looking at the statues!"

"Aouaguh!" Salmandmon looked like he was going to hurl. "They've got that stuff GROWING on them?"

"So if we just destroy the fungus, they'll turn back to normal?" asked Falcomon.

"No, they'll need an antidote for the petrification...but we have to destroy the fungus before we administer that, otherwise they'll just keep releasing the chemical and we'll be right back where we started. Jeez, this is not what I would have expected...an Ornismon spreading Basilisk Fungus, this has to be a first."

"It should totally be a last!"

"Jeez, remind me not to order any pizzas with mushrooms on them unless I want them cooked twice," Reyn cracked.

"Bleargh! Why would you possibly willingly put that stuff in your mouth?"

"Instead of being ridiculous, how about you help out Breezedramon?" Skylar yelled heatedly. "If this is a fungus, get rid of it already!"

"Calm down, Skylar," Thundergarudamon said evenly. "It's not like we can just burn it off of him, that would do more damage to him than we could afford. We'd need some kind of anti-fungal compound. Falcomon said there was a shop here, right? Maybe they have something like that in stock-"

"I hot thome!" All eyes turned to Falcomon, who was flying towards them with a tube of something in his mouth. "Thith thould helth Hreeththramon!"

"I didn't even know he was gone!" Salmandmon exclaimed.

Falcomon landed next to Skylar and held the tube out to him. "Just rub this on him! It kills fungal infections, so it should work on this!"

"Thanks, buddy!" Skylar wasted no time, slathering a hefty dose of the compound all over Breezedramon's body. With Falcomon's help, he rubbed it all over, making sure no spot went undosed.

"How fast do you think it'll work?" Reyn asked.

"This is a world where fungi can turn you to stone and make you act extremely violent, among other things," Thundergarudamon said. "Whatever kind of fungicide you have, it had damn well better work instantly."

"Point taken."

"But even when the fungus dies, the toxin will still be in his system. We're going to have to find some treatments for that before he'll be in good shape again."

"I dunno, it sure looks like he's doing better already." Indeed, Breezedramon's contorted expression began to relax, his breathing became less labored, and his body started to move again. "He's a mess, but it looks like he's a mobile mess."

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions. He's probably just getting desensitized to the pain...he won't be better until we treat the toxin."

However, the thunderbird's analysis soon proved to be inaccurate, as after a few minutes Breezedramon was moving around as if nothing had happened; indeed, save for the white colloid smeared all over his body one couldn't tell that he'd ever been in such dire straits. "Hey! I'm feeling okay again! This is great! I feel stuplendorifluous!"

"I wouldn't call that becoming desensitized..." Reyn cracked, grinning half in amusement and half in relief.

"That's...that makes no sense..." Thundergarudamon said blankly. "He shouldn't be better already! He should be inundated with petrifying toxins! Heck, he fell from hundreds of feet in the air, he should be feeling that at the very least!"

"Who cares?" Skylar said, the immense relief well evident in his voice. "He's better, that's all that matters. I'm not gonna worry about it."

Thundergarudamon gaped at Skylar. "Are you KIDDING me? You, of all people, should not be just dismissing this! You're always freaking about about not having an answer, you should be going positively batty over this!"

"It's not important why it happened! We've got too many things to worry about already, we can't just get bogged down in incendimental mysteries!"

"Who are you and what have you done with Skylar?" asked Reyn, equally boggled.

Salmandmon just sighed. "_Guys_. He's _right._ We've got bigger fish to fry, and right now we need all the good fortune we can get. We still gotta deal with this whole situation with Ornismon, remember?"

"Exactly. He's not just gonna stay hidden away forever. We've gotta figure out what's going on and how to deal with it." He shot a quick glance over to his messy partner. "Er...after we get cleaned up, that is."

Reyn and Thundergarudamon exchanged bewildered looks. "Right...you guys get cleaned up, Sal and I will work on clearing as much of this Basilisk Fungus from the area as we can. Thundergarudamon, can you keep an eye on the cave, make sure Ornismon doesn't decide to make an encore?"

"Sure..."

(==========)

Soon enough, the seven took their refuge in Falcomon's cave hideout, away from any further danger from Ornismon. Reyn took the lead of the discussion. "Well, we know what's causing the petrification now. I gotta say, of all the threats I expected from this world, this was not one of them."

"Br-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr, even thinking about it makes my scales crawl," Salmandmon shuddered in revulsion. "Ornismon's got that stuff growing all over him!"

"If Ornismon can spread the fungus like that, he must not be affected by the toxin," Skylar ventured. "He'd make a great host. But why go to such lengths to go after us? We didn't disturb him in any way..."

"It's because his mind's been addled by something!" Falcomon insisted. "They said he was acting strangely before he started doing this! He must have gone crazy!"

"But how?"

"Shot in the dark, but...if there's one fungus growing around here, couldn't there be more?" Iris suggested. "If there's one that has this kind of effect...maybe it could be something like psilocybin?"

"It's possible. Are there any types of fungus that cause behavioral disturbances or hallucinations or something like that?"

Falcomon nodded. "Yeah, at least one. The one I know of is Confusion Fungus. Causes your mind to go all screwy. You don't know which way is up and can't make sense of anything you hear or see. A lot of guys like to slip some to a friend as a prank and laugh at the effects."

"Hey! That was what you did to me that time!" Breezedramon exclaimed.

"Yeah. Heh, oh, that was _hilarious_. I wish we'd been recording it."

Skylar shook his head. "Basilisk Fungus, Confusion Fungus...I'll say this about digimon taxonomy, what it lacks in eloquence it makes up for in directness. That would probably prevent Ornismon from realizing what was going on and could drive him to attack us."

"But according to Falcomon, he was loopy before he started his rampage," Reyn pointed out. "I mean, I know going nuts isn't exactly straightforward in any way, but I'd expect him to swing back and forth."

"Well, the disordered brain isn't exactly emprendicatable in any way."

"Okay, whatever that means. Listen, my grandpa had Alzheimer's. I know it's different, but the point is, he wasn't just in one state all the time. He had good days and bad days."

"Reyn, you're reaching way too far for your argument's own good. It's too different. You don't know how digimon might react as opposed to humans. Alzheimer's is a dementia, as opposed to what Ornismon's experiencing, which strikes me more as something like schizophrenia. Plus, your grandpa wasn't infected with a fungus, which could change behavior in a much different way."

"Damn you and your logic."

"Wait!" Breezedramon shouted. "Maybe that's it! It could be Confusion Fungus that got him all weird-headed, but another fungus that caused him to actually start attacking!"

"Another one? I'd hate to see the inside of this guy's cave," Shockavimon said, making a disgusted face.

"Don't eeeeeven give me that image!"

"Is there a fungus that can do that?" Skylar asked.

Shockavimon thought a moment. "Well, maybe not a fungus that forces you to attack against your will. But maybe something that can make you want to attack."

Salmandmon jerked his head towards her. "Wait a minute! You're not suggesting..."

"Well, it would make sense, wouldn't it?"

"You know of one like that?" Reyn asked.

"Yeah, definitely one. Hateanger Fungus." Salmandmon spat the word like it was a particularly disgusting bit of grime.

"I sense an unpleasant story behind this one."

"It's got a toxin that affects the brain. Makes you hate everything around you, and worse, makes it so you're constantly really angry, I mean seriously enraged, nothing can pull you out of it and you lose all your restraint. The two coupled together makes for a goddamn nasty combination. You start screaming at people who are your closest friends, saying the worst things to them that you never ever would believe for a moment, and often you wind up attacking them physically."

"You sound like you've been," Reyn gulped.

Salmandmon nodded, tensing up at the memory. "Some little shit from Emperius slipped me some, I still don't know how. All I know is that I rounded on my teammates, I started thinking the worst of them and said the most hateful things I could ever imagine saying." He closed his eyes and shuddered. "Even thinking about it...even if I know it wasn't my fault, I still feel such revulsion at my own behavior."

"It was really, really awful," Breezedramon said with a shudder. "Some of the things he said...I just couldn't believe he'd say things like that to us."

"I was about ready to kill him," Shockavimon said with a slight bristle. "Honestly, for a moment I thought he'd turned on us and joined Emperius, I just couldn't figure out why he'd blow up at us like that."

"And as if that wasn't bad enough, I followed that up by just attacking them mindlessly. I couldn't control myself, at the time I just was in such a rage that it drove all thought from my head. As odd as it sounds to say it, it was fortunate that I'd pissed them all off before I attacked, because if I hadn't they might have held back. Instead they roughed me up pretty good and left me on my own. Took me days to try to convince them to even talk to me again. It wasn't until I found out that it was a fungus that we managed to patch things up. As for the guy that dosed me...well, we swore to never speak of what we did to him to anyone."

Reyn stared at Salmandmon. "It couldn't be that bad...could it?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Is that why you've got such a phobia of fungi?" Skylar asked.

Shockavimon shook her head. "Nah, he's always been that way. Certainly gave him another reason to go nuts over it, though. That does explain all the weird behaviors we saw up there, though. He was relentless until we got him in the noggin, and then he acted all loopy."

"So all of that stuff teams up on Ornismon, and it's pretty much reduced him to a giant ball of fury that rains petrifying dust down on people," Reyn summarized. "That's just lovely. How do we deal with this?"

"I vote we kill it with fire!" Salmandmon instantly shouted.

"Oh, that's your answer for everything."

"Well, I AM a fire lizard."

"Banter aside, that's actually not a bad idea," Shockavimon stated. "Aside from a couple that prefer the heat, fire's generally effective against our fungi. I don't think that'll help the guys that are currently statues, though."

"So we'll have to do the same thing we did with Breezedramon, then?" Falcomon asked. "That's gonna be a lot of work with just us..."

"We could probably get help once we brought some of them back," Skylar suggested. "But somehow, I'm not confident that there's gonna be enough of that anti-fungal cream for all of them. It took a lot just for Breezedramon, and he's comparatentively tiny."

"Yeah...there were a few bottles in there, but not that many."

"And what about turning them back from being statues in the first place?" Iris added. "We're gonna have to use up their entire stock of anti-petrification products."

"Uh...there aren't any."

Iris looked at Falcomon, startled. "What? You can't be serious, they don't have anything like that up here?"

"I thought they did! But I checked that whole store before, and there wasn't anything in there! I mean, we've had K-Kokatorimon up here before, it's n-not like they weren't th-thinking about it-"

"Okay, settle down..." Skylar said calmly, trying to keep Falcomon from breaking down again. "I think I can guess what happened there. They didn't know it was Basilisk Fungus, right? If they had, Falcomon would've been able to tell us right away. So they started getting that fungus growing in them, they bought up their de-stoning products, but they only worked for a short time because the fungus would just keep pumping their toxins into them. They probably bought up the whole stock in a matter of days, desperately to get lucky or something."

Reyn sighed. "So now we have to figure out how to get something to cure petrification. Lovely. I don't know if they'd take it too well if we raided their houses trying to find stuff that didn't get used..."

"We can fly back to that seaside village," Shockavimon suggested. "We could go as Bolteaglemon. There were a bunch of merchants there, and I'm sure after how much we helped them out and after hearing what happened up here, they'd be more than willing to give us at least a hefty discount."

Iris sighed. "I hate the idea of splitting up again...but, well, I guess at least we know where to find you this time."

"But Ornismon's just gonna dust all over again," Salmandmon pointed out with some distaste. "The stock's not gonna last forever...we're gonna have to keep Ornismon from doing any more damage before we can really rescue these guys."

"So we have to target Ornismon first and get the fungus off of him," Skylar said.

"Great. How do we get enough antifungal cream to wipe that giant guy down? Or get it on to him in the first place?"

"We don't. We use fire."

Reyn gave him a look. "Sky, not to be presumptuous, but I think burning a fungus off a living creature is what my parents would call 'contraindicated.'"

"Hear hear," Iris agreed. "We're trying to save him, not turn him into the mother of all Thanksgiving dinners."

"I'm not suggesting Pyrekomodomon-level fire. The fungi should be pretty vulnerable to any significant heat, right? Heck, maybe even Reyn or Salmandmon alone will be enough firepower. I can carry either one of them around easily enough as Stormdramon."

"But what about his cave?" Breezedramon chimed in. "If he goes back down there, he'll just get infected again! And he may not even realize it in time!"

"Good point. I guess that means we have to attack on two fronts. One of us needs to draw out Ornismon and one of us needs to fly down and torch his cave. Since we've only got two pyromancers and two fliers strong enough to carry them...well, at least it will make division of duties easier."

"If it means anything, I think Stormdramon would be better off carrying Reyn," Shockavimon said. "You've got a little better ability to carry people thanks to those jets. And you'd be better up against Ornismon, too. We did okay, but we were attacking directly, it'll be harder for us to flank him."

"Now hold on just a goddamn second!" Reyn nearly shouted. "You want me to fly all the way up into the wild blue yonder on something that can go Mach 3000 and be chased by some gigantic vulture without so much as a freaking seatbelt? I don't feel like plummeting a zillion stories and ending up a puddle!"

"Reyn!"

"Aw, c'mon, Reyn, don'tcha trust us?" Breezedramon gave his best innocent smile.

"I'm with Breezedramon," Skylar added. "I know that's not exactly your comfort zone, Reyn, but it's not like we're just gonna let you drop. We're fast enough to be able to catch you."

"And that leaves us carrying Salmandmon down to the cave," Iris concluded.

Salmandmon shuddered. "Ulgh-huahahah. Just the thought of what those caves might look like gives me the creeps."

"Hey, on the bright side, you'll be raining fiery death upon it all."

"Yeah...I just hope I can hold onto my lunch long enough."

"That just leaves our order of operations," Skylar said. "Do we get our supplies first or make our attack first?"

"We could be back by tomorrow morning easy if we flew to the village tonight," Iris suggested.

Reyn shook his head. "Bad idea. We need to all be fresh in case we run into unexpected trouble, which by now I think we'd better start expecting all the time. And you operating on no sleep won't help with that. Besides, time isn't as much of a factor here - I don't see this taking especially long unless one of us screws up, so it's best to minimize that. If you left tomorrow morning I don't see you having too much trouble getting back by midday, especially since you're flying."

"Once you've burned the stuff off of him, though, what do you do about the madness?" Falcomon asked.

"Hm...Thundergarudamon shocked him back to his senses before, kind of. We might be able to zap him calm again, at least for long enough to deliver some kind of panacea."

"We'll make sure to find something like that when we're getting everything else," Shockavimon said.

"Then I guess there's nothing left but for us to rest up," Reyn concluded. "Sorry to intrude on your privacy, Falcomon."

"It's...okay. It gets lonely down here anyway...I don't mind having some company."

"Man...so much for a quiet detour," Salmandmon sighed, laying onto his back. "Why can't these things ever be simple little problems with quick fixes?"

"Since when do you want everything to be easy?" Breezedramon giggled.

"Quiet, goofball."

(==========)

(==========)

The next part won't be the next chapter, but the one after that; I'll delve into the first of another two-part chapter with the other pair in the next one.

I've been wanting to get to this one for a while. A long while; this chapter was completely written well before I even finished Chapter 20. I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm a rather non-linear writer - I tend to go back and forth, jotting down ideas that come to mind so that they aren't cluttering the mental workspace. So much came to mind with this one that I was able to make an entire chapter out of it pretty easily. Of course, it's part one of two, and part two wasn't nearly as easy to write, but I take what I can get.

No comments about the Basilisk Fungus, please. I'm perfectly aware that it's not perfectly mythologically accurate to associate the basilisk with petrification. I'm just not particularly concerned about perfect mythological accuracy. Hey, if other media can get away with it, why can't I?

Anyway, that's all from me for this week. Tune in next week for more...uh, story, I guess.


	45. Chapter 44: The Face Of Deceit Part 1

As promised, the first part of the second two-parter. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 44: The Face Of Deceit, Part 1**

When Derek awoke in the morning, he found Isaac almost right in his face. He started and sat up in the bed, scooting away from the imposing boy. "Jesus, Isaac! Don't do that!"

"Finally, I've been waiting for an hour!" Isaac appeared to completely miss the fact that he'd startled Derek half out of his wits. "The others are still out there, we've gotta go find them."

"Sod that. Let them find us." Derek shook his head and yawned; he hated sleeping nights, it always left him tired in the morning.

"Derek!"

Derek shot the larger boy a glare. "What? Cut it out. You just want something to do."

"Well, yeah, I do, but this is important!"

"No, it's not. We haven't the slightest clue where they are. We're more likely to just get lost ourselves, or get in unnecessary trouble. We could be spotted by Emperius, by more of those idiots who just want to fight us for the sake of beating something novel, by characters we might not even be able to imagine. And the outcome will be that we still don't know where they are. They could be anywhere on the damn continent, Isaac, we can't just search willy-nilly. I'm sure I've said all this before, and I don't like having to repeat myself over and over again. Get it into your thick skull already."

"Gah, this is so stupid! We could be taking Emperius head-on if we just took the damn time to sniff 'em out. Come on, you turn into a wolf guy, use that big honker of yours!"

"'Honker,' is it?" Blackcanismon yawned from the end of the bed. "Such eloquence and pulchritude has heretofore never graced my auditory sensibilities. Truly, Isaac, you hold claim as a bastion of the erudite."

"Screw you, too."

"Do you even know what he said?" Derek mumbled amusedly.

"No, but I know it was a shot at me!"

"Remarkably keen insight. Another of the most desirable predilections of a compatriot."

"Oh fer-would you shut up already?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what's with all the volume in here?" Datacarnomon finally made his first appearance of the morning, standing in the doorway and looking between the other three with a mix of amusement and asperity. "You two aren't pissing off my partner yet again, are you?"

"Yep," the two said in unison.

"Tch. Ike, ya can't make it easy for them. Don't let them pull you in like that."

"Now don't you start on me."

"Oh, trust me, I'm well beyond starting. Anyway, some of the few guys here have been saying that Gallantmon's got something on his mind, and they think he wants to see us. Might be something to do, if you're interested."

"YES!" Isaac declared immediately. "Anything to stop just sitting around here twiddling our thumbs!"

"Well, then, let's get a move on. Same goes for the sleepyheads. You aren't gonna spend your whole day in bed, are you?"

"The reality of your existence as a mechanized creature does not permit you latitude to proffer commentary upon our habits," Blackcanismon snapped.

"What he said," Derek agreed. "Give us a bit, will ya?"

(==========)

Though it was somewhat in fits and starts, the four of them eventually got their act together and made it to Gallantmon's office. The knight seemed to be somewhat preoccupied upon their entrance, though he almost instantly turned his attention to them the moment he realized they were there. "Ah, hello! I hope you all slept well. If you need anything, let me know, I'll try to get it for you as soon as-"

"Whoa, easy there, Gallantmon," Isaac said placatingly. "We're not here to make demands or anything. We heard you'd had your head up in the clouds all morning and we wanted to know if it was something we could help with."

"Oh! Ah, well, I don't want to impose or anything...I mean, you've all got your own issues to deal with. I mean, I wouldn't turn down the help if you had the ability, and I suppose I'd be more confident of success if you were involved-"

"I speak for myself, at the very least, when I say I'd love to help!"

Gallantmon paused, thrown by the interjection. "I, uh, haven't even told you what it was."

"He's a bit on edge this morning," Datacarnomon explained. "Worried about our friends that we haven't been in touch with yet. He could use a mission to work off some nervous energy."

"Gee, thanks, Dad."

"Hey, you're the one who's been wearing a hole in the ground pacing all morning. I'm just tellin' it like it is."

"Try not telling it at all sometime."

"No dice. Then I'd lose my know-it-all cred."

Blackcanismon couldn't take it anymore. "Would you two _please_ cease your blathering before I determine you to be expendable?"

Isaac shot Datacarnomon a devious grin. "I didn't understand a word of that, did you?"

"Nope. Pretty much impenetrable. It'd be nice to know what he said, he might have wanted something out of us."

"This is revenge for this morning, isn't it?" Derek said darkly.

"No clue what you're talking about," Isaac replied knowingly. "So, Gallantmon, what're we going out to do?"

Gallantmon snapped to attention, having gotten slightly lost in all the chatter. "Oh, right, the situation. Ah, yes...Data, B.C., you might remember that a while back, before we had that unfortunate battle that crippled us, we were making efforts to ally ourselves with some independent mercenary brigades. We sent out some associative ambassadors, and lost contact with many of them when things went south. Just late last night, two of them returned."

"What fantastic timing," Datacarnomon cracked. "Had I not known better I'd have thought it was Ike we sent out."

"Now don't you start," Isaac griped. "What are these 'independent mercenary brigades' you're talking about?"

"There are some groups of digimon in this world who make a living by traveling around, looking for wrongs to right, or sometimes for rights to wrong. They tend to align less with a cause and more with whoever gives them the most benefit, be it monetary or some kind of favor."

"Ah. Back where we come from we'd call them vigilantes and try to lock them up. Guess it's a tad different over here."

"I could have guessed that," Derek said, shaking his head. "I did get lost at 'associative ambassadors,' though."

"Well, that's just kind of my own term for them. They're kind of like scouts, except their purpose is to actually integrate into the group, get to know them and see if they'd be good to ally with. There are some groups out there that you just can't trust, so it pays to have good information, but these groups tend to be wary of outsiders, especially outsiders that have some kind of agenda. So we send the scouts to join up with them, get their trust and determine if we can have theirs."

"Usually the latter is a lot easier than the former," Datacarnomon said. "Part of their whole schtick is being independent, so allying with a group like us with a definite agenda tends to be kind of a pop-up for them. Even if we did plan to benefit them for the privilege."

"We were, of course, hoping to get their support in order to strengthen us in our fight against Emperius," Gallantmon continued, "and our hope was that a mutual offer of support would be enough, though we were prepared to offer more if it became necessary. Basically, we would help them if they got attacked, and in general offer assistance on their missions, provided we didn't have problems with the missions themselves. Of course, any chance of us being able to do that vanished with our defeat..."

"An indubitable tragedy, to be sure," Blackcanismon said mournfully. "Nevertheless, the temporal course marches eternally onward. Which independent mercenary brigades were the ambassadors embedded within?"

"The two we got back were working on the Sky Lords and the Land Kings."

"Hold on, let me guess," Derek interjected. "The former group is made up of flying digimon and the latter group are all based around the ground, and their abilities tend to reflect those alignments."

Gallantmon chuckled. "I suppose we aren't generally very creative in our naming conventions. Humans certainly have us outclassed there. But back to the point. They'd spent a lot of time as part of the groups, and one of the main issues they talked about with me was that there's been a pretty long-running tension between them. Apparently, neither one is a particular fan of the other for various reasons, not the least of which is that they've got kind of contrasting motifs. Their leaders are reportedly very different, too - Slayerdramon, the Sky Lords leader, is a pretty uptight and proper sort, while Breakdramon, the Land Kings leader, is more casual and energetic. I know from my personal experience that those two styles tend to clash somewhat."

"No surprise there," Isaac agreed. "So they're not best of friends...that'd make it kind of hard to recruit the both of them, wouldn't it?"

"No doubt, but we wanted to give ourselves the maximum number of opportunities, so we gave both a shot. And anyway, the two had their tensions, but they were apparently civil for quite some time. But most recently, there was a significant falling-out between them...there was even discussion of war being imminent."

"War? Between just two small groups?"

"Two small groups with big guns," Datacarnomon said. "It might as well be."

"Perhaps the term is a little loaded, but you get the general idea. Our ambassadors didn't like the sound of that, so they left and coordinated to try to figure out what had happened. It became clear pretty quickly that something wasn't right, they said there were unfounded accusations on both ends."

"Ah, ridiculous misunderstandings, how loathsome they are," Blackcanismon mused. "Communication is imperative in averting calamity. There existed no recourse for interaction?"

"Well, not necessarily. According to the scouts, they had a go-between who was keeping the peace between them, a Reaverdramon."

Blackcanismon's ears perked up at the name. "Goodness...a demonic dragon digimon? Uncommon, at minimum!"

"What are you talking about?" Isaac asked. "No, wait, Derek, you explain. I won't get a word of what the mutt says."

"Such scurrilous attributions!"

"Watch what you call my partner," Derek warned.

"Fine, fine. Can ya let me in already?"

"Clam. The short version is that demon digimon have kind of a history of antagonism towards non-demon digimon. And they often use deception to pretend like they're all nice and friendly, then betray them once they've gotten their trust. I'll give you the long version later, but that should tell you enough of what you need to know."

"I think you're right...you're thinking that Reaverdramon is playing them off each other, and causing all the recent problems."

Gallantmon nodded. "That's what the scouts suspected. According to them, Reaverdramon showed no sign of being hostile or malevolent in any way for a long time, but recently was reporting to each group that the other had evil intentions. And in a fashion that sounded almost regrettable, even. I'm loathe to think the worst of any digimon, but...well, you're aware of the issues we have with their kind."

"That brings us up to speed...so what are you hoping we can do?" asked Derek.

"Well, my basic idea was just to get them to stop fighting. Ordinarily, I would leave them to their own devices...it isn't technically our place to interfere in their squabbles, and their chances of joining Libertius are zero at best. However...perhaps it's my foolish idealism, but I can't stomach the idea of the two of them fighting amongst each other while the world is threatened by Emperius. We need them to be defending people, even if they're not necessarily working for us specifically. Maybe this is just a pipe dream, though...I'd understand if you thought me ridiculous for thinking it was worth our time."

"Commander Gallantmon, idealism is never a quality to be dismissed unceremoniously," Blackcanismon reassured the knight. "Attempting to foster efforts at collaboration registers a peak of nobility insubstantive in lesser leadership. The ultimate purpose of Libertius is freedom and righteousness in defense of the populace; to that end, even indirectly catalyzing protectors towards virtuous intentions is a considerable success."

"Thanks, Blackcanismon. So, there you have it...while I'd love for them to be on our side, I'm not holding my breath. If you can get them to accept a truce between them, that would be enough. If we can do nothing, we can do nothing, but it seems worthwhile to try."

"Not good enough," Isaac declared. "We'll stop them from fighting _and_ get them on our side. We won't fail you, Gallantmon...we'll make sure everything works out for the better."

"Your attitude towards a daunting endeavor is hardly unwelcome, but perchance might we hesitate to overexert ourselves championing efforts beyond necessity?" Blackcanismon said measuredly. "Extraneous efforts invite unnecessary jeopardy, unacceptable considering our desired survival."

"Whatever that means," Datacarnomon replied tersely. "We should give it a shot at least. Libertius could use the help, given the condition it's in now."

"Perhaps, but we shouldn't act like we're desperate for it," said Derek. "That might make them think we're only there because we want their firepower, and that's not the best way to get them on our side."

"We'll have plenty of time to hash out a plan on the way," Isaac concluded. "Let's get this show on the road. We don't want to let them get too far beyond reason, otherwise they'll not only be harder to pacify, but they'll be annoying as hell to talk to."

"For once I like the way you think. Right, let's make tracks."

"Thank you all for taking on this task," Gallantmon said gratefully. "I wish you the best of luck."

(==========)

A few hours later, the four found themselves in front of the Transfer Point near the Libertius stronghold. With the information the scouts had given them, they could pinpoint the general area where the two groups were around.

"They certainly don't want to make this simple," Isaac grumbled. "Why couldn't they be near some kind of landmark?"

"Oh, quiet, you. You're the one who's got an actual internal compass at least."

"My point still stands. So, they're at least a couple hundred miles apart...that means we're either going to have to split up, or we're going to have to take two trips. Right now I'm leaning towards the former."

"Perchance grace us with an explanation of your reasoning?"

"Well, I'm thinking neither one is going to be overly trusting of any of us, and if they find out we've just come from the other group, they might think we're leading them into a trap. I think it would be better if we were able to honestly say we hadn't spoken with the other group. That way, they'll feel like we're on their side, even if we're technically a neutral party."

"Makes sense to me," Datacarnomon agreed. "And that way, if one of them agrees to some kind of mediation but the other doesn't, we'll be able to coordinate ahead of time and either try to press the issue or keep the two apart."

"We'll have to agree on a mediation point ahead of time, then," Derek said. "Probably best to do it somewhere easy to access and where neither group has a distinct terrain advantage. And preferably not far from a Transfer Point."

"Or in between two of them, nearer a third one." Isaac scouted the map for a location which fit that and hit upon one. "Right there. Actually three points, we can guide one group to one of them, the other to another, and the four of us can come by the third. That way, they don't see us arrive on the same side as one or the other."

"You have put way too much thought into this."

"What are you talking about?"

"This whole 'they can't see us talking to another or coming on the same side' deal. Isn't that just the slightest bit anal?"

"No way. I'm just taking every contingency into account. Look, we're dealing with two groups who have been presented as being not entirely rational. Every little perception could be blown way out of proportion - irrational people do that quite often. Maybe you've not have to deal with as many of them as I have."

"You deal with irrational people frequently?"

"A large part of my extended family on my dad's side is completely wacko. Yeah, my family gatherings are a real scream. Lots of screams, in fact. I've had to learn how to deal with them so that they don't go ballistic on me, because any misstep could be life-threatening."

"Now you're just being melodramatic."

"When I was 11, I made an offhand comment that caused me and my family to have to make a quick exit because my aunt was bringing out the guns. We haven't been back since, and the others say she's still got a bullet with my name on it. Not that they're all that much better...they haven't brought out weaponry yet, but the screaming matches aren't that big an upgrade, and I know for a fact they all own guns."

"That's messed up!" Datacarnomon exclaimed. "I think I remember some of that from some of my dreams!"

"Wouldn't surprise me. We try to avoid gatherings with them as much as possible, but if it looks like you're avoiding them that can be even worse."

"Okay, I get where you're coming from," Derek said. "But isn't it a bit of a reach to assume these guys will be just like your family?"

"Well, they may very well not be, but then again, they might. I doubt either Data or Blackcanismon would argue me that there can be a lot of craziness in digimon, too." Both digimon nodded their heads in assent to that claim. "Preparing for the worst case is the best bet. If they are that bad, or, heaven forbid, worse, they'll be willing to kill you and have an arsenal my aunt could only dream of at their hands to do it."

"I must profess agreement," Blackcanismon chimed in. "In circumstances such as our present situation, extraordinary measures are immensely beneficial to successfully defusing tensions when reasonableness is not a certainty."

"Well, I guess I'm not gonna bother trying to argue against the consensus. Very well, what are your strategies?"

"All right, first off, avoid directly challenging their beliefs. That's basically tantamount to a death threat. A simple answer is best, one that acknowledges but doesn't add. There is such a thing as being too evasive, but that's easier to pass off than disagreement. When you do talk, choose your words carefully. It can be virtually impossible to know what the trigger will be - you can say something that sounds completely innocent and they'll twist it into a vicious attack. So go as neutral as possible. Try to frame arguments as a consensus - 'we' instead of 'you.' It makes it sound like you're agreeing without actually agreeing. I know how weird that sounds, but trust me, it works. 'For or against' is paramount for this type, and using 'we' gives the impression of being on the same side, even if you're not."

"Quite a tabulation of informative notes," Blackcanismon remarked. "Perhaps beyond my ability to commit to recollection. However, I fail to understand why this information was not forthcoming in our interactions with Bithwit and Paquom."

"Well, if I'd known going in how they would act I might have been able to tell you about it. Not that it would have helped, they didn't so much as lay eyes on us before turning murderous. Anyway, I think those are the big ones...trying to go through everything wouldn't leave us any time to actually deal with them, so I just hope this will be enough."

Derek nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. So which of us should go where?"

"Definitely us with the Sky Lords and you two with the Land Kings," Datacarnomon said immediately. "I'm hoping we don't have to worry about a fight of any kind, but if it should happen, we're better suited to combat against aerial foes than you are."

"The Land Kings ostensibly possess superior fortitude, however."

"Yeah, but you guys have the speed to get away if you can't get through their defenses."

"An accurate statement. Very well, I condone the arrangement."

"I guess that settles just about everything, then. Where should we meet back up?"

"I see no point in not just camping out by that Transfer Point we're going to go to anyway," Derek suggested. "Find some trees to shelter us or something, and have one of us keep guard in case of danger. I'd rather not go a long ways away and then run into some kind of sudden trouble like the nearest Transfer Point being down for maintenance or something."

"You think you can handle roughing it?" Isaac cracked.

"Oh, please, I've probably been camping more than you have, and more authentically at that, Mr. Machine Head."

"Then I think we've got everything settled. Oh, hey, wait, before you take off, here, take these." Isaac handed Derek and Blackcanismon a couple of small mechanical devices. "Data and I are tapped into these, we'll be able to find you if you don't make it to the rendezvous point."

"You want to spy on us?"

"I just don't want us to get so separated that we can't find each other. I promise I won't look in on you unless I've actually got reason to worry."

"...Fine. Let's get going, then."

(==========)

"I sure hope they don't attack us on sight," Isaac grunted as they made their way towards the last known location of the Sky Lords. "You may wanna be ready to merge ASAP, Data, I really don't know how these guys are going to act."

"You and me both. You think they're likely to go after us like that?"

"Like I said, I don't know. I wasn't kidding about my extended family, I'm way familiar with nutcases. And the only consistent thing about them is that they're inconsistent. They can be perfectly nice one moment, terrors the next. As much as I loathe not being able to plan ahead, there's literally no way I can know how they're going to behave."

"You think they're worse than some of the guys we've come up against in Emperius?"

"As strange as it sounds, yeah. At least with Emperius you know what you've done wrong in their eyes. That's why I have to think about all these different contingencies...we need to have a plan in case we make a misstep."

"Well, maybe these guys aren't quite that crazy...oh, hey, I'm getting something on my sensors. They've gotta be close."

"Really? I don't see anything..." Isaac smacked his forehead. "Well, duh, I don't see anything. Maybe I should try looking up, since that's where all the flying guys are gonna be." Sure enough, looking up into the air revealed a battery of large creatures, steady in mid-air as one individual was yelling out to them.

"They can hurl all the insults they want at us! They can throw their stones and try to dash us to their prime! But we are noble denizens of the air, and we will carry on, never to allow them to crush us! Our power exceeds theirs, and our spirits are stronger and purer than their corrupted souls! Will you take the fight to them?"

"YES!" chorused the crowd in the sky.

"Steel yourselves for the battle! You must not waver, you must fight with all your strength! Our mission is clear: protect the skies from the likes of them! In it, we shall not fall! We shall ensure that the skies are safe to fly! Though the ground may perish, the sky will be forever!"

"Anyone wanna come down and let us have a say in this?" Isaac shouted to the sky. Instantly, all sixteen creatures turned their attention down to him. "Yeah, thanks, but one is all I need!"

There was a quick conference in the air above them, and then three creatures descended to meet them. One was the heavily armored one that had been giving the rallying speech, Slayerdramon. The other two were blue-and-white-colored dragon digimon with red wings, Aeroveedramon. They landed deftly on the ground and stared down at the human and digimon.

"Who, perchance, are you two?" Slayerdramon's powerful voice rumbled through the air. "And what gives you the audacity to make demands of us?"

"We're the voice of reason," Datacarnomon said shortly. "Doesn't do us much good to have you hyping up a big battle if we're trying to keep it from happening-" He stopped as Isaac sent him a telepathic warning to be cautious.

Slayerdramon narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Did they send you?"

"Assuming I've got a good bead on who 'they' are, we've never even seen them before. Let's just say we represent an interested third party. We're definitely not on their side."

Slayerdramon was quiet for a while. "...I can think of no interested third party which possesses humans in their employ. But...I suppose, neither do they. Very well, I do not entirely trust your words, but I will accept them for now."

"Glad to hear it," Isaac said, trying to sound casual but in actuality very sincere in that sentiment. "Now, what's all this about a battle? I think we can do away with that, don't you?"

"If you are talking about our preparations to clash with the Land Kings, you need not bother. We are not going to back down from what we must do to protect ourselves and our kindred spirits."

"Yeah, I get the whole pride and honor thing. But I think we'd do a lot better in defending people if we focused on the really serious threats. They're causing trouble all over, don't they sound a lot more important and dangerous?"

Slayerdramon folded his arms and looked down at Isaac without a definable expression. "You do not understand, little human. These Land Kings are putting out entire world in grave danger. They wish to wipe out those of us that spend our lives in the sky. We cannot allow that to happen."

"That just sounds silly," said Datacarnomon. "Why would they want to do that?"

"If I knew, I would tell you. Perhaps their leader has finally succumbed to extremism...he has been issuing some disturbing rhetoric as of late. In any event, regardless of the danger, we Sky Lords have sworn to protect, but especially those who we feel a sense of kinship with, the digimon of the air. If we must lay down our lives to this end, we are willing to do so."

"Have you even talked with them lately? Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding."

"We are not on good terms."

"So, no."

"Do not assume we have no contact. We have been receiving words of their actions and intentions through our emissary."

"You mean that Reaverdramon guy," Isaac interjected.

"Exactly. He has been informing us about the Land Kings for some time. He's a long-time go-between for both our groups, and a friend to both myself and Breakdramon. He, too, has been saddened by this change in behavior in Breakdramon, and though he does not wish to see war between us, he stands on the side of justice."

"And there's no chance this has been some kind of misunderstanding? I mean, if you haven't spoken directly to Breakdramon, and neither has anyone else, who knows if we've really gotten the whole story? Maybe his words were misconstrued, or maybe Reaverdramon wasn't entirely honest...he could be on their side, playing us and giving us false information."

Once again, Slayerdramon's eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting that one of my long-time and closest friends, a digimon to whom I would entrust my _life_, is not entirely good and honorable? That I would associate with such scum as would use me for his own benefit and toss me aside? You think I would be such a fool?"

"Look, I hate to play up stereotypes, but we all know what demon digimon can be like," Datacarnomon replied. "They can act all nice and sincere, and then turn out to be the worst of the worst. You seriously saying this hasn't occurred to you?"

"Reaverdramon is not like that."

"So you say, but how do you know?"

"I would know better than yourself. You know nothing of him."

Isaac took his chance. "That's true, but hear me out real quick. You must have a good impression of demon digimon, better than I would. But from what I've heard, the bad ones like to get in people's good graces and then stab them in the back once they've earned their trust. None of us wants something like that to happen, and we certainly don't want to think that they're capable of something like that, but given the track record, shouldn't we at least give the possibility some thought? If he's truly as good as his word, he'll understand why we were concerned."

This finally brought Slayerdramon to pause, and he took that as his go-ahead. "I'm not saying we waltz in blindly thinking that nothing's going to happen. I just think it would be worth our while to try talking first, in case something went awry. Heck, it might not even be malice, just a simple mistake. I know from personal experience that a lot can get lost when you're trying to communicate a message, especially if you have a lot of time between hearing it and repeating it."

"...How can I be sure this isn't a trap to make us vulnerable to them?"

"Like I said, we haven't spoken one word to them. Or even seen who or what they are. And we're going for neutral ground, not their home domain. If they turn out to be what you think they are, heck, we'll help wipe them out ourselves. We don't have any allegiance to them."

"You, help us? We're not that naïve."

"How about that, Ike, word still hasn't gotten around to them," Datacarnomon said with a smirk.

"We can prove it if you'd like," Isaac said. "Go ahead, what kind of test do you want to give us? I'll bet a thousand dollars it's a combat test."

Slayerdramon looked back at the Aeroveedramon on his right. "I entrust this to you. If they are who they say they are, I want you to make sure they prove it."

"You got it, Boss," replied the Aeroveedramon, sounding less enthused than his words indicated. Nonetheless, he took off into the air and began circling.

"I think that's our cue," Datacarnomon said. "Let's show them what we've got, Ike!"

"Fine by me!"

The stunned onlookers watched as the human and robot fused into a single creature, then quickly shifted to its higher form. Cyberrexmon had a hard time suppressing a cheeky grin at Slayerdramon's shock. _You know, this is kinda fun. I love messing with expectations._

"What the hell are you?" the Aeroveedramon asked in complete bewilderment. "How did you do that?"

"Trade secrets. You wanna get to that battle or not?"

The Aeroveedramon seemed even more desperate to say not, but nevertheless looped up into the air and went into a dive at Cyberrexmon, fists glowing as it prepared to strike with a Magnum Crash attack. Cyberrexmon went into a roll, getting down too low for Aeroveedramon to hit on his pass, then spun around as the dragon pulled up. "Reptile Rocket!"

Since this was only a demonstration, he only let loose two rockets from his body rather than a full swarm. Nonetheless, they locked onto Aeroveedramon in an instant, chasing him down even as he tried to pick up speed to get away. Both hit their mark, forcing a pained roar out of the dragon. He swayed in the air for a second, but managed to gather himself before falling. However, he didn't stay up for long, landing of his own volition as soon as he could. "Okay, that's enough! No more! Get someone else to be target practice!"

Slayerdramon looked down at the symbiote, clearly impressed. "Well...I should say, I did not expect something like that out of such a small package. You back up your words well."

"I try. So, do we have a deal then?"

"...I suppose there will be no harm in making one attempt. But if I find out you don't have our back, you will find yourself in dire straits indeed."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Let me get you some details..."

(==========)

"We're getting close to where they were last seen. Think they'll have moved on by now?"

"Potentially, though personally, I must betray a preference for the opposite case being accurate. An extended pursuit disservices us in our endeavors to achieve a rapid resolution."

"Agreed. Lessee, if I was a giant dragon with an army where would I go to rally the troops?"

"The possible locales would be nigh endless, I would presume."

"Long answers don't conduct themselves well to humor, Blackie. But never mind, I don't think we've got to do much searching." Derek pointed off into the distance; even despite the still considerable space between them, it was hard to miss the group of very large digimon standing rapt in the middle of the mesa, attention on one very large and very odd-looking dragon digimon. "Holy smokes, is that his head or a backhoe?"

"Backhoe. Breakdramon's cranium is the object in the nearby vicinity also bearing remarkable similarity to a backhoe."

"Ay yi yi. This is gonna be fun..."

As they approached the group, they could hear Breakdramon roaring loudly at the group. "Well, we're gonna make them pay for what they're trying to do! I don't care how long it takes, we'll kick their asses back up to the stratosphere if we have to! They'll never threaten us again!"

"Yeah!"

"The ground never wavers! It stands for centuries, not caring what slams down on it! We have to be the same! Never relenting no matter how many blows we take! It's the only way we can stop them and live up to the legacy of the Land Kings!"

"So I take it the ground isn't the diplomatic type?" Derek said loudly, not sure if he'd even be heard through the ruckus of the ringleader. His fears were assuaged remarkably quickly, as just about everyone turned in his direction. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that much response."

"Eh? What kinda weird-looking little mite are you?" Breakdramon rumbled, eyes fixed pointedly on the newcomers.

"Weird-looking? That's rich coming from something that looks like Dr. Frankenstein went into mechanical engineering."

"...Hwa?"

Derek scowled. "Just great. I finally have one good comeback in my life and I waste it on someone who doesn't get the reference."

"Perchance would you allow us a brief period to elucidate our purposes for entering your presence?" Blackcanismon asked. "We shan't protract our explanations more than necessity dictates."

"Whatever. Hurry it up so we can get back to preparing for battle."

"That's actually part of why we're here. We're hoping this whole battle thing you guys have planned doesn't actually have to happen."

"What? Did they send you here to try to goad us? Do they really think we'll fall for that?"

"They didn't send us here for squat. We've never even actually seen them. We've got other reasons for being here, it's mainly about Emperius for us."

"Oh, right, that whole Purification business. Well, we got bigger fish to fry, way bigger fish that fly in the sky and try to do crap to us!"

"That metaphor broke down rather rapidly," Blackcanismon said with some amusement. "Perchance, have we a modicum of hope of forestalling such unnecessary violence?"

"Unnecessary? This isn't even close to that! We have to take them down for everyone's sake! We can't let them have their way!"

"Jeez, what the heck did they do to cheese you off?" Derek asked.

"They want to kill all of us! They don't think anything that doesn't hover in the air like they do is worth keeping alive! They're all, 'ooh, we fly in the air, we're so special!' and it pisses me off! We've got as much right to this place as they do!"

"Startlingly akin to the rhetoric of Emperius, assuming its veracity. However, perhaps it is more accurately supposed as mendacity. Does there not exist a significant absence of contact between your organization and theirs?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not like we don't have any way of knowing what's going on! I've got a good friend, Reaverdramon, and he's somehow also that clown Slayerdramon's friend. But not for long, he's been telling us all about what the creep wants to do to us! He's standing behind us on this!"

"Yeah, and are you sure he's not just waiting to stab you in the back?"

"WHAT? You wanna say that again, you little bastard?"

"Isn't the ground supposed to be all stoic and such?"

"You get the ground angry and you get earthquakes!"

"I walked into that one, didn't I? Look, let's face facts: demon digimon don't exactly have the best reputation of truth and honesty, and judging from what I've heard it's not exactly undeserved. Given that he's your one and only source for this information, doesn't that lead you to suspect even a little bit that maybe someone's not telling the truth here?"

"He isn't like all those other demons! I've known him for a long time, he wouldn't do anything like that! He hates all that stuff!"

"Though the realization may bring you suffering, you must certainly be cognizant that demonic digimon frequently utilize the 'long con' to enact suffering and discord. Your conviction in his trustworthiness is admirable, but more discriminating digimon before yourself have fallen victim."

"Well...that's..." Breakdramon growled, clearly frustrated. "I can't just..."

"There's an easy way to verify. We can set up a meeting between you and them. One to talk, not to fight. Having a go between is a rotten way to try to make peace, anyway, usually the message gets lost in translation no matter how good the intentions are."

"And what? This whole deal could just be a trap you guys are setting for us!"

"Perish the thought. Should they be dishonorable as proclaimed, we shall assist you in eliminating their threat forthwith."

"You two? Don't make me laugh! You midgets really think you could do anything useful for us?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "It's not like we're tourists here, you know."

"Well, then, prove it! If you really have something to show us, then show us!"

"I assume that means a quick battle. Right, then, what are we up against?"

Breakdramon seemed a little surprised that Derek agreed so readily, stalling his decision. One of his troops made it easy for him. A large, imposing tortoise digimon, brown-colored all over and with a shell that looked like pure rock itself, stepped forward slowly. "I'll take that chance. You won't even get through my shell."

"Well, that would be a first, a Mineralmon quick on the draw. All right, you've got yourself a deal." Derek and Blackcanismon merged right away, then evolved right up to Onyxvargmon. "So, shall we begin this dance?"

"What the...where'd that come from?" Breakdramon asked.

"Who cares?" Mineralmon asked. "Let's see what it can do before we get impressed."

"Tough crowd. Very well, you asked for it. Umbra Swarm!" With a sweep of his arm, a flurry of dark projectiles were launched at Mineralmon who turned broadside to them. The shots slammed against the shell, not leaving much of a mark.

"Is that all?"

"Just a warm-up. If you're bored already, let's go for the next step. Shadow Pulse!" Onyxvargmon held out his hand and unleashed a high-energy burst of darkness, which also slammed into the side of Mineralmon's shell. Unlike the smaller and more lightweight Umbra Swarm, though, this one actually lifted Mineralmon's entire left side off the ground, much to his shock. Not enough to tip, but he was clearly shaken as he landed back on all fours. "Whoa...that packed more of a punch than I thought!"

"Has that suitably convinced you?"

"Hey, I could take that just fine. You really want to prove yourself, actually do something that'll hurt me!"

"Such a masochistic demand, but I shall oblige." The ground underneath Mineralmon began to darken, and wisps of darkness swirled up into the air. "Perhaps this will give you the dose of pain you desire. Regaling Shade!"

A massive wave of darkness surged up from the darkened patch of ground, clamping around Mineralmon before he could react, not that he could have moved fast enough to escape. An eerie glow emerged from the ground, and a few seconds later, a powerful blaze of darkness fired up around Mineralmon. Now it was clear Mineralmon was feeling it, as he let out a bellow and staggered in the grip of the dark maw. Onyxvargmon killed the attack quickly, not wanting to hurt Mineralmon too badly - after all, it was only supposed to be a test, not a deathmatch.

Mineralmon shook his head. "Owwww...rgh, guess that's why have to be careful what you wish for."

"Huh...so that little midget actually did something useful?" Breakdramon said. "Well, if that's what he can do to you, those wimps in the air wouldn't last two seconds! But still, why should I believe that you aren't setting up some kind of trap?"

Onyxvargmon folded his arms. "Please. If I wanted to set a trap for you, I could do so without ever coming face to face with you. You'd be dead before you even knew what was going on. I'm not interested in talking to my victims, so you can consider yourselves safe from me."

"Hmph. Sounds like a lotta hot air to me. But fine, you've earned at least a shot, I guess. What do you want us to do?"

(==========)

Isaac and Datacarnomon were waiting by the time Derek and Blackcanismon arrived at the designated point. They quickly got caught up on their respective experiences with the feuding groups.

"Well, I'm glad we got everything worked out as much as we could," Isaac sighed tiredly. "Not so glad to find out that you didn't take my advice at _all_..."

"Hey, it was a lot to remember, and besides, it worked out, didn't it?"

"That's not a philosophy I care to go by when it could be my life on the line."

"Oh, please, your judgment has hardly been eternally spot-on, mister 'I'm going to take on a Megaseadramon by myself.'"

"...Yeah, okay, point taken. I'll try to remember that." Derek was caught so off-guard by the sudden acquiescence that he could say nothing; Isaac, unaware of his surprise, kept going. "At least we got them to agree to some sort of meeting. Jeez, you'd think these people would have a little more sense to not just blindly trust one guy to do all the talking for them."

"Especially an individual from a segment of the population not recognized for its honesty and integrity," Blackcanismon agreed. "Though I certainly harbor misgivings about our perpetuation of the concept. Such stereotyping is the driving force necessitating protective locations such as Moonlighton for individuals not conforming to the typical schema."

"The truth can be painful," Datacarnomon said with a noncommittal shrug. "Doesn't make it any less true. At least we have a chance to clear things up before the biological waste hits the fan."

Derek sighed deeply. "Yeah, how lucky we are to have to fix this. Though I should have seen it coming...the Oracle predicted this one, too. _'Land sky war of demon to ending by demon and twined.'_Not much I can argue there."

Isaac looked at Derek incredulously. "You got this out of that complete gibberish?"

"It's not as gibberish as it sounds. 'Land sky war' is pretty straightforward. And it mentions demons a couple times. And I'm pretty sure 'twined' means us."

"That Oracle thing couldn't have just said that?"

"It...doesn't exactly speak our language, I don't think."

"You guys have some crazy things going on with the dark motif. At least technology is straightforward."

"A rather unenlightened position, per my personal sensitivities. Machinery possesses marked deficiencies in mystical capacity, such that it harbors a tendency to entertain no notion of the surreal or fantastical. In all veracity, those possessing such an affinity tend greatly towards blithe cynicism, banality, and dullness."

"Hey!" Datacarnomon exclaimed. "Watch what you're saying about my kind!"

Blackcanismon snickered. "If you perhaps shall allow me a regurgitation of a recent maxim, 'the truth can be painful, but that doesn't make it any less true.'"

"Settle down, you two," Derek said, though he sounded quite amused in his own right. "What kind of example will we be setting for those factions if we're at each other's throats? Just accept the fact that Blackcanismon won that round."

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Isaac said sarcastically.

"I aim to please."

"Yeah, and your aim's about as good as Reyn's with a slingshot. Can't hit the broad side of a..." Isaac trailed off as his pace slowed to a stop. "Hang on, guys...I don't think we're alone."

"Huh?"

"Something big's nearby...it's heading right for us...way too fast to be on the ground!"

"HEY!" The loud roar from above rattled all four travelers, and they quickly scrambled to the defense. A large black figure circled over them, looking about ready to destroy something. "This is MY territory! You get your asses outta here or I'll dish out a whole lotta pain!"

"Is that an Onyxdramon?" Datacarnomon yelped. "They aren't good news at all!"

"What is in this world?" Isaac griped. "Let's just kick its ass before it kicks ours!"

The two quickly merged and took evasive action as Onyxdramon let loose with his Onyx Stream, a dark breath attack which left the ground it hit smoking with dark energy. Onyxvargmon shouted over to Cyberrexmon, "You're gonna have to do most of the heavy lifting, my attacks won't do much of anything!"

"Then draw him so I can get a bead!" Cyberremon locked on and unleashed his Reptile Rockets, sending them flying towards Onyxdramon. With a target so large, it was easy for them all to connect, forcing a pained and angry roar our of the dragon. He tried sweeping the ground again with his Onyx Stream, forcing Cyberrexmon to get on the run. Onyxvargmon let loose with a couple attacks, hoping to distract the dragon if nothing else, but Onyxvargmon didn't seem to be paying much attention.

"Come on!" Cyberrexmon roared as he got caught up in one of the dragon's breath blasts.

"I'm trying...guh, this is hopeless, nothing I do even fazes him..." Onyxvargmon ran through a dozen ideas in his head and discarded each one before a thought occurred to him. "Great, this is totally counterintuitive, but..."

Sighing, he reverted to his Darkwolfmon form. "Well, here goes nothing...Nightmare Tangle!" He had to focus hard as he unleashed a barrage of shadowy tendrils from the ground, sending them way up high towards the dragon. Finally Onyxdramon's focus on Cyberrexmon could be used to their advantage, as it was unaware of the attack until they had swarmed around him and bound him tight. He let loose a surprise cry as he suddenly plummeted to the ground, slamming hard in a faceplant.

"Thanks," Cyberrexmon panted as he ran up towards Darkwolfmon. "Man, talk about trouble!"

"No kidding. I'm glad I was able to do something-"

"GRAGH!" Onyxdramon shifted suddenly, drawing both their attention. "I'll show you! Ebony Pulse!" Suddenly a burst of dark energy blasted from the jewel on the dragon's head, blowing over a wide area of the land and sending both of them flying and tumbling along the ground. Both tried to recover as fast as possible, but Onyxdramon was loose and back in the sky before either one could take action to prevent it.

"This guy doesn't quit!" Cyberrexmon aimed his cannon but didn't have time to fire before he was fired upon, this time with a strange pulsating shadow emitted from Onyxdramon's jewel. He just managed to avoid it, and soon found it in pursuit. "Gah, get away!"

"Nightmare Tangle!" Darkwolfmon made a second attempt at grasping the dragon. Now Onyxdramon had to actively evade the tendrils, taking his attention away from Cyberrexmon. He tried to unleash his Flux Shadow on the lupine, but all it did was actually make Darkwolfmon feel refreshed. "Hey, thanks."

"Shut up!"

"No, you!" Cyberrexmon fired his Tera Blaster, hammering the dragon's hide with powerful energy fire. He didn't let up for a moment, even as the dragon tried to turn and take aim at him again. Finally, after a good twenty seconds of this punishment, the agitated dragon turned tail and flew off, apparently deciding that his territorial claim wasn't worth this kind of trouble.

Cyberrexmon drew his arm down, sighing. "Damn...glad that's over..."

"I agree." He started as Darkwolfmon's voice came out from right behind him.

"Gah! Warn me when you do that!"

"Oh, come on, don't you have sensors to tell you where I am?"

"I'm not poring over them constantly! Jeez, it's called common courtesy! You don't sneak up behind someone who could blow your head off!"

"Hm, point taken. Anyway, are you all right?"

Cyberrexmon nodded. "Yeah, just fine now that we've driven off that overgrown reptile. C'mon, let's get settled back in."

"Sounds like a good plan to me."

(==========)

They set up camp in a cluster of trees, sheltered from the wind and with ample fuel for a fire. Eventually, Isaac spoke up. "Everything's set for the night. Guess we have to look forward to tomorrow, then."

Blackcanismon nodded. "Quite the predicament everyone has gotten mired in. I regret to inform everyone of my lack of experience in diplomatic relations. It may potentially be preferable for us to synthesize prior to commencement of our resolution activities."

"Good lord, Black, is it that hard to just say 'I'm worried, let's merge and be ready for battle?'" Datacarnomon sniggered.

"Perhaps I am not a champion of directness such as yourself, Datacarnomon, but need I repeatedly direct your attention to the myriad of our former comrades that held reverence and appreciation for my elegant elocution?"

"Elegant my metal butt. You don't even use all those words right!"

"I prefer to assert heavy utilization of linguistic creativity."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good one. Hey, I've got a word for you: cacozelia."

Blackcanismon grinned. "Indeed? I venture that particular term is more accurately conferred upon such individuals who appropriate periods of time to scour their internal database for sesquipedalian endeavors in a remarkably futile effort to undermine one's verbal superiority."

"...What the hell ever." Datacarnomon huffed, unwilling to openly admit defeat. "Creativity...you're about as creative as that guy who accidentally blew up a paint can and then decided to call it art."

"In our world that would probably sell for a couple million dollars," Derek chuckled.

"You're probably right, though," said Isaac. "Tempers are liable to explode when those two come face-to-face, especially since neither one knows that they're being played. Each one is going to think the other's lying, and when they start with the accusations, it'll be like a Wherrels family reunion."

"Hopefully we'll be able to mediate between them," Datacarnomon mused. "They've got some pretty powerful digimon on each side...if an all-out battle erupts, even with all our strength, I think we'd have a lot of trouble getting things to calm down. We'll probably have to take control of the situation right away to keep that from ever happening."

"And what happens if Reaverdramon shows up?" Derek added. "I know we got them to agree not to tell him, but I'm not sure they trust us enough to keep it quiet. And even if they do, I half-expect he's show up anyway, just to make our lives difficult."

"You're such an optimist."

"How many things this far have been easy for any of us in this world? I think my pessimism is well-warranted, thanks."

"Indubitably. The difficulties we have encountered heretofore inspire not even the remotest confidence in future simplicity."

"One of these days I'd like to have reason to hope. So, who's taking first watch?"

"I'll go," Datacarnomon said. "I shouldn't have too much to worry about, I've been up for long periods lots of times."

"Glad to hear it. Wake me up when you're ready to switch."

(==========)

(==========)

Before you ask, yes, making their experiences eerily similar _was_ intentional.

After these two-parters are completed, things are going to pick up again. We'll converge once again on the core plot and start moving towards the big confrontation. And once that ball gets rolling it's gonna roll fast. Thanks for bearing with me, I hope I can make it worth your while. If I can provide some entertainment, some distraction from your troubles and frustrations, even for a little while, it's worth it.


	46. Chapter 45: Sky Of Rage, Part 2

This one took a long time. Hard to envision some of the scenes I wanted, even harder to write them once I had. But it's done now, so enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 45: Sky Of Rage, Part 2**

When Skylar awoke, he wasn't surprised to find that Iris and Shockavimon were already gone. What did surprise him was that Reyn wasn't there, either. Not one content to fall back asleep to such a mystery, he got up and wandered around until he saw Reyn sitting near the mouth of the cave. staring out into the distance.

"You okay?"

Reyn gave a slight nod, head never changing direction. "Just had trouble sleeping."

Skylar blinked a couple times to clear his eyes. "That's not like you. You're usually the soundest out of all of us."

"Yeah...guess I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Also not like you. Always seemed like you were handling this the best of all of us."

Reyn sighed. "Maybe...I dunno. It's more...no, forget that. It's personal stuff, silly stuff, too."

"You serious? C'mon, Reyn, if you're bothered by something, you can tell me-"

"No, I can't. Not because I don't trust you or think you'll say or do the wrong thing, but because...well, it's reasons I don't really want to say because I don't want certain other people to get the wrong impression."

Skylar was somewhat mystified at this. "Are you talking about Salmandmon?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it any further, if that's all right with you."

It wasn't quite all right with him, but Skylar didn't press on any further. He retreated back into the cave, where he found the others starting to rouse themselves as well. "You all sleep all right?"

"As well as I can knowing I'm within a mile of one of the biggest fungus colonies on the planet," Salmandmon said, making a disgusted face. "At least that won't be true beyond today...hopefully. Where's Reyn?"

"Cave mouth. He said he was having trouble sleeping."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. He seems kind of out of it this morning. I think maybe the stress of everything is starting to catch up to him."

Salmandmon frowned. "Hm. Yeah, you're probably right. Figured that would be coming sooner or later."

"You did?"

"Well, I mean, not like from the start. But recently, he's been a little weird at times. He's always trying to hide it, though, so it's hard to really dig any deeper. Does a pretty good job of it, too...didn't really expect to find a human quite as bold as one of us."

"He's had that kind of approach for a while. At least as long as I've known him. Iris says he wasn't always like that, though."

"Iris? Huh, and here I thought you were the one who knew him best."

"I can see why, but she's actually known him the longest of all of us. They met not long after he moved here. I didn't have a chance, I didn't even get to Braun until two years ago."

"So she's seen a side of him you haven't, huh?"

"Seems like it. She doesn't say too much about it, probably because she thinks it might be embarrassing or something like that. But she did say that over about a year from the time he moved there, he became the Reyn that we're all familiar with. Truthfully, I think she might have had a hand in it, but she's mum on that, too."

"Heh, it's kind of hard for me to imagine Reyn as something other than the stoic snarker type."

Skylar couldn't hide a grin. "You're not alone. Still...try to be easy on him, okay? I know he doesn't like to let on when he's stressed out, so it can be hard to know when he's hit his breaking point. If we can avoid that until we're done with this whole mess, the better for all of us."

Salmandmon nodded. "Yeah...I'll do what I can to help. I'm pretty impressed that he's managed as well as he has...heck, all of you. This has to be way beyond what you're used to...what about you? How are you doing with all this?"

Skylar sighed. "Well...it's definitely not something I was really all that prepared for. I guess I've managed all right, though. I just try to take it one issue at a time, that way it doesn't seem like such a big deal."

Salmandmon bowed his head. "I see. You know, I'm...well, I guess all of us, we're so used to fighting alongside people who know what they're getting into, who are...I guess mentally prepared for the kind of strain combat puts on you. And who are really made for it, too. And, well, I think maybe we've been doing you a pretty serious disservice by thinking of you guys in the same way. You weren't really ready, you weren't really prepared...you just got thrown into this headfirst without any clue what you were really doing. I mean, to tell you what's going on is one thing, but the actual experience, it's not something you can tell. I know we couldn't really do anything to ease you in all that much, not under the circumstances, but I wonder if we did enough to help you all cope with everything."

"I...guess I don't really know. You're right, I'm not really familiar with all this, and I don't know how I'm going to handle it as things get rougher. I guess I thought it was going to get easier..."

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for that. The burden of putting your life on the line for a cause, any cause, even one you believe in with all your heart and soul, it's not something light and simple. Some things get easier, but others don't...some get harder, even. And that only gets worse when you're not ready for it."

"No kidding. We'll...work through it, I think. There've been many before us who've faced major adversity and overcome. It's not always easy, but we've got the tools and the spirit. That's at least something."

"Yeah, it is. But, listen, if you're having trouble with it, if it's getting to you, tell us. And that means any of us. We might not be as connected to you as Breezedramon or relate to you quite as well, but we all want to make sure you aren't run into the ground from all this. And same for everyone else. We'll listen, and we'll help out where we can. This isn't one guy's burden, it's all of ours to share, and those of us who are used to it should take up more when those who aren't are struggling."

Skylar nodded. "Thanks, Salmandmon. I'll try to remember that. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure. Well, guess I'd better go check on Reyn, then."

"I'll come with!" Breezedramon said brightly. "Maybe I can help buck him up a bit!"

"I thought you didn't like being laughed at."

"Hey! I can cheer people up by doing things other than humoramilitantating myself!"

"But why not play to your talent?"

"Agh! Skylar! Make him stop!"

Skylar laughed. "Sorry, bud, I'm staying out of this battle."

After another minute of back-and-forth, the three of them managed to get back on their way to the mouth of the cliff cave. Reyn was still sitting there, but his expression had brightened, and he betrayed no hint of the cloud that had hung over him not long before. "Hey, we got a nice little party here. You all ready for what we've got on our plate today?"

"Do we have a choice?" cracked Breezedramon.

"Sure, though I'm not sure I want history to remember me as the asshole that ran away to let everyone be sculptures for all time."

"So you've decided you'll go with flying through the air with the greatest of ease on the back of a jet-powered dragon?"

Reyn winced slightly. "Let's not mention that any earlier than we have to."

"If you want, I can do that whole thing instead of you," Salmandmon jumped in. "I know you're not exactly comfortable with it, and let's face it, staring down a cave full of fungi isn't exactly my idea of a fun time, either."

"Thanks for the offer, Sal, but I'll deal. From a strategic standpoint, it does make more sense...besides, I can't just run from everything I'm scared of, right?"

"Well, neither do you have to run headlong into _all_ of them at full speed."

"I'll wear a helmet, dad."

"Ha ha. One of these days..." They didn't get to hear what Salmandmon was planning, though, as the lizard trailed off when something from outside the cave caught his attention. "What the heck is that?"

The group turned to see not much of anything; a large cloud of dust and debris was obscuring some kind of commotion not too far away. "Whatever it is, it's doing a good job of hiding itself," Reyn said.

"I think I see something flying around, trying to get away," Skylar said, squinting his eyes. "Anyone else back me up on this?"

"I think you're right," Breezedramon said after a moment. "Probably some dude got attacked by bandits or something...and one of them's huge-normous."

Salmandmon rolled his eyes. "Joyous. Think we should go down and help them?"

"Er, well, one the one hand, it means doing a whole lot of stuff we never planned on doing and possibly getting hurt or something else not all that good. On the other hand, there's a digimon that might not make it if someone doesn't jump in on his behalf. So, tough call."

Skylar looked firmly at Reyn. "We should help out."

"Of course. Heaven forbid we should be able to go through one of our plans without any sidetracking, but we can't just let them be killed. What's the game plan, then?"

"You two won't be merging while we're dealing with Ornismon. You should be better off doing it now than we will be."

"Hm...yeah, you're right. As usual."

"Well, one of us has to be. Let's run one of these platforms out and make some noise, huh?"

(==========)

By the time Skylar, Breezedramon, and Pyrekomodomon got down to the ground, the dust kicked up from the chaos had reached them and was making it difficult to see or breathe. "Blech...one of you two kick up something to drive this stuff away!" Pyrekomodmon snapped, covering his head and eyes.

"On it!" Skyla summoned a powerful gust of wind from the west which sent the clouds sweeping away, and which also drew the attention of those responsible for creating the mess in the first place. There were a cluster of smaller flying digimon, composed of Roachmon and Flybeemon, flitting around one very large dark-colored Metalgreymon. Their quarry had been a Diatrymon which had taken off with the wind and was already well on its way out of the area, but the pursuers seemed to be more interested in the newcomers that had gotten in their way.

"Uh-oh...I think your fire is gonna have a tough time with the big guy," Skylar said nervously.

"Pah. As if it could ever be easy. I'll deal."

"You sure? We could merge and help out-"

"No. You sit back and deal with the little flying buggers. I'll handle big and ugly."

"Well, okay, if you're sure." Pyrekomodomon gave a brief nod and then sprinted towards Metalgreymon. Some of the smaller insect digimon started to dive towards him, but quick attacks from Skylar and Breezedramon headed them off, and soon the entire swarm had their eyes on the wind users.

"Well, we're a bit outnumbered, Breezedramon," Skylar mumbled as he saw them descending on him. "What's the trick now?"

"Divide and conquer! We gotta split them up and hit them one by one!"

"Easy for you to say, you can move in three dimensions. What do I do?"

Breezedramon looked up at him in disbelief. "Are you serious? Come on, use the wind to your benefit! You've seen tornados pick people up, haven't you?"

"Oh, right!" Skylar had no more time to say anything as the swarm bore down on them. The two split off, dividing the attackers and giving them more space to work with. Skylar quickly kicked up another gust of wind to throw them off and give him a little time to devise a battle plan.

Working quickly, he formed a series of small whirlwinds in the air. _I hope this is enough...guess I'll be finding out._ As the Roachmon and Flybeemon were coming at him, he sprinted for the lowest whirlwind and jumped into it. The kick was higher than he expected, throwing him up several feet over what he had intended, and he rapidly shifted around the one he'd been aiming for in order to land safely within it. He managed to adjust its strength so that he was just hovering in it rather than being tossed like the previous one. It was a strange sensation, almost floating in the air, but somehow it seemed right to him.

The air attackers had been thrown off by his tornado jump and were quickly trying to come around to strike at his new location. Skylar formed another pair of twisters and sent them barreling towards two of the enemies. He got two bogeys with one of them, spinning them out in midair and sending them crashing to the ground; the other threw off a Roachmon but left him airborne, and it hurtled towards Skylar.

He waited until the last moment, then dropped down through his perch, the Roachmon just sailing on through and only hitting air. He directed another one of the static twisters under him and landed safely within it, then quickly directed another whirlwind at the nearest enemy, throwing if off to the side. Unfortunately, after it regained its bearings it was still raring to go.

_I'm not doing a lot of damage...I can keep them away but I'm gonna have to do more to actually convince them I'm a threat. Wait, I've got an idea..._

A Flybeemon was rounding on him, and he turned to face it down. This time, instead of a whirlwind, he shot forth a series of cutting wind blades, slicing through the insect and eliminating it. This did get the attention of the others, which suddenly broke off their pursuit and gave him a bit of distance. _Heh, I guess they weren't expecting that. Don't have the advantage of surprise anymore, though..._

A beam of energy burst in from behind one of the Roachmon, sending it to oblivion. Breezedramon swooped in behind it and deftly wove around one of Skylar's twisters. "Hey, Sky! Need a hand?"

"You already finished off your guys?"

"Well, some of 'em. You looked like you were falling behind, though."

"I think I might be getting the hang of it, but I won't say no if you're willing!"

"Cool! Get ready, here they come!"

"Right!" Skylar powered up the twister he was in to send him flying up to another one, launching another series of wind blades while in transit, and then from above tried a slightly different version that was more spear-like. These moved far faster and completely gutted a Roachmon.

"Nice job!" Breezedramon called from below. "Watch out, there's one trying to come behind you!"

"Thanks!" Skylar spun around to face the Flybeemon, which had broken off its charge once its cover was blown. Skylar wasted no time unleashing an attack on it, which it deftly dodged. Skylar kept his eye on it for a moment then saw another Flybeemon trying to come at him. This one wasn't able to dodge in time and took Skylar's attack full force.

"Shearing Gale!" From below, Breezedramon kicked up a powerful windstorm that cut into thew few remaining enemies. As they were buffeted, Breezedramon reared back and charged forward in a flying tackle using the heavy wind to amplify his speed, slamming into one Roachmon so hard it was instantly deleted. Breezedramon didn't even flinch at the impact, and as soon as the Roachmon's data was in the air he swung around and fired off an Aerial Laser at a second Roachmon, ending its life as well. This was finally enough for the remainder of the swarm, which decided at once that this was too much for the and took off as fast as their wings could carry them.

Skylar jumped down along the whirlwinds and finally touched ground again. With a relieved sigh he dispelled them. "Now THAT was something else. I might have to do that again sometime."

"Great job, Sky!" Breezedramon piped up brightly as he swooped down to join him. "Now you're getting the hang of it! Just keep thinking like a wind master dude and you'll be an expert in no time!"

"Yeah, maybe. Need to learn a few more tricks of the-" An earsplitting roar crashed through the air, startling both of them. They both turned to look at the battle between Metalgreymon and Pyrekomodomon...and almost immediately, Skylar wished he hadn't.

(==========)

Pyrekomodomon glared up at the massive target in front of him; the Metalgreymon was snarling down at him, rather large drops of drool hanging off the corners of his mouth. "Damn, you look dead to the world already. Probably doing you a favor getting rid of you."

He set his gauntlets aflame, molding the fingertips into claws. Then he took a powerful run at Metalgreymon, leaping onto his chest under the metal plating and slashing wildly. The effect was fairly minimal; the dino's thick hide made it tough to dig deep, and his fire affinity dulled the damage and actually helped cauterize the wounds, reducing their effects. With a swipe of his large claw, Metalgreymon knocked him off and back to the ground; he landed on his feet, only mildly disconcerted by the blow.

_That didn't do too much...looks like anything more than high-powered flames aren't gonna do the trick...I'll have to get deeper inside if I want it to really work. Guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way._ He closed his eyes and tensed up, focusing his energy and redoubling the fury of flames within him. "Ngh...Raging Wildfire!" Falmes erupted all over his body, the ridges of flame on his spine shooting up ten times fiercer than what they had been before. He could feel a surge of power within him, power that he knew would be vital in destroying the Metalgreymon.

He leapt again, this time at Metalgreymon's leg. He landed right next to a large vein that was protruding slightly, and with a snarl rammed the tips of his gauntlets down into the protrusion. Blood sprayed up and Metalgreymon roared, but Pyrekomodomon didn't stop. He tried dragging his hand down, and instead ended up pulling up, ripping some of the flesh off the leg and exposing more of the vein.

Metalgreymon's huge claw came for him again, but this time he saw this coming and leapt away, jumping up the body and onto the back of his neck. He clawed and tore at it, digging up pieces of scaled hide and he exposed more and more and more of the subcutaneous flesh to the open air. Again Metalgreymon tried to go for him, but he had moved again and the efforts only worsened the damage to the area.

"I'm gettin' tired of your interruptions," Pyrekomodomon growled as he whipped around to the back of the beast's unarmored shoulder and just down to the top of his arm. He sank his teeth into the flesh, then jerked his neck back and to the side repeatedly, soon pulling up a chunk of the hide. Tossing it away, he then buried his arm into the opening, working it down further and further in, Metalgreymon helpless to try to stop him due to his position. He dug in fast to put all his force into the arm, toe claws hooked into the hide and jaws clamping down to keep him steady. Soon he felt something that didn't respond like muscle or bone, and hoping it was a nerve, began to tear and saw at it, trying to damage it enough to keep him from attacking.

Metalgreymon let out an ear-splitting roar of anger and pain, jerking hard enough to dislodge most of Pyrekomodomon, though his jaw kept him from flying off and allowed him to get purchase again. He leapt away, landing on metal on the creature's back. Metalgreymon didn't seem to be moving the arm much, which meant that he had possibly been successful in disabling it. He also seemed to be getting weaker overall, and the rivers of red running down his back and leg were still flowing profusely. "Hmph. Not so tough when you've lost half your blood, are ya?"

He swung back around to Metalgreymon's chest, trying to tear in again like he did on its neck. In about twenty seconds he'd opened a frighteningly large wound, blood pouring from it and soaking the lizard. He didn't care enough to deal with it. He dug his claws in at the opening, trying to tear away more.

"Wonder if I could actually grab onto your heart like this?" He plunged himself deep into the muscle, reaching as far as he could; he could feel each beat as it thundered through the flesh, moving faster than ever as the gigantic dinosaur's terror mounted. "Ngh...dang, I think I'm gonna come up short. Ah, well, can't do all the fun stuff. Guess I'd better finish you off!"

He drew as much energy as he could, almost shaking at the build-up; it was beyond what he had ever done before. "RrrrrrrrrRRRRRAAAAGH! Searing Wave!"

He unleashed a furious blast into the hole in Metalgreymon's chest, less the usual powerful flame and more like a directed explosion. The force of the flame was spectacular, blowing right through the cyborg dinosaur's body and out his back, sending shrapnel and tissue flying, and actually throwing Pyrekomodomon backwards off of his perch. Metalgreymon's heart was incinerated, his heat resistance no match for the absurd intensity of the attack, and his data rapidly dissolved away into the air. Pyrekomodomon landed safely on the ground, then went down on one knee, panting harder than ever before, the flames on his body having died down to regular levels. _That...was definitely the biggest flame I'm capable of._

Footsteps behind him prompted him to stand and turn. Skylar and Breezedramon were racing over, each looking rather unpleasantly shocked. "What the hell happened?" Skylar shouted anxiously.

Pyrekomodomon shook his head. "Nothing too bad. Just chalk up one dead dinosaur. You two okay?"

It took a moment for Skylar to find his voice. "But you...you're a mess! Look at you!"

Pyrekomodmon looked down. Sure enough, his body was bathed in blood, and there were quite a few bits of other biological material mixed in in places. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Eh. He was a bleeder. Nothing that won't come off. Anyway, you ready to go back, then?"

Skylar had stepped back a pace. "Are...you serious?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" the lizard asked bemusedly.

"I'm talking about that battle! You just...I've never seen you go at someone so brutally, so, uh, _ferally._ You were tearing him up like you were a wild animal!"

"So? I am an animal, at least in part. What's your point?"

"You don't see anything wrong with that at all? You don't think it's just a little...too...much?"

Pyrekomodomon scowled at Skylar. "What the hell is with you? You're getting squeamish now?"

"I just-"

"You just nothing. Last I checked, we're trying to win fights here! Why shouldn't I be playing to win?"

"Dude, there's winning and then there's being nasty!" Breezedramon yelped. "You're all blood-mouthed and stuff! You're not fighting like most digimon, you're actually ripping them into pieces and...it's like you're trying to eat them or something!"

"Tch, don't be ridiculous! They don't taste nearly good enough to eat."

"Ugh! Dooon't eveeeen!"

Pyrekomodomon's fiery eyes swung over to Breezedramon, who eeped and jumped back. "What? It's not like I'm actually going to eat them. Just trying to do what I'm supposed to do with my enemies - you know, kill them dead. You got a problem with that?"

"But you do it so...so...so ugly! Isn't there a better way to-"

"Excuse me? A 'better way?' I wasn't under the impression that there was a right and a wrong way to make things dead. And I'm not gonna go easy on someone just because you get a little disgusted." He spat the last word as if it was a particularly nasty epithet.

"But...b-b-but couldn't you have just flamed him to death or something?"

"Metalgreymon has a fire affinity, I had to weaken him before I could make anything of it. So I just did that. And I'd do it again! If I have to shatter bones, rip open bodies, and roast organs to win, so what? I'll do it without thinking twice. Wouldn't you?"

Skylar blinked and stared. "You...you make it sound like you almost enjoy it."

"I just don't care about it. Not much point in getting all hot and bothered by it. If you wanna call that enjoying it, that's your misuse of the word. It's not even that bad."

"Hell yeah it is!" Breezedramon yipped.

"Shut your trap, it isn't. You think I'm just supposed to get all nauseous just because I get blood on my hands? Once you've done it a few times you find it's not really that weird. Makes it a lot easier to dig in when you have to."

"Ew! Dude!" Breezedramon gagged. "That's sick!"

Without warning, Pyrekomodomon lunged down, slamming his fists into the ground and staring Breezedramon directly in the face at his eye level. Startled, the dragon flopped backwards and landed on his rear, unable to take his eyes away from the snarling reptile.

"And who the hell do you think you are, getting so high and mighty? You think just because you get to see death at the end of a _stick_ instead of right under your hands, you're all of a sudden above me? Like it's some sort of _achievement?_"

Breezedramon couldn't respond out of sheer terror. Pyrekomodomon finally seemed to take note of this and stood back upright, clenching his fists tighter as he got a grip on himself, the blood making a soft squelching sound. "The only difference between you two and myself is that I have to get more...intimate with my enemies. You want to try to take the high road and say I'm sick for fighting that way, fine, but you're only fooling yourself. Death doesn't feel any better either way."

With that, Pyrekomodomon stalked off towards the cliffs. Skylar and Breezedramon saw him emit a brief, intense burst of heat over his body, vaporizing the blood and other matter and sterilizing his own scales. He then started scaling the cliff by hand, not even apparently giving another thought to the platform on the ground beside him. Skylar shook his head, one hand on his temple. "Well...that was a very surreal experience."

"What the hell is the matter with him?" Breezedramon exclaimed. "He sounds like he's practically psychoginationally unestinable! There's no way that's from Sal's side, he would never be like that!"

"It's definitely not like Reyn, either..." Skylar let out a sigh as he watched Pyrekomodomon skitter quickly up the face of the cliffs. "Which leads me to think...maybe Pyrekomodomon's more of his own person than we might have thought."

"How? It's just our minds put together, right?"

"Well, that's what we've always assumed. It's probably pretty close to the truth, but...well, we can't really always predict how everything works. I could cop out and say it's just that some of our latent thoughts and feelings were being brought forward, but, well, that doesn't seem right to say. Maybe it's just that that mental combination isn't as simple as a median of our own personalities...the third mind may function and react totally differently. And as we get to higher forms, and our individual minds have less influence over our merged minds, they can express themselves more completely."

"That's kinda creepy...are we different as Skydramon, Sky?"

"I would assume so, but it may not be quite as evident to us ourselves. Remember, we couldn't make sense of our persimintonaly confordations because they felt so normal. So our merged mind's behaviors might be just as natural...wait, did you hear anything weird when I just said that?"

"Hm? Nah, it all sounded normal to me."

Skylar didn't respond for a moment. "Maybe you aren't the best litmus test for that kind of thing...ah, forget it. Let's just get back to the cave."

"Yeah, okay..."

The two walked back to the platforms, but before they could get on, they caught sight of something bright yellow flying their way. "Hey, you two! What're you doing down there?"

"Bolteaglemon! You're back!"

"What, did you have doubts?" Bolteaglemon descended next to them and landed. There were several bags on each of her arms. "Take these for a moment so we can split."

Skylar managed to get a hold of most of them, leaving the last one to Breezedramon, who of course managed to nearly drop it. As soon as Iris and Shockavimon were back to their normal selves they lightened the load on Skylar. "Thanks," Iris said. "One of those times it's actually more convenient for two of us. So, yeah, what brings you two out here?"

"Oh, just the usual fight to the death."

"Ah, I guess we missed the fun, huh?"

"Fun nothing!" Breezedramon yelped. "Pyrekomodomon went freakin' crazy!"

Both Iris and Shockavimon swung to look at Breezedramon. "Crazy? What do you mean?" Shockavimon asked.

"I mean he just like got all nasty and bloody and stuff! And then he snapped at me because I said something about it!"

"There's a little more to it than that..." Skylar sighed. "Actually, can we talk about it for a moment?"

"Oh, sure, uh, but let's put this stuff down first. No point in us hanging onto it if we're not going anywhere with it."

"Oh, yeah. Just put 'em down on the platforms. So, did you ever get the impression that Burnreptimon was...well, psychotic? I mean, in his higher forms?"

"You mean you didn't?"

Skylar gave Iris a deadpan look as he set down his bag. "That wasn't _exactly_ the answer I was looking for."

It took a moment for this to register with Iris. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"That's all right. You've...been a little more perceptive than the rest of us recently. I assume you're aware of that?"

"Yeah. I just need to be more aware that others aren't. It's a little tough getting used to. So what tipped you off?"

"That Metalgreymon we fought while you were gone...well, he fought, anyway. He went at that thing's body like a dog to a stuffed chew toy. It was seriously like watching...I dunno, a coyote tear up a gazelle."

"Coyotes and gazelles don't-"

"It's just an example, sub in whatever animals make sense to you. The point's the same. And then he sounded off on us when we were horrified by it...at one point I almost thought he would attack Breezedramon."

"Yeah, that was scary!" Breezedramon piped up. "I've never seen anyone look so angry!"

Iris nodded. "That sounds like it...I haven't seen it quite to that degree, but those were different circumstances." She was quiet for a moment, then continued. "I guess I wouldn't call it psychotic, exactly...I mean, he's not crazy, just...well, it's hard to explain. Like...you know how Reyn always has really good restraint for the most part? He's got strong...uh..."

"Inhibitions?"

"Yeahyeah, that's it, inhibitions. He tends to bottle things up, try to keep this calm and content demeanor, doesn't lose his cool, even when you can kinda tell he wants to. And if you make the obvious joke I'm going to pop you one."

"Nuts. Yeah, we were kinda discussing that earlier behind his back. So you think it's got something to do with that?"

"That would be my guess. And Burnreptimon, it just seems like he doesn't repress any anger or ferocity especially in his higher forms. He lets it all out in the most brutal fashion, maybe he finds it kind of cathartic. I remember when he first became Blazereptimon, after Reyn's mother and brother were attacked, he went all-out ballistic on Skullsatamon. Roasted him until there was nothing left of him, not even data. Way more than necessary."

"So he's got a history of this kind of...messy kill, huh?"

"Yeah. And I kind of saw it before, too...when he was attacked by Ceramon, when he told me what he did to save himself. I mean, I know Reyn wasn't ever really all that squeamish, but he does kind of cringe at the really bloody and gory stuff in some games. He'd never admit it, but I could see it. What happened probably would have made him feel kinda ill. Burnreptimon, though, he sounded pretty neutral about it, like it was just another fact of life or something."

"I see. I got the same thing out of Pyrekomodomon, if not more so. He almost seemed to enjoy it. Like it was some kind of demonstration of power or something. I dunno...I kind of can't believe that's part of him."

"I don't think it is. You've noticed it, haven't you? That our merged forms don't exactly fit our initial impression of being just kind of in the middle of our individual forms?"

"Somewhat? I'll admit, this is the first I've really paid attention to it. I mean, there's always the hindsight bias."

"Well, yeah, but I started thinking about it more after I realized our personalities were converging to some degree. I wanted to see if it was because of how our other forms behaved, but I saw some things that didn't quite fit that. Shockavimon backs me up on that."

Shockavimon nodded. "That I do. I've seen things that definitely don't line up with any of us, and from what I've seen they don't line up with you guys, either. And it seems to be expressed a lot more when we're in more advanced forms, too, so there's that as well."

Skylar grinned. "Heh, you two would make darn good scientists. Hey, tell me, have you noticed any of those kinds of differences in us? I mean, Skydramon and his forms?"

"Oh YEAH. You're a total nutso."

"Hey!" Skylar and Breezedramon said in unison.

"You asked. You're over-the-top exuberant in whatever you do - happy, cocky, enraged, what have you. If it was written down it'd be like 90% of your sentences ending in exclamation points. Plus, you talk like a tape recorder on fast-forward when you're Stormdramon."

"You think that too? I thought Reyn was just exaggerating when he said that."

"Not even close. It's tough to follow you when you talk that fast. And it's especially bad if you really get going, I couldn't even hope to make sense of any of it."

"Huh...you know, I really don't know why I haven't caught on to that. I mean, I thought it would be obvious to me, given that I'm becoming him...I dunno, lately, things seem different from how they started."

"I think I know what you mean," Shockavimon said. "I've noticed it too...I haven't really remembered things as well from when we become Thundergarudamon, compared to Bolteaglemon and Ionavimon. And between those two, it's still easier as Bolteaglemon."

"So I'm not the only one who noticed. It's weird...I mean, I have some really...vague kind of recollection of something, but I can't really...I'm having trouble putting my finger on it. It's like..."

"Like being in a dream?" Breezedramon offered.

"...That's absolutely perfect, Breezedramon! It's like a dream state. I have a very vague idea of what went on, but I can't really remember any details and it seems to fade away very quickly."

"You're right, that's a good way of describing it," agreed Iris. "Even in the lower forms it feels kind of like that, but different...almost like...I remember reading about something called lucid dreaming...where you're dreaming but you're aware of it. I think it's something like that in our lower forms - our individual minds still have some conscious influence at times. But once we get higher, it's more like a regular dream, where we don't remember anything."

"At least not consciously. I'd have to think we'd remember on some level...but maybe we repress those memories."

"Why?" asked Breezedramon.

"I can't really say for sure, but my guess would be that it helps keep us...ourselves, I guess. So that we don't slip and start thinking we're something else?"

"Or maybe it just keeps us sane," Shockavimon suggested. "But I think you're right...we have to remember at least a little bit. I mean, I don't remember most things from when we were in those higher forms, but I can recall certain things...mainly about Stormdramon and Pyrekomodomon. I recall them, how they are, when they needed help...kind of things that I feel like were really important at the time."

"Huh...don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't really remember anything like that."

"Oh, gee, that makes me feel safe. Well, what did you remember, then?"

"Well, it was mostly...vows, I guess. Like back in the seaside town, I remember promising myself that I would defeat Emperius and not let anyone get hurt. And I remember that I had vowed to destroy Emperius so that they wouldn't be able to keep doing this. I don't really know why that's what sticks out to me...I mean, I don't have control over it."

"Wow...Stormdramon actually has depth! And here I thought you were just a crazy nutter in that form," Iris giggled.

"Hey, we've got plenty of depth!" Breezedramon protested. "Just because we're examburamatant and ambhypandertiondictive doesn't mean we don't think deep stuff!"

"You're not putting forth a convincing defense, bud," Shockavimon laughed.

"Bah...you're all against me!"

"This just keeps getting more and more complicated," Skylar sighed. "I hate it when I think I've got everything straightened out and then I find out there's another kink in the line further down."

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to figure everything out," Iris said. "Right now, though, I think we should get back on track."

"Yeah, Ornismon. C'mon, we'll get you two back up to the cave."

(==========)

"Hey, you're back." Reyn and Salmandmon were lounging around the Falcomon's room when the rest came in. It was quickly evident from the strain in Reyn's eyes that something had been eating at him. "Uh...Skylar, Breezedramon, are you two...all right?"

"Hm? Why do you ask?"

"Uh...well, it's just...my head's kind of cloudy about that whole battle, but I remember being really angry about something...and I think you two were around, so I was kind of hoping I didn't do something I would regret later."

Iris and Skylar exchanged looks. "...No, we're fine. It was...a minor disagreement, not important to dwell on."

"Okay...good." Reyn closed his eyes and leaned back, exhaling gently.

"I told you it would turn out to not be too much of an issue," Salmandmon said, though the relief was evident in his voice as well.

"Yeah, after hedging on it a bunch. I guess it's moot now, though."

"Are _you_ okay?" Iris asked. "You seem really bothered by something."

"It's nothing. I'm just...anxious about what we're going to be doing. This'll be my first time flying on something that could go supercruise without more than a thought."

"Ain't gonna be much easier on my end," Salmandmon groaned. "I don't relish the idea of that huge fungus colony."

"You two should seriously consider switching roles," Shockavimon said.

Salmandmon shook his head. "I know, but we talked it over...much as we want to avoid it, we think it's better if we face the thing that bothers us more. Maybe we'll be able to deal with it better that way."

"Jeez. Gluttons for punishment, you two are."

"Hey, either way, we'll make sure you guys are safe!" Breezedramon puffed up confidently. "You'll have nothing to fear with us around!"

"Except random gusts of wind," Salmandmon cracked.

"GAH! That was ONE TIME!"

"And yet your reaction is always worth harping on it. Anyway, didja get enough destoners for everyone in town?"

Iris nodded. "I think so. We had to kind of guess at how many people there were here but I think we erred enough on the side of caution. We also picked up some more anti-fungal stuff as well, just to be on the safe side. The shopkeep said it was extra-potent, too, so it might go farther."

"Stuplandoriferous! That should help make everyone normal again! Um...hey, wait, what's this thing?" Breezedramon picked up a jar of some clear fluid. "Wait a sec...this looks like some kinda street drug!"

"Buying drugs off of shady black market dealers, Iris?" Reyn chuckled mischievously. "Your dad would bust every artery in his body!"

"Oh, shut up, you know me better than that! It was Shockavimon's idea."

"Well, it's not my fault your world gets so hung up on that kinda stuff," Shockavimon said. "I thought it was completely normal!"

"Well, there's a few differences between how they treat things in your world and in our world," Reyn said. "Kind of a much less lax attitude towards that kind of stuff on our end."

"Oh, really?" Iris asked rather leadingly. "You knew about this and didn't think to mention it to us?"

"Uh...well, I mean, I've just been kinda randomly talking to Salmandmon about it, I didn't think it was..."

Salmandmon chuckled. "You haven't told them about anything we've been talking about? What were you waiting for?"

"I wasn't! I just...I didn't really think about it..."

"Typical," Skylar sighed. "If I had a nickel for every time he 'didn't think' to tell me about something...it's almost cost us on more than a few school assignments, either he doesn't tell me about some recent update or he forgets an aspect of the assignment that I end up finding out about only when it's almost too late. I swear, he could be a straight-A student if he didn't space out on that stuff so much."

Reyn frowned as Skylar. "Hey, a B average isn't that bad."

"It's not as good as A."

"Well, I mean...yeah, but...it's just not easy to remember all that stuff, you know?"

"Except you even forget to tell me about it after you write it down."

"Oh, wow, he's that bad?" Salmandmon snickered. "I'm glad I'm not like that, I'd hate to be leaving everyone else in the dark."

"It's not like I try to!" Reyn protested.

"Still doesn't help much. So, what did you girls pick up, anyway? I don't remember us talking about needing anything off the street like that."

Shockavimon nodded. "We didn't, but we mentioned our little problem to the guy who sold us the fungal cream, and he suggested it to us. It's Sedamnol."

"Oh! Hey, that might just be the ticket!"

"How so?" Skylar asked.

"It blocks anger brain chemicals!" Breezedramon piped up.

"Yeah, essentially," Shockavimon said. "It's something that makes it very hard, if not impossible, to get angry, because the areas of the brain that respond to it can't be triggered. And that should include the compounds in that Hateanger Fungus."

"So we're supposed to give it to Ornismon. Um, any ideas?"

"We'll probably just have to chuck the thing into its mouth," said Salmandmon. "I don't see any of us getting close enough to do a better job."

"No way!" Breezedramon said. "That has a canactasatropic chance of screwing up! We'll have to try to think of something else!"

"Well, the floor's all yours, airhead."

"All right, all right, let's take it easy," Iris cut in before Breezedramon could respond. "We might not even want to use it immediately. Don't forget, if we don't eradicate the fungus entirely from its cave, it's just going to take hold again, and I'm not sure how well the effects would stand up to a sustained infusion of Hateanger Fungus. So let's start by making sure we can clear the cave out. If all goes well, then we can work on getting it into him."

"I don't think we're going to have a lot of opportunities, though," Skylar pointed out. "We might not have another option. We should be ready for the worst if it happens, so one of us should be carrying it at all times."

"It should be me," Reyn volunteered. "I'm going to be up with Ornismon and I don't think Stormdramon has a lot of pockets. If it comes to it I should be able to hand it to him."

Salmandmon nodded. "Makes the most sense to me. So is that everything?"

"I think so. We'll take care of the petrified digimon after we've ensured that they aren't going to be stricken again. So what's left?"

"I think we just have to execute it," Iris said. "Although if possible, I'd like to eat something first. I haven't had a thing all morning."

"Sounds good!" Breezedramon piped up. "Falcomon went to get some stuff for us, so we should be able to chow down when he gets back!"

Salmandmon made a face. "I can't even think about eating right now..."

"You really want to be going in hungry?"

"Let's just say I would rather it only made one trip, and I'm not sure that'll be the case once I see that cave of nightmares."

"You're so dramatic sometimes," Shockavimon teased.

"Hey, you know I hate that stuff, it's not like I'm just pulling this out of thin air."

"Well, it's your choice," Reyn said. "I don't know if I want to eat anything either...I have no idea what that flight's going to be like, and if we end up doing a lot of loops and stuff I probably won't be feeling much better."

Iris shook her head. "I swear, you two... you know you're making things so much more difficult on yourselves than it has to be, right?"

"Just means it'll be that much more satisfying when it's over."

(==========)

Before long, Reyn and Stormdramon had taken off into the air. Reyn clung tightly to the dragon's armor, hoping his added weight wouldn't throw off his balance too badly. Stormdramon, for his part, was a little more jittery than he was letting on, having never had to carry around a load before and especially not one that he absolutely could not let fall. Still, he didn't let it show, hoping that would translate to ease on Reyn's part.

They were the first out in order to draw Ornismon's attention and get him out of the cave, so that Salmandmon and Thundergarudamon could slip in and take care of the infestation. "You know what you're doing, right?" Reyn mumbled nervously to his ride.

"Relax, I got this covered, I've done this before! Just hold on tight, 'cause we're gonna have to make a break for it when he comes out!"

"Okay..." He couldn't have been less eager to hear that, but it couldn't be helped, so he just redoubled his grip and waited.

Stormdramon swooped around and faced the cave, a fair distance off but close enough to make himself noticed. He channeled the wind slightly in front of him, using it to help him draw in a deep breath, and then sending it forth to help project his yell: "HEY, YA BIG UGLY BRUTE, YA OUGHTA BE STRUNG UP LIKE A PIÑATA! YOU COULDN'T OUTFLY A KITE!"

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Reyn hissed desperately. "You're supposed to get his attention, not piss him off!"

"Eh, same diff."

"Are you-" Reyn had to stop his admonishments as a loud screech heralded the emergence of Ornismon, and Stormdramon, true to his word, whipped off straight up into the air, forcing Reyn to clench his hands for dear life on the armor. They climbed high into the sky, quickly pursued by the much larger avian beast.

"Start doin' your stuff, Reyn!" Stormdramon had to shout to make himself heard over the wind whipping by them now. Reyn, feeling his stomach turning, managed to glance back and look at Ornismon. He did have a good clear shot - not that that was a challenge given how big Ornismon was - but he wasn't about to even consider letting go of his death grip.

_I've done fireballs through the air before, but that's not gonna be enough, and I've never done anything more sustained without using myself as a conduit before...but that was before the Catalyst, so maybe I'd be able to do it...guess I'm going to find out._

Taking a deep breath, he looked back upwards and focused on a point above them. A large orb of flame began to expand out from a point, gathering energy and growing ominously larger. Stormdramon, quickly catching on, adjusted his flight path and swung around it, turning above it after a few seconds. Blinded by his rage, Ornismon didn't even seem to take notice of the dangerous orb, putting right below it in order to take the most direct path to his target. This was all Reyn needed, and with a mental effort he unleashed a directed burst of heat and flame right at Ornismon. It enveloped Ornismon, who screeched out in anger and barreled through it. Stormdramon changed course again, this time more abruptly, causing Reyn to get turned around; when he got a bead back on Ornismon again, he could see some licks of flame coming from his feathers.

"Was that enough?" Stormdramon shouted.

"Maybe a little more than enough, even!" Reyn shouted back. "But it didn't seem to really hurt him, just make him mad!"

"Everything's gonna do that while that Hateanger Fungus is going on him! Just keep going with the fire!"

"Right!" Reyn took a couple deep breaths to settle his nerves. It wasn't going too badly so far, but somehow that wasn't calming him down any. _I wish there was a way to make this easier...or at least faster..._

(==========)

"You okay?"

"Yeah...just...now you know why I decided to skip lunch." The fiery reptile had taken one look at the interior of the cave and succumbed to dry heaves. "Mgh...just...gimme a minute to get a grip on myself."

"Yeah, okay. Guess that'll give me some time to figure out how I'm gonna do my part here." Thundergarudamon stared into Ornismon's coastal cavern. Even not having any particular aversion to fungi, she found herself a little revolted by the state of the cave; the floor, the ceiling, and every wall was nearly completely covered with a colorful array of fungi, only the very entrance being spared. It appeared certain that they had vastly underestimated the varieties they would encounter.

"How in the world does anyone let this get this bad? I mean, this isn't even livable. We might very well be lucky it's just the three he's got growing on him."

"Thundergarudamon, I really don't need any more nasty mental images right now..."

"Oh, sorry. Are you gonna be able to get to work?"

"Hehh...I think so. I'm...well, 'okay' would be stretching it, but I think I can handle myself now." Salmandmon turned back to the cave slowly, cringing as the objects of his revusion came into sight. "Gah...it's...I don't even know how to describe it..."

"Well, we won't have to describe it if we make it dead."

"Yeah..." He swallowed and steeled himself. "I'll use up every flame in my body if I have to. This stuff can't be allowed to live."

"Are you saying that for Ornismon's sake or your own at this point?"

"Take your pick." With that, Salmandmon inhaled and blasted flames onto the cave floor. Thundergarudamon took the hint and began her electrical assistance.

(==========)

"Hahahah! Good job, Reyn, this is going great! I can already see a lot less of those spores than before! See, this is nothin'!"

"Easy for you to say..." Reyn mumbled, trying to gulp down his nerves as he sent another stream of flames at the gigantic bird. The flames really were doing the trick, and the reduced threat of airborne hazards was improving their ability to maneuver around. However, Ornismon's relentless pursuit was still forcing Stormdramon to move very quickly and wildly, and that was not easy for Reyn to deal with. _I'm so glad I didn't eat anything, the last thing I need is to be about to hurl something instead of just feeling like it._

Still, he managed to keep the heat up, and after a few more treatments, Ornismon didn't seem to be shedding any more petrifying spores. Reyn kept them moving for a couple more blasts just to be on the safe side, and Stormdramon did a quick sweep of the air to confirm.

"All right! We got the worst of it done! Now we just need to get that Sedamnol into him!"

"And just how do you propose to do that?" Reyn shouted. "He's still trying to rip us apart!"

"Well, let's just try to get close up!"

"ARE YOU MAD? He's trying to kill us!" As if to drive the point home, Ornismon dove on them, forcing another quick swerve from Stormdramon. He redoubled his evasive maneuvers, trying to keep more distance between them and their attacker.

"Well, we can't just throw the stuff into his mouth! Even if you're somehow on target, it's not like he's gonna swallow it!"

"There is no way I am going to even think about trying to pour something into his mouth when he's trying to take our heads off! We gotta figure out another way! And fast, because I'm a freaking bulls-eye right now!"

"IknowIknowIknow! Just...hang on, I got it! Thundergarudamon! She can help!"

"You can't be serious! She's all the way down at the cave!"

"So we gotta get her up here then! She calmed him down last time, she can do it again! I think the reason she was able it do it before was because she was able to send a '!"

"WHAT."

"He needs to be electrocuted! Try to keep up!"

"Oh, yeah, like you make it so goddamn easy, motormouth!"

"Just contact Salmandmon and get her up here already! C'mon, you're the one pushing for speed!"

(==========)

_You know what, this might have been a mistake..._

Thundergarudamon had been watching Salmandmon to make sure he was doing all right, and as they had progressed through the cave, she noticed a gradual but immense change in his behavior. At the start he had been fairly timid and cautious, carefully eying all the burned spots to make sure the fungi were truly roasted. But as they had gone through, he was getting more aggressive, more expressive, and a lot more eager to set the stuff aflame. Now...

"Yahaha! Feel the heat, bitches! Burn and die!" She watched as he tossed around flames like nobody's business, wildly purifying the cave of its invaders. At first it had seemed like he was enjoying it, but as it continued she got a much stronger sense of rage and hatred, as well as an intense satisfaction at being able to vent it. Salmandmon had never been in such a state in all the time Thundergarudamon could remember; not even Emperius had ever driven him to such ferocity. It started to make her wonder if she hadn't underestimated just how much he disliked fungi.

_Even then though, he's usually not that crazy about what he hates...though, I wonder...Reyn's had some moments where he's seemed less like himself, too...I wonder if Pyrekomodomon might be rubbing off on both of them a little bit, too..._

"Take that! And that! I'll turn all of you to ash! Ragh, burn motherf-" Suddenly the lizard seemed almost jolted, and suddenly stopped what he was doing. Thundergarudamon was just about to ask what was up when he wheeled around. "Thundergarudamon! They need your help up above! Stormdramon's asking for a jolt on Ornismon!"

"What for?"

"Reyn didn't say! He just said hurry up and get up there!"

"Guess I'm going to then...are you gonna be all right down here?"

Salmandmon nodded and looked at her intensely. "Yeah. Don't worry...I _got_ this." It was said in such a was that it definitely convinced her he did, but also unnerved her somewhat.

"Right...uh, I'll come by to pick you up after I've done my job."

"Okay!" Salmandmon went right back to blazing through the fungi, almost becoming oblivious to her presence. Thundergarudamon wondered again about this, but as she reached the cave entrance and took flight other issues pushed it out of her head. Stormdramon seemed to be twisting and turning far more than she was comfortable with with Reyn on his back, and Ornismon if anything seemed more determined to exterminate them.

_It's not going to be possible to confer with them...I'm going to just have to trust that they know what they want._

Pushing herself, she rushed to catch up, readying a Lightning Bomb for when she knew she would need it. It was proving to be tricky; both Ornismon and Stormdramon were faster than she was, and the fact that the former was single-mindedly pursuing the latter meant she was continually playing catch-up.

_I need him to lead Ornismon into my path, otherwise this is never gonna happen._ She tried to get Stormdramon's attention, and after a few tries succeeded. There was no real way for her to talk loud enough to get him to hear her clearly, so she made a motion behind her, hoping he'd catch on. Whether he did or not, he did as she wanted, careening past her at high speed, drawing Ornismon right in her direction. _Finally! Let's give you a wake-up call, big bird!_

She swung up and threw down her Lightning Bomb as he was passing under her. It struck dead on, completely rattling Ornismon just as it had yesterday. Once again he fell into a state of confusion, but this time Thundergarudamon didn't rush to get away; instead, she landed on the back of his neck and grabbed on. _They'd better get down here soon, I don't want to have to try to shock him again!_

It took but a few more seconds for Stormdramon and Reyn to swing around again. "Nice job, Thundergarudamon!" Stormdramon said excitedly. "Reyn, get the Sedamnol into his mouth!"

"Ya gotta get me closer than this!"

"Allrightallrightallright!" Stormdramon had moved within a foot of Ornismon's beak, still a very dangerous move with the gigantic bird being in an unpredictable state. Still, he remained out of it long enough for Reyn to pour the contents of the bottle down his throat. Just an instant later, he suddenly shifted, disrupting the entire set-up and taking Reyn off of Stormdramon's back. He grabbed desperately at the beak, dropping the bottle in haste. It took all of two seconds for Thundergarudamon to react, leaping off of Ornismon and grabbing Reyn, holding him tight as she spread her wings and glided into a gentle descent.

"Th-thanks..." Reyn stammered, gripping her deathly tight.

"You're welcome. Let's get you on safe ground...I think you've been up in the air long enough today."

"Y-yeah...no kidding..."

(==========)

"So that's what happened..." Ravmon rubbed his head tiredly, still getting used to being conscious again. "I can still hardly believe it...so much time, gone in an instant...and we could have been stuck like that forever. Or at least for so long that we would have been essentially out of our own world."

"That's a scary thought," Skylar muttered with a shiver. "I'm glad we were able to do something. And for Ornismon, too...he was all but lost to the world for so long, as well. And who knows what might have happened if he'd been drawn somewhere else."

"It'd've been a camantamadratastamophe!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "All everyone being turned to stone before anyone would figure out what was going on! We only caught on because Sal's so scared of the stuff!"

"It's no wonder we didn't realize what was going on...I've never heard of Basilisk Fungus using a living vector to transmit spores. I wouldn't have thought it was even possible." Ravmon sighed, laying back down on his bed. "Breezedramon...it took me a while to remember why you had gone in the first place. I'm so sorry your return had to be even more unpleasant than your departure."

"It's okay...I think I get it a little better now. I was pretty insensitive to everyone, even if I wasn't trying to be I can get why they weren't happy with me before. I think I'm better at that now, though...and I was able to make it up to everyone, so I'm happy."

"Be that as it may, it was still not the proper way of expressing themselves. You shouldn't have had to suffer like that. I'll make sure it is made up to you, however I can."

"Aw, thanks, Ravmon!"

"And you...Skylar, was it?" Ravmon shook his head once again. "I never expected to see a human in my lifetime...much less ones as extraordinary as you and your companions. We are in your debt as well...you've saved all of us a very unpleasant fate."

Skylar nodded solemnly. "I'm glad we were able to help. Maybe sometime I can come back and really visit in earnest...this looks like a fascinating place, I'm sorry we can't stick around to see more of it."

"It is a shame. But I suppose Emperius has no plans to wait on you. Taking them on all on your own, that's a tall order. Let us know if we can offer any kind of assistance, we would all be happy to help. They've been nothing but trouble for everyone, but they've been hard to stand up to as well."

"There is one thing you could do. We'd been walking for a while trying to get to a Transfer Point, after the one we were near started malfunctioning. Part of our contingent can't fly, and we decided it was too dangerous for us to try to carry them, since we never know when Emperius might pop up. But if there was someone that could fly the two of them, we might be able to get to our destination more quickly."

Ravmon nodded. "I think I should be able to contact someone to help out on that front. It's the least we can do...thank you so much."

"We're glad to help!" Breezedramon said cheerily. "Speaking of which, we should probably get back to work. There's still a bunch of petrified people and the others are probably needing a break! You gonna be okay on your own, Ravmon?"

"I should be all right now...thank you for checking up on me."

(==========)

(==========)

And that takes care of that. I am glad I split it into two chapters; better for the timing of the story and for my ability to write it. Some people can dash of 25,000 word chapters no problem, but I have trouble keeping track of everything that's happened if I try to do that. So better for me to make the pieces more manageable.

There's a lot of peripheral stuff in this chapter that I've been hanging on to for a while. And it's not even all resolved here, but there are a few things that are made clearer. It's tough, trying to strike that exact balance where you're hinting at things earlier but not making them so clear that it just seems stupid to mention it later on. I don't know if I got it right; I'm sure you'll tell me if I didn't.

I may not be able to get a chapter up next weekend, owing to time constraints I'm going to be under this week, but I'll give it my best shot.


	47. Chapter 46: The Face Of Deceit, Part 2

Finally got this one done! Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 46: The Face Of Deceit, Part 2**

Isaac was the first to awaken that morning, and it took all of two seconds for him to realize something was wrong. For starters, they weren't within the grove of trees that had been sheltering them the previous night; in fact, they weren't anywhere that even remotely resembled where they had taken their repast.

"Gah! Guys, wake up! WAKE UP!"

"Ngh...not so loud, Isaac, you're..." Derek trailed off as his eyes opened and he became aware of their situation. "What the...where the hell are we?"

"We're practically straddling the western coastline! We got moved way the hell away from where we're supposed to be!"

"How? I thought we were going to have someone keeping watch!"

"We were...Data never woke me up for my shift!" Both of them looked over to Datacarnomon, who seemed to be in a dazed state.

"How...how could I have fallen asleep? I never sleep unless I'm trying to..."

"The responsibility partly falls upon myself." Now everyone looked over at Blackcanismon, who had his head bowed low. "Foolishness...I failed to recall the properties of Reaverdramon and his line...they excel in creating weakness and exhaustion, draining the energy of others and leaving them fatigued. He would easily have been able to get to us..."

"But why would he put us to sleep and then leave us alive?"

"Who knows? All I know is that we have to get back right away! If we hurry we might be able to make it before anything too serious erupts! I've got a bead on a Transfer Point, it's not too far away!"

"If it's nearby, either they got lazy or they've got something they think will get in our way," Derek pointed out. "We have to be ready for an attack."

"Right! All right, let's get going, we don't have any time to waste!"

(==========)

True to Isaac's word, the Transfer Point wasn't far away. True to Derek's, something unpleasant was waiting for them.

A rather large-bodied demon digimon stood in between them and the Transfer Point. His body was a dusky gray color and adorning his head were two curved, wicked-looking horns. He looked every bit the spitting image of a demon. Datacarnomon recognized who it was immediately. "Gregeromon!"

"That would be me. And you can't get in Reaverdramon's way."

"So it was Reaverdramon," Derek declared grimly. "Not that we had many other suspects...what the hell is your aim?"

"Aim? What do we need some ulterior motive for? We're demons! We don't have to answer to anyone! Our will is all that matters!"

"Guess we'll just have to impose our will on you, then!" The two pairs merged together, leaving Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon ready for battle. Gregeromon didn't seem even remotely fazed, having apparently been ready for this.

"Just go ahead and try to defeat me! Evil's Grip!" Two dark hand-like structures burst out of the ground and tried to grab at the two symbiotes, who both managed to get away in time. Onyxvargmon rushed forward, blades at the ready, and leapt at Gregeromon, unleashing several punishing slashes. Gregeromon swatted him away, hardly fazed by the assault.

_Gregeromon's big and probably resistant to dark energy, _Cyberrexmon thought as he readied his cannon. _Guess I'm gonna have to do most of the heavy lifting here. Oh, well, suits me fine._ "Hey, ugly, take this! Tera Blaster!"

The rapid-fire bursts from his cannon pounded Gregeromon, who wasn't nearly fast enough to escape them. With a roar he tried to run through them, charging Cyberrexmon with a claw raised and glowing ominously. "Life Leech!"

He swung down, but the attack found only air; Cyberrexmon rolled forward, and making a rapid switch to his claw arm, slashed at Gregeromon's legs and stomach, delivering several punishing blows before Gregeromon could put space between them. Already the demon looked like he was in dire straits, which was only welcome news to Cyberrexmon; he had to finish it quickly so they could get on to Reaverdramon.

"Soul Torment!" A multitude of dark orbs rose up around Cyberrexmon. _Oh, great, this is gonna be tough to get around,_ he had time to think before they began to crash in on him. Moving as fast as his body would take him, he dove to the ground, then felt the blast wash over him, gritting his teeth as the residual dark energy cruised by; the brunt of it had missed him, and it gave him an opening.

Rising up, he opened up his shoulder hatches and produced his rail gun barrels. "I'm done wasting time with you! Hailstorm Rail Gun!" A torrent of bullets launched out from the barrels, slamming into Gregeromon's body with full force and gunning right through it. One quick adjustment send the next barrage into his head, which put the demon down for good.

"Nice shootin', Annie Oakley!" Onyxvargmon called out. "Come on, let's get to the Transfer Point!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" the cyborg roared back, trying his best to pick up some speed. Despite his best efforts, it took him longer than he would have liked to get up to the Transer Point, where Onyxvargmon was waiting impatiently. "Grah, sometimes I wish I could shuck this stuff for just a minute so I could move faster!"

"You'd probably not be nearly as useful then," Onyxvargmon riposted. "All that stuff is what let's you kill those big guys I can barely touch."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're welcome, by the way!"

"I'll make it up to you. Ready?"

"Do it!" Onyxvargmon activated the Transfer Point and they were off.

(==========)

"I haven't seen any sign of either of those two," Slayerdramon mumbled to himself as he led the Sky Lords to the designated meeting point. "I swear, if this was some sort of trick...but what would they get out of tricking us into meeting with each other?"

"Sir, we're moving off course!" Slayerdramon snapped out of his reverie and adjusted his direction, the rest of the Sky Lords following suit. "All right, we're good now."

"Apologies...Hm, it looks like we may be the last to arrive..." Though it was still some distance away, he could see a large group of indistinct figures that were too large to just be anything. "Well, men, be ready for anything. The Land Kings are here, and if they even so much as think about coming after us, we show them no quarter!"

"Yes sir!" the group chorused.

The flight continued, but after only a minute Slayerdramon saw one of his men, a Waravimon, come up to meet him at his side. "Sir...I'm looking at the Land Kings, and it looks like Breakdramon is arguing with someone...it isn't one of the larger creatures, but it's still too far to see anything much smaller. That might be the one of the ones who came by yesterday!"

"It had better be! I'll hunt him down and make sure he pays if he doesn't keep his part of the bargain! He wants to accuse my good friend of being unreliable, he has no business flaking out on us-whoa!"

From the distance, they still couldn't see who Breakdramon was arguing with, but the emergence of a dark gray cloud of energy told everyone all they needed to know. "That must be Reaverdramon!" one of the Wingdramon cried out.

"That means he's on our side!" a Cannonbeemon cheered. "Let's go back him up!"

"Right!" The group went into a dive, making a direct line for the engagement zone. As Slayerdramon came nearer, he could start to make out Reaverdramon standing in front of Breakdramon, who was backing off, trying to escape the clutches of the attack. Only when he got closer, and when Reaverdramon turned to catch his eye, did he realize something was very wrong...then Reaverdramon raised his arm and the same dark gray cloud engulfed his vision.

(==========)

"Finally, familiar ground!" Cyberrexmon shouted as they came through the Transfer Point close to where they had met yesterday. "Damn that Reaverdramon! I swear, I'll have his head for this! Getting in the way of all our hard work!"

"Aren't we technically doing the same to him?" Onyxvargmon asked with slight amusement.

"Yeah, well, we're trying to make peace, not cause chaos!"

"It's still going to make him just as angry."

Cyberrexmon shot him a dark look. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours. I'm just saying."

"Well, don't! We'll have time for yapping after we get to them!"

"You're the one who makes the pace, buddy. I'm not the one who gets outstripped by a bulldozer."

"Whatever! You don't need to talk anyway!" Cyberrexmon redoubled his efforts, which didn't exactly net him much speed. Onyxvargmon didn't rush ahead; much as he wanted to get to the main conflict himself, if there were any other nasty surprises laying in wait on the way there they were worse off if they were separated. It wasn't long before this attitude paid off.

"Ah-ah-ah! Not so fast!" A blast of lightning struck near Cyberrexmon, forcing him to jump back. A strange cloaked figure suddenly appeared in their path, holding a devilish-looking staff and giving off an aura of power that clearly signaled danger to both of them.

"A Barbamon? Bloody hell! We just got done with Gregeromon! What do you want?"

"What do you think, dunce? I'm here to exterminate you. You decided to interfere with Reaverdramon's plot, you brought this upon yourselves!"

"What's with the coalition against the Sky Lords and Land Kings?" Onyxvargmon growled. "What, did they insult your mothers or something?"

"The reasons are Reaverdramon's alone. I'm only here because I delight in seeing you filth be brought low. Speaking of which, that is what I shall be doing now!" He raised his staff and another lightning bolt burst from it, this one striking Cyberrexmon and making him stumble backwards.

"Rgh...ooh, you'll get it for that!" Cyberrexmon unleashed his Tera Blaster on Barbamon, but the wizard put up a black bubble around himself, and the shots just pelted uselessly against it. "What the?"

"A shield! Guess this is gonna be tougher than Gregeromon!" Onyxvargmon barked. "We'll just have to try to get around it!"

Barbamon lowered the bubble and fired off another lightning bolt. Cyberrexmon avoided it this time and came at Barbamon, Onyxvargmon catching up quickly. In a flash, Barbamon smirked and fired off another attack. "Crimson Flame!" A dark red burst of fire emerged from his staff, shooting right towards the pair. Onyxvargmon leapt to the side and escaped unscathed, but Cyberrexmon could only take the brunt of it. He roared in pain and crashed backwards onto the ground.

The wizard went for another attack, but Onyxvargmon interrupted him, slashing and swiping and dealing a good bit of damage to Barbamon before he managed to put up the black shield again. Onyxvargmon jumped back defensively, but nothing came out to meet him. _Ha...guess he can't block and attack at the same time. Maybe I can buy us enough time for Cyberrexmon to get past him..._

Barbamon reappeared suddenly. "Take this! Pandemonium Lost!" A howling blast of flame and evil burst forth from Barbamon, barreling straight for Onyxvargmon. With a loud curse he leapt into action, sprinting away from the attack only to find that it was following him. He picked up his speed, barely keeping in front of it, but with a plan of action in mind. Soon he had turned around and was heading straight for Barbamon, the tenacious evil blast in tow.

The wizard cried out in shock and took refuge behind his shield again. Onyxvargmon leapt up and landed behind it, covered from the real force of the attack, or so he'd thought. Only a short time after impact, the shield failed and both were exposed to the fury of the blast. Fortunately for both of them, Onyxvargmon's delay tactics had let enough energy dissipate that it didn't kill either of them, though they were both quite shaken and weary after it finished up.

"Damn you..." Barbamon panted. "How could you outrun that?"

"I'm just that fast," Onyxvargmon shot back. "Ready to die, asshole?"

Barbamon scowled and unleashed another burst of lightning, Onyxvargmon quickly dodging. He countered with a dark blade of energy from his sword, which Barbamon tried to block with his shield only to find that the shield refused to activate; the force of the Pandemonium Lost attack had rendered him unable to use it. Angrily, he unleashed a torrent of attacks, trying now to overwhelm Onyxvargmon and keep him from getting through to attack him. The lupine deftly wove through the series but wasn't able to get any closer, until...

"Tera Blaster!"

Barbamon jumped, and in panic stopped his furious assault; he had forgotten completely about Cyberrexmon. He managed to avoid the cannon attack and was readying another Crimson Flame, but the distraction had given Onyxvargmon all the time he needed. He got behind Barbamon and thrust both swords into the wizard's gut. In one quick motion, he slashed outwards, bisecting Barbamon laterally and ending his life.

The swords disappeared, and Onyxvargmon stood panting, feeling his exertion finally catching up to him. Cyberrexmon walked over to him, also looking worn from his beating.

"...That make us even, then?"

"Sure. C'mon, we're almost there."

(==========)

They didn't have far to go to see the state of affairs. It was not an pleasant scene to behold: only Slayerdramon and Breakdramon were still standing, and they were surrounded by a dark gray cloud which appeared to be taking a visible toll on them. The other members of both groups were laying on the ground, surrounded by similar clouds, unconscious and in bad shape. Standing along in the middle of it all, much smaller yet somehow even more imposing, was Reaverdramon, a dragon of dusky grey color with a tattered cloak around his body, a wicked-looking scythe in his hands, and a sickeningly smug and satisfied expression on its face.

"Crap! He did a number on them already!" Cyberrexmon growled. "Damn, I hope we're not too late!"

"What in blazes is he doing to everyone?" Onyxvargmon snarled. "What's with that gray cloud thing?"

"Phobic Aura. Don't get hit by it...it uses a person's own fear to drain them of their energy. It creates a feedback loop - as you get weaker, you get more scared, which strengthens the aura. The only way to fight it is to overpower your fear, but it doesn't look like Slayerdramon or Breakdramon is going to be able to do that...they need back-up, right now!"

"Right! Then let's provide it!" Onyxvargmon charged in front of Cyberrexmon, slashing blasts of darkness at Reaverdramon. The demon dragon spun around and blocked the attacks with a whirl of his scythe.

"About time you showed up. Terror Eye!" A large, sinister gray sphere fired out from Reaverdramon's outstretched hand, forcing Onyxvargmon to break off his charge and leap away. He scarcely had a moment to recover before something shot out of the ground behind him; before he know it, something had lashed onto his body and limbs and pulled him back, slamming him hard into a structure he couldn't see.

"Onyxvargmon!" Cyberrexmon had just caught up and tried to go for the strange construct that was holding his comrade, but before he had a chance another one came out of the ground beneath him, knocking him off balance; the moment of delay was all it needed to bind him just as hard and fast. Cyberrexmon struggled and pulled as hard as he could, only to find that there was little give in the tendrils. "Grrragh! What the hell is this thing?"

"That is my own Chaotic Sentinel," Reaverdramon responded with a leering grin. "I had a feeling Gregeromon and Barbamon wouldn't be enough to keep you from meddling even more in my plans, so I prepared a little surprise for you. I hope you enjoy them, you'll be staying as long as I want you to. They're well known to be inescapable."

"Inescapable my ass!" Cyberrexmon let out a loud roar as he pulled hard, but again the bindings weren't moving. "Rrgh...gimme a moment."

"Ah, pathetic squirming...you go ahead and sit there while I wait for these two to finally give in." Reaverdramon turned back to the struggling Slyerdramon and Breakdramon. "I've been waiting for this...do you feel scared yet, knowing your life is coming to an end? That you've been nothing but pawns for all this time, and that you can do nothing to change that now?"

"Does he have to be so goddamn chatty?" Onyxvargmon snarled.

"Their line always is," Cyberrexmon grunted as he pulled against the grip of the Chaotic Sentinel again. "They do it to scare people, and-ungh!-that makes them get stronger. It's a tactical move."

"It's bloody annoying is what it is."

"Reaverdramon, stop, please!" Breakdramon gasped out. "Come on, don't do this! We've never done anything to you!"

"Why should that matter? You couldn't do anything to me if you tried. I'm a demon...we are the essence of strength. You're less than nothing compared to us." Reaverdramon laughed quietly. "And it shows. You two didn't even stop to think...you were so willing to believe the worst in each other, so foolish and arrogant that you didn't even pause to think you might be being toyed with. I've never manipulated anyone so easily."

"Reaverdramon...why?" Slayerdramon heaved, body wracked with pain from the draining attack. "Were we...were we not friends?"

"Friends? Don't make me laugh. Why would a demon make friends with such unworthy filth? It would be a violation of all that is sensible. I've hated you both for ages, and you have no idea how much pleasure it gave me to plot your demise. To think, it almost escaped me due to these irritating interlopers..." He turned back to Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon, apparently taking great pleasure in seeing them still immobilized. "How I would have loved to finish you off and ensure you couldn't get back to try to interfere...you should consider yourselves fortunate it was demanded of me I do otherwise. Though perhaps 'fortunate' isn't the right word for it..."

"Quit yapping if you aren't gonna say anything useful!" Cyberrexmon roared, redoubling his efforts against the bindings of the Chaotic Sentinel. "I'm going to break outta your stupid little trap just so I can shut you up!"

"You inferior beings are so pathetic. You really think you can escape those bonds? None have ever done so, don't think you'll be the first."

"You're giving me more than enough time!"

Reaverdramon snickered. "You lowlifes have no concept of the elegance of death. How much satisfaction can you really get out of killing if you don't do it slowly? If you don't draw it out and prolong the sheer terror of their imminent doom and complete helplessness?" There was a loud THUMP as Slayerdramon collapsed to the ground, completely lost to the aura. Reaverdramon glanced back at him and broke into a fang-baring psychotic smile. "Ah, speaking of which, I believe I have my first victim!"

"No..." Slayerdramon moaned, trying to move and only managing a futile squirm.

Reaverdramon began to glow ominously as he gripped his scythe in both hands. "Ha! Enjoy your final moments! Your time to die has arrived! Reaper's Toll!" The demon dragon leapt high into the air, scythe high above his head, and rapidly fell towards Slayerdramon, ready to strike his fatal blow in an instant...

A mere moment before impact, something moving insanely fast slammed into Reaverdramon in mid-air, driving him well away from Slayerdramon. Reaverdramon and the speedster tussled for a brief moment before the former got tossed away and went tumbling backwards on the ground. He shook off the blow and glared over at what had struck him, then recoiled in shock. "What? Y...you!"

"Me."

Onyxvargmon gasped. "Ah! It's another Reaverdramon!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Cyebrrexmon grunted. "The hell's going on here?"

The newcomer was almost identical to the first Reaverdramon; none of them could spot any immediately-apparent physical differences between them, and Cyberrexmon quickly had to mark them with his tracking systems so that he could keep them clear. It was evident from his stance, with his weight partly supported by his scythe and his heaving breaths, that he had been pushing himself to get in even at the last moment.

"You thought...you could trap me forever...you bastard?" he hissed at the enemy Reaverdramon. "Thought I'd never...get out of that mountain? You...should have figured it out...by now! I can get through any trap you set for me!"

"Rrrgh! I should've known you'd get in the way again! You always were a clever little bitch..." Something had definitely changed in the enemy Reaverdramon; he was far less composed than before, as if the sight of the other had inflamed something within him, and he seemed to have forgotten about the dragons he had just been about to kill.

"That's what you get for always dealing death the hard way, brother."

A loud roar from the enemy Reaverdramon pierced the air. "You have NO RIGHT to call me that, you scum! You want a quick death, I'll give it to you right now!" He fired off a Terror Eye at the good Reaverdramon, who knocked it away with a swing of his scythe and countered with one of his own. The enemy Reaverdramon slipped by it and engaged the other directly, their scythes crashing together with a resounding CLACK. The good one quickly brought up the handle of the scythe to whack the evil one under the jaw, then kicked him in the chest to drive him away. A follow-up swing was parried, and they both blasted each other with powerful chaotic attacks which split them apart again.

"That all you've got?" spat the good Reaverdramon through pants. "You think you're gonna kill me like that? Still deluding yourself into thinking I'm that weak?"

"You'll never be anything else!" fired back the other angrily. "Prostrating yourself to the unworthy, always acting like you're not above them, pretending like they're worth anything to this world! You're an embarrassment to all of us, death is too good a fate for you!"

"At least I'm not wasting my life trying to screw everyone over for no good reason!" The two clashed once again, slamming their weapons together with renewed vigor, each one trying to get the upper hand.

Onyxvargmon was only able to watch, unable to break through the Chaotic Sentinel through any means. "Rgh...dammit, we can't just be stuck here, we have to be able to do something! Cyberrexmon, can't you figure out something?"

Cyberrexmon didn't respond; his eyes were closed, and it almost looked like he was putting himself into a trance. With one colossal effort, he strained, pulling as hard as he could against the Chaotic Sentinel's bonds, not letting up even for the briefest moment. Finally, incredibly, it started working, the binding tendrils starting to lose their grip on the metal under the sheer muscle of the cyborg. With a loud roar, he yanked an arm free, then the other, and without wasting a moment he turned as far as he could and fired away on the Chaotic Sentinel with his Tera Blaster. The construct blew apart, letting him go entirely.

Cyberrexmon stood and roared triumphantly. "Raaahahahahaaaa! No one escapes your little traps, huh? Let's try no one out-muscles the Rexmon!"

"Impressive display," the smooth voice of Onyxvargmon droned in underneath. "Mind helping out a good friend?"

"Sure! Stand back!"

"Stand back? I can't mo-" He finished with only a loud yelp as another blast from the cyborg's cannon blew through the machine holding him, only missing him by fractions of an inch. He fell and scrambled forward, shaken badly by the near miss.

Cyberrexmon grinned as he raised his cannon arm up. "Heh, not bad, huh? Those things are cake if you're not caught in 'em."

Onyxvargmon's only answer was his furiously-glittering eyes. He picked himself up, strode towards the cyborg, and issued a backhand with such force that it sent the dinosaur staggering back several steps.

"Yeow! What the hell was that for?" Cyberrexmon growled, rubbing his head.

"Next time...try freeing me in a way that won't make me think that _you're trying to fucking kill me!_" Despite the clear size difference, Cyberrexmon could do little but cower at the sheer fury of the outraged Onyxvargmon. "I don't care if you've got pinpoint precision, you do that again and I'm making you into a pair of shoes, do you hear me?"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry already! Can we go attack the bad guys now?"

The battle between the two demons continued to rage hard, neither one getting a true edge over the other. Each one was sporting gashes that dripped dark-tinted blood, and their mutual blows were getting less precise as their efforts took their toll. Yet they continued to argue through their blows, seeming decades of antagonism finally having reached their boiling point.

"You brought this upon yourself! Did you think I'd just let this insult go? That I'd just look the other way while you undermined everything we stand for?"

"I never did anything to you! It's not my fault you're so obsessed with spreading hatred and suffering! You're always acting like everyone should think just like you do, and like hell I'm going to ever be that kind of monster!"

"Ingrate! Fortune gave you the best gift of all by birthing you as one of the superior kind, and this is your response? You decide to be completely worthless by descending to the level of this scum?"

"I have more worth in my hindquarters than you'll ever have in your rotten life, you damned _demon!_"

The evil Reaverdramon let loose an enraged roar and slammed into the good one, knocking him head over heels and leaving him on the ground, winded. He ran forward, scythe swinging in front of him, ready to dive down and gut the other. "How dare you! How dare you take that kind of tongue against your own HERITAGE!"

With a sudden motion, just as the evil one neared, the good Reaverdramon whipped his scythe up. He came within mere inches of decapitating the evil Reaverdramon, succeeding in slashing open the underside of his jaw. With a pained yell the evil one staggered backwards, giving the good one time to get to one knee and lash out again. "What heritage? I've heard it all my life, hell, I've heard it over and over from you! You all say I'm not worthy of being called a demon, because I'm not a soulless monster who hates for the hell of it! If that's what a demon is to you, then you and all the rest can rot in the hell you want to make for everyone else!"

"Grah! I'll send you there first!" The evil Reaverdramon charged again, only to be blasted away by a burst from Cyberrexmon's cannon. Onyxvargmon rushed forth and took his swords to the enemy while Cyberrexmon came up to the good Reaverdramon and helped him to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Mostly...I'll be better once he's done for. Thanks for the help."

"No prob...we've got the same idea anyway." He raised his cannon again as Onyxvargmon leapt back, having dealt a few decent blows to the evil Reaverdramon, who looked to be on his last legs.

"Look at you! Standing behind scum like them because you're too weak to be a true demon! You'd never stand a chance against me on your own!"

"Seems to me he was doing pretty good even before we jumped in," Onyxvargmon struck back. "We're just going to speed up the process a bit."

"Should've kept your little buddies closer by, huh?" Cyberrexmon taunted. "Coulda been three on three, now it's just you and us. I don't think odds are in your favor now."

"See what having a heart gets you, brother?" the good Reaverdramon finished. "You say what I do is worthless, but I'm not the one outnumbered and overpowered!"

The evil Reaverdramon roared right back, "Shut your mouth! A pathetic weakling like you could never hope to beat me in a straight fight! You can't stand on your own, you have to have the unworthy fight with you! And then you act like they mean something to you! How could a proud demon dragon like you sink so low, how could you be such a blemish on our kind?"

"If I'm the blemish, then the disease is better than the cure! I'm not alone, you know! I'm not the only demon out there who's tired of never being able to have a decent friendship with someone because they're too scared I'm going to rip their heads off the moment they turn their back! If you think we're just going to keep standing for this, just keep letting you monsters ruin our lives, you'd better think again!"

"You've gone too far this time!"

"I was about to say the same! Prepare to die!"

The evil Reaverdramon began to glow ominously, and a field of darkness opened up in the ground between him and the three allies. "Know the true power of a _real_ demon! Violent Abyss!"

"Great...we have to hurry! If he unleashes that power it'll do a lot more damage than just the three of us!" the good Reaverdramon warned. "Stay outside, or you'll be absorbed in and just become part of the blast!"

"What should we do?" Onyxvargmon asked.

"Try to hold him! I'll try to get through!"

"You won't be caught up in it?" Cyberrexmon shouted.

"Not if I do this right...Chaos Frame!" The good Reaverdramon's body suddenly distorted and become suffused with a swirling gray aura. "Keep him occupied!"

"Right! Tera Blaster!" Cyberrexmon gunned for the demon dragon as the other charged through the dark field, with Onyxvargmon taking the long way around. Bursts of energy flew up from the ground within the field and sliced blindingly throughout the space where the figure was, but he seemed to almost disappear and reappear each time, dancing adeptly through them with almost no margin for error. The evil Reaverdramon noticed this between his evasion of the cannon fire, and prepared to unleash an attack.

"Twilight's Embrace!" Onyxvargmon brought his sphere of darkness around Reaverdramon, stopping him cold and delivering a punishing blow as it compressed around him and then exploded. He reeled, unable to compose himself, and it was just as he was coming to his senses that he saw the other Reaverdramon leaping in front of him.

"Reaper's Toll!"

One quick slice was all it took; the deadly energy of the attack blew through the evil Reaverdramon and slew him where he stood. He lasted only long enough to give a horrific howl that sent a chill down everyone's spine, an eerie echo all that remained as he dissolved into data and became no more.

(==========)

The aftermath was a somber affair. The Sky Lords and Land Kings were still recovering from the effects of the Phobic Aura, and that wasn't the only reason they weren't in high spirits; the knowledge of how easily they had been manipulated weighed heavily on them. And Reaverdramon, despite ensuring that things had turned out for the better, still was unhappy about how the situation had even come to pass.

"I'm so sorry about all this...I wish I could have done something sooner. It was all I could do to get out of his trap this fast. All of this...my brother's hatred was behind it all. I should never have allowed him to get close to you, it never could have ended well."

"The fault is ours, Reaverdramon," Slayerdramon responded grimly. "To think, I was so entrenched in my animosity that his words didn't even inspire the slightest question or doubt...how could I have let myself be led on like that?"

"Yeah, I feel ashamed," Breakdramon agreed. "Just goin' along completely blindly with it, all because I had some stupid pointless prejudice. Slayerdramon, really, I'm super sorry about everything."

"As am I, Breakdramon. To think, I have spent so long proclaiming to stand for justice, yet I very nearly subverted it myself for nothing more than blind hatred. To be so thoughtless...it's a mark of shame I shall have to bear."

Reaverdramon sighed. "That's how he worked...that's unfortunately how most of them work. It's not enough that they want to hurt you, they want to make you hurt yourself...they get such vile glee out of it...sometimes I wonder how I came to be related to them."

"You ain't nothing like any of them, Reaverdramon," Breakdramon insisted. "You're one of the good guys, we should be so lucky to have you on our side."

"That means a lot to me, Breakdramon. Thank you." Reaverdramon turned to the symbiotes, giving them a bow. "And you all...I owe you quite a bit. If you hadn't stepped in when you did...who knows how it would have ended, but it couldn't have been well."

"Hey, I just wish we coulda done more, if those stupid Chaotic Sentinels of his hadn't held us back for so long," Isaac replied. "I feel kinda bad, though...a lot of how we tried to get things together was just predicated on not being able to trust demon digimon, and the switcheroo notwithstanding, they were right about you all along."

"I could hardly blame you for that. The stereotype...it exists for a reason. There are so many demons out there whose lives revolve around nothing more than the subjugation and elimination of non-demons. To them, you don't deserve the right to live, and if they let you live, it's only so you can fulfill some evil purpose for them. They honestly don't care how they're seen by non-demons...only the opinion of other demons matters to them, and they have only praise for the atrocities they commit. I was one of the different ones, and you can probably imagine how unpopular that made me with demons throughout my life. I was heavily ridiculed and always had to be wary of attacks by other demons who saw me as an insult to them and indeed all of demonkind."

Blackcanismon shook his head. "I have witnessed far too much such unforgivable behavior in my own existence. How unfortunate, forced to endure such maliciousness solely for possessing a modicum of beneficence."

"Too true. And the worst of it was him. My brother, he saw me as a black mark on himself. He didn't just want me dead, he wanted everything I stood for dead as well. When he found out that I had non-demon friends, it set off a rage unlike anything I'd seen before. He swore that he would make me suffer for what I'd done...as if it was some kind of crime. I should have expected it, that he would go after them instead of myself, but he'd lashed out at me personally so many times I just assumed it would be more of the same. I had nightmares while I was stuck in that mountain, fearing that it would be too late and I would find no trace of the people I cared about..."

"That's horrible..." Derek spat. "The more I hear about this guy, the happier I am that he's not around anymore. I can't imagine doing something so terrible to anyone, and especially not someone of my own blood."

"I certainly understand, but...perhaps this is foolish sentiment, but despite all this, I wish for you not to think too badly of him."

"Really?" Datacarnomon asked.

"He's as much a victim as I. Born and raised in a backwards culture where evil is good and good is evil. To blame him solely for everything would be to ignore the culture of hate perpetrated by many of our kind and sustained to this day. It's claimed many more lives than his, both demonic and non-demonic." He sighed deeply, as if trying to expel a bad memory. "When I first broke from their ranks, I felt like I was alone against the world, with no allies on either side. But I learned that that wasn't true...there exist others like me, demons who didn't buy into the propaganda and who also revile the culture that we were born into. The safe havens may be few, but they are there, and it's there that we can truly feel free to express ourselves without worrying that we will be attacked for it."

"The world finds it difficult to trust demons, and not for any shortage of reason," Slayerdramon said. "But what they fail to realize is that we have to find the ones who truly can be and give them our full support. Only through that trust can we defeat the ones who threaten the life and livelihoods of everyone in this world."

"Yeah, once people figure out that demons aren't just all bad and no good, we can actually save the ones who'd be on our side," added Breakdramon. "Splitting the good from the bad and only taking out the bad, that's how you really win."

"They don't want to make it easy," Reaverdramon continued. "That's why they put on their masquerade, pretending to be good solely so they can stab others in the back...they don't care if people don't trust them, because they don't think anything of them, but they do care if we can't be trusted, because that leaves us vulnerable. Demons that don't conform to their notion of demonhood scare them, and they're desperate to keep us under their foot so that our ideas can't challenge theirs. If we have support, it means we can strike back, and maybe change the notion of what a demon is to something that can be at peace with others."

Derek nodded solemnly. "Yeah...that sounds a lot better than what you've got right now. I wish I could do more to help out."

"Being aware of the situation and helping to foster alliances is the best way. We know we aren't many compared to them, and we can't do it alone, but if we have the world at our backs, we can fuel a revolution. Just helping us find those allies, making people willing to listen, will give us the hope we need."

"We'll keep trying to do that, I promise," Isaac said.

"Hey, you need any help against those Emperius guys, you just look us up," Breakdramon said. "We kinda owe it to you after all this."

"Indeed, if we can be of any assistance at all, we will do everything in our power to support you," Slayerdramon added in.

"Thanks, guys. We're certainly not turning down any help. We'll let you know when we find something."

The four said their goodbyes and began to part ways. Just as they were leaving, though, Datacarnomon pulled up short. "Wait a second..."

"Something wrong?" Isaac asked.

"Just remembered something important..." He turned around and caught Reaverdramon's attention. "Hey, Reaverdramon...I have one more question. Your brother...he said that someone wanted him to leave us alive. It doesn't seem to make sense that anyone would ask him that, and that he would listen...I know you're not exactly connected to that world anymore, but do you have any idea why he would do that?"

Reaverdramon was quiet for a few seconds. "...I can't say I know anything specifically. I wish I did...all I can say is that my brother would listen to no one unless they were exceptionally important to him...and no one of that kind of importance to him would wish to keep you around unless they had very dark intentions."

"Sounds about right to me, unfortunately," Derek sighed.

"Unfortunately. I doubt you've gone unnoticed by the demons, and if I know anything about them they don't like it when someone comes around who might be a threat to their power. I'll poke around, see if I can't learn anything. Even if I'm not in the loop, there are always a few of us who don't let on our true natures, and they're more connected to the machinations of the demon world. Perhaps they've heard of something."

Datacarnomon nodded. "Thanks, Reaverdramon. Best of luck to you."

(==========)

(==========)

And so the second two-parter comes to a close. I'm not totally happy with how this came out in the end, but I struggled with this one a lot and I just can't fight with it anymore. Hopefully it does enough. I may go back and revamp the battles a bit after all is said and done, so that they're a bit longer and better quality. I almost missed a critical foreshadowing opportunity, too...funny how sometimes you don't see the opportunities until right when you're at the end, even if you know what you intend to have happen down the road.

Not sure when the next chapter is coming out, I had to rework it conceptually because I wasn't happy with the way it was going. The long weekend may provide me some additional writing time, though that depends on how many fireworks shows are going on that I can get to. I'll try to keep the down time minimal.


	48. Chapter 47: Enemy Territory

Finally got the chapter up and running! Ended up being longer than I expected, which I'm happy about. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 47: Enemy Territory**

"Do we have to go now?" Breezedramon complained, not budging from his seat on the bed in front of the fan in their room in Ravmon's manor. "It's stupid hot out there, I don't wanna fly in that!"

"I don't like it any more than you do, Breezedramon, but we can't just sit around forever. If we're ever going to find the others, we're going to have to make it happen, and we can't do that staying here."

"I'm not talking about forever! Just long enough to make it not feel like Sal's breath."

"Well, we can either go now while it's hotter than blazes or later when it's pouring rain. You can vote either way, but I guarantee you'll be outvoted if you try for the second option."

"Bah. Fine, I guess I'll just have to suffer through it."

"You and everyone else. Except maybe Reyn and Salmandmon, but they've suffered enough for a while."

"Salmandmon didn't suffer! Okay, I know he doesn't like fungus, but he seemed just fine once he finished off that infamishistatment!"

"That doesn't mean he necessarily enjoyed the situation. Look, let's just get this done and over with. Even if we stay around here the heat is going to catch up to us eventually, we might as well do something to get away from it."

"Do we even know where we're going?"

"...I expect we'll have to discuss that either on the way or when we arrive at the Transfer Point. I know something got thrown out there back before we got sent off on our detour but I can't remember what it was."

A knock came at the door, and it opened to reveal Falcomon, still looking somewhat timid. "...Breezedramon?"

"Hey, Falcomon! C'mon in, it's cooler in here than out there!"

Hesitantly the avian entered the room, closing the door behind him. "You...you're going again today, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we gotta. Much as it sucks, we've got a job to do." He hopped off the bed and met Falcomon in the middle of the room. The two embraced, and Breezedramon cold feel Falcomon's heart racing.

"I...I want you to come back sometime! You gotta be safe out there...I don't wanna lose you again!"

"I'm gonna be just fine, I promise! And once all this stuff's blown over I'll make sure I come back and see you all again!"

Falcomon sniffled a bit. "I...I really...hope so. Thank you, Breezedramon...I'm sorry about everything."

"Hey, enough of that! I've forgiven you, remember? You just stop hiding away in that cave, you've got no reason to punish yourself like that!"

"O-okay." Falcomon parted with Breezedramon, and then unexpectedly flitted up into the air and caught Skylar in an awkward embrace given their size disparity. "Thank you so much for keeping him safe! Please don't let him be hurt out there!"

"Whoa, easy there, buddy..." Skylar uncertainly tried to return the gesture. "I sure don't want to see him hurt any more than you do at this point. We'll make sure not to get in over our heads, at least nor any more than we can handle."

"Okay..." Falcomon hopped back down to the ground and went back to the door. He looked back at Breezedramon, a little teary-eyed. "I...I'll see you later, Breezedramon...g'bye..." With that he left, closing the door gently behind him.

Skylar sighed. "Shame that we can't stick around a while longer...I guess it's gotta be hard for him."

"Y-yeah..." Skylar looked down and noticed that Breezedramon was shaking slightly.

"You okay?"

"I'm...I'm fine...I'll be okay..."

(==========)

"So, let me get this straight. You have these big metal clubs, and the only thing you're supposed to hit with them is some ball that looks like it's been chewed on."

"That's not quite what 'dimpled' means but yeah for the most part."

"And you hit this ball all over the place, but you're not just trying to hit it as hard as possible all the time, you're trying to get it on this patch of ground where you can just tap it around until it sinks into a hole smaller than my mouth."

"Basically, yeah."

"And you're actually penalized for running into someone else's ball."

"I believe I said that specifically, yes."

"...And people call this FUN?"

"No, they call it golf. Whether it's fun or not depends on how many of those balls you've hit into a lake."

"And you win by not hitting the ball as many times as other people? So you have to just be really good at hitting in order to win?"

"Uh-huh."

Salmandmon paused to gnaw off a bite of his sandwich. "...God DAMN, that sounds boring."

Reyn rolled his eyes. "I figured I'd lose you as soon as you knew the clubs weren't meant for hitting other people."

"That's not even a competition! You're not really battling against anyone if you can't do anything to get in their way!"

"I did tell you not all of our sports have to do with physical combat. Golf is more of a gentleman's game, and the essence of the challenge is performing well for yourself. It's really hard, you have to swing right each time or your ball goes all over the place, where the ball lies makes it easier or harder to hit, you have to deal with wind and hills and all that..."

"Jeez, this sounds like a wet dream for Data. He loves anything where you have to be analytical to do well. Me, I'd probably just wind up swearing and hitting stuff that you're not supposed to hit."

"Yes, that's actually something humans do frequently as well. Datacarnomon probably would enjoy it, if he ever bothered to ask about it."

"I'm sure it'll come up eventually."

"Maybe, but he doesn't seem all that interesting in learning a lot about our world. Actually, aside from you, none of you seem to...I don't usually hear the others asking about stuff like this."

"Ah, they'll get around to it. It's more me than them, I've had an interest in this kind of stuff for a long time. Truth be told...I never said this before because it didn't seem appropriate at the time, but actually being able to get over to your world and meet some of you humans, it was really a dream come true for me. Wish the circumstances had been better, but it was pretty thrilling nonetheless."

"Really? I didn't think our world was that interesting...although, I guess that's because I'm so used to it. You probably think over here is pretty mundane, too."

"Kinda. Definitely more so than yours. But yeah, I've been itching to come here ever since I heard that it was possible to connect to other worlds. Just the idea of experiencing something so different from our own existence got to me."

"Heh, I guess I can understand that. Though I think I'd be a little worried about feeling out of place."

"Yeah...not so much an issue for me. But even if it was, I probably would have been able to handle myself. Being able to breathe fire goes a long way."

"Good point. I guess we should be kind of lucky that each of us was able to go in with some kind of foresight on our first trip. Heck, lucky we could make the trip at all...even after all this, I'm still kind of amazed that this is even possible. I wonder how anyone was able to make it happen..."

"Actually, there's kind of an awesome theory about it over here. I mean, I guess it's not really that well understood and there's a lot of assumptions that might be completely bogus, but I think it's cool anyway. It's called Origin Resonance Theory."

"Origin Resonance Theory? Hm. What's it about?"

"Well, the idea goes like this: back at the very beginning of some level of existence, maybe the universe or maybe even farther up, all the matter that existed was in a single point and it was all connected by some kind of energy link. When everything began to expand, most of the links were broken, but a few of them survived and continued to connect some matter. Depending on where it occurred, it could link over great distances, maybe even between different universes. And the matter that's connected has the same energy signature and resonates in a certain state or series of states. Under the right circumstances, matter could be cleanly transferred between the two almost instantaneously, no matter how far away they are."

"Whoa...that's a heck of a thought. But yeah, I can see where you were talking about assumptions, most of that seems like it's totally unproven if not unprovable."

"Yeah, there's a bunch of questions about it that I'm sure won't be found out while I'm alive. But doesn't it sound cool? Plus, they think that might be the reason why even though our worlds develop differently, there are still striking similarities. For example, how some digimon have forms that are a lot like creatures from your world."

"And how we can be talking to each other despite there being no reasonable reason for having the same language. I mean, you told me that you've got a universal language, but I would think that would only extend to your world, not ours."

"Maybe why we can eat each other's food safely, too. I'm beginning to see the attractiveness of the idea...it would answer a lot of questions."

"And there's not really a lot of competition in the ideas department, anything else anyone's come up with has been pretty lame and uninspired." Salmandmon gulped down the last of his sandwich and stared over at Reyn's tray, which still held part of his meal. "You gonna eat that?"

"You bet your ass I am, you glutton."

"Oh, you're gonna be like that, huh? Maybe I don't have to spend my money on feeding you."

"Your meal was four times the size of mine, and you're half the size of me. Don't even pretend you're spending that much more than you usually would. How do you fit all that stuff in your body? It doesn't even look like there's enough space!"

"I have a fast metabolism. I'm surprised you haven't picked that up what with all the merging we've done."

"Fast metabolism? It'd have to be goddamn instantaneous to churn through all the stuff you stuff your face with. I'd hate to see how your larger forms would go through food."

"It'd actually be less...well, pound for pound, anyway. Big creatures generally have body systems that reduce how much energy they need, so they don't go causing famines all over the place or run out of energy in three seconds."

"That's convenient. You think the others are waiting on us?"

"Betcha they are. So we need to finish. That means eat up or I'm commandeering your tray."

Reyn chuckled. "Hothead."

(==========)

"You don't think it seems strange?"

Iris shook her head. "Honestly, I think it's stranger that they _don't_ notice than that we do."

"But we're the ones who're out of the ordinary! I mean, we're not always aware of our own shifts, but we're the first to catch on to everything else! It doesn't make a lot of sense!"

"Well, what about this has? But this doesn't seem like something that big...you've really been thinking about this that much?"

Shockavimon nodded. "We've all developed along our specified lines, but they've generally been similar in time course and patterns. But this is one thing where we haven't been the same as the others. We notice the changes more, especially in others. If this is different, I want to know why that is."

"I dunno...I mean, I've noticed that that's definitely different, but I'm not sure I see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that if they don't notice their own changes, they might become something unstable and out of control! They wouldn't even realize it in time to stop themselves from going off the deep end! You can't tell me that wouldn't be a catastrophe!"

"You think that'll happen?"

"I don't know. That's the thing. This is a completely unprecedented type of transformation for any of us, we don't know what kinds of effects it's going to have. It can happen to digimon through various types of transformations, though, so if it's anything like this we have to account for that possibility. I'm just concerned about whether we're going to risk having to face down one of our friends. I've done that once before, I don't want to have to do it again!"

"I wouldn't want to do it, either. But you think it has to do with us developing differently? Maybe it's just something about us, a trait or something we weren't aware we developed. I mean, we know that's happened before."

"What kind of trait, though? I can't think of anything that would give us special awareness or anything like that."

"Um..." Iris went quiet for a moment. "I don't know...wait, I think...well, I don't know, but I guess maybe I can throw it out there...I remember back in school once they were talking about the brain, and they said that all that was going on in the brain was just a series of electrical impulses, which change depending on what's being activated."

"Yeah, I've heard that too. Wait, you think that has something to do with it, because we're electrically inclined?"

"Maybe. Maybe we're actually reading their brains a little bit...and we're noticing the differences because their brain activity is changing as a result of all the changes that are happening. We're not as sensitive to the effect in our own brains because they're part of our bodies, so we don't notice our own changes as easily."

Shockavimon looked at Iris doubtfully. "You're telling me that signals that can barely be picked up by good machines are just jumping through the air to talk to us? You do know that air isn't a good electrical conductor, right?"

"I'm just making guesses here. Maybe they don't have to, we might be projecting some kind of aura that helps transmit them. That might be why we've been having some of these little precognitive events you were talking about...we're just noticing changes in electrical activity in a nearby area that's within our range."

"I dunno...even if that's close to right, that's still a type of development that the others haven't had."

"That we know of. Even if, as you put it, I'm even close to right, it's a really subtle effect. Maybe the others have developed them but just aren't aware of them. I mean, they could easily get lost in the whole host of much more noticeable changes that've been happening to us. And it might have happened early on, too, back when we didn't have the ability to see it, so when we finally did it was already there and we just interpreted it as part of their normal being."

"Well, I guess you could be right...maybe we should see if we can notice anything. Oh, right, hey, I'll be paying." Shockavimon flew up to the counter and let the shopkeeper Silphymon scan her bank chip.

"Thanks. Sorry the selection's so bad."

"Hey, when you're petrified for as long as you guys were we can't expect you to keep up to date on inventory. We don't need much anyway, just some water to make sure we get through the heat okay. You mind carrying that, Iris?"

"I'm good." Iris picked up the bag, which was somewhat heavier than she had expected, but she didn't have any problem with it. _One of the advantages of this merging thing, definitely._

(==========)

Reyn and Salmandmon were the last ones to the cliffside, the others standing by with Ravmon. "Hey, guys, hope we didn't keep you waiting!"

Skylar shook his head. "Nah, we just got here a little bit ago ourselves. Sounds like our rides are coming soon."

Salmandmon cocked his head quizzically. "Our rides? I thought this was just for poor wingless us?"

"That's what I thought too, but Ravmon says he got us someone who can take all of us. In this heat, I'm hardly going to say no to that."

"They should be arriving at any moment...ah, I see them now." Ravmon pointed to two figures descending from high up in the sky towards the cliff where they were standing. The group backed away slightly in order to make room for their arrival. The larger one landed first, having a much harsher look with his dark wings, bony forelegs, tiger-striped body, and snake-like tail. The smaller one had a more graceful look, with feathered wings and a white body. Each one was carrying a substantial load, which was quickly attended to by the townspeople.

"Whoo, someone turn down the sun, I felt like I was gonna fry out there!" the larger one grunted. "Hey, are you the new cargo? Ravmon said something about humans, I thought he was pulling my leg!"

Skylar nodded. "I think that'd be us. You're the ones giving us rides, huh? You all right with that?"

"Hey, it's the least we can do after all the crap you went through for everyone here. Besides, we play courier all the time, this won't be that much different. Anyway, I'm Griffomon, and my apprentice here's Hippogriffomon." Griffomon nodded towards Hippogriffomon, who bowed courteously but said nothing. "Don't mind him, he's still a bit shy, but he does a good job. You all ready to go?"

Reyn glanced around at the rest of the group. "I think we are, unless anyone wants to fill me in on something I'm not aware of." He received several headshakes to the negative. "Guess that's a no. Yeah, we're good."

"A'right. You three Rookies'll take Hippogriffomon's back, I'll get the humans. Don't worry, I'm not in the habit of dropping any of my cargo, you can be sure you'll arrive safely!"

"Well, that puts you one step ahead of my last ride," cracked Reyn.

"You are never gonna let us live that down, are you?" Skylar groaned.

"Hey, if you didn't want ribbing about it you should've been more careful. You know where we want to head, Griffomon?"

"Heard you wanted to hit a Transfer Point. We've got a good path to one we use frequently, we shouldn't have any trouble getting you there. It'll be just a couple hours through the air, if that. I hope you're all right with us stopping a little more frequently than usual, though. This heat's gonna have us all beat right quick!"

"We might be able to help with that," Salmandmon said.

"You?" Skylar let out a doubting laugh. "You'd be more likely to make it worse!"

Reyn grinned. "_Au contraire_, my airy friend. Tell me, have you been sweating buckets since we got out here?"

"Huh? Uh, no, but what does that-"

"It has to do with us," Salmandmon cut in. "You didn't think it was odd that you were standing out on blazing hot cliffs and weren't feeling the burn?"

"Hey, yeah, you're right!" Breezedramon piped up. "I thought it was a lot hotter when we first went outside!"

"Now that you mention it, it does feel cooler than before," Shockavimon agreed. "But what does that have to do with you, as I'm sure Skylar was about to say?"

"Reyn and I figured out recently that we can do more than just throw fireballs! We can also suck heat from an area into us, which both cools things off and gives us a little bit more punch. And it doesn't even have to be intense heat like with that thermite Blazereptimon used back on the other world, it can be any heat anywhere!"

"You're just now realizing you can do that?" Skylar almost yelled. "Man, you mean all that walking we did could've been a lot cooler?"

"All right, settle down there," Iris said. "It's not like we've all exactly been quick to catch on to everything we've been capable of. At least we've got it now."

Shockavimon nodded. "Yeah, that'll definitely make the flight more tolerable, for all of us." _And it might be the same sort of thing that happened to us,_ she pathed to Iris with a knowing glance.

_Hard to ignore, that's for sure._

"Well, if you can do that, that'd be great!" Griffomon rumbled happily. "Means we can make better time than we would with that sun baking our brains!"

"That's great, since we're trying to move quickly and all!" Breezedramon piped up.

"Well, since it sounds like you're all ready, let's getcha on up here." Griffomon and Hippogriffomon both turned and lowered themselves down so their passengers could embark. "Oh, right, one of you don't forget to grab the hand-held. If you need to talk to me, I've got a receiver up where I can hear it clearly. Better than trying to shout over the wind, you know?"

Reyn grimaced. "Oh, don't I know." He took hold of the communicator and wrapped the lanyard around his wrist, then clambered onto the griffon's back, quickly followed by Iris and Skylar. The digimon likewise boarded Hippogriffomon with Salmandmon in front with his communicator.

"Thank you so much, all of you," Ravmon said gratefully with a bow towards the passengers. "I hope to see you again sometime. You are always welcome to return whenever you wish. Griffomon, there are some turbulent currents in the air today, please be careful with them."

"Yeah, I hear ya. We'll be flying a little low to stay outta them. All right, everyone get a good grip! We're on our way!" Both carriers spread their wings and swooped off the edge of the cliff, only dropping for a second before kicking themselves back up into the air. Finally, they were on their way once more.

(==========)

For a change, the ride was quiet and uneventful most of the way. None of them could talk very well due to the whipping wind taking all the sound for its own, so they held on in relative silence, letting the carriers do their thing. They appeared to be doing fine despite the heat, thanks to Reyn and Salmandmon helping out how they could, and with that it seemed like they were going to make the trip without any pit stops.

Then, quite a ways into the flight, long enough that Reyn was starting to feel sure they would be arriving soon, he felt a shudder behind him. He glanced back towards Iris and saw a disconcerted expression on her face. "You okay, Iris?" he called over the wind.

Iris shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine...it's just...I got this weird feeling just now."

"What kind of weird feeling?"

"I'm not sure. It felt like we passed through some kind of...electrical field or something. But there's nothing around to create anything like that..."

"You sure it wasn't your imagination?" Skylar asked from behind, the words barely reaching Reyn.

"Not really, no. Wait..." Iris fell silent for a moment. "Shockavimon...she said she felt something weird, too. Maybe it wasn't my imagination."

Reyn and Skylar exchanged glances. "I didn't feel anything," Reyn said.

"Neither did I," Skylar agreed. "But if it was electrical in nature, maybe we wouldn't have. Could it be some kind of trap?"

"I dunno, but I think we'd better be safe than sorry." Reyn took hold of the radio and opened the transmission to Griffomon. "Hey, Griffomon, just a heads up. Iris felt something just a minute ago, possibly some kind of strange electrical field of some sort. Not sure what it is, but we just want you to watch out for any traps that might come into play."

It took a while for Griffomon to respond. "Yeah, yeah, okay..."

Something about the way he said it caught Reyn's attention. "Hey, is something wrong? You all right up there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just...uh, we've got something kind of weird going on here...we might be lost."

"Wait, lost? I thought you said you'd taken this route dozens of times!"

"And I have, and I've always known where I was by the terrain, there's always been a few landmarks...but, damn, I'm willing to swear upon my life, I've never seen those buildings before."

Reyn looked down at the cluster of buildings. They were easily far too large to have been missed by anyone. "Those things? I don't see how you could miss them! They look like they could be seen from orbit!"

"I know, that's why I'm all befuddled. If we're off course somehow, that means we'll have to readjust, but it should be the same course I've done over and over again. Still, I gotta be sure...I'm sorry, but do you mind if we land for a few minutes, just to make sure we've got out bearings?"

"Yeah, that's just fine. Tell you what, land near those buildings...something about them seems fishy, I'd like to take a look."

"Gotcha. That's where I wanna go anyway, no sign of shade anywhere else."

(==========)

The buildings looked far more grandiose and imposing from the ground; their size and build were reminiscent of a military complex, and they looked like they had been kept up quite well until very recently. Not having any real place to start, the six all agreed to check the one they had landed by first.

"Buildings that look like this don't have much business being abandoned," Salmandmon remarked as they entered. "I mean, yeah, it can't have been left that long ago, but you'd think some squatters or something would find it."

"Yeah, that's what they'd do in our world," Skylar agreed. "It'd probably make them feel less eerie...but maybe the fact that Griffomon hadn't noticed it before is important."

"Hey, I don't mind!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "Just means we won't get ambushed by anything! I hate when stuff jumps out at you out of nowhere!"

"You and everyone else, bud."

They all walked together, wary of any signs of life or potential danger. Trouble seemed insistent on not happening, though, and by the time they reached a rather large, open room that looked like a lobby of some kind, they had all relaxed somewhat.

"Guess this place really is abandoned..." Iris said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I still wish I knew why it was so empty, though."

"There's gotta be something in here that'll tell us what happened," Shockavimon said. "I'll tell you one thing, though, as clean and orderly as it's been so far, I don't think whoever it was left in much of a rush."

"So they weren't being iniminamanably threatened, you think?" asked Breezedramon.

"Er...no, I don't think so."

"Still can't believe someone would just want to up and leave, though," Reyn remarked as he gazed around the room. "Doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with it, at least nothing that it wouldn't be more worth repairing than leaving."

"Maybe they needed even more space?" Skylar suggested.

"I guess that's possible, but they've got lots of land to build on around here, too. I mean, that seems like it'd be even more work to move out and build something else. They'd have to get a lot out of completely rebuilding and moving to make it worth their while."

"If today's anything like normal, maybe they moved to escape the heat," said Iris.

"I guess that's possible. Though I'd invest in air conditioning, personally."

Shockavimon snorted a laugh. "You? You'd invest in nothing, this kind of heat's your dream world!"

"Heh, guilty. I'm just saying, if I _weren't_ a thermophile-"

"Guys! Hold up, you're not going to believe this."

All eyes turned towards Salmandmon, who had gone over and picked up some kind of paper from beneath a table. "What's that?" Shockavimon asked.

"It's a recruitment pamphlet. One of Emperius' works."

"Someone from Emperius was here?" Iris asked.

"Either that or someone who was considering joining," Shockavimon said. "What's so interesting about that, though? We've seen bunches of those, hell, we've snatched up bunches of those."

"Yeah? Take a look at the front." Salmandmon walked over and pointed to an image on the front of the pamphlet.

"Hey, lemme see too!" Breezedramon swooped in next to Shockavimon and got rather in her way in his excitement. "...Hey, that's not much of a big deal, it looks like just a bunch of buildings an' stuff...hey, wait! That looks like this place!"

"What?" Shockavimon snatched the pamphlet and took a close look, then swore loudly. "It is! Those are exactly the same! You're telling me we're in Emperius' headquarters?"

"You have got to be kidding me," Skylar said, aghast. "This is where they're supposed to be? But it's completely empty!"

"It is now," Reyn mumbled. "Which I guess means one of two things. Either they disbanded and all went their separate ways, never to cause any more trouble-"

"Yeah, and Hell became a winter wonderland overnight."

"My thoughts as well. Which means the second option, that they packed up and moved somewhere else, seems a lot more likely than before. Though, again, I have to wonder, why move?"

"That's what I wanna know!" Shockavimon shouted. "Clearly they were doing all right here, we certainly didn't find them! Though I don't know how, I know we've scouted in this area before."

"Yeah, but remember, Griffomon didn't know about this place either," Breezedramon pointed out. "So they have to have been hiding it somehow!"

"You don't hide something this big without something pretty sophisticated," mused Skylar, looking around the room. "Maybe that's why it could be seen this time and not previous times..."

"Or it's still active but we got around it somehow," Salmandmon suggested. "Remember that weird feeling Shockavimon got? Maybe we went through something that was hiding it, and they could feel the activity."

"Is there anything like that in this world?"

"Yep. Though nothing I've ever heard of that's that big...but if it's still active it has to be around here somewhere."

"So we should look around, then?"

"Heck yeah! Not only that, we could find some clue about where they went! They have a pretty big operation, it'd be pretty easy to leave something behind in all that clutter, especially if they were trying to still keep the place hidden and didn't think anyone would happen upon it, they probably wouldn't bother trying to go back for it even if they did notice."

"I'm all for that," Shockavimon said. "But let's still keep on our toes...we have no idea whether they wanted to keep something nasty in store for anyone who got in. And maybe for us specifically."

Reyn nodded. "Then let's go in pairs, so we can merge if we have to. And maybe move around buildings all at once so we can back each other up if we have to."

"Maybe we should let Griffomon and Hipanimogafaromon know, so they can hightail it outta here and not be stuck waiting for us in the heat," Breezedramon suggested.

"Good idea. Salmandmon and I can do that, it'll bother us least."

(==========)

Skylar sighed as he shut the door on yet another room. "Well, that makes us 0 for 7...plus I feel like some creepy pervert searching other people's bedrooms."

"But that's where they leave stuff behind!" Breezedramon argued. "Most other places lots of people are checking and double-checking, but who double-checks someone's personal space?"

"You wouldn't mind someone peeking in on the place where you sleep and where you get the most privacy?"

"Privacy nothing, the five of us shared a room at Libertius. Not like us little guys need that much space anyway. It was the best way to do it, and since we're all buds, why not?"

"And it was never awkward at all?"

"Nope! Well, not usually...there was that time with Sal and the Hateanger Fungus, but that was awkward everywhere."

"What about if one of you has a, um, companion for the night? If you don't mind me asking."

"Eh, that pretty much never happens."

"...Really?"

"Well, I mean, that's not saying it's normal! It's just kinda how it is with us. I mean, Sal's the only one who really gets around any, and he likes to be away from Libertius when he's doing that. Says it's better atmosphere or something like that. Rest of us, though...Shockavimon says she's got a bad history that makes it hard for her, Blackcanismon likes romance more than anything physical, and everyone seems to think I'm too young! I mean, come on, I'm fully mature, anyone'll attest to that!"

"No question," Skylar agreed, resisting the urge to suggest that it was a different kind of maturity that was causing Breezedramon that hardship. "And I guess Data...well, is he even..."

"He _says_ he's fully equipped for the physical function but prefers 'networking.' I'm not sure I buy it, but hell, it's not like I'm gonna ask him, that'd just be weird."

"Ye-ah, I can appreciate that...okay, well, I guess maybe it's not as big a deal for you, but I'd feel really antsy sharing my room with anyone. I mean, you're an exception, but I wouldn't want my sister walking in on me all the time."

"Eh, maybe, but you're still there. These guys aren't coming back, they're not even gonna know! And it's not like we're trying to find any secrets or anything, we're just trying to see if they left something behind that'll help us find them...okay, that sounded less creepy before I put those things together."

"Agreed. But I get your point...it's a little bit weird to me, but it probably is where something will me most likely to be left behind." He pushed open the next door. "Eighth time the charm, then?"

"Maybe! Only one way to find out!"

The new room, like the previous ones, was pretty barren except for some basic furniture. A light layer of dust had gathered on the surfaces, barely noticeable unless one rubbed against it. The floor had a little more random debris on it than the other rooms, but seemingly nothing of any use. Until Breezedramon, flopped on the ground to look under everything, spied something. "Hey, there's a paper under that cabinet! Sky, you think you can reach that?"

Skylar knelt down and got low to the ground, catching sight of the paper fairly easily. "I think so...just a moment..."

It was a somewhat tight squeeze, but he managed to get his arm underneath far enough to reach the sheet and pull it out. He flapped it around a bit to get the excess dust off, then took a closer look at it. "Hm...looks like it was ripped off of something. I think this is part of a memo...looks like it's got a schedule on it. Good find, Breezedramon!"

"All right! Does it say anything that can help us?"

"Let's see..._0600: Begin final transfer to GW; 1000: compound sweep, last call for stragglers; 1600: all transfers finished, IG to run indefinitely._ Guess that seals it, they had a pretty big move. I don't see a date anywhere, but judging by the state of everything, it can't have been to long ago."

"What's GW and IG?" Breezedramon asked.

"You got me. GW...Could W mean 'world?' Maybe has something to do with our world? But what's the G?"

"I haven't heard anything used for your world that starts with G, not even nasty words. I would think they'd say stuff like 'unworthy' or 'weak' or something, that's what they're usually like."

"Yeah, and I couldn't even begin to speculate on IG. The shorthand was probably in common use though...this isn't hand-written, it was probably copied from somewhere, and the language seems to suggest this was distributed pretty widely. Whatever they meant, they were well-known to Emperius."

"Weird...well, maybe the others found a full part of it somewhere! We should check back with them and let them know about this, it might help figure some things out!"

(==========)

"You're keeping track of where we started, right?"

"Yeah, we're not even close yet." Shockavimon quickly peeked through the next door, and shook her head as she closed it. "Completely empty. Not even so much as a dust bunny."

"Man...they really wanted to be thorough. I hope we find something, we're kind of behind on the whole major discoveries thing and we can't be here all day."

"Do you think we should've kept Griffomon and Hippogriffomon around a while longer? I mean, I know they said it wasn't too much farther to the Transfer Point, but I'm a little worried that we could end up getting lost."

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little nervous about that, but we really didn't have any right to keep them waiting out there like that, especially as hot as it is. If Emperius has something nasty planned, we need to know now rather than later. If it's only an hour from here we shouldn't have any trouble getting there, and if we do, I guess we can merge and try to find it from the air. Or maybe Skydramon can, he'd probably be a little faster."

"True." They continued walking, staying careful despite the apparent lack of anything hostile. The hallway they were going through was completely circular, with most doors only on the outside; there was only one door on the inside, leading to a barren amphitheater, and Shockavimon was using that as a landmark to make sure they didn't start checking rooms they'd already looked at.

The next room was empty as well, but as they moved on, Iris felt something palpable in the air, something that sent all her nerves to high alert. She glanced down to Shockavimon, who seemed likewise on edge. "You feel that too, don't you?"

"Yeah...something's using a lot of electricity around here. Let's see if we can't find it."

The next door led to a staircase that spiraled downwards. With silent agreement, the two trekked down, and were rewarded by a gradual increase in the sensation from the air. Sensing they were closing in on something important, they hastened their descent somewhat.

At the bottom of the staircase was a heavy metal door with an old, worn out appearance, looking quite out of place with the rest of the building. There was a latch right on the front, which allowed Iris to remove the lock and slowly pull it open. Shockavimon managed to peek by first, and gasped. "Oh, wow..."

Iris' eyes widened when she saw what had awed Shockavimon. It was an absolutely massive machine, spherical in shape with with a six-pointed crown that reached all the way up to the ceiling, still whirring with activity and emitting a rather ominous glow. It was a fairly generic metal uncolor in appearance, but that was in rather stark contrast to the rest of the dome-shaped room, which was decorated at the top with some bright blue panels and along the circular walls with metal panels on varying colors of stone. "That is one monster of a machine. Isaac would wet himself if he saw it..."

"Yeah, but what's it doing? They left it on for some reason...you think that might be what we felt while we were flying?"

"Maybe...hey, there's some panels on the walls that look like they have writing. Let's check them out, maybe it'll tell us something."

They walked over to the nearest panel, which was firmly affixed to the wall, the writing engraved on the metal. "Whoo...whatever this is, they wanted to make sure it stayed put and wouldn't wear away," Shockavimon remarked. "Looks kind of like something I remember from Hagrande's coliseum, one of the ruleboards in the prep room was mounted like this."

"I can see why they'd want it to stay put," Iris said after a moment of reading the text. "Illusion Generator Safety Guidelines...any sort of safety rules, you want them not to go wandering off anywhere."

"Illusion Generator?"

"Yeah, you know about them?"

"Oh, wow, do I! Man, now it's all starting to make sense!" Shockavimon leaned back against the wall, seemingly stunned. "Can't believe we never thought of it...but why would we, this is unprecedented..."

"Mind filling me in? What's an Illusion Generator? I mean, I can guess a few things from the name, but I kinda doubt that's the whole story."

"An Illusion Generator is a machine that basically creates an image to mask the area it's in. It's good for hiding things you don't want others to know about, it makes them think something else unrelated is there. The thing is, it's not very good at dynamic images, so it's really only useful when you're keeping it in one spot, so you can't just like carry it with you and expect to stay hidden. This, though...this is way bigger than the biggest Illusion Generator I've ever heard of! I mean, it would have to be to hide the whole compound, but I never even thought it was possible to build one this big!"

"So every time you guys looked in this space you never saw anything because this machine was masking it with a picture of something like just normal terrain?"

"Yeah, that has to be it! We only saw it this time because Griffomon and Hippogriffomon were flying low...or air scouts always flew high, it was far too dangerous to stay low since lots of digimon have ranged attacks! If we had thought they might be using something like this, maybe we would've taken the chance, but like I said, I don't think anyone's ever made one this large! I want to know how, it's not supposed to be possible!"

"Why not?"

"Because the amount of energy it takes to project the image grows exponentially with size...you'd need a generator with power I could only dream of having! And the image isn't going to be stable unless it has enhanced support, which I don't see...wait, unless..."

Shockavimon flew over to the generator, and started examining the base. She flitted all around the structure, every now and then making exclamations of astonishment, seemingly catching on to something. Iris, who was barely able to keep up with the Illusion Generator talk in the first place, waited for her to finish. When she came back, she was shaking her head.

"Wow...just wow. I gotta hand it to Emperius, they may be totally evil but they've managed to do some incredible stuff." She motioned to the monster mechanism's base, where seemingly innocuous projections were heading into the floor. "They've modified the Illusion Generator to run with support rings...that's how they got it to go over such a wide area!"

"Support rings?"

"They're rings of superconducting material, and they help enhance field effects for machines. They probably had those in Hagrande too, for the arenas barriers, since it's so important that they don't break. These have to be humungous...I've never seen them used with Illusion Generators, and for good reason - they couldn't be inside the field, so they'd destroy the purpose."

"But Emperius put them underground, so they wouldn't be seen anyway!" Iris exclaimed, finally making the connection.

"Right! This is some pretty major technology right here, there are engineers all over the digital world who would kill to study something like this!"

"But I thought you said the power source still needed to be a lot stronger. Would the support rings be able to do that?"

"No...but I think those blue panels on the ceiling might...those points on the Illusion Generator, they look like they're connected to up there. I've seen those kinds of panels before, they're made of Chargestone, they're a very special kind of rock that takes in energy and actually puts out an amplified output. It's super expensive and hard to find. I heard one of the Catalyst Shrines in West Segnosta was built entirely with Chargestone...it had to have cost several fortunes."

"So they sent charge into the Chargestone and got more out of it...enough to power the Illusion Generator?"

"It has to be! They probably have an advanced electrical system inside, too...man, I want to know how they got their hands on all these resources, Libertius usually had to scramble for a lot less!"

"It's probably different when you're willing to use threats and intimidation."

Shockavimon nodded. "Yeah...that's true. Well, now we know why we couldn't find it...now we need to find out why it was empty when we did."

(==========)

"Whoo, it's dark in here..." Reyn lit a fireball in his hand to light their way down the dark hallway. "Man, you'd think they'd have gotten around to fixing the lights."

"They might not have lights period," Salmandmon said. "If this is supposed to be where the commander was, Craniummon would've been just fine without them, and if the new guy is aligned with darkness he'd be equally okay with it. They tend to like environments where no one else can see a damned thing."

"I guess it could be intentional...these guys sure seemed to know what the heck they were doing. If they weren't such awful people they could do a hell of a lot of good, having their act together like this."

"Yeah, well, this is fairly new. They were not this with it originally...that's kind of what's starting to scare me about all this, whoever took charge had a better idea what he was doing, and that's just going to make it that much harder."

"No kidding...but they weren't always this way?"

"Nah. Back when Craniummon was in charge, they were ridiculously predictable. Sure, they had an idea of what they wanted to accomplish, but they were pretty bad about actually doing the accomplishing. It was always attack, coerce, plot to cause trouble, and they weren't good about hiding anything. Heck, everyone knew Craniummon was going to be in the battle the day he got killed. He made himself an easy target because he thought he was invincible."

"Sounds like they dropped the ball on a lot of occasions. Whoop, end of the line." They had reached a doorway at the end of the darkened hall. Reyn made an effort to open it but found It locked. "And it's a no go. Kinda surprised he'd bother locking it if he wasn't planning on coming back."

"Probably wanted to make sure we didn't pick up any clues on him," sighed Salmandmon. "After Craniummon was killed, we thought we had it for a moment...who else was going to unite them like he did? Guess there was someone, and he knew what he was doing a hell of a lot more than Craniummon did. Instead of getting easier, our battles got harder...they were doing new things, being less overtly hostile and more subtle about their manipulation. And throughout it all, we couldn't find a damn thing about him. Not for lack of trying, either. For all I know, I've seen him on the battlefield and never knew it."

Reyn nodded in understanding. "Harder to cut off the head when you can't find it."

"Exactly. This new guy's had me worried for a while. His actions lead me to think he _doesn't_ think he's invincible or that Emperius is infallible, and if he doesn't buy into that he may not buy into the destiny thing either, even if everyone else does. That makes him much more dangerous...he's fighting because he wants to win, not because he thinks he's already won."

"You know, if I'd thought about it, we might have asked Commandramon. He said he had to infiltrate Emperius to get through to our world, he may have heard something that would've been useful to us."

"Hey, you're right. Too bad we can't ask him now...well, maybe we can make it a moot point by finding out while we're here. C'mon, let's check out some of the rooms we can actually get into."

"Gotcha." They wandered back down the hallway somewhat, and found a room in a slightly brighter area that was unlocked. Inside was a large table with several large chairs around it, ornate lights hanging from the ceiling, and an atmosphere of machination neither of them could ignore.

"Looks like a conference room...except it seems more sinister."

"I know what you mean. War room, maybe?"

"Could be. Looks like there's something on the floor." Reyn pointed to a roll of paper bounded by a paper clip on each end of the cylinder. "Huh, you wouldn't expect something so nicely rolled up like that to be just lying on the ground."

"Probably fell out of a box or something. Awfully large, though...I wonder what it could be?"

"Only one way to find out." Reyn picked up the roll, snickering as he pulled off the paper clips. "Is it wrong for me to find it funny that our worlds came up with the exact same design for the paper clip?"

"There's a lot of that weird kind of eerie similarity thing between our worlds. Always makes me feel a little more strongly about Origin Resonance Theory."

"Gotta start somewhere..." Reyn's good humor evaporated rapidly as he unrolled the coil. "What in the world..."

"Schematics?" Salmandmon stared at the sheet, which had on it a design for something he had never seen before. It didn't look even remotely pleasant, though, he could tell that right away. "Man...I'm not sure what that's supposed to be, but it still sends a chill down my spine."

"The top of the page says it's something called 'Gargantua Weapon.'" Reyn looked at it for a while longer, then rolled it back up and reclipped it. "I can't read all of this...this is Isaac's domain, we need to bring this to him. He should be able to give us more information. But...you're right, whatever it is, it doesn't look good."

"Nothing good can come from something with a name like that. Reyn, I think we should get going again. I really want to find Isaac and figure out what's up with that thing."

Reyn nodded grimly. "Yeah...we need him to figure this out. Damn, I wish we had some kind of lead. There's gotta be something we can do..."

"Right now, we just have to get to the Transfer Point. We can figure out where to go from there."

"You're right. Let's find the others and head out."

(==========)

(==========)

Sorry about the lack of action, but this one was necessary for getting the story moved further along. At least we're getting back to the central focus, and I get to tease you with Garganuta Weapon (not the best name ever, but I've struggled for AGES to come up with something, this was the best I was able to do in the end). Oh, we will be seeing that in the future, you can take that as a guarantee.

Origin Resonance Theory...this is one of my favorite concepts that I've come up with (at the very least, if someone else has suggested it, I haven't seen it). It's wonderfully grandiose and simplistic at the same time. This is not the first time I've ever used it, though it is the first time it's been in something I've actually put out. It is somewhat of a cop-out creativity-wise, but any of you who've tried to write stuff have to know how hard it is to come up with truly novel ideas. Besides, I'm working with established concepts, so all I'm really doing is offering an explanation for something someone else came up with. This won't be the last time you see this brought up, either.

Teaser alert: next chapter, the question of how they're finally gonna be able to reunite will be answered! I can almost hear the people reading this thinking "FINALLY!" Yeah, I know, but I'm happy I went a little roundabout even if it did take a while. It offered me a chance to expand on the characters and the world a little bit, and I feel like I would've done the story a disservice to just gloss over all that. It needs some depth, it can't just be an excuse world like in Digimon World 4 (gah...love the concept, not happy with the execution).

Ah, enough of my rambling. I hope you're still enjoying it! See you next chapter!


	49. Chapter 48: New Perspectives

And here we are, Chapter 48! Which is approximately the number of songs I listened to while writing the final part of this. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 48: New Perspectives**

The screen flickered, its dry, sterile light beaming down around Isaac. With a quick jump a cursor leapt over to the center and zoomed in on one of the images of the large landmass. Another jump to a button to bring up an information display. All went silent for a few moments, then Isaac's expression darkened, he sent away the display and zoomed back out.

The door creaked open, and he heard the telltale clanking of metal feet. "Somehow I figured you might find this place on your own. Whatcha doin'?"

Isaac sighed. "I got bored and figured I might try to figure out if I could use this tracking system for finding Emperius or the others. But everything's out of date, and it's gonna take forever to get caught up."

"Ah, yeah, that's gonna happen when there's no one around to maintain everything. Who told you how to get it working?"

"No one did. I just kinda...connected to it, I guess."

Datacarnomon's eyes darted between Isaac and the terminal. "Uh...what connection?"

"Not a physical one. It just kinda started responding to what I wanted it to do. Like it was reading my thoughts or something."

"Eh...no, we don't have computers that can do that."

Isaac was quiet for a moment. "You know, it did occur to me that you might say that. Could it have something to do with you, then? You know, the whole merging thing?"

"Sure, if I ever had that kind of ability. Just 'cause I have a computer built in doesn't mean I can just look at a screen and mind control the cursor to click on a button-" He froze as he saw the cursor jump right to the button he was looking at and click a button that changed the image display entirely. "The hell?"

Isaac smirked. "Never had that kind of ability, huh?"

"Well, I never did before! At least not that I knew of...agh, this is too confusing."

"Still could be the merging. It could be bringing out things in both of us that we never had."

"I guess...not like we really know how it's affecting us all the time anyway. So, anyway, word is the Commander's got another job for us if we're interested. As antsy as you've been, I figured you'd probably be up for it, unless you've got a great lead here or something."

Isaac shook his head and stood up. "No great leads here. I'd rather get out where I can, maybe we'll get lucky."

"A'right, let's go then. So, whaddaya think of that setup, anyway? Pretty nifty, huh?"

"It seems pretty complex. Like some NASA station or something. You used it to try and look for Emperius, didn't you?"

"Yep. Try to find where they're stationed and where they're causing trouble. Did a good job on the latter, not so much on the former. I mean, really, we had people out there daily trying to get an eye on those guys and it never took. You'd think a whole system dedicated to finding them would be more effective, but all we got was a big fat zero."

"Could they have been jamming? I did notice a bunch of areas that were listed as 'unreadable' for some reason, and if they're trying to keep themselves under the radar, so to speak, I'd expect they'd invest in something like that."

"Yeah, that's what we thought, too, but all the places we searched gave us nothing. I mean, we sent out our eyes in the sky multiple times to all those spots, and none of them turned up anything. You can jam machines, sure, but actual eyes?"

"I dunno, there's all sorts of different types of illusions that make you think you're seeing something you're not even in our world. Granted, they're pretty crude, but effective for the most part."

"Well, I mean, it's not impossible to create some kind of illusion using machines, but not on that kind of scale. We're talking square miles here, even a machine wouldn't be strong enough to put out something like that. The logistics would be a nightmare, and that's not even considering powering the thing."

"Powering would be an issue? That surprises me. I mean, that giant robot had to suck up a buttload of power, and it seemed to work just fine."

"Yep, and that's not even close to the amount of power you'd need for something like an Illusion Generator. We're talking a single core that could power a good portion of Mechalopolis round the clock."

"Whoof...I get your point. But what else is there?"

"That's what we've been trying to figure out for a long time. No luck so far, though. It's gotta be something we've never seen before, though, that's for sure."

"That's always the trickiest to figure out." Isaac pushed on the door to Gallantmon's office, where he and Derek and Blackcanismon were waiting. "Hey, guys, hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"Not longer than usual, anyway," Derek remarked.

Isaac narrowed his eyes at the other. "There was no specified time this time so I can't be late. So hush."

Blackcanismon snickered. "Honestly, Isaac, provoking your ire is simplicity in itself."

"I'm glad you could make it, Isaac, Datacarnomon," Gallantmon said, deliberately avoiding contributing to the repartee. "I know I've been asking a lot of you lately...it just seems like it's the only way anything significant gets done. I wish there were more people around to help you, but...anyway, I've gotten a tip on something that might be helpful for us. It'll require a little diplomacy-

"We'll do it," Isaac said instantly.

"Your unbridled enthusiasm is commendable, but perhaps our commander should divulge the potential operation before our acceptance," Blackcanismon said.

"Well, it's not like we're really gonna turn it down, are we?" Datacarnomon reasoned.

"...I suppose I must acquiesce to your rationale."

"We don't really have a whole lot else to do at the moment, except sit and wait," Derek said. "I guess it makes sense that we'd do something."

"If we would just go out and make some effort..."

"We've been over this enough times, Isaac."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, doesn't mean I like it any. Sorry, what's the deal, Gallantmon?"

"Well, the situation is like this. We had another scout return recently...he'd been embedded with a mercenary organization that we were trying to get on our side. However, he wasn't getting very far with them...they seem to be very hostile towards humans, and it seemed like they were more seriously considering siding with Emperius. Just recently, though, their leader decided he wanted an audience with someone from Libertius."

"What fantastic timing. Does this leader know that we've currently got fewer personnel than he does?" Datacarnomon asked.

"Actually, that might be why he changed his tune in the first place. He's heard we've fallen on hard times, and from what I hear their group tends to like taking advantage of desperation. Perhaps he's a better man than that, but..."

"Regrettably, we necessarily must assume such is not an accurate assessment of the situation," Blackcanismon sighed. "Pray, continue."

"Well, this group is situated at Yegemra Outpost. It's closer to the center of Northern Tetraquaz, and there's not a lot else out there, so they've got the territory pretty much to themselves. The lack of competition may also be what's driving them, since we wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. And I doubt Emperius is keen on giving them the kind of deal they want...they really are wild cards, and I'm not confident that we'll get much out of them even if we do try to forge an alliance. But at this point we can't afford not to try. At any rate, the leader sounds like he wants some persuasion, so I was hoping maybe you all could be the ones to do so."

"Convince him that humans aren't all bad, and such?" Isaac asked.

"Possibly. If he isn't receptive to that line of reasoning, you can just stick to this world. Hopefully Gaioumon will be a little less hard-headed than that, but one can never tell-"

"Excuse me a moment," Isaac interrupted, "but did you say 'Gaioumon?'"

"Yes, that's the leader. Why?"

Isaac grimaced. "We may have just the slightest problem. They, ah, captured me on my arrival to the digital world, and we didn't exactly part on good terms...if they find out who I am, there's gonna be hell to pay."

All eyes save for Datacarnomon's turned in Isaac's direction. "You can't be serious," Derek said, aghast.

"Would I say it if I wasn't? It's not like I asked for this, you know."

"That could indeed present a problem..." Gallantmon mused. "It was just you, though, right? Datacarnomon wasn't there?"

"Right," Datacarnomon affirmed, "so they won't know our merged forms at all. We might still be able to pull this off, as long as we don't let on our true nature. It's not like anyone's guessed at it so far, so we should be in the clear there."

"Well, it's up to you. If you think it's too dangerous, we can just have Derek and Blackcanismon go, or just give up and look elsewhere."

"I'm not a fan of giving up," Isaac declared. "I'm not scared of them. I got away once, I can do it again if I have to."

"Unwelcome confidence begets only turmoil, Isaac," Blackcanismon warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I won't be reckless, I'm just not going to pass it up because of a little danger."

"To be honest, I'd feel more comfortable going with another than on my own," Derek admitted. "And I guess it doesn't hurt that that another just happens to be a hulking mass of weaponry. But we'll have to be cautious. Don't let on that you know about the place, it'll make them suspicious."

"I should be able to put up a good front. I don't remember that much of it anyway, on account of spending most of my time focusing on not getting caught during my escape."

"Escape? Hm, such terminology suggests the existence of a compelling narrative which I would be remiss to remain ignorant of."

"I'll tell you later. Right now, let's just get on this so we can get it done."

"Thank you, and good luck, all of you," Gallantmon said solemnly. "I hope you meet no danger this time."

"Ah, what fun would that be?" chuckled Datacarnomon.

(==========)

Not long later, Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon were advancing towards the outpost, which was impossible to miss against the completely barren background of the northern part of the continent. "Can't imagine trying to live out here...talk about your terrible views," remarked Cyberrexmon as he checked his scanners.

"It certainly wouldn't be high on my list of locales," agreed Onyxvargmon. "Though I imagine that also makes it rather isolated from threats. Speaking of which...are you certain we won't be perceived as threatening at this level? I have some misgivings about drawing their suspicions about our intentions."

"Nah, it's not like they know anything about us, right? This could very well be our natural form for all they know. Besides, I figured it might be better to make a bit of a display of power, maybe give them the impression that Libertius isn't as badly off as they've heard. Maybe Gaioumon'll be less apt to try to put the squeeze on them. Think of it a a tactical play in a battle of wills."

"If you insist. I just hope they don't get the wrong impression from it."

"They know we're supposed to be coming, I doubt they'll think we're trying to coax a fight outta them."

"Glad to hear it, but I was thinking more along the lines of 'they don't think we're so badly off and thus would be more willing to side with Emperius because it could be a decent battle after all.'"

"Hm...well, we're going to have to try to push our position, then. If Gaioumon's completely insensitive to the state of the world, I'm not sure I'd want him on our side anyway, those types often can't be trusted. If he isn't, then we have to convince him of the better cause."

"Sounds like a tall order. Just don't fly off the handle like with Bithwit and Paquom. I have my doubts that that'll work twice."

"As long as he doesn't give me any reason to, I won't."

They soon came up to the very large gate, manned by a quartet of Weregarurumon guards. None of them seemed particularly enthusiastic about allowing the pair in, but after a spate of conferring between themselves and an unknown voice from a communicator, they grudgingly let the gates open, and sent Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon on their way with a look that clearly stated that they shouldn't try any funny business.

The compound was smaller than Libertius' complex, but far more active at the time, with a number of digimon scurrying around for whatever reason. There were a number of buildings set up in a circular fashion within the compound, all of a very unusual twisty design, which proved to be good for concealing weapons as they saw a Mekanorimon doing maintenance on one of them. All of the outer ring of buildings were dwarfed by the one in the center, which was far larger and and much more heavily armed, with projections that looked rather like large lightning rods up on top.

"You have any idea where we need to go?" Onyxvargmon asked.

Cyberrexmon shook his head. "Not much...this is the first time I've really had the chance to pay attention to the place, I don't even have much of a map to work with. If I had to guess, though, I'd say the main building's probably the best choice. Might seem too obvious, but if it's the most well-guarded the expectation effect isn't much use."

"I can appreciate that. Let's go." The two made their way to the main doors of the central building, barely inspiring even casual glances from the digimon around them; they appeared to be used to seeing strangers walking around freely.

Entering the main building, both took a moment to behold the sterile walls and stark lighting. There was nothing artistic about it, just a blankness so glaring that anything could stand out against it, ensuring the greatest difficulty in moving around unseen. Cameras were positioned all over, watching their every move. It was the ultimate in function over form; indeed, every effort seemed to have been taken to maximize security at the expense of aesthetic pleasantness.

"Yee...it's kinda creepy in a way." Cyberrexmon spoke quietly, but his voice still echoed quite a bit within the walls. "I'm know I'm the kinda guy who doesn't go much for form, but this is too far the other way even for me."

"Well, I guess they're not here to enjoy themselves," said Onyxvargmon with a shrug. "Let's look around a bit, see if we can't figure out where we have to go."

They took a right and started off down the hallway, going slowly and searching for any sign of someone who could help them. The hallways were eerily empty, devoid of both digimon and any kind of feature beyond the occasional door. Even the doors were rather odd, colored to blend into the wall, lacking any kind of window or even peephole, and not a single one was labeled with either number or purpose. Cyberrexmon took to opening each one slightly and seeing if anyone was inside, and for the first four instances he came away empty.

"It might possibly be the worst interior design I've ever seen in my life, and we spent a couple days inside that government center," Onyxvargmon remarked.

"No kidding. How is anyone supposed to know their way around in here? Unless you've got the layout memorized, you have no clue what anything is. I think, just maybe, they've gone a little overboard with the security." They stopped in front of another door, and Cyberrexmon opened it up a crack. "Hey...I sense life in here. Let's check it out."

They entered the room, and found themselves in a very different realm. In contrast to the outer halls, this room's walls were painted jet black, though also having an odd reflective quality, and unusual lights were mounted on the walls as well as the ceiling; the sum of all this offered a very strange lighting arrangement that ensured that anything could be seen anywhere. Shelves were positioned all over the place, each one containing pieces and parts with unyielding consistency.

"Guess this is research and development. This is a pretty interesting design, even if it's still completely for functional purposes."

"Everything's so well-orgnaized and tidy," Onyxvargmon observed as they carefully moved through the development area. "Heh...you could take a few lessons from this place."

"Hey, I just don't have the storage space. If I was doing my thing in a place like this it'd be just as organized."

"You'll excuse me if I don't buy that."

"Oh, hey, visitors!" They looked towards the corner of the room where the voice came from and saw a Datamon waving at them. "Good to see someone new for once. You can look, but don't touch, okay?"

Onyxvargmon nodded. "Yeah, I kinda assumed. Interesting set-up you have here..."

"You like this place? It's pretty great for a lab that's not designed specifically by machines."

"Almost might as well be." Cyberrexmon took a gander at the terminal Datamon was sitting at. "That's a nice computer, Datamon. You build it yourself?"

"Uh-huh. Everything you use has to be built yourself. Gives the best assurance that you know everything that's on there. Can't go compromising security by getting your big-box stuff that has who-knows-what put in it."

"For a place that's so insistent on security, they sure weren't concerned about us wandering around," Onyxvargmon remarked.

"As long as there's no hint of you causing trouble, it'll stay that way. But watch out if they get suspicious of you. They're not big on mercy here."

"I guess when you fight for a living you tend to think that way." Onyxvargmon's eyes wandered around, and soon landed upon a strange machine in the back corner of the room which Cyberrexmon had already gone over to examine.

"Weird...Hey, Datamon, what's this thing? I've never seen anything like it."

"Oh, that? That's a masterpiece of ingenuity! It's called a Locator Drone. You can use it to find anyone you want, it's amazing!"

Onyxvargmon looked between the machine and the Datamon. "With just that thing? Seems pretty unlikely to me."

"I don't blame you, it's a very unfamiliar concept. It builds off of the concept of DNA projection analysis. You know what that is?"

"Oh, wow, really?"

"Really! We use the same mechanism that criminal experts use to locate fugitives, only we make use of the satellite system to find them! The drone stores the DNA information and then looks for the matching projection signature through the satellite system, then makes a beeline for them! And we've installed communication systems so that we can see and hear them to make sure it's the right person!"

"That's incredible!" marveled Cyberrexmon. "You could find anyone as long as you had their DNA signature on hand! How has this not been publicized?"

"It's been a long road to get to this point. We've spent ages trying to work out bug after bug in the system, and it didn't help that the original technician in charge of programming it got iced by some bandits and we had to bring one in who didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't brought online that long ago, and we've been doing field testing to find even more bugs. It took us a long time just to find out what was causing a bunch of false positives. Once we're sure it's all clean, we're gonna make claim on it and make the big reveal!"

"I know a lot of people who would love to have one of these...make sure you get claim on it, it'll be a hit, without a doubt!"

"Glad you think so! There are a few more issues that need to be worked out, like security of the machine and some social issues like preventing harassment. That's what I'm working on now."

"Well, we don't want to keep you," said Onyxvargmon. "Just a quick question, could you give us an idea of where to go to find Gaioumon? We're supposed to meet with him."

"Heh, my sympathies to you, he's been in a bad mood lately. I hope you can talk some cheer into him, we need it."

"He's hard to get along with?"

"Even normally, he's pretty distant...he's the kind of guy who really just takes that command role and runs with it, not much sense of humor or relaxation. But apparently there's been a bunch of stuff going on lately that's got him even less pleasant than usual. Not sure what it is, he hasn't talked a lot with anyone...maybe someone going in and chatting with him could do everyone some good. Anyway, the fastest way from here is actually through the sublevel, six doors down on the left. You'll go down at first, but at the end you'll find an express lift that takes you up next to the guard quarters. Then there's a set of stairs just to the right outside that room that'll go all the way to the top. Good luck."

"Thanks! We'll be on our way. Good luck to you, too!"

They made their exodus from the lab and instantly gave each other a knowing look. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I expect so. If we were able to get some DNA, we'd finally be able to get a good bead on where they are and meet up with them. The only problem is gonna be finding that DNA in the first place."

"Our rooms haven't been used since the Elite Guard was wiped out, they may not have even done any cleaning. There's gotta be some trace of someone there. Though it'd probably be easiest to find yours, Mr. Shedding Machine."

"Don't blame me for being the only one of us with fur. Not my fault it's harder to clean up than scales or feathers."

"Well, we won't get a chance to use it unless we get Gaioumon on our side. Just one more incentive, but try not to let it on, if he senses that he might try to drive a harder bargain. And this is something we can't risk trying to take by force, we can't take the risk that it might be damaged."

"Definitely not. Let's go."

(==========)

Six doors down, just as Datamon said, the door opened up to a descending slope. The two went in without hesitation, working their way down towards the depths. As they went down, they spotted several areas where the monotonous white was broken up with a thin strip of metal perforated with several holes. "I'm sensing some machinery behind these walls around these bands..." Cyberrexmon muttered. "These might be some kind of security measure. Not sure what."

"Huh...if that's the case, I think we're on our way to a dungeon of some sort." Onyxvargmon sniffed the air a bit. "Yeah, it's got that dankness to it. Seems like a strange place to put a dungeon...you'd expect it to be closer to the ends of the building."

"Maybe they think it'd be harder to escape if it's right in the middle. But I dunno, if you've got someone dangerous down there you don't want them to be able to encounter a lot of guys they could kill on their way out. I guess if you're confident they can't escape...I wouldn't be."

"Agreed..." Onyxvargmon noticed that Cyberrexmon was moving more quickly than before. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were fairly familiar with this particular location."

"A little too familiar, if you ask me. This is the opposite direction I took the first time around, if you get my drift."

"Drift gotten. How'd you manage that feat, anyway? Doesn't seem like it'd just be something you could Rambo your way out of."

"Yeah, it was more good luck and foresight than anything else. I'd rather not say right now, someone might be listening in."

"Fair enough."

Before long they had reached the bottom, the floor leveling out and the lighting becoming somewhat dimmer as the walls were less reflective. There were more doors, but it was plainly clear what they were for by their build: heavy, metal, with one small barred window in each.

"This brings back some unpleasant memories," Cyberrexmon whispered as they walked through. "Never thought I'd be back here...never wanted to, for that matter."

"You didn't have to come with."

"Yeah, I was just gonna stay back and twiddle my thumbs while you were here on your own. C'mon."

"Well, you knew what you were getting into."

"Yeah, I know, doesn't mean I enjoyed the idea..." Cyberrexmon trailed off and stopped in his tracks, his head fixating on one of the cell doors. "There's a prisoner here."

"Well, it is a dungeon."

"Yes, but..." Cyberrexmon plodded over to the prison door in question, and chanced a look through. His eyes went wide. "Damn...they didn't! He's still locked up?"

"Who is?" Onyxvargmon looked through the window and saw a Flamedramon laying on the ground, chained up. "You familiar with this guy?"

"Yeah, but don't let on. I gotta talk to him!" Cyberrexmon rapped on the door, making a very loud bang every time his metal fist landed. Onyxvargmon clapped his hands over his ears painfully. Flamedramon was quickly startled awake, and scrambled to his feet, looking around wildly.

"Warn me next time you do that!" Onyxvargmon snapped.

"Oh, right, sorry. I'll make a mental note." He peeked back through the door, where the Flamedramon was still shaken but had realized what was going on. "Hey, you all right?"

"Do I look like I'm all right?" Flamedramon snarled angrily.

"Right, sorry, dumb question. All these other cells are empty, what've they got you down here for?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Anomalies intrigue me. I can find out from someone else if you're that intent on not talking."

The Flamedramon scoffed. "If you're that insistent...I let a human escape from the dungeon. They've kept me down here as punishment for my treason."

"Treason?"

"I basically just let him go. He could be doing untold damage because of my actions. I'm lucky they didn't just put stake a through my skull."

"What? But-" Cyberrexmon barely caught himself before letting something slip that he couldn't explain away. "-That's ridiculous. They don't even know if the human was going to cause any trouble!"

"Doesn't matter. The threat should have been enough." Flamedramon slumped back in his cell, clearly depressed by the reminder of the events that had transpired. "And I'll probably be down here until this compound turns to dust for what I did."

Onyxvargmon shook his head. "It's a travesty. There hasn't even been a report of a human causing any problems. In fact, I'd almost venture that you'd be able to find more accounts of the opposite."

"None of that matters. Gaioumon wouldn't hear any argument against it even if I could compose on. It's the punishment I deserve for what happened, and I'm not fool enough to try his patience on this."

Cyberrexmon scowled, but didn't say another word; instead, he stalked off towards the direction Datacarnomon had indicated they should go, clearly having something on his mind. Onyxvargmon wasted no time catching up and trying to pry it out. "Mind explaining that?"

"He shouldn't be down here."

"Okay, I'll grant that, but that's not all there is to this."

"No, it's not. Flamedramon didn't let me go. I more or less broke out."

"Broke out? Excuse me for my doubts, but..."

"Well, it was kind of a mix. He was coming in to interrogate me, but I'd gotten out of my bonds, and I cloaked and stunned him, then locked him up so he couldn't chase me. I got out because I was cloaked, and I had that jammer on me. Like I said before, it was mostly luck and precipitous preparation, but you'd likely call it a break-out all the same."

"Fair enough. So he's not just being locked up on a bad premise, he's not even guilty of the crime he was accused of...though he didn't seem particularly eager to deny it."

"Tell someone something enough and they'll believe it even if it's an outright lie. In this case, it's even just close enough to the truth that he probably didn't fight it much. Maybe Gaioumon doesn't see a difference between aiding someone and just plain bad fortune. Either way, this isn't fair to him. I have to get him freed."

"I don't know that it is, unless you reveal yourself. And even if you do, they might keep him in there anyway for not being careful."

"If that was the case, then I'd force him out."

"That's real smart. Get the entire compound on your ass. You aren't invulnerable, you know."

"So what? I'll take a few shots if I have to. The important thing is getting him out!"

"You know, you could just let it go. Don't you think he can handle-"

"NO!" Cyberrexmon practically roared. "I have to do it! I have to succeed, I have to make things right! Anything less is intolerable!"

"Whoa, easy there. What are you getting so worked up about? It's not like we're always going to be able to get every result we want."

"But I have to! That's our goal, to ensure that the outcomes we want are the ones that occur! Failure could mean our lives, or the lives of countless innocents! If I can't make it happen, I'm better off being left behind so I don't drag everyone else down!"

"...What in the great goodnight are you talking about?"

"A group is only as strong as their weakest member! I can't ever allow myself to falter, or I'll be holding you back! I refuse to be a burden...if I'm not successful, then I won't allow myself to get in your way!"

"Are you..." Onyxvargmon was a bit stunned; this was something he'd never expected out of the cyborg. "Are you serious? Do you honestly think we're even entertaining the idea that you're not holding up your end? None of us can realistically expect perfection, you know, we're just trying to do the best we can. You can't tell me you think you're not?"

"It's the nature of what I am! Technology is only worthwhile as long as it is effective. When it starts losing that effectiveness, it's a sign that it's become obsolete...obsolete technology is a burden, not an asset. If I can't complete our objectives, if I start falling short and not getting the best results, what use am I? I'd be better off being replaced by someone more effective!"

"What makes you think we've got anyone lined up who could even think of replacing you?" Onyxvargmon jumped right up into his larger partner's face, causing Onyxvargmon to lean away slightly. "Listen, you bolthead, if you keep thinking like that you're going to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now get some goddamn perspective. Not every objective is a primary objective, and we can't afford to be distracting ourselves by dwelling on what we didn't do perfectly! Focus on the big picture first, the details can all be worked out once the most pressing issues are settled. Got it?"

Cyberrexmon didn't seem fully convinced, but he nodded his head. "All right. If you believe that's a better approach, I'll follow the priorities you set."

"Glad to hear it." The lupine jumped back down, then straightened up and motioned for Cyberrexmon to follow him. "Come on, let's get face-to-face with Gaioumon, see if we can't talksome sense into him."

(==========)

From the directions Datamon had given them, it wasn't difficult for them to find their way to Gaioumon's quarters. There was a rather imposing notice on the front of the heavy metal door: [DO NOT DISTURB UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED]

"Looks like a sociable sort," Onyxvargmon said dryly. "I'm gonna let you knock on the door, and try not to bang it like that dungeon door, I doubt he'd appreciate that."

"Good point." Cyberrexmon rapped only lightly on the door, still making quite an audible reverberation but not nearly as offensive. There was quiet for a brief moment before a speaker above the door flicked on. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Onyxvargmon jumped at the volume, but Cyebrrexmon maintained composure. "We're the delegates from Libertius, we were told you wanted to speak with us."

No response from the speaker, but after a moment the door began to slide open, drawn into the wall rather than swinging inwards. Cyberrexmon and Onyxvargmon tentatively entered, gazing around the room. It was very much a similar motif to the rest of the building, nothing without a purpose; a powerful multi-monitor computer in one corner, a drawing desk with an array of papers in another, what looked like something that could pass for a bed not too far from the desk, a table with all sorts of objects strewn all over it to their right, and seated in between the table and computer was a dark-scaled reptilian fully dressed in samurai-esque armor. He stood the moment they entered and cast an unpleasant glare towards the guests.

"So...you're the ones from Libertius." He gave a quiet derisive huff that missed neither symbiote. "Looks like the rumors are true, if this is all they can show me."

"I don't think there's any need for _that_," Onyxvargmon replied slightly defensively. "We came because you wanted to discuss the possibility of assisting us. At least, that's what we were told."

Another huff. "Wanting to...that's putting it strongly. We have had nothing worth doing for too long. The South won't pay well enough for our services, and I refuse to leave Tetraquaz for uncertain prospects. Emperius is the only force worth fighting right now, assuming you can pay the price."

"We'll try to assess that," Cyberrexmon said shortly. "What are you proposing for payment?"

"No..." Gaioumon turned and faced the screens. "There is one order of business that must be established before we discuss payment. I know Libertius has been defending the humans. That will cease immediately."

"What?"

"They have been interfering in digimon affairs, which they have no business doing. They cannot be trusted, and we will not fight alongside those who enable their presence, not for any price."

"They're not here to cause trouble!" Onyxvargmon growled. "They're just here to take down Emperius! Why wouldn't we support them?"

"You're fools for thinking that's their goal! Once Emperius is gone, what's next? You think they're just going to pack up and leave, like nothing ever happened? The bond between the worlds has been established, it won't be leaving, and once the keys to moving between the worlds are discovered by them they will be able to come and go as they please! They've already gotten into the affairs of digimon not involved in Emperius! We've heard the stories, humans in the Volcano Pit attacking other digimon, in Oroetem pretending to be their king, in Mechalopolis of all places! Where is Emperius' work in those places?"

"So what were the stories around those places?" Cyberrexmon challenged. "You act like all they were there for is to cause trouble, do you even know any of the details?"

"I know all I need to know! Their interference is clear. They are a threat, and you will not defend them if you want our support!"

"So you don't know, then! Tch, tells me all I need to know about you!"

Gaioumon went vicious in an instant. "What was that?"

"If you think we're going to abandon the humans for your support, forget it!" Onyxvargmon shot back. "They're only in this because of Emperius! They didn't ask for this! You think they deserve to be betrayed just because you don't like that they're over here trying to keep their world from being destroyed?"

"I don't care if they're destroyed! They have no business being over here!"

"And Emperius has business being over there?"

"It doesn't matter! It's the humans being over here that's unacceptable! If you refuse to accept this demand, you will get no assistance from us!"

"Then forget it!" roared Cyberrexmon. "We don't want your help if that's how you're going to act! I'm not listening to this crap anymore, you can go rot!" He turned to storm out of the room, only for powerful bars to appear in front of the door, blocking his exit. He turned and snarled at Gaioumon, who had pounded a button on the computer console. "Oh, you are just _begging_ to get your ass kicked!"

"If you aren't going to give up on your foolishness, then I'm at least going to get back what I should have had already! There was a human imprisoned here who was let out by a treacherous agent, and I know you're harboring him! You will tell me where he is so we can put him back where he belongs!"

"You are a complete lunatic if you think we're going to give you anything after what we've heard!" Onyxvargmon barked. "Now let us out of here!"

"You aren't going anywhere until I get my answer! Where is that damned human?"

Cyberrexmon's anger boiled over then. "Fine! You want to know where he is so badly? I'll tell you! He's right here in front of you! There's your goddamned answer!"

"I'm not in the mood for jokes! Tell me the truth!"

"Jokes? I'll show you jokes!" Before he could stop to tell himself it wasn't a good idea, Cyberrexmon reverted to Andrexmon, and then split back apart into Isaac and Datacarnomon. They glared up at Gaioumon, seeming unfazed that the reptilian was suddenly much more imposing than before. For his part, Gaioumon was completely dumbstruck by what he had just witnessed, and off to the side, Onyxvargmon was just shaking his head and hoping that this wasn't going to lead to more trouble. _You'd think a machine would be less impulsive..._

"How's that for a joke?" Datacarnomon spat.

"Wha...you..how...what in the...bleeding HELL is this?"

"You asked," Isaac said steely. "Now you know what we're capable of. You think I wanted to be back here any more than you wanted me over here in the first place? It's for the good of both our worlds, even if I don't like it. You don't like it? Help us get rid of Emperius and we'll be gone that much faster."

"Shut up!" Now he was really seething, his own temper lost to control. "This is an attack...humans masquerading as digimon, who knows how much damage has been done by you? Is this what Libertius stands for, allowing this...this...violation of our essence? You're not going to get anything from me except a ticket to hell! For the sake of our world and our existence, I won't let you leave here alive!"

He slammed a fist into the ground where Isaac and Datacarnomon had been standing moments before; each one leapt off to their respective side, and Datacarnomon was the first one to respond, firing his shots at Gaioumon's eyes. The reptile didn't let any actually get to his eyes, turning his head to let them glance off his helmet as he tried to swipe at the small robot. This let Isaac get around him and deliver a nasty kick to his ankle, causing him to stagger and then lash out, nearly slamming a hand into the computer as Isaac deftly ducked under.

Onyxvargmon watched the fight unfold, torn between actively joining in and hanging back to ensure Gaioumon didn't get his hands on his swords, which were leaning on the wall right next to where he was standing. _If he gets his hands on these, we're probably all goners...but can they really handle him themselves? They need to merge again, fast, or I'll have to get in there and probably kill him..._

Gaioumon punched down to hit Isaac, who managed to slip away again. The irate dragon paid for the effort, as Datacarnomon managed to leap in and deliver a sound kick to his helmet, leaving it and his head ringing. The robot bounced into the air and spun around, hands opening to reveal glowing modules. "Laser Circle!" He rotated in a circle, firing down lasers which burned into Gaioumon's armor and the back of his head, causing him to yell out in pain. He swung up, but Datacarnomon was already gone, having taken evasive action the moment he scored his hit. It left Gaioumon open for an Electro Shocker from Isaac, which hit him square in the head. Now furious, he swung down at Isaac again, who braced himself and raised his arms. The force of the punch registered through his whole body, but he held firm and stopped the blow dead. Gaioumon was stunned, allowing Isaac to heave himself forward and shove him off balance, and he fell backward onto his rear.

"...Seriously?" Onyxvargmon muttered, loud enough for Isaac to hear.

"Hey, that's what having extra structural support'll do for ya. It's fun being a cyborg, you should try it sometime."

"I'll pass. Watch yourself." Gaioumon was back on his feet and madder than ever, clearly not expecting to have as much trouble as he was. Isaac nodded to Datacarnomon, and the two leapt back into action, flanking Gaioumon and keeping his attention divided. Furious, the reptile tried to hammer both of them at once, but they stayed just outside of the range where he could reach both of them. When Datacarnomon saw his opening, he took it, fast.

"Now! Homing Missile!" The hatch on his chest opened and the missile charged out, going right for Gaioumon's jaw. It impacted with force akin to a strong uppercut on the reptile, dazing him slightly and leaving an opening for Isaac. Wasting no time, he charged up the power he got from Ceramon, jumped at Gaioumon, and leveled a kick to his gut hard enough that the impact got through the armor and knocked the wind right out of him. He staggered backwards and fell onto one knee, panting profusely.

"Whoo...ah, man, that's as much as I could do," Isaac said through his own pants. "Good thing we weren't looking to actually seriously hurt him, I dunno if we could've managed that."

"You're probably right, but, whoo, that was fun!" Datacarnomon snickered. "I always did like being able to show up bigger guys."

"Rgh...damned...you just wait, I'm not finished yet..." Gaioumon growled, his jaw clenched and clearly in pain, if not exactly seriously hurt.

"Oh, can it. We're not here to kill you or anything. We just want outta here."

"I can't let you leave! Knowing what kind of damage you can do, what kind of chaos you can create...if I let you leave you could fool some other innocent into thinking you were normal!"

Isaac glared at him. "What's it gonna take, huh? To convince you that we're not bad guys? Or are you just too content in being wrong to actually think about it?"

"You shut your mouth!" Gaioumon started to rise again, but Isaac and Datacarnomon moved closer together.

"If you had trouble with us separately, you do NOT want to see us together," Datacarnomon warned him. "Onyxvargmon will back us up on that." Onyxvargmon rolled his eyes but nodded in assent.

"Grr...I won't bow to threats or intimidation! You aren't getting help from any of us!"

Isaac shook his head. "One-track mind...we stopped caring about that a while back. Right now we just want out. Oh, and while you're at it, let Flamedramon out, too. He didn't do anything wrong that you would have foreseen."

"What? Absolutely not! He released you! He has to serve his punishment for his treasonous actions!"

"He didn't commit any treason, you moron. I got out through my own ingenuity...all right, ingenuity and a lot of luck. Still, the only thing he did was not realize what I was capable of, which, oh, hey, you just did the same thing. Or did you think we wouldn't catch on that you weren't going at us like your life depended on it?"

"Ngh...that's beside the point! It's done with now, I can't just go back on it like that!"

"The hell're you talking about?" Datacarnomon asked incredulously. "I mean, maybe you didn't know before, but you do now, if you're the one in charge it should be simple!"

"And demonstrate poor leadership? I've worked tirelessly getting everything to run properly here, including my own behavior! I can't just go about undermining my own guidelines! What kind of leader would that make me?"

"Oh, BS. What kind of leader sticks to his guns when he knows he's wrong?"

"It's the principle of the thing! You can't be an effective leader if you're inconsistent! Everyone will start second-guessing you, and with good reason!"

"Whoa, now, hold on, that's just stupid," Onyxvargmon cut in. "If you planned a march and found out just before you started that your path would unquestionably take you off a cliff, are you saying you wouldn't change course? You can't honestly say you would do that. I'd have to think a lot more people would question your leadership if you marched them to their deaths for no reason other than to never admit you were wrong."

"That's...different..." It was a feeble response and even he knew it.

"No, it actually isn't. Blindness does not make a good leader...I don't know who was teaching you but they got a few things wrong. And let me guess, the reason for your antagonism towards humans is because that was how you initially felt, right? We had to be causing trouble because you couldn't afford to look like you were waffling on it? Maybe excusable right off the bat, but you've seen more and you twisted it to fit your view, that's not how a good leader does things. Seriously, it's not good to be changing your mind on any whim that comes your way, but you're supposed to be the one who gets the important information and changes strategy based on that. If you never change your mind when you need to, all you're doing is putting yourself at more risk and making it more likely you'll do the wrong thing."

"Just ask the guys who're under you," Datacarnomon said. "I guarantee they'd want you to change course if you knew something wasn't what you thought it was originally. Trust me, our own leaders have had to change plans countless times, but almost every time it was for the better, and on the rare occasions where it wasn't they had no way of predicting what would happen."

"It...doesn't make sense! Why would they listen to me in the first place if they knew I could just change my mind ten seconds later? I can't afford to have them second-guessing, so I can't afford to be second-guessing! They have to be confident that I know what I'm doing! That's the only way they'll be safe!"

"That only helps if you know what you're doing in the first place-"

"Waitwaitwaitwait, hold on a sec," Isaac said, cutting Datacarnomon off. "What do you mean, 'that's the only way they'll be safe?' Are they in some kind of danger now?"

"It could happen at any moment! From anywhere! I've seen it with my own eyes...hundreds dead, slaughtered without mercy, blood running along the ground...and those we called leaders, completely useless, sending us into the bloodbath or leading us the wrong way out, no one could trust them to do the right thing and it just killed more of us!"

"Oh, dear...the Gradwen incident," muttered Onyxvargmon. "I didn't realize anyone even made it out."

"Very few of us...I swore I wouldn't let it happen! The field of battle is one thing, but they deserve to be safe when they aren't on the attack! To let them be massacred in a place of protection...it's unforgivable!"

Isaac sighed. "Okay...wow. I'm sorry to hear about what happened then...but, man, you're not going about it the right way. If you go about thinking everything is the enemy, then you're never going to have anyone on your side...and then it's possible anything could be out to get you. I mean, think about it, wouldn't you have fewer enemies if you had more allies?" Gaioumon didn't respond, so he pushed further. "You're going to drive yourself crazy with worry if everything is a boogeyman. If there's anyone you don't have to worry about, wouldn't that make you feel a lot better, knowing you could trust them and that they'd have your back if someone tried to do the same thing to you?"

"...I can't...there's no way to trust anyone...how can I be sure..."

"You have to try. Because if you're just afraid of everyone and everything...well, everyone under you will start second-guessing you. They're never going to be sure if there's really something to worry about, or if it's just you being paranoid again. Imagine if they didn't take a threat seriously because they thought you were just seeing ghosts."

Gaioumon's breath caught in his throat as the implications of that hit home. Almost in a daze, he slumped back onto his chair, mumbling to himself. After a minute, he shook his head and pushed the button on the console to retract the bars. "Please...leave this room. I need some time..."

"Of course," Onyxvargmon said quickly. "We shall take our leave."

(==========)

Flamedramon was roused out of his stupor by the sound of something scraping against the lock of the door to his cell. Grumbling, he shifted and stood slowly, expecting that he was about to get thrown another crummy meal of some kind. What he definitely didn't expect was a familiar face appearing from behind the door, wearing almost the same smirk he'd had the last time they'd met.

"All right, I think that's been long enough."

"Gah! Y-you!"

"Easy, there, pal. I'd keep those claws of yours down if you want out of here any time soon."

Flamedramon looked at Isaac, not entirely comprehending. "You...you're releasing me? YOU? But...what?"

"Like I said, you've been down here long enough. I was just screwing with you, I didn't think they'd actually leave you down here. You probably shoulda defended yourself better, though, it's not like I got out because you wanted me to."

"...This has to be a trick. Gaioumon...he'd never..."

"We've had a long chat with Gaioumon. I think we've come to some kind of understanding. He realizes he doesn't have to worry about us now, and I think he feels a lot better with that in mind. And since he's okay with us now, well, no more reason to keep you down here, valid or otherwise." He opened the locks on the manacles, releasing Flamedramon's arms and legs. "There we go. We good now?"

Without warning, a large metal gauntlet walloped Isaac on the side of the face. He staggered backward, holding the side of his face. "Yeowww! Gah...friggin'...ahhhh..."

Flamedramon crossed his arms. "That's for knocking me the hell out. NOW we're good."

"Ngh...take your word for it..."

"Good. I've had more than enough of this damn room, I'm getting out of here. And you, come with, I want you to tell me how the hell you got out in the first place, it's been eating me up for weeks."

"Mph. What the hell, I've already told the story twice today, what's once more?"

(==========)

(==========)

I debated for a while on the direction to take this one. I think I'm satisfied with how it turned out, more so than with the other ideas I had in mind.

And hey, now I have a way of getting everyone back together quickly and efficiently! How about that? The gears are grinding, big things are on their way. I just need to write them. There's always a catch.

And yes, settings and imagery are always a bitch for me. If anyone has any tricks for translating my mental images into good, expressive language, please let me know. That's one area of my writing that could really stand to be enhanced.


	50. Chapter 49: Unity

Agh, how did this one get this long? I swear, sometimes I really underestimate what I'm going to be able to put out. Warning, the proofing on this one was a bit sparse, hopefully I didn't miss any glaring errors. Enjoy!

EDIT (8/14): Back from vacation, and re-uploaded the chapter with some errors fixed. Thanks to the anonymous reviewer who pointed some of them out to me!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 49: Unity**

By the time the trio of pairs had left the abandoned base of their enemies, the sun was casting long shadows on its slow decline over the horizon. It was just enough of a presence in the direction they were going to be a nuisance, catching them on the corners of their eyes and forcing them to avert their gazes ever so slightly.

After their hours of exploration, they were once again on their way to their known destination. And as such, conversation had once again turned to their unknown destinations. At least, it had between two of them.

"I still think it's better that we go where we know they've been."

"We've been over this a hundred times, that's the LEAST likely place for them to be. As long as it's been, if they haven't found Catalysts by now-"

"I know that, Sal, you've said it a bunch of times. But they have to have talked to someone, and at least we can get an idea of where they might have gone."

"Which would also have been days ago, and probably wouldn't be accurate anymore, even if it was at one point."

"So we keep asking at each destination. Someone's gotta have recognized them."

"If that's your angle, we're better off heading for Ramaiya. At least that gets us past the first few steps of the wild goose chase. We'd only be one or two days off."

"If we find anything at all! Ramaiya isn't going to have anything on them unless they were really prominent. I doubt they've reported much of anything we've been involved in, the tournament was an exception because it was already getting huge coverage."

"We can still look for patterns, though. I mean, if they've been as busy as us, there's gotta be reports of something going on."

"That's pretty sketchy, Sal." Shockavimon looked around at the others impatiently. "And any of you can join in at any time, really, we don't mind."

"Why? You're doing such a good job on your own," Breezedramon cracked.

"What do you want us to say?" Skylar asked. "We don't know this world even a fraction as much as you do. I would recommend going with Shockavimon's idea just because it's someplace we can find. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."

"Because we've been so lucky these last few days," Reyn replied with an eye roll.

"You and Salmandmon are such pessimists."

"I prefer 'realists,'" Salmandmon said indignantly.

"Well, I prefer pessimists, so that's what you're getting."

"Hmph. Well, if you're going that route, this Ramaiya place is as good as anything. Honestly, the only difference between the two ideas is how we have to get lucky."

"We're also likely to be safer that way," Iris pointed out. "If we have to do less traveling around, we're less likely to run into anything that wants to kill us or get caught up in another crisis situation."

"Way to back me up, Iris," Shockavimon huffed.

"Sorry, Shockavimon, but you have to admit that's true."

"...Yeah, I guess. I just think it's not gonna work out as we hoped, either."

"Hey, I got an idea!" Breezedramon suddenly piped up. "Why don't we check out Libertius' base? Maybe one of them got over there for some reason, maybe they thought we might end up heading there anyway!"

"Hey, you know, that's actually a good suggestion from you," Shockavimon remarked. "Even if we don't find anything there, we can get some help looking for them, and still head back out on our own if need be."

Salmandmon shook his head. "Eh, not like they'll have a lot of help to offer, y'know, on account of their being wiped out and all. I guess maybe just looking might be-"

Shockavimon and Breezedramon whipped around in front of Salmandmon in unison. "THEY WHAT?"

Salmandmon looked at them both in confusion. "They what what?"

"Libertius was wiped out?" Shockavimon squawked. "Since freaking when?"

"What, you didn't..." Salmandmon's eyes went wide as it hit him. "Goddamn...don't tell me I forgot to tell everyone..."

"You know this for how long and you didn't tell us?" Breezedramon shouted angrily. "When did you find out?"

"Guys, guys, easy!" Reyn had to fairly shout himself to get their attention. "Commandramon told us about it, it was when everything was going nuts with the military and that big invasion. With everything that happened, it just wasn't on our radar."

"So you knew about this too?" Skylar snapped. "Gah, so typical of you."

"I'm so seriously sorry," Salmandmon said wearily, hand on his head. "I never meant to keep it from you...I just kinda forgot that I didn't tell you about it. Maybe if we hadn't been separated..."

Shockavimon wasn't satisfied. "I can't believe you would forget that! That's a huge event, it changes a lot over here! Now we don't have the kind of back-up we'd need for an attack on Emperius even if we did figure out where they went!"

"We'd have found that out anyway at some point, wouldn't we?" Iris asked.

"Well, yeah, but still! It's not like him to forget that kind of stuff!"

"Yeah, well, unfortunately, it _is_ like Reyn," Skylar sighed.

"You're saying this is another one of those things that's because of the merging, right?" Breezedramon asked.

"I'm saying it wouldn't exactly surprise me. On the plus side, it probably means Reyn will be somewhat better about it than before. Though _clearly_ not in this particular case..."

"You're always on my case about that," Reyn complained.

"Well, maybe if you didn't do it so much, I wouldn't always be on your case about it, hm? I tell you, I certainly hope you're going to get better about it."

Salmandmon huffed. "At my expense, of course."

"Sorry, bud, it's not like I had control over it," Reyn sighed drearily.

"Yeah, I know. Damn, and I was all happy not that long ago about not forgetting stuff like that. Guess that's what I get for daring the universe."

"Well, now that we know that, what do we do?" Shockavimon asked pointedly. "We can't just mount an attack on Emperius with just the five of us, that would be suicide. Not to mention not even knowing where they are or what kind of new defenses they have."

"We might be able to figure something out from these schematics if we can get together with Isaac," Reyn said. "That could at least give us something to go on, if not much."

"It wouldn't be much, that's only one page out of what had to be several," Skylar said.

"Right, but limited information is better than none. And it might tell us what we have to do to make an assault on the thing."

"Reaching a bit, are we?"

"Hey, you wanted optimism. I'm doing the best I can."

"Needs some more work, then. But you are right, if we can get anything it's better than going in blindly."

"Uh, guys?" Breezedramon said nervously, causing all attention to instantly be directed towards him. He was looking up in the sky, eyes fixated on some kind of machine flying towards their general area. "I dunno what that is, but it might be coming at us..."

"What in the world is it?" Skylar asked, squinting at it to get a better look. "Not like anything I've ever seen before..."

"It doesn't look like any robot digimon I've seen," Salmandmon mumbled, unconsciously taking a defensive stance. "It could be...I remember Data telling me about some kinds of unmanned assault drones...stay sharp, everyone."

The machine soon flitted down towards them, hovering in front as they all waited in trepidation. However, it didn't present any obvious threat; instead, a screen opened up on the front and came to life, showing only static for a few seconds before an image of a familiar face came up.

"Data!" Salmandmon exclaimed.

Datacarnomon grinned. "Hey, guys, long time no see."

"No kidding! Way too long, if you ask me! Where the heck have you guys been?"

"Lots of places. It's been pretty busy for us over here. Not so easy to take on all these challenges with just two out of five, you know?"

"Derek's with you guys?" Iris half-shouted.

"Oh, hey, is that Iris? You wouldn't happen to also have an über-nerd and a goofball dragon over there, would you?"

"Hey! When did I become über-nerd?" Skylar said indignantly.

"When you were born, buddy," Reyn cracked.

"Excellent! I think that might be all of us! Listen, if you guys are near a transfer point, make a jump over to the Libertius base! We'll be there to meet you!"

"We were just heading for one, we're not too far away! We'll be right there!"

"Great! Look forward to finally seeing you guys in person!"

(==========)

"Wow, this place is creepy-quiet without anyone around," Breezedramon said uncertainly as they walked through the main doors of the central building. "We need some guys to make it more welcoming."

"At least we were ready for it...if only just," Shockavimon said, causing Salmandmon to step away from her nervously.

"Hey! About time you guys got there!" Datacarnomon ran up to them, grinning as widely as his metal face would allow. "Man, it's been way too long! Glad to see you're all in one piece!"

"Same to you," Reyn said. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're grabbing some chow quick, we'll catch up to them in a conference room. It's been kind of a busy day for us."

"Productive, too, apparently," said Skylar. "What was that thing you found us with?"

"Locator drone! Some guys at a mercenary outpost we were, ah, 'visiting' had come up with it. Works like a charm, too, it uses remote DNA detection to find someone and communicate with them!"

"Whoa, cool!" Shockavimon exclaimed.

Iris shook her head and giggled. "Remote DNA detection...you know, what you guys need is a good cell phone company. It's a lot less work."

"Yeah? You tell me where we'd carry 'em," Breezedramon countered with a cheeky grin.

"Don't you need a sample for remote DNA detection, though?" Salmandmon asked. "None of us were around to contribute."

"Well, yeah, but it's not like they rented out our rooms when we left Libertius. There wasn't anyone there to do that anyway, did you know something happened to them while we were gone?"

"We do now," Shockavimon and Breezedramon said in unison, glaring at Salmandmon who suddenly looked very much like he'd rather be elsewhere.

"Uh...I'll ask later. Anyway, yeah, our rooms, they'd been somewhat cleaned since we left, but I'm a thorough guy. I managed to find some of Salmandmon's-" Datacarnomon coughed slightly, "-_scales_ and got the necessary information from them fed into the drone. You were there for the rest."

Reyn's eyes darted between Datacarnomon and Salmandmon, who was desperately avoiding the former's gaze. "...Scales?"

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

"Right...well, I guess since we're here, we ought not to keep the others waiting. We've got to get down to business, anyway. We got a lead on something pretty serious...this is a story you'll all be interested in."

Datacarnomon nodded. "Sounds intriguing...well, let's head on over, then!"

(==========)

Getting down to business proved a more daunting task than anticipated, as the reunion predictably turned into a story-telling session almost immediately, each regaling the other with stories of what they had missed during their separation, not yet willing to give up the relief and excitement of finally knowing that everyone had survived their respective ordeals. It was well into the evening before attention turned from the past to the present and future.

"So Emperius left their old home behind...we have any idea where they might have gone?" asked Derek.

"Not a one," Iris said with a shake of her head. "Given how hard they were apparently to find in the first place, we might have a long road ahead of us."

"Especially if they've got more tricks up their sleeve that we haven't foreseen," Shockavimon added. "After what we saw there, I'm not putting anything past them."

"We've got something here, it's not a location but it looks like some kind of schematics," Reyn said, unfurling the paper he'd taken from the Emperius stronghold. "It might give us some kind of clue. Isaac, you wouldn't mind taking a look at these, seeing what you can get out of them?"

"Sure can. Give me a bit."

"Why would they leave, though?" asked Datacarnomon. "I mean, clearly they hadn't been discovered, I don't get why they'd just pack up and move out."

"The question requires little rumination," Blackcanismon stated. "Despite Libertius' fall, there had been established a spectre of hostility towards their organization within this region. Transference to a novel locale would permit an expansion of their personnel, and thereby increase their combat capabilities."

"Yeah, but why move out of their base completely? It'd make more sense to send out a group to try to recruit, not to ship out everyone and everything."

"Hm, a compelling argument. Perhaps something regarding their previous residence was unsuitable for their purposes."

"Or they just wanted a big upgrade of some kind," chimed in Iris. "They're obsessed with all things powerful, maybe they felt they couldn't improve their base any more and they needed to rebuild entirely to get stronger."

"The title of that page was 'Gargantua Weapon,'" Reyn pointed out. "If it's some kind of weapon, maybe it was too big to build on their base. Or too dangerous."

"Or...maybe there's another reason," Skylar mumbled slowly. "Remember that note Breezedramon and I found? It mentioned something about moving to something that was 'GW'. We thought it was some kind of reference to our world, but it just occurred to me, 'GW' could also mean 'Gargantua Weapon.' Maybe that's where they went, to whatever that is."

"He could be right," Isaac said seriously. "I can't get much from this...it's too incomplete, there's probably a lot more pages to this thing...but what I can get tells me a few things, not the least of which is that, well, it's absolutely gigantic. Too big for just using to shoot stuff, that's for sure. And from a few of the notes here, some of the aspects mentioned...if I had to wager, I'd put my money on this being a mobile military base."

"Oh, that sounds lovely," Salmandmon sighed. "How big are we talking?"

"Well, I've only got the dimensions for one face, but if that's representative of the entire thing, and I suspect it would be, we're looking at something about...500 feet tall and 1200 feet in the other two dimensions."

"What?" several voices shouted in unison.

"We're supposed to go up against that kind of monster?" Breezedramon cried out, aghast. "There's no way! Even all of us together wouldn't have even the slightest shot!"

"I wouldn't even bet on the Pomezly Cannon for something that size," Derek mumbled, shaking his head. "And it's probably a lot better armored than anything else we've seen as well. This is gonna be the tallest order by far."

"It's huge, but still, it can't be big enough to house all the really massive digimon we've fought against," Iris pointed out. "If they moved in there, where do all of those ones go? They can't have just left them behind, they've gotta be planning on setting them on us at some point."

"Spatial compression tanks, most likely," Datacarnomon explained. "Can compact a big digimon into a system the size of a carrying case. I've heard it's a fairly unpleasant experience, but completely failsafe. Guys who pride themselves on their strength probably wouldn't whine about it too much."

"So at any point they could throw out an oversized Poké Ball and unleash some 300-foot monstrosity on us, huh?"

"Uh...sure, I guess. Not quite sure what a pokey-ball is, but I'm gonna guess you know what you're talking about."

"Man, this is crazy...how could it be built without anyone noticing?" Salmandmon asked. "There's no way you can just pass by something that big!"

"You could if it was using another Illusion Generator," countered Shockavimon. "If they could build one big enough for their base, they can build one big enough for that thing. Maybe with enough power that they wouldn't need support rings. We could go for months without ever seeing it."

"Unless it moved," Datacarnomon jumped in. "Something that big probably wouldn't need stealth anyway, but if they were hoping to get away unseen, that's not gonna happen with an Illusion Generator."

"Huh? But what about the ramacadimalation monombulatation thing?"

"The what?"

Breezedramon sighed. "Sorry...let's see if I can do this...the ra-di-cal-i-za-tion mod-u-la-tion. Y'know, the system that makes it possible to do dynamic illusions, at least kinda. It needs like four times the energy or something, but it's possible."

Datacarnomon stared at the blue dragon. "...Where the hell did you hear about that?"

"I don't really remember, it was a while back. You've never heard of it? I thought you were the big in-the-loop tech guy!"

"No, never! Damnation...if they can make a dynamic illusion, they could be impossible to spot anywhere while they're on the move!"

"Well, not totally! I mean, it's supposedly not really perfect, you'd see like waves and stuff in the air while the image changes to match everything around it. And it'd still cast a shadow, too! So it's not like it's all bad news, just mostly bad, I guess."

"I'm more worried about how they're powering this thing," Shoackavimon said grimly. "An Illusion Generator that big, with this radicalization modulation thing needing that much more power, that would suck up a ton of energy. Conventional generators couldn't do it."

"You're thinking a quantum generator?" Salmandmon asked.

"Exactly. Something like that would be able to keep that up pretty effortlessly."

"Quantum generator?" asked Skylar.

"It's a type of generator that works at a very fundamental level. It's not very useful for most purposes because once you start the chain reaction that produces the energy you can't stop it or even really dampen it. You have to be taking energy out constantly or it'll overload and explode, and when they go up they _go up_."

"It's an inherently unstable system, capable of incredible output but also exceptionally fragile," added Datacarnomon. "If you're using such massive amounts of energy that you can keep removing it from the system at a fast enough pace to keep it from overloading, it's an amazing and virtually limitless energy source. But we've never been able to scale it down to the point where it would be convenient for any kind of general use...if it gets too small the reaction peters out before it can reach equilibrium. We really haven't been able to find any point where it could be sustained without the risk of going critical unless energy is constantly siphoned away at an alarming rate."

"So if Emperius is using this system and pulling out enough energy, they could conceivably sustain themselves indefinitely?" Reyn surmised.

"Yeah, but it gets worse. Since it's such an unstable system, it would be easy to make it go critical even while energy is being sucked away. If things get bad for Emperius, they could just decide to kamikaze their Garganuta Weapon. Even if it's on the small end, it could still send a fatal shockwave over close to a third of Northern Tetraquaz."

"God almighty. So they've made something that's the size of a city block's worth of skyscrapers, likely packed with weapons and ridiculously heavily armored, capable of moving around at their whim and nearly unnoticed, and which they could use as a weapon of mass destruction if things go bad for them. Our worst nightmare, in other words...and I shudder to think of what kind of damage this thing could do in our world, which would be even less capable of handling it...and something tells me they're going to try to get it over there at some point."

"So we can't let that happen, obviously," said Isaac.

"Oh, yeah, brilliant insight," Skylar snapped. "Got any more flashes there, Einstein?"

"Hey, what the hell? I'm just trying to contribute here!"

"That's your idea of contributing? Stating the obvious uselessly?"

"Oh, yeah, you know, I really missed this while we were all split apart," Derek cut in before Isaac could respond. "Maybe you two just cool it a bit? Clearly this thing is a problem, and somehow we're going to have to deal with it, but maybe first we should focus on even finding it in the first place."

"That and gathering information," Reyn agreed. "We only know a little bit about it, and there's no way we can just jump in blindly. We need to learn as much as we can about this Gargantua Weapon, and as soon as possible. I doubt they're planning to try to use it on our world right away, but they sure as heck aren't going to wait around on this one, so we need to take action before someone gets hurt or they stick their noses in somewhere and double their forces. And right now, I'm too beat to try to come up with any ideas."

"I think we all could do with some sleep," agreed Shockavimon. "Maybe one of us'll be able to dream up a solution."

"Quite an unpalatable quandary we find ourselves mired in," Blackcanismon sighed. "I must profess an admission of reluctance towards engagement of such an imposing fortress."

Reyn nodded tiredly. "So say we all."

(==========)

It was an early morning for them all, and it showed in some more than others. Reyn in particular seemed to be out of it, noticeably losing focus every now and then but refusing to broach any discussion about it. "Okay, guys...ideas. Someone's gotta have something."

"Maybe we could try doing a simple scan?" suggested Shockavimon. "We've got contact with the satellite system, maybe we'll get lucky."

"Tried it already," Datacarnomon said with a shake of his head. "Nada. They've probably got signal jammers anyway, I would if I were them."

"Jammers can be defeated, though."

"Sure, if you know what kind of jammer you're up against. But we're not exactly privy to that information."

"Drat, you're right. Well, I'm tapped."

"This sucks," Breezedramon complained. "I'm used to just seeing what I wanna see by flying over it. I don't like knowing that even that doesn't work anymore."

"I think what's throwing us off is that we don't know what we're up against," Iris sighed. "We're not even really sure what the thing looks like, much less what it's capable of...if we could see it, that would give us a better idea. Kind of a catch-22."

"So what we have to do is find a way to see it," Isaac said. "Basically what we need is some kind of visual scanner that isn't fooled by Illusion Generators, something that gives us a clear picture of what it is, not just a blob on a radar screen. I bet I could construct something like that and hook it up to Libertius' computer system, it'd tell us exactly what we need to know. Genius, huh?"

"Idiocy is more like it," Skylar hissed. "So we're supposed to think you're just going to conjure something like that out of thin air?"

"Well, I have before. Merged with Data, anyway. Things operate differently enough here that I don't know if I could pull off the same trick, but they're more than advanced enough over here that I think I could build one from scratch anyway."

"You have got to be kidding me. You realize we want to catch up to Emperius sometime this year, right? We don't have time to waste on you playing with your little machines."

"Excuse me? I've gotten pretty damn good at this kind of stuff and you know it! Besides, I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"

"Visual search would be more effective. At least it would be doing something now, rather than waiting for who knows how long while you build something you don't even know will work!"

"What makes you think it'll take that long at all? I can get help from Mechalopolis to get all the parts and even construct it!"

"Oh,you just keep pretending it's that simple! I've heard this song before, you build something and expect it to work first time, and then you seem all shocked when there's a thousand bugs and it doesn't even do what you want! It's never going to be as simple as you say it is, I don't care how brilliant you think you are!"

"At least I'm trying! You think it's a better idea to just flop around aimlessly trying to get lucky by running into the thing?"

"It doesn't even have to be that comlicated! We could let Emperius lead us to it themselves! That'd take a lot less time!"

"Oh, yeah, let's just rely on our enemies to do the world for us! They're just gonna be so helpful! It's not like they're trying to kill us or anything-"

"Enough!" Both boys jumped at Reyn's uncharacteristically angry tone. "That's it! I'm sick of you two going at it all the time! This isn't helping anything and it's just driving the rest of us crazy! You need to end it, now!"

Neither Isaac nor Skylar looked particularly eager to back down, but after a few tense moments turned away from each other and relaxed a bit.

"Fine."

"Very well."

"That's not good enough." Reyn met their renewed surprise with an even more vicious glower. "When I said end it, I _meant_ end it. Not just put a lid on it so it can boil over later. Go, get out, talk it out and bury the hatchet so we don't have to deal with it again. You've both spent enough time acting like idiots over it."

"Are you...are you serious?" Skylar asked.

"Do I sound like I'm making a joke? Get moving. And make it snappy, so we can get back to doing something productive. Otherwise I'm gonna finish it myself, and you do _not_ want me to do that!"

Still not entirely certain of what was happening, the two boys exchanged looks and then left the room, their partners following behind. Breathing out heavily, Reyn sat down on a chair, not oblivious to the surprised stares of the remaining individuals in the room.

"Reyn? Are you okay?" Iris asked tentatively.

"...I'm fine. Just a little exhausted, is all. It's not just them...I just figure anything to settle things down at this point will help."

"Okay...but you really seem out of it. Do you want to get some sleep or something?"

"Not sure that would do much good, given how poorly I've been sleeping."

Derek and Iris exchanged concerned looks. "Reyn, buddy, things don't sound so good with you. You want to talk it out a bit?"

Abruptly, Reyn stood up. "Yeah, actually...but with Salmandmon. Sorry, don't take it personally, it's kind of something that has to do with him."

"It is?" Salmandmon asked, confused. "Uh...okay, I guess. You want to take a walk?"

"Mm-hm. I'll be back in a while. If Skylar and Isaac ask, tell them I needed to let off some steam." Reyn slowly walked out of the room, Salmandmon flanking him, and went off in the opposite direction from where Skylar and Isaac had gone. This left Derek, Iris, Blackcanismon, and Shockavimon on their own.

"I don't like to say this doesn't bode well, but..."

"I think it'll be all right," Shockavimon said. "Things don't always go smoothly even in the best of times. Sometimes you just have to stop what you're doing and think about something else for a while."

"Indeed. I recommend we utilize this opportunity for distraction ourselves, so we can replenish our focus."

Iris nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

(==========)

Skylar, Isaac, Datacarnomon, and Breezedramon were all quiet as they made their way away from the building. With everything weighing on their minds, no one seemed ready to break the silence and bring it out into the open. Finally, after several minutes of going basically nowhere, Skylar sighed and broke the silence. "All right, we gotta do something, Reyn's gonna want to see some results and the way he's been lately I'm not sure I want to give him nothing. We might as well try to get this over with and-"

"I'm sorry."

Skylar stopped dead and did an instant 180. Isaac's gaze was averted, and he certainly looked contrite. "Wha?"

"I'm sorry, okay? That I almost blinded you."

"Wait, what?" Datacarnomon said, looking between the two with bewilderment. "Blinded? Of all the things I thought this could be about, that didn't even register!"

"Wait, what did you think it was about?" Breezedramon asked.

"Well, I didn't know for sure, obviously, but usually when two guys are this nasty towards each other it's over a girl. That's what my first thought was-" he was cut off by Isaac suddenly bursting into laughter, and cast a glare over to his partner. "What the hell? Are you seriously gonna stand there and tell me that's crazy?"

"Oh, Data, you've got a lot to learn about our world yet," Isaac managed to get out after calming himself. "Trust me, we only WISH we had a girl chasing after us that we could fight over. Whatever other popularity we may have, brainiacs don't exactly inspire the hots in junior high."

"Unfortunately, I have to back him up on that," Skylar sighed. "Our prospects are less grim later in life, but not right now. No, this was something completely different."

"I'll say! I've heard love is blind, but I don't think they're talking actual blindness! How the hell did that ever come about?"

"Well, I guess I should say that we're not talking like completely blind, just in one eye. It was something that happened while we were working on a schol project. I remember it pretty well...well, up to a point, anyway..."

_-18 months ago-_

"_Dammit, Isaac, pay attention! You're doing things out of order!"_

"_I'm just trying to get a head start! Quit whining about it and just deal with the titration!"_

_It was one of those days where just nothing goes right, the kind of day where you know early on that you should've just stayed in bed, to hell with the consequences. Already that day I had jammed a finger in my locker trying to close it, spilled a can of soda on my English textbook, and been the mistaken target of a water balloon assault prank that was meant for a particularly unpopular teacher. Science class was usually one that was a breath fo fresh air, but not this time._

_It was a group project, which always had me a little on edge at that time, not because I had trouble with them but because it meant a risk of ending up with Isaac. We never matched up well; I hated his attitude, he hated mine. Obviously we avoided doing projects together. Of course, Reyn, our mutual friend, had to endure plenty of our inability to get along with each other. Usually it was one of us working with him, the other working with someone else. I tended to be the latter because people could stand working with me more than Isaac._

_This time, though, it was groups of three, and often in those cases it would be all of us together. Reyn tended to be the voice of reason; while Isaac and I weren't any more fond of each other, he kept the peace between us and kept things running smoothly. But that day, which had already had plenty of marks against it, had more in store: Reyn was out of school at a doctor's appointment, and it was just Isaac and I trying to build off of the previous day's work. The process was clearly demonstrating to everyone in the room why we avoided each other despite being two of the most capable in the classroom._

_It was pretty standard lab science stuff, dilution and titration and all that fun stuff that either mixes or separates materials. Not many people really enjoy it, and it's pretty far from my favorite branch of science, and Isaac's as well, so that didn't help matters any. We both wanted to just get through it as soon as possible, but his idea of getting through it as soon as possible was working three steps ahead of where we actually were. I was against breaking order - we didn't know how long the steps would take exactly, and if we ended up having to shut it down and wait until the next day we could easily forget where we were and what we had done._

_Yeah, it wasn't a good situation for either of us._

"_You've got the wrong bottle, idiot! That hasn't been mixed yet!"_

"_You were supposed to do that already! We're supposed to mix them all at once!"_

"_We're not supposed to mix until we identify them! Which you haven't been doing!"_

"_I'm setting up the separation step! It takes a lot of time, you know that!"_

"_We can't separate until we mix! Honestly, what are you thinking? We're gonna have to do this all over again if you don't get with the program!"_

_He gave me this look that plainly said he was tired of hearing me talk, but this time he actually listened to me and grabbed one of the bottles. He went to work trying to figure out what was in it, finally giving me some peace. But that wasn't even close to the end of it._

"_You spent ten minutes on that last bottle! I'm doing this one!"_

"_It's called being careful, numbnuts! We can't just have you do it five times until you get it right because you can't be bothered to slow down and do it right!"_

"_I want to get this done today! I'll do it right, and I'll do it faster than you will!"_

"_Get over yourself. You're the one who's always keeping people waiting, you've got no business whining about that! I'm doing this."_

_I went for the bottle, and so did he. And, of course, him being bigger, he tried to push me out of the way to get it. All the lab tables were raised up, and we were sitting on stools in order to be at the right height. When he pushed, my stool got tipped, and if you're sitting on one of those and you aren't holding yourself back, they don't like to stay upright. I kind of panicked at the moment because I wasn't used to it, and I didn't think to grab onto the side of the lab table. So I started turning to try to brace my fall._

_Of course, it had already been a bad day, and my fortune was not about to get better. I smacked the left side of my face on the table corner as I went down, slamming with pretty much full force right on my eye. I don't even really remember actually hitting the floor of the classroom, because that hit was so painful that it pretty much took up all my attention. I didn't really start remembering anything else until hours later at the hospital._

_-Present Day-_

"Ouch..." Datacarnomon winced at the mental image. "Yeah, I can imagine that would be pretty nasty."

Skylar nodded. "I was pretty lucky to just escape with temporary damage. I had a fracture in my eye socket and there was some damage to the eye itself, but thankfully it didn't cost me my vision for more than a couple weeks while I had to wear a patch. But as you can imagine, I was pretty pissed off, and it only got worse, because Isaac refused to even apologize for it."

Both Datacarnomon and Breezedramon gave Isaac looks. "...Really?"

"Oh, sure, just hear one side," Isaac huffed. "Look, I didn't apologize because I was pissed off at you because you made it sound like I did it intentionally, out of the blue, for no reason at all. It's like you didn't even acknowledge that we'd been arguing, like I had just attacked you or something."

"Oh, come on. You can't be serious."

"If you didn't say that, then how come that's what Reyn told me you told him? He was trying to run me through the ringer because he thought I'd attacked you just for the hell of it!"

"...What?"

"That's what he said! And like I told him, I wasn't going to apologize for something I didn't do! I sure as hell wasn't going to say I was trying to bump you off!"

"That can't be what I said to him. Are you sure it wasn't Reyn being Reyn and forgetting some crucial detail?"

"Would you forget if your friend told you something like that? Look, that's why I didn't say anything, I thought you were trying to put it all on me, rather than making it just an accident. But Reyn's right, this has been going on for too long, and I know it's because I've been refusing to express any regret. So...I'm sorry. It was an accident, I wasn't trying to cause any trouble, but it was my fault, and I'm sorry for what happened."

Skylar closed his eyes and nodded. "Thank you for saying that...and I'm sorry if I misrepresented what happened. That wasn't my intention...I may have misspoken, I don't really remember exactly what I said to Reyn. But that wasn't what I was trying to accuse you of."

All was quiet for a moment, before Isaac spoke again. "Are we cool, then?"

Skylar nodded slowly. "I guess so. At least we can stop letting that bother us. Now we just have to work on getting you to be on time for a change."

Isaac scoffed. "So much for cool..."

"Hey, you have to admit, that's kind of a problem. I'm not the only one who gets tired of it, you know that."

"I gotta agree," Datacarnomon jumped in. "You're makin' me fall behind, that's definitely not good."

Isaac sighed. "All right, all right, I get it. I'll work on something that'll help me stay on time. It might be easier now that I have a better internal clock."

"I'm sure you can think of something," Skylar said. "After all, you are a smart guy, you've backed that up enough times. I supposed if you're going to flaunt it it's best to have that going for you."

"Yeah. I guess I don't want to be holding anyone back because of it. I'll make sure I fix that."

The change in attitude caught Skylar somewhat off-guard, but he decided not to bring it to attention. "That's good to hear...anyway, I think we should probably be getting back. Reyn's probably waiting on us, and we do have to get going. Erm...I was thinking, that scanner idea...well, I'm not backing off on what I said, building something from scratch like that is just asking for trouble. You're the machine guy, you know that usually it doesn't work right off."

Isaac nodded. "Yeah...I mean, I think I could get it working eventually, but I guess I have to concede that I'd be working with something I've never worked with before...I have no idea what kind of problems I might run into, so it might not be as easy as I'd like to imagine."

"Well, maybe it doesn't have to be done from scratch. I've heard several mentions of a satellite system, is there anything we can do with that? Any way to take advantage of that existing functionality?"

"Hey, yeah...Mechalopolis designed the satellites to be pretty multi-purpose, maybe we can ask them if we can pick up on some different kind of signal. They probably won't be able to just look at it, but if we even get a location we can scout it out better, something has to exist that isn't foiled by an Illusion Generator..."

The two continued talking and plotting as they started back towards the meeting room. Datacarnomon and Breezedramon followed behind at a distance. "Well, they certainly do seem to be on better terms now...I guess sometimes you really do just need to talk it out," Datacarnomon observed.

"Yeah! It's always good to just be happy with each other! All those stupid misandermontanderstings just get in the way!"

"...Eh...Breezedramon, don't take this the wrong way, but I think in your case 'talk it out' is just going to cause more problems than it solves."

"Hey! People still understand me! Usually!"

"That usually is the problem, bucko. But it's all right, I'll try to translate for you if it becomes necessary. I have to do enough of it already with Blackcanismon."

"Yeah, no one can understand him. Maybe that's why he talks that way, though. If everything you say is a miministeratanding, no one gets angry when they don't understand."

"Hm..." Datacarnomon thought on that a moment. "You know, sometimes I'm pretty glad you have a loopy way of thinking. You hit on things that don't come easy to a mind like mine."

Breezedramon chuckled. "Glad to help! I owe it to you, anyway!"

"Hm? Whaddaya mean?"

"You know, back when we met each other before Libertius! You were a big help to me, really made me feel better when I was down! I didn't do a very good job of helping then so I'm glad I can make it up now!"

"Wha...you serious? What you said was a huge help! I thought I was the one who fell down on the job, I didn't really know what to say and I thought I'd been pretty useless."

"Wow...guess maybe we helped each other more than we thought?"

"I guess so. But I'm glad we did...what say we keep it up, huh?"

"Yeah! That sounds great!"

(==========)

The weather outside was quite warm under the cloudless midday sky, not that that was much of a concern for Reyn and Salmandmon. They didn't go far, just walking along the grounds, avoiding anyone else for the time being. Finally, rather abruptly, Reyn stopped and sat down against the wall of a building, letting out a deep breath as he did so.

Salmandmon took this as a cue to start talking. "...So, you think Skylar and Isaac are gonna deal with whatever's bugging them?"

"They'd better. They're two of my best friends...it's been so tiring listening to them argue and bicker for so long. If they could get along, I wouldn't feel so much pressure to pick a side every time something came up."

"It can't just be that easy, though."

"Maybe, maybe not. I know what's sticking between them...if they can just deal with that, it'll probably make it easier on both of them. And the rest of us."

"I hope so. Then there's you. What's been up with you lately? You really haven't seemed like yourself."

"...Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you."

"Well, you're not going about it the right way. I wish you'd have told me you were still having trouble sleeping."

"Yeah, I should have. It's just...there's been something really eating at me lately. And I just, well, I didn't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Uh...there's a bunch of reasons. I'd rather not get into them...I just want to get this over with."

"Whatever it is, it's really eating at you. Don't worry, you can tell me. I'll try to help with anything."

Reyn took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's...about the merging. I'm...well, there's something I'm kind of...scared of."

Salmandmon raised one of his eye ridges. "Scared? Of merging?"

"Y...well...it's...complicated."

"You aren't...scared of me, are you?"

"No, that's not it. Not even close. It's more Burnreptimon...well, even that's not quite the whole story. It's more about what's going to happen when we reach that last stage. I can feel it...I know that it's in there, at some point it's going to want to come out, I don't know when or how but I know it's going to happen. I think you know what I'm talking about."

"Well, we haven't even gotten there. Heck, who knows when we will."

"If it didn't happen before we defeated Emperius I'd be shocked. That's how it always seems to go. It would be an asset, no doubt..."

"And that bothers you?"

"Ugh...sorry, I'm doing a really bad job of trying to get my point across. Let me try it this way. You know how when we merge, it's like parts of our minds merge together, too, right? And each level higher, it gets more complete...so when we're Pyrekomodomon, I barely have any personal awareness at all. It's gonna be total when we hit that last stage, isn't it?"

"Uh...jeez. I would imagine so? Not really an expert on this stuff. That's what the pattern would indicate, I guess. So what?"

"...What if we can't go back?"

Whatever Salmandmon had been bracing himself for, it wasn't that. "...Huh?"

"What happens if it becomes permanent? What if we're never able to return to our original forms? What happens if I'm...gone? For good?"

"Uh...sorry, I'm really not sure I follow here."

"I'm scared of losing myself, okay?" Reyn half-shouted, his frustration and anxiety hitting a peak. "I just...I don't want to be gone! I don't want everything that's me to just...you know, disappear, be absorbed into something else, anything like that! I don't want...I don't want my identity to be taken from me!"

Salmandmon just stared, still not quite comprehending. "And you're scared that us fusing together will...take you away from yourself? I don't really get that."

Reyn turned and gave Salmandmon a desperate look. "You've never thought about what might happen if we combine the whole way?"

"Well, not never, but...I haven't ever expected something like that to happen."

"But if we go the whole way...there's nothing there to remind that fused person that he's two separate people. What if he forgets? I'll be gone...you'll be gone...there won't be any trace of us left, our individual selves will just...disappear...I mean, I already feel like I'm losing a little part of myself...not that there weren't bad parts, but still..."

"You mean with the whole personality shift thing?"

"Yeah. I know it's not a lot, just a few things, but it's already kind of frightening. The thought that it could be a whole lot more..."

_Man, that just sounds paranoid...but I can't say that, I don't want him to think I don't care. There's gotta be something I can do..._ "It won't happen, Reyn. I promise it won't."

"But that's just it. I know you wouldn't want it, either, but you can't hold our merged mind to that. It's not going to remember."

"Sure it will. I mean, come on, Reyn, don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do! It's not about you, it's about-"

"It is about me, though. We're in this together...if you're not comfortable, it's as much my problem as yours. If you're this frightened, it might keep you from acting when we really need it...and that means I can't very well do much, either." Salmandmon walked over and put a hand on Reyn's shoulder, then looked him square in the eye. "So tell me...do you really, truly trust me?"

Reyn took a deep breath. "Yes, I do, definitely."

"Good. I trust you, too. Now you gotta keep in mind, our merged form, it's still just us. It may be different from us...it certainly acts like it, to hear the others tell it. But in the end, it's still us. And every form we've taken, that merged mind is still well aware of that. You have to trust him, and to do that you have to trust me...and trust yourself. That we all won't forget. And not to be insensitive, but if you can't do that, you'd better figure out how to fast, because we really can't afford for you to have an existential crisis right now."

Reyn nodded. "Yeah...I know. I'm sorry about this...I've been trying to ignore it, but it just doesn't go away."

"Hey, we can't control what freaks us out. All we can do is try to keep it in check. I hope this helps."

"A bit. Maybe I'll be able to put it out of my mind a little better."

(==========)

In contrast to the others, Derek, Iris, Shockavimon, and Blackcanismon stayed inside the building. After a few minutes of fairly aimless meandering, they found themselves in a recreational room, stocked with comfortable seats and various forms of entertainment. Derek was quick to sink onto one of the sofa seats, exhaling deeply as he went slack. "Ah...man, I wil be glad when all this is over. It'll be nice getting back to a _normal_ sleep schedule."

"You mean abnormal?" Iris laughed as she sat down next to him.

"Call it what you want, it's normal for me."

"You don't have to force yourself on our account. I think we'd all be fine if you went back to your usual schedule."

"Nah, that'd be way too inconvenient for you guys at a time like this. Since I'm the one out of sync with everyone else, it only makes sense that I be awake when everyone else usually is."

"That's considerate of you. Just don't get to the point where you're having trouble sleeping at all, like Reyn."

"Ah, you don't have to worry about me."

"I know that, but I still do. I worry about everyone, I guess that's natural for me."

"Mm...yeah, I guess I can't deny I felt the same way. It was like...I dunno, something just wasn't right while I didn't know where any of you guys were. I really had this sense that I wanted to be back together."

"Heh, that's a little strange coming from you."

"Isn't it? I know, I'm kind of resident loner of our little pack. Maybe it was just being in an unfamiliar place, or just the whole not knowing where you were, but it got to me...what's so funny?" he asked as Iris was giggling madly.

"You just answered your own question and probably don't know it! How sweet, you feel like we're your pack!"

It took a few second for Derek to catch the undertone, at which point he grinned somewhat abashedly. "Ha ha ha...I thought you were above those kinds of jokes, Iris."

"Oh, you silly, you know I'm not. But I'm serious, too! I mean, you're merging with Blackcanismon and becoming a handsome wolfy, and we know you're taking a little bit away from it. It would make sense that you're starting to think just a bit like that."

Derek snorted, trying to keep from busting out into laughter himself. "Did...did you really just say 'handsome wolfy?'"

"Would you prefer 'cute little puppy?'"

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST KISS AND GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY?" Iris and Derek were jarred back into reality by their partners' mutual cries, and looked down at them almost as if caught in a very awkward moment.

"Eh...guys, you may want to tone it down on the subtlety a bit, someone might not get what you're trying to get at," Derek mumbled nervously.

"You two are just so...gah, maddening!" Shockavimon exclaimed. "What's it gonna take to get you together, a freaking magnet?"

"Shockavimon!" Iris cried, turning red. "Stop that! We're just close friends, it's nothing more than that!"

"Will wonders never cease?" Blackcanismon said with a shake of his head. "The evidence of your mutual compatibility is incontrovertible. To proclaim anything to the contrary is completely ludicrous! Or, to utilize more direct language and tone down the subtlety as requested, _you two should be together!_"

"This all over again...guys, come on. Iris is practically like a sister to me. What you're saying would just be...well, weird."

"Why?"

"Whaddaya mean, why? I just told you, she's like a sister to me!"

Blackcanismon cocked his head. "...and?"

"And what? I thought that would be clear enough. Don't you guys get the concept of a family bond?"

"Not really, no," Shockavimon said. "Family isn't exactly a huge thing over here...digimon mature pretty quickly and we don't tend to stick around with family very much. I mean, I guess there are exceptions, isolated groups tend to be different, but for the rest of us, community really is more important than family."

"Ah...so I guess Derek feeling like a brother to me wouldn't mean quite so much on your end," Iris said.

"Indeed. Closer bonds between unrelated individuals are generally more widespread than strong familial bonds. And exile from a familiar community often results in much graver impact than severance from blood relations."

"I kinda wondered...I didn't see a lot of real family units anywhere where we've been so far. So you don't even really know them?"

"Well, it's not THAT distant. Just...you know, I get in touch with my parents every once in a while, but we're more like causal friends than anything else. It was a lot harder running away from Hagrande and Hawkmon than leaving them to go out on my own. Though it also depends on the person...you just try getting one word out of Salmandmon about his family, you'd have better luck getting it out of a black hole. And it's weird, because he seems like the type that would be a lot closer to them."

"You can never tell with some people." Derek suddenly stood up. "We should see if the others are back again, we don't want to be keeping them waiting."

Iris jumped up as well. "I agree, let's go!"

"Wh-hey! Wait a second!" Shockavimon called, but the two humans were already out the door. She swung a wing in frustration. "Dammit, they slipped around that again!"

Blackcanismon nodded. "Unfortunately so...however, I believe we have expressed our own positions fairly clearly, and I imagine that it will continue to resonate with them. From what I have gleaned from previous dream recollections, such suggestions are not solely our own claim, and I imagine eventually they will derive mutual acceptance of their own emotions."

"I hope they do before it makes me go nuts. Well, we'd better follow them, I guess. Uh, hey, don't make a lot out of this, but...do you think we might end up kind of the same way? You know, because of the symbiosis thing."

"I would not assign it impossibility; however, my expectations are that if such a situation would arise, it would have occurred previously to the present. Therefore, I would consider the likelihood to be very limited. Besides, as I understand it your meditations on the subject are suffused with attention towards a certain fiery reptilian..."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!"

Blackcanismon gave Shockavimon a cheeky grin. "Very well, if you so insist."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

(==========)

As the day wore on, ideas and plans were beginning to fall into place. Whether their minds were finally free of issues that had been distracting them, or whether they had had issues planted from which they were desperate to find a distraction, everyone's attention had gotten back onto the task at hand, and with renewed drive and focus they began to settle on several possible courses of action. Still, they were all aware of the many difficulties that laid in front of them, and for their lack of information, they were unable to decide on anything definitively. But the progress they had made had them more confident and determined.

Then, as the afternoon hours were drawing to a close, events began taking another unexpected turn. It started when Monodramon approached Derek and Blackcanismon with a note in his hand.

"I don't know what's going on exactly...I got this from an unknown source, and it makes no sense to me, but it was addressed to Blackcanismon. Maybe you guys can make something of it."

"Interesting...I am not accustomed to being the recipient of mysterious messages. Derek, if you would be so generous as to elevate this to my level of sight, I would be eternally grateful. Unfortunately my physical design is not well suited for bringing objects to my optimal visual field."

"Gee, I couldn't have guessed." Derek knelt beside Blackcanismon and held the message up for them both to read. To Derek it was completely indecipherable; it was no language he had ever come across, and indeed looked to be a random array of symbols. But he could feel from Blackcanismon's sudden tension that there was probably more to it. "What's the deal?"

"This is...unexpected. If I am not mistaken, this message is written in a complex cipher in fairly common use amongst dark-type digimon. Intriguing that an unidentified individual would communicate with me in such a manner..."

"What does it say?"

"I may require some time to reacquaint myself with the character and syntax translation. Perhaps you would like to assist me in this endeavor?"

"Yeah, sure. Maybe it could help us out somehow. Or it could be a trick, but we won't know until we translate it."

The two retreated to a private room to work on the code. It wasn't long, though, before they were interrupted by Monodramon again, bearing a second code, and soon enough a third. The sudden flurry of communiques was enough to have them on guard, but once Blackcanismon had his bearings on the translation, they started to get the true impression of the messages.

"If these missives are indicative of hostile intention, they certainly will require exceptionally roundabout reference," Blackcanismon remarked as he surveyed the messages. "What I have been capable of gleaning thus far proves somewhat poetic but not entirely suffused with clarity."

"Poetic, huh? Seems odd for a message deliberately directed at someone anonymously."

"Indeed, it is quite peculiar, but I surmise there is subtext prevalent throughout all the instances. The individual guilty of authorship was determined to maximize the layers of encryption. Not uncommon, but in this instance unusual, especially since he utilized a method he must have realized I could potentially decipher."

"I didn't even realize different groups of digimon had codes," Derek said.

"It is rather unique to those aligned with the attribute of darkness. The ubiquitous distrust of our element propelled certain concerned individuals to innovate a means of communication understandable to those who might be affected by unfortunate events without alerting the threat to the awareness of their intentions. Many of us are educated in the existence and details of this alternate language...of course, the welcoming environment of Libertius more or less dispelled the need for such secrecy, thus necessitating a refresher before accurate transcription of the contents of these transmissions."

"Man, you guys have had it rough, haven't you?"

"Unfortunately, insidious individuals intent on besmirching the reputation our entire caste have experienced far more success in their endeavors than those who attempt to restore it. Hm...I believe I have unearthed the literal translation of these messages. However, I do not believe the literal translation is the end intention. Perhaps you may assist me in the understanding of their ulterior motives?"

"Sure. What do they say?"

"I will state them to you in the order they were received. The first..._the iron gigas soars upon the second sunrise._ Second..._Advance upon the line of the dancing zephyrs._ And finally..._The eye opens at the center of life._ Quite a conundrum, do you not agree?"

"You weren't kidding about them being indirect. They really are poetic...and in a very you kind of way, for that matter."

"I presume that was meant to be complimentary. Let us ruminate on the concealed understandings, shall we?"

(==========)

As Derek and Blackcanismon were at work on the unknown messages, Reyn was called into Libertius' monitoring station by Isaac. The latter was as excited as Reyn had seen him in ages. "You sound like you've got something good to report."

"Good is an understatement! You're gonna love this, take a look!"

Reyn watched as Isaac pulled up a number of images from the computer screen. His jaw dropped as he saw what they were in regards to. "That's-!"

"The Gargantua Weapon. The _entire_ schematics, all together. Dude, this was an _epic_ bonanza, I never thought I'd get the chance to see this!"

"But...but...how? There's no way this could just fall into our laps!"

"That's the best part. You've heard the saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' Well, that can be true even if it's also your enemy. These were sent to me by a friend in Mechalopolis after they were found on one of Raidenmon's cronies, Granziehenmon; he was the head of their weapons production and building construction cabal. Apparently he was working with Emperius until recently, and was heavily involved in the design of the Gargantua Weapon. When he split to join Raidenmon, he kept a full copy of the design blueprints."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because Raidenmon was planning to wage war against the rest of the world, and that was going to include Emperius. Granziehenmon kept them so he could give them easy access to all its weaknesses, and they could wipe out Emperius before they even knew what was happening. Of course, when Raidenmon ate it, it kind of all went to hell, but Granziehenmon was one of the ones who threatened to keep up that vision, so he was pretty highly sought after. After the city guard caught him and disabled him, they wanted to see if he had information on other robots who might try to carry on Raidenmon's legacy. They thought this was one of them at first, but the associated data files pointed to Emperius."

"And someone knew that that's who you were after and got it to you. Damn, I know I've been whining about luck lately, but this is a hell of a turn of events in our favor."

"I'm working on constructing a full profile of this thing right now, once I'm done we should get everyone together so we can get up to speed on it. I'm also working on calibrating a satellite scan to pick up on its location, there's information about the kind of jamming technology they're using and we might be able to skirt around it."

"If you can, that'd be great. Let me know when you're ready, I'll get everyone together."

(==========)

"It certainly looks like a flying fortress," Skylar observed as he and the rest gazed upon the image on the computer screen. "I've never seen anything so gigantic in my life..."

"This is not gonna be a fun ride," Salmandmon said apprehensively. "That's a lotta weapons...and they'll probably have some of their minions out to make life difficult as well. We're gonna really have to step up our game if we want to do anything to it."

"Do we even have a chance of taking it down in the first place?" Derek asked.

"We should have a chance," Datacarnomon said. "I went through Ike's reconstruction and found out that they are using a quantum reactor. Our best bet may be to overload that, that would do a hell of a lot of damage."

"But won't that be horribly destructive?" asked Iris. "I mean, for more than just this thing, you guys said it could take out a huge chunk of Northern Tetraquaz if it went up!"

"Unrestrained, yes, but they've got some serious blast shielding built up in the reactor chamber. It should limit the scope of the destruction...not enough to keep Gargantua Weapon afloat, but enough that a lot of the structure would be preserved. Whoever was behind the concept, they wanted to make sure that if something went wrong with the reactor, it wouldn't destroy them all. That's foresight I haven't seen a lot from Emperius."

"So we have to get to the reactor and overload it while the blast shielding is up," Reyn surmised. "I'm gonna guess that sounds a lot easier than it'll be."

"There's a bunch of logs from Granziehenmon about weaknesses, entrances, control panels, access points, all sorts of fun stuff," Isaac said. "He was really thorough about the Weapon, he wanted to make sure it wouldn't get in the way of Raidenmon's ambitions. We're still poring through them, but we've already found a few points which we'll have to deal with to even get to the reactor in the first place. We should be able to formulate a plan of action pretty soon."

"That plan's going to have to include rescuing the Libertius captives," Shockavimon insisted. "Where they're located, even if the shielding is up they'll probably be vaporized. No doubt that was intentional, probably a deliberate screw-you directed at us."

"I can't believe they even let them live," Skylar said. "You'd think they'd waste no time slaughtering them."

"Libertius stood up to Emperius' best efforts, if I had to guess I'd say that they're preserving them in hopes of converting them to their way of thinking. Heck, some of them might have caved...or pretended to. Maybe that's how Commandramon managed to get to us."

Isaac nodded. "We'll definitely factor that in. It'd be nice to know what Emperius is thinking, though...even if we manage to get a bead on it quickly, if they can move at any time they'll be able to get the jump on us."

"We might be able to offer insight on that particular aspect of the situation," Blackcanismon said.

"We might?" Derek asked blankly.

"Certainly. Those messages we received...with this additional information, I believe I can surmise them to be related to the Gargantua Weapon and its course of action."

"Messages? You guys are getting mail?" asked Reyn.

"Blackcanismon got a few coded transmissions from someone anonymous. We've been trying to figure out what they're about...actually, thinking about it, he's right, that could be what it is."

"_The iron gigas soars upon the second sunrise_. I believe the 'iron gigas' is indicative of the Weapon itself. Following such, the 'second sunrise' may also potentially indicate the day following tomorrow. This establishes a timeline for their ascent."

"So if we want to get it before it goes up, we have to go tomorrow?" Shockavimon made a face. "I'm not even sure that's possible."

"We could get it after it goes up, too," Skylar said. "Though we'd have to be able to find it...and figure out where it's going. Maybe if we get a good scan we can keep our eyes on it."

"There might be a clue on that in one of those messages, too," Derek said. "I think it went _Advancing upon the line of the dancing zephyrs._ The first part could be telling us that it plans to go along some kind of path, though neither of us have any clue what the heck dancing zephyrs are."

"I know what that is!" Breezedramon cried out. "It's a kind of wind pattern way up high in the sky! It changes kind of in a pattern over time, but it's always going kinda in the direction of northwest to southeast or like that!"

"Northwest to southeast, huh?" Salmandmon's expression darkened. "That's the direction of Southern Tetraquaz...dammit, I think I know what they're thinking now. They jump into the conflict down there, they could turn the tide...if that happens, no matter which side they join, they'll get a lot more support and be able to either convince or force a lot more digimon to join them! That'll make it way harder for us to beat them!"

"And give them plenty more ability to travel around more, and attack the human world to boot," Datacarnomon added. "So we definitely have to get to them before they can do that. You guys get anything else that might help?"

"There remains a single statement that defies interpretation, _The eye opens at the center of life._ I confess my ability to unearth the meaning behind this has proven sorely lacking."

"Huh...uh, well, at least the other two were helpful."

"Whoever sent it wasn't just spouting random garbage," argued Reyn. "There's got to be some important meaning behind it."

"Maybe they were? Sending gibberish can mask the meaning behind the actual messages."

"Yeah, and you send that one last?"

"Guys, I think you're overthinking it," Iris said. "Think about it, what happens when you open your eyes?"

There was silence as they all looked at her. Eventually Breezedramon managed to pierce it. "You, uh, see?"

"Exactly."

It took a moment for that to sink in, and Isaac was the first to connect. "You're saying that's saying we'll be able to see the Gargantua Weapon!"

"Yeah! Whoever sent this to us is on our side, maybe like Shockavimon said it's someone from Libertius who pretended to turn to their side...maybe they have a way of getting past that Illusion Generator! If we know where that center of life is, we can be ready to take them on right then!"

"If their course is southeast, they probably aren't crossing any major population zones," Datacarnomon said, "but...they might be in the general area of the geographical center of Northern Tetraquaz. That's maybe a stretch, but if we can get a bead on their original location it might pan out!"

"Man, someone out there likes us," Breezedramon said. "Maybe we'll be able to pull this off after all!"

"We still have to deal with the fact that it's just the five of us, though," Skylar pointed out. "All this knowledge will go a long ways, but it's still like a chihuahua trying to take down a bull elephant."

"That's true...but..." Reyn suddenly had a sly grin on his face. "There might be a way to improve our chances...a couple ways, in fact." He motioned for the group to follow him. "Come on, guys, we've got some work to do."

(==========)

(==========)

Poor Salmandmon. Guy just cannot catch a break in this chapter. I'm so mean to my characters sometimes.

Finally got to the underlying tension between Skylar and Isaac. Man, how many changes did that go through? One of the problems I've had several times here is that I've gotten a conception of what I thought I wanted to write, put it aside to write other parts, and returned to it only to find that it seems like a lousy idea now. What I had in mind before seemed way too unnatural and just basically unbelievable, so I had to come up with something else, and that made it plenty difficult. I almost did go with the girl, but that's so overdone that I didn't want to touch it if I could come up with anything else at all.

Anyway, this is kind of a breather chapter before the next set, there's not gonna be a lot of time for introspection and chitchat for a while and I wanted to get a few things established before it became too late. Next up, carnage and chaos! I'm excited, even though I'm very glad to have gone through all this side stuff I've still been itching to get to this point, and it's finally here. Updates may be a little sparse for a bit, though - I'm going out of town for a week and I'm getting ready to start grad school. I'm hoping I can get up one more chapter before August ships out, but unfortunately I can't make any promises.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, can I talk about language for a moment?

The use of language in writing and acting is a very idealized variant of how people actually speak in the real world. Everything said is said deliberately, clearly, and practically flawlessly. In movies and TV shows, even if someone is stumbling over something, usually even that stumbling is done with perfect deliberation - it's as rehearsed as any actual line in the script. In writing they usually don't even bother with that. Now, it's easy to see why they're usually clear - mumbling and stumbling doesn't exactly move the story along well. But when it comes to the point of being tongue-tied, my suspension of disbelief is usually snapped, because it seems too unreal.

I play around a bit with the way words are used in this fic. It's a lot of fun, no question, but not exactly easy. And actually, to be honest, it's harder with something like Breezedramon than with something like Blackcanismon. Blackcanismon, all it takes is looking up obscure or unnecessarily complex words and using them in ways that are, if not always entirely true to their intended purpose, then at least wrong in a reasonable way. But with Breezedramon, it's kind of challenging to put into writing the act of really stumbling and garbling words, and especially trying to make it seem spontaneous rather than deliberate, partly because, let's face it, it IS deliberate, I'm not just pounding the keyboard at random intervals. Another part of it is of course making it seem believable - that is, balancing the act of messing up with the act of keeping it clear enough for the readers to make sense of what's supposed to be said in context (because, obviously, he's not going to be saying something completely random and nonsensical). And then there's just remembering to do it in the first place, because it's going against the established rules that I'm taught to write by and that I'm used to writing by, and that virtually everyone (at least, everyone who's a decent writer in the first place) writes by. If you've noticed deficiencies in that consistency, at least part of it can be chalked up to that (in more recent chapters it's been less of an oversight, for reasons which you can probably recall if you've been reading consistently, but it still happens).

I had that same challenge in this chapter with Reyn's personal issues. You don't see, almost any time in writing, someone really struggling to explain something. Either it's glossed over in non-dialogue or it's brought out completely clearly. The kind of impression I really wanted to go for was someone struggling to put into words an issue that they really hadn't tried to put into words before, and thus really didn't know what to say or how to say it. And I found myself in kind of a bind because it's not really something that follows the standard of writing. Unrehearsed, off the cuff, that's not easy to write, because even if the character's supposed to feel that way, the writer still knows the idea he's supposed to be trying to get across, and it feels next to impossible to write as if they really are at a loss for how to express themselves. I guess it also doesn't help that I do know a bit better how to express myself for that particular issue, as it's something I have thought about not infrequently.

I'm interested to know what you all think. Did it seem forced or rehearsed? Did it seem like how you would imagine someone struggling to explain something? If not, what could be done to make it more like that?


	51. Chapter 50: Campaign

Agh, this chapter took SO LONG to write. Way too much going on for me and in the chapter, but I said I wanted to get another one out before the end of August and by god I was gonna do it. Hope it's not too hard to follow - as always, pointing out glaring errors is welcomed. Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 50: Campaign**

For once, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Havocravenmon let out a long sigh, his eyes closed and his mind awhirl. Garganuta Weapon had lifted off for the first time that morning, and they had finally begun their journey southward, where new power and new potential awaited them. What had been months in the making and a logistical challenge of epic proportion had finally come to fruition. They had drastically boosted their offensive and defensive capabilities, improved their mobility to get away from hazards, and made themselves an even more imposing force than ever before. And though he knew that they certainly weren't going to just leave them be, the humans and digimon that had plagued them over and over again were for the moment nowhere to be found. It appeared they had a real chance to put some distance between them. It was the best situation they could have hoped for.

_So why the hell am I so nervous?_

True, there were some lingering matters. Their modified Illusion Generator hadn't been quite as effective as hoped; the scouts told him that the distortions were fairly obvious and nothing was masking the enormous shadow Gargantua Weapon was bound to cast. Which hadn't been entirely unexpected; the size of Gargantua Weapon made it all the more likely that it wouldn't be totally invisible. It was why he had charted the safe course, away from any large established settlements; the fewer people they riled up, the better off they were. And there had been some discontent about the spatial compression tanks, also not unforeseen as no one wanted to be locked away for extended periods of time. But they had gone with it, if only because there wasn't any real alternative. Where else were they going to keep the most gigantic of their warriors? In the end they had acquiesced and preparations had been wrapped up without incident.

Yet, for all that was going in their favor, Havocravenmon couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was coming their way. And part of him was concerned that he was bringing that trouble with him.

He had the loyalty of most of Emperius behind him, but it had become clear that some issues were starting to stir. One of particular concern was one of their most powerful members; Chaos Dukemon was showing signs of being more erratic and unstable than ever, and he had become more vocal about wanting to be on Havocravenmon's council, to which the council's unanimous response had been that there was no way in Hell they would put up with that. He was in a tough position; Chaos Dukemon was making a bald-faced power play, and Havocravenmon didn't trust him one whit, even if he was one of Craniummon's darlings, but he also feared what Chaos Dukemon might do if he got the impression that it was a closed case. He had to settle for trying to tell him that he would be next in line if one of the Generals fell in combat, which he knew didn't satisfy the knight and did threaten to leave him with an idea of how to expedite the process. It was all he could do.

He'd noticed a small number of other digimon beginning to question their commitment to the cause, as well. These ones were especially bothersome because they usually started the same way - losing that notion of destined victory that so many had been so convinced of. It was only a smattering, most still fervently stuck to the idea, but it seemed to be catching on even if only a little. But of those who did begin to change their notion, their response had more often been less how to ensure their victory and more questioning why they were even there in the first place. It was always a little painful to Havocravenmon to overhear them talking and realize they were essentially saying they had only been in it because of the idea of winning. He wanted them to be there because they supported the ideal, the notion that the strong should lead and the weak should be cast away. It made him wonder how quickly they would turn away if Emperius ever seriously faltered, a possibility he was never willing to discount.

And, of course, there was the ever-persistent problem of D'arcmon. She had been quieter than usual towards him, but from what he had heard the vocalization had merely been reappropriated, directed at trying to raise mutiny against him. Few had been drawn in who didn't already side with her from the start, but Havocravenmon always had the feeling he was on thin ice; she had enough charisma to be convincing if he ever seemed to be falling short, and he knew one bad event could change the tide completely. And even if he managed to keep favor on his side, he didn't trust her not to try to pull a coup anyway and take control of Gargantua Weapon. He did have a countermeasure in the case of that possibility, but of course, that only meant a countermeasure that could also be used against him, if only with much difficulty.

_She's more trouble than she's worth...I wish there was a way to be rid of her without the inevitable backlash from her posse. I may ask Kuzuhamon to keep an eye on her, she could put up the best façade of being on her side and get inside information on her..._

"Sir?" Havocravenmon jumped a bit as a Gazimon peeked into the room. "Are you all right?"

"...Fine. What is it?"

"Duftmon wanted me to tell you that we're nearing the midpoint of Northern Tetraquaz. We should be crossing within the next 30 minutes."

"Ah, right. Thank you. Have the divectors ready, we'll need to be careful and quick if we encounter any traffic."

They had designed their path to be as free of obstacles and witnesses as possible, but there was no way around the high-volume airway across the center of the continent. With an unusual dual jet stream passing through in both directions east and west, it was a favorite course of flying Pokémon, especially couriers who rarely were safe taking Transfer Points. They gained great benefit from the tailwind easing the strain on long flights, and benefited from a variety of landmarks which they could use to determine where they had to turn. Knowing they had to cross it at some point, they had readied a battery of divectors, machines which were designed to irritate digimon and drive them to turn away, keeping them as clandestine as possible. With any luck, they would think it was something unpleasant in the air that had caused the problem; Havocravenmon also hoped that it would convince them that their not-quite-perfect cloaking was a mirage caused by the same.

_Almost time for the rough part...if we can get past this, the rest is pretty open. If anything is on our side, we'll get through this without trouble..._

(==========)

Deep within Gargantua Weapon, a lone Flawizarmon was manning the Illusion Generator. It wasn't something that necessarily required constant monitoring, but with the new and unfamiliar set-up Havocravenmon had wanted someone on site at all times in case there were any problems. There hadn't been so far, and Flawizarmon had considered it a fairly boring job; he was so zoned out at the moment that he didn't realize there was someone in the doorway.

"I have a question."

Flawizarmon started and looked up at the unexpected arrival. "Y-you're not supposed to be here. Ask someone else."

"I have asked others. They have not given me satisfactory answers. Now I'm asking you. I'll leave once you answer."

"Mnh...make it fast, then, I've got work to do."

"What is power, exactly?"

Flawizarmon huffed; this wasn't the diversion he had been looking for. "For crying out loud...if you have to ask, you'll probably never know."

"Then enlighten me, unless you have no answer for yourself."

"It's...just kind of the ability to do what you want without anyone stopping you. I mean, it's kinda simple, you don't have to think about it a lot."

"But there is the core of my question. What makes one powerful? Is it having, or is it doing? Is power simply a measure of one's kill count?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"If a digimon has strength and never uses it to harm another, for right or for wrong, is he powerful? If a digimon has little strength but lords over those with even less, is he powerful?"

"Dammit, I thought all you kinds of guys were run out long ago. Look, power is about doing, if you don't ever use it you might as well not have it. Jeez, is that simple enough for you?"

"Then, what of those who do, but not with strength?"

This caught the wizard someone off-guard. "...Huh?"

"Those who do not possess strength, but have other qualities which allow them to do? The technology used in creating this Weapon was not built solely on slain bodies. Is there not power in this?"

"It doesn't matter! Strength is the only kind of power that's worth anything! So what if some damned brain on a stick makes machines? We're the ones who should win out in the end! Am I making myself clear, or do I have to dumb it down even more?"

"No...I believe you have made yourself perfectly clear. You and all the others on this accursed thing."

"What are you-ULK!" Flawizarmon's eyes widened as a blade pierced his chest. He had but a moment, as the second blade sliced rapidly through the air towards him, to reflect that he probably should have been more satisfied with the boredom.

(==========)

It was a fantastic and terrifying sight to behold from the outside. It was as if the massive airborne fortress had appeared from thin air, mysterious conjured into existence by an unseen force. The appearance was made not long after their start into the jet stream, and the few courier digimon flying along were startled well out of their usual reveries and took quick evasive action, some making contact with their origin points to report the sudden change in plans. The few groundborne digimon within eyesight of the behemoth made haste away from it, fearing that it might shift course and come their way.

From inside, Havocravenmon was swearing up a storm; he'd gotten the frantic report from the scouts outside and had rushed down to the control room to find the catastrophe that awaited him. He turned to a cowering Impmon hesitating in the doorway behind him. "Get the security camera records right now! Find out who did this! And get people down here to repair the Illusion Generator! If this gets back to the Kaiser before we get our stealth back he'll be on our asses in a heartbeat!"

"Y-yes sir! I'll find out who did this right away!" The Impmon tore out of there, clearly fearing any delay would only further stoke the wrath of the commander. Seething, Havocravenmon turned back towards the generator room; pieces of the massive stealth machine were scattered all over the floor, and splashes of blood marked the walls and floors, the only remaining visible trace of the Flawizarmon monitoring the machine. _When I find the treacherous bastard who did this, their head is coming off! I'll bet it was one of d'Arcmon's cronies, they'd pull a stunt like this just to make me look bad! They'll get their due, that's for sure!_

"Commander! _Commander!_" Havocravenmon felt a nasty pulling in his gut; that voice had the unmistakable tone of someone who had only the very worst to report, as if anything more was necessary to compound the already ghastly situation. Soon Duftmon appeared in the doorway, out of breath and in a state of near panic.

"The Weapon...it's under attack!"

"Under attack...is it the h...tainted ones?"

"Commander, it's practically an entire army!"

(==========)

It seemed like all Gallantmon could do these days was be shocked. He had thought the encounter with the Gargantua Weapon would be a massively lopsided affair, just the five heroes against a seemingly unstoppable fortress of doom. But as the day dawned and the critical hour neared, what he found instead was an assault force reminiscent of Libertius' full strength, perhaps even more.

"How...where did this all come from?" he gasped out as the symbiotes came up to meet him.

"Well, virtue may be its own reward, but cashing in favors is a nice perk." Thundergarudamon landed by the knight and surveyed the area with an air of satisfaction. "When we found out what we were up against, we decided to see if anyone was willing to give us a hand in taking it on. I must say, we ended up with a lot more volunteers than I expected."

"More than we all had expected, but the circumstances have changed," Cyberrexmon stated. "Gargantua Weapon is a much more actualizable threat than Emperius itself was. People see it and instantly know it's a serious danger. The longer it's allowed to stand, the more they'll be able to build it up, upgrade it, make it even harder to take down. Knowing that, they wanted to get in as soon as possible, and all the added support made them feel more confident that taking action now would bring us victory."

"It's incredible! I suspected you had something in mind with all the activity yesterday, but I never imagined you could organize an entire army under you command!"

"Actually, it's your command, Commander," Onyxvargmon said.

"Wh-what? But...this was all your doing-"

"Yeah, well, we're gonna have our own roles to play," Pyrekomodomon said. "Trying to take down Gargantua Weapon from outside is gonna be nigh impossible, even with all the support we got. That's where we're gonna have to come in...in the confusion, we'll be to get inside and take out the quantum reactor. The outside army's going to draw forces outside, weaken the Weapon so that they can slow it down, and if they manage to deal any critical blows, all the better if we have trouble getting to the reactor. We're not gonna be able to do much in the way of commanding while we're inside. They've all got their individual organization, but you're gonna be the one who brings it all together."

"I see what you mean...then I will do whatever I can. I suppose I should ask who and what I'll have to work with."

"That's the spirit!" cackled Stormdramon. "You're gonna be happy with it, I promise! Hey, Mr. Memory Machine, fill him in already!"

"Calm down, you impatient bugger. Anyway, Commander, we've got a lot of battle experience here. The Sky Lords and Land Kings are both here and finally working together, though I get the feeling they're still planning on trying to outdo each other."

"I doubt the competition will ever end with those two, but at least it's friendly now," Onyxvargmon sighed.

"We're also getting a lot of support from Mechalopolis. They've not only got personnel, but a wide variety of weapons, defensive measures, and electronic support. They're also on satellite communication and have provided personal shielding to everyone involved." Cyberrexmon chuckled. "Kind of ironic that so much of the stuff they're using was originally supposed to be used against all of us."

"There's a ton of weapons over there! And combat drones, too!" Stormdramon exclaimed as he pointed towards the Mechalopolis contingent. A battery of siege weapons and cannons were being rushed into place, and there were numerous groundborne and airborne mobile weapons platforms being arrayed as well. In the air just above, a number of smaller machines were swarming around, each one bearing some small yet wicked-looking missile payloads.

"They're not the only ones who went with tech, either," Thundergarudamon said as she pointed to yet another contingent. "Looks like we got some heavy weapons from Pomezly as well."

"UlforceVeedramon was disappointed that they couldn't use the Pomezly Cannon," Cyberrexmon said with another chuckle. "Too bad that's not mobile, Emperius knows much better than to go anywhere near that. But we are giving them a chance to try out a couple of other innovations they've been wanting to use." He pointed to two large tanks being moved into position behind some stationary cannons. Each one was armed with what appeared to be four small cannons, but which they could see could also be merged together into one larger one; the bodies of the tanks were adorned with large spikes, preventing them from being grabbed by larger creatures, and they rolled around on what looked like large energy orbs rather than wheels or treads, giving them full 2D range of motion. "Apparently they're pretty proud of those things, it's a shame I won't be able to see much of them in action."

"We also got Gaiohmon's assistance for the battle," Onyxvargmon stated, nodding towards an eclectic battalion being barked at by the Yegemra commander, who appeared much more at ease and in his element than back at the outpost. "He says this one will be comped as long as it's an entertaining battle, so I say get them all plenty involved so they're satisfied."

"Apollomon and the Order of the Flame are also in," Pyrekomodomon added. "They're going to try to go after the engines and slow the Weapon down, maybe force them to stay closer to the ground so that they're more accessible to those of us who can't fly."

"And speaking of flying, some of my old buddies at Pinion Peak come around with Ornismon!" Tornadramon yapped excitedly. "They're really itching to get at Emperius for indirectly causing that whole petrification thing! There's some real great combat veterans among them, they've been through lots of battles and know what they're doing, they can offer some awesome strategic direction!"

"It's an impressive array of fighters," Cyberrexmon said. "With this much at our disposal, we should have the exterior battle covered. Then it just comes down to us doing our job on the inside. That'll be tough, but we're going to give ourselves the best possible chance of success."

"Are you sure you don't want to take anyone with you?" Gallantmon asked. "Surely we've got a few to spare from the outside, even though I can hardly believe I can say that in any seriousness."

"I thought about that, but I think it'll be best for it to just be the five of us," Pyrekomodomon said. "We've been able to hash out a plan that we're all on the same page about. It'd be too difficult to bring in a bunch more people and try to get them all caught up before we have to take action. But I think we'll be fine anyway. No doubt Emperius will expect us to be involved in all this, but they likely don't know exactly what we're planning to do...whether because of overconfidence or because they simply don't know what we know, they'll probably expect us to be part of the force that's trying to take them down from the outside. With that in mind, they'll put their efforts into hunting us down outside, and leave the interior far less protected."

"Provided that goes well, we'll be able to slip in to our preferred access point and get to our destination," Onyxvargmon said. "There's a trick to taking them down. Three of us have to get to spots that control access to the quantum reactor. Pyrekomodomon will do the honors down there."

"And while they're at that, I'll be looking to free the Libertius captives," Thundergarudamon chimed in. "The mechanism that's keeping them held in that brig has something to do with electricity, so I'll have the best shot at getting it taken care of and getting them out of there."

"Hey, look up there! We've got more reinforcements!" Stormdramon yelped as he pointed to the sky. A very large, long-bodied eastern-style dragon was leading several flying digimon with riders towards the gathering army.

"Where did those guys come from?" Cyberrexmon asked.

"Cyclodramon...Stormdramon, you think that's that Breezedramon from Oroetem?" Pyrekomodomon asked.

"Yeah, that's gotta be him, and probably some guards from the castle! I wonder how they found out, I didn't even go ask them!"

"Word travels fast sometimes, they may have heard it through the grapevine. I wonder what possessed him to get involved in a battle like this, I thought he left the South to get away from this kind of thing."

"No, wait, that might be why! The Weapon's headed to the South, he probably doesn't want them to make any more mess than there already is! And the guards probably came because they thought I'd be here!"

"That makes sense. The more the merrier, I guess, I just hope they're less overbearing than before."

"Nyaha, not a chance! Don't let on that I'm going inside, they'll probably try to fin-hoWHOA!"

All attention instantly turned towards where Stormdramon was looking the moment he let out his cry. There was no question what brought it; the heart-stoppingly imposing façade of Gargantua Weapon was looming not far in the distance. Despite the distance, it blocked a surprisingly wide arc of view, a flying wall of metal intent on erasing the horizon from memory. Jets of blue energy scorched the ground underneath, keeping it off the ground, impressively high for something its size but still not too far above, barely over the height of a Greymon.

"That...I've seen all the images, but somehow it looks even more scary in reality," Thundergarudamon remarked in awe.

"No kidding!" Stormdramon shouted. "That thing's crazy huge! Everyone's definitely gonna have their work cut out for them!"

"Well, that's why we're trying to kill it from within, not without," Pyrekomodomon said, not betraying any shock or disconcert from the Weapon's appearance. "Looks like it's time for battle. Better be ready for them, because it looks like they're ready for us!"

(==========)

"How...where did they all come from?" Duftmon cried out in shock as they stood on an observation deck. "Libertius was fallen, no one else of any threat had come out against us...Commander, this is a nightmare!"

"Damnation..." Havocravenmon hissed quietly, kicking himself mentally. _I let them go...I thought they would come after us, that seemed inevitable enough...why did I fail to see this? Of course they would amass an army of supporters...Libertius wasn't the only one against our ideals, they were just the ones who bothered to fight...but the humans, those digimon, they gave them a reason to believe they could win..._

He took a deep breath, trying to quell the screaming fury threatening to break through into the world. All the work they had done, all the efforts to solidify their position, and in one moment they wer suddenly on the verge of backpedaling again...yet, as his calm and commanding presence reassumed itself, this was not something he couldn't have foreseen happening eventually. Perhaps not so quickly, but hadn't Gargantua Weapon been designed for such a purpose?

"Duftmon, give the order to divert all attention from evasive maneuvers to combat maneuvers. The automatic weapons are at the ready, get some digimon to arm the heavier ones. Tell them to go all-out, we have no need for finesse here. We can handle this if we work at it and don't lose ourselves to frenzy...they may have an army, but so do we, and we've got the firepower here to back it up."

"Yes, sir! I'll do everything I can to see our vision come to life!"

"I have full confidence of that. Scramble the other Generals, they'll help whip everyone into action. Don't engage anyone yourself unless absolutely necessary, the access ports should be well-guarded."

"Yes, sir!"

(==========)

The opening barrage was spectacular - a maelstrom of color and power, barreling through the air with deadly intent. The air assault force responded without hesitation, skirting the ballistic inferno and rocketing in towards the Weapon, ready to unleash their own opening salvos. Slayerdramon took the initiative with the orders.

"Knock out as much as you can from the front wall first! Give our own weapons as much relief as they can to do the most damage! Stay out in front as much as you can, the weapons on the other surfaces will be too much until we can target them as a group!"

As a unit the air force swept in, unloading torrents of energy at a concentrated area on the hull. The impact was tremendous, almost shaking Gargantua Weapon itself. The armor resolutely withstood the blow, but it left a sizable void of return fire as the weapons were blown apart. With a quick motion the air team severed into four smaller forces, each one drawing fire and returning it in kind, slowly eating away at the Weapon's ability to defend itself.

They weren't alone for long; the Weapon was now within striking distance of the ground forces, and they jumped in the instant they could. The ballistic weapons set up by Mechalopolis and Pomezly blew powerful bursts from their mouths, hammering the hull and breaking apart more of the dangerous cannons trying to silence their fire. The tanks surged into action as well, launching powerful bursts of energy that expanded over a wide field on the hull, destroying some of the guns and disabling others long enough for them to be vulnerable to other attacks. Underneath, the Land Kings did their part by launching great slags of earth at the Weapon, each one impacting like a massive cannonball and threatening to do real damage to the armored hull itself, while several of the Order of Flame swept underneath the Weapon and began targeting the jets holding it up in the air, trying to bring it down before it could go much further.

As the fire from the front wall of the fortress began to wane, Emperius began a more coordinated counterattack, bringing manned weapons online and sending out battalions of digimon to try to disrupt the army's efforts to bring down Gargantua Weapon. Melees broke out all over the battlefield, with small groups of digimon squaring off and trying to take each other out while the sounds of war echoed around them. Blazing lasers screamed through the sky, trying to tear through the air assault and turn the tide of battle back in their direction. Explosions rocked the ground and sky as bombs and missiles flared out from ports in the Weapon.

The armies outside didn't flinch for a second at the redoubled threat. They continued the all-out assault, diverting some fire towards the dangerous bombs to give the air teams extra support. Said air assault spread to the other faces of the Weapon, the well-coordinated strikes making it very difficult for the scrambling Emperius to counter. The combat drones began to make their greatest impact as well, locking in on the manually-controlled weapons and delivering pinpoint explosive payloads to the control nodes, not only disabling the weapons but sending the operators to their deaths as well.

Gargantua Weapon kept moving forth despite the heavy assault, but it was starting to slow slightly as several of its jets were disabled or destroyed. It was managing to maintain its height but not its speed, and that was just giving the attackers more time to unleash their payload on its armaments. As the front face was getting closer and more exhausted of its combat capabilities, the attackers also split off, some moving around to the sides to give more support to the continuing air assault.

(==========)

Ribbons of smoke streaked the air as the battle raged, and the time was near for the next part of the plan to be enacted.

"The initial attack's going well!" Stormdramon said excitedly. "Now it's our turn! Let's get in now before they realize we're not just looking to be part of the crowd!"

"Hang on one sec," Pyrekomodomon said. "We're going in all on our own. As much as we've overcome thus far, I want us not to leave anything to chance if we can help it." He tossed something to each of them.

"The Fragments!" Thundergarudamon said. "I'd forgotten about those!"

"Where did you guys get these?" Cyberrexmon asked in wonder, staring at the piece of material in his hand.

"An anonymous benefactor. We've had so many anonymous malefactors that it was a nice chance of pace. This should give us enough of an extra boost to get through whatever decides to stand in our way."

"Now's as good a time as any to give ourselves some help," Onyxvargmon said with a grin. "Well, then, shall we?"

"Yeah! Let's take this thing down and finish off Emperius once and for all!" Stormdramon roared.

Pyrekomodomon eyes were blazing as he issued the command. "Everyone move out! Get to your access point and take care of business! Today, this thing goes down!"

No more was needed; the five split off and raced towards the Weapon at top speed, ready to do their part in the battle.

Pyrekomodomon was a veritable blur, streaking across the sand with little regard for the carnage around him. Anyone on Emperius' side who might have wanted a piece of him had no time to prepare as he blitzed by them, and his speed was outstripping any of the remaining guns' ability to aim at him.

He barreled pell-mell towards the Weapon, his mind focused only on his end goal; the burning energy racing through him compelled him to act rather than think. As he reached the underside of the fortress, he coiled in mid-stride and then sprung, rocketing himself up into the air at the lower surface of the Weapon. His ascent slowed, short of his goal, but he simply propelled himself further up with a burst of heat from beneath him, and hit the metal with a fair amount of speed. Quickly he swung his legs up and flattened himself against the surface, his hands and feet clinging securely.

Dozens of powerful jets were firing constantly all around him, holding the Weapon up in the air. Several of them were simply smoking, the early casualties of the directed attack. The metal was viciously searing hot, a fact that didn't bother him in the slightest. Slickly he began moving, never keeping more than one hand or foot from the surface and staying as flat as possible to reduce the pull and ensure he didn't drop.

An explosion sounded from his left, and he quickly turned his head to see one of the jets spewing smoke. From below, he could see a Volcdramon launching blasts of magma up in the air, trying to hit the jets and wreck them. _Bet more of the Order of Flame is down there, too...they didn't arm the bottom very well, so they should have a pretty easy time as long as Emperius doesn't send too many digimon after them._

He continued his crawl, unconcerned about the jets or the attacks; none of that was going to distract him from his goal now.

Meanwhile, Thundergarudamon took a different path, swinging well around to the back of the Weapon, the long arc ensuring gunfire from the sides didn't prematurely end her campaign. She had to move quickly as she was now playing catch-up, but that didn't bother her nearly as much as the onslaught that began as soon as she was within range. Lasers, missiles, gunfire, it all came at her with a vengeance; the weaponry on this face had suffered the least amount of damage, due to not being easy to target for any of the ground forces.

She was forced to back away lest the attack get the better of her. She made another rush forward, but it was equally ineffective. Irritated, she tried a different approach.

"Static Shield!" In an instant she was encompassed in a sphere of electric energy which rotated around her, and as she made her third attempt she could hear the gunfire blat uselessly against it. She still had to swing around to avoid lasers and missiles, but those were far less numerous and easier for her to handle.

As she got closer, she exacted revenge, dropping the shield and unleashing a fury of electric assault on whatever was nearby. It was a game of hit-and-run, and she played it expertly, breaking down enough so she could get to her access point. As she neared, she saw something covering the opening, it almost looked like something foaming or bubbling. At least, that was what she thought until the 'bubbles' suddenly surged at her, forcing her to duck and weave away. She got a look long enough to see something glowing in the center before the 'bubbles' returned to cover it again.

_Interesting weapon...I'll bet whatever those bubbles are, they'd be pretty nasty if they hit me. And I'll bet they only move away if there's something nearby to attack. This should be fun._

The air was thick with smoke and gunfire as Stormdramon soared towards the top of the Weapon. He mind was moving faster than ever as he scanned the surface, eyes locking in on each of the two access points hidden there.

_Both points are guarded by electrical barriers, but they can be disabled by breaking the generator nodes nearby. The challenge is going to be wiping out the nodes before they notice what I'm doing and focus on me. I'd best just try to shoot for the closest one._

He swooped down and fired a storm ray at the first node, which easily cracked under the attack. However, it did have the effect he feared, and he was suddenly under a hailstorm of blistering gunfire, and he had to swoop away before they they brought him down. _Dammit! The nodes are probably in contact with some of the automated weapons, if they're damaged the weapons will try to find the source before they all get knocked out! Guess I'll have to do some clean-up first!_

He began unleashing Hurricane Blasts at the smaller automated weapons, cracking several apart and easing the fire coming his way. But the threats weren't going away easy; the powerful manned laser cannons had caught sight of him and they were intent on taking care of one of their most irritating enemies.

He zoomed around, trying to stay away from the steadily increasing attack on him, but it was keeping him away from the nodes and they were too sheltered for him to hit from a distance. He was getting steadily more frustrated at the amount of time it was taking for him to get in. _I can't let them keep me away now! I promised I'd do my part, they aren't gonna make me break that!_

Suddenly, a vicious storm of energy crashed along the surface, sending shrapnel flying from numerous ruined guns. Five digimon were above, four of the Sky Lords and Cyberdramon, all focused on wrecking any ordinance in pursuit of the blue dragon.

"Great timing, guys!" he yelled out appreciatively.

"It's our treat," the Wingdramon returned. "You drew a lot of attention off of us, that made our lives a lot easier! You're trying to get inside, right?"

"Yeah, I need some time to hit some spots that are blocking my way! All those guns and lasers are keeping me from getting there!"

"I'm already tired of those lasers," Cyberdramon said with a fearsome grin. "What say we do a little personal attack on those?"

"Nyaha! I'm up for that!" The two split off as the others from the strike force kept their attention on the smaller weapons.

From the ground, Cyberrexmon was plotting his course of action. His arm had been augmented by Mechalopolis techs with a kind of hookshot, designed to pull his weight up to wherever he needed it. Though the hull was strong enough that he couldn't hope to pierce it with the harpoon-like end, it had been modified for the tip to flatten and then cling using a powerful magnet, so he could pull himself up anyway. Once he was up, he had ready a special suction system that he could use to climb to his destination.

Now, taking careful aim, he fired the shot, watching it sail through the air, true towards its target. At impact, the tip flattened and he watched...only to see the hookshot fall uselessly, the magnets failing to cling to the hull.

"What? You gotta be kidding me!"

With a snarl, Cyberrexmon retracted the hookshot. "Goddamn...There is no way that should have happened! They can't have demagnetized the hull, that would be unreasonable even for them!"

Whatever the case, he had to start booking; the Weapon was threatening to pass him by, and if he didn't figure something out fast he'd miss his chance and put everything in jeopardy. _I can't afford to fail...I have to finish my part of the mission, for everyone's sake!_

"You think that little toothpick is gonna do any damage? I thought you were supposed to be the strong one!" Cyberrexmon nearly leapt out of his metal skin at the shout and wheeled around with weapon drawn.

"Wha...ShadowWeregarurumon? The hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell do you think we're doing here?" the dark wolf snapped. Once again he was high atop MasterTyranomon, who looked very much like he'd been dragged in against his will yet again. "We're here to prove ourselves, just like we always do! We've got reputations to keep up, and no way are we gonna let this opportunity go!"

"You're STILL on that kick? I thought we beat that outta you."

"Pah! Like we've never come out on the bad end of a battle before. We're strong because we get right back up again! No challenge is too big for us!"

"Really...maybe you oughta try fighting your ego, then." Cyberrexmon shook his head. "I guess as long as you're on our side I can deal with that this time around. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a ride I gotta catch."

"What, you think that pea-shooter is gonna work this time around? Fat chance, bolthead."

"Well, then, if you're so sure of that, why don't you offer a suggestion of your own?" Cyberrexmon shot back in irritation.

ShadowWeregarurumon grinned, as if he was hoping for that. "Just so happens that I do. MasterTyranomon! Show him our idea!"

"Ugh...sorry about this, man," MasterTyranomon sighed in resignation. With one quick motion, he grabbed Cyberrexmon before the smaller dino had any clue what was happening.

"Consider this my payback for last time," cackled ShadowWeregarurumon. "Give him some air, MasterTyranomon!"

MasterTyranomon dutifully cocked his arm back, and with a heave hurled Cyberrexmon right at the massive flying monstrosity. Cyberrexmon only had seconds to get his bearings and brace for impact, and impact he did, slamming hard into the Weapon. He had just enough of his wits about him to activate the suction system and get himself secured to the hull before he fell.

"Ngh...frickin' idiot...if that's his idea of helping out I'll take my chances on my own next time," he grumbled, giving himself a minute to recover. "At least I'm up here...I hope the others managed to make it on, too..."

Onyxvargmon rated himself as having the easiest course, since his access point was on the front of the Weapon where the weaponry had been the most damaged and reduced. Still, trying to get up was proving to be a challenge, as the Wepaon hadn't dropped as they had expected it to. _They may be sacrificing speed for height...maybe they're worried about letting more of the ground forces in. I think I can still get up there, though..._

He took off at his fastest sprint, and with a mighty leap soared up towards the lower wall of the Weapon. He made it by just enough, and quickly formed his swords and tried to stab them into the hull to support him. Unexpectedly, they failed to breach the hull, and he quickly found himself sliding down without a chance to grab onto anything. Sensing the futility of continued effort, he pushed away from the hull and landed safely on the ground below.

"Well, drat...I wasn't expecting that to not work. Whatever's armoring that thing is made of sterner stuff than I thought."

"Onyxvargmon!" The lupine turned to see Buraimon swooping towards him. "I saw you fall. Are you injured?"

"No, fortunately not, but it's going to be a little more challenging getting in there than I foresaw. I'm going to have to find a better point to jump to, one where I have some room to stand. Are there any good openings where the weapons have been wrecked?"

Buraimon shook his head. "The damage done by those rocks has left the ones that have been destroyed a mess. There will be little purchase to be found there. I have a better idea...I can take you up there myself."

"I suppose it would be insensible to refuse the offer. Are you sure you'll be all right carrying me?"

"You do not seem a particularly heavy load. I have practiced with considerable weights before, I believe I will not encounter any difficulty."

"All right, then, let's take off!" Onyxvargmon climbed onto Buraimon, and the avian quickly took to the air again, showing no signs of struggling with the burden. The lupine felt his heart speed up as he saw the looming wall of steel begin to close in; it somehow seemed so much more imposing from up in the air than it had from the ground. And of course, as soon as they were up there the gunfire started coming their way; sparse though it was it was still a threat, spurring Buraimon to speed up his movements and Onyxvargmon to steel his grip. There wasn't much he could do to divert the attack, so he put his trust in his ride's agility. There was still an air attack helping them out and drawing the attention of some of the weapons, and they looked to have a good chance of getting through unscathed.

"Over on the right, there," he yelled to Buraimon, pointing towards a dark spot in a slight recess in the hull. "That's the entrance I'm shooting for."

"Then let us make haste." Buraimon sped up even more, zooming faster than even Onyxvargmon was used to. It was effective, as the weapons mounted on the airborne fortress were hardly able to keep up with them. Within a couple minutes, they were within distance of the entrance.

"Almost there...whoa, Buraimon! Watch out!" The avian swooped up just in time as four objects emerged from around the access point and launched a ball of energy each at them. He backed off slightly, trying to gauge what they would do next, but it still caught them off guard as a second volley raced towards them. On automatic, Buraimon swung a sword to block one, and on contact the ball of energy fired off in the direction of the swing, impacting the hull harmlessly below.

"This energy is unusual...it appears to be reflected by our impacts. We may be able to get through by knocking it away."

"Interesting...reminds me of something I've seen before." Onyxvargmon made his own blades appear as he and Buraimon both prepared for the next onslaught. "Well, then, let's show them what we can do."

(==========)

"We're getting creamed out there!" Blackwargreymon yelled, pounding a fist on the wall. "Dammit, I thought we had something here that could deal with this crap!"

"They know too much," Duftmon hissed, a hand on his head as he tried to calm himself. "They were ready for everything we had! They're going after the weapons first, and not trying to take out the Weapon itself..."

"If they know that much, they might know about the safety plan as well!" Carcharomon raged. "If they can pull that off, we're screwed!"

"The guards will have to let us know if they're trying to make their way in. Right now all we can do is try to keep everyone focused, and see if we can't take out enough of them to force them back."

"It has proven challenging," Zeedramon muttered. "Some of them are scared, this hostility was not of their expectation."

"Yeah, well, what did they think was gonna happen? And where's Kuzuhamon? She was supposed to check in!"

"Duftmon, we've got trouble!" On cue, Kuzuhamon rushed in, out of breath and in a very agitated state. "I just checked on the guards at the nearest access port, and there was no one there! The others aren't responding on the communicators! They've gone missing, no one knows where they went!"

"What? Were they killed?"

"No signs of battle anywhere near the one I was at! If they abandoned their posts..."

"But why? This is crazy, they had no reason to abandon their posts!"

"There's been rampant treachery all over this place!" roared Blackwargreymon. "First the Illusion Generator, now this! I'd bet my dramon destroyers d'Arcmon had her filthy hands in this!"

"We can deal with her later!" snarled Carcharomon. "We've got bigger problems! Anyone could get in now, and if they're as organized as they seem they may know how to take down the Weapon! We've got to go after them right now!"

"Do not be overly of haste, Carcharomon," Zeedramon warned. "What threats we may encounter at one spot may prove us foolish to concentrate our power. More openings exist than ourselves can contain."

"Well, spit out an idea, then!"

"We must divide ourselves, clearly. Wherever is critical to perform, so must we be there to secure the victory."

"He's right," Kuzuhamon agreed. "They'll likely send in the tainted ones, they're the ones who are the strongest and most dangerous to our plans. We know what their intent is going to be...they're going to try to take out the Weapon. If they know how to achieve that, then we have to waylay them on their way there. One of us has to guard the reactor, and three of us have to guard the gate consoles."

"Likely that we shall see them attempt to rescue their comrades of Libertius as well," Zeedramon added. "One must go to try to stop them there."

"I'll take that one, then."

"I'll make sure they don't get to the reactor!" Blackwargreymon yelled. "They won't know what hit 'em!"

"That leaves us rest to the gate consoles," Zeedramon said, nodding towards Duftmon and Carcharomon. "Now that the matter is settled, it is proper to make haste."

"Yeah, now that we've stood around gabbing and given them time to get in!" snapped Carcharomon. "I'm goin' now!" He took off, and the rest quickly scattered themselves to take on their expected foes.

(==========)

(More attack from the masses on the weapon, and Coredramon arrives with a contingent of soldiers from the Kaiser)

Gallantmon's nerves were on edge. The reports coming in were favorable - they were doing considerable damage with minimal casualties, and Emperius was having a lot of trouble keeping up - but the Weapon was still lumbering forward, and it seemed like it was always ready with new surprises. Some of the weapons appeared to be repairing themselves, as well, as they had lost two of their cannons to a laser module that had seemingly been destroyed early on.

"We have to keep an eye on those things, if they can come back online then we're going to have a lot more trouble," he told a Paildramon who was about to re-enter the battle after getting his shielding replaced.

"Understood, I'll send out the word to the rest of us in the air as well. We don't want to lose anyone to shortsightedness."

"Right." Gallantmon watched the Paildramon take off and shook his head. _I wish there was something more I could do...I feel useless just standing here. I know someone needs to coordinate everything but...there's something about actually being involved that's more comforting._

"Commander! Another wave of soldiers is coming from the Weapon towards our position!" radioed in a Tankmon from Mechalopolis' contingent. "There's a lot of them! The Land Kings are trying to hold them off, but we need some extra support!"

"Ah! We'll have to call back some of the attack on the side walls! Or get some of the air assault to hurry in! That'll be faster, do that instead!"

"We need that support right now!" an Andromon from one of the other ground teams cut in. "They're hitting heavy, the air support is the only thing keeping them from overwhelming us!"

"You can't spare any? Damn...we've got to get something! We may have to pull everyone back towards the front again!"

A sudden commotion from the south drew Gallantmon's attention away from the radio. A rather sizable contingent of digimon were racing towards them. "Tankmon! We've got incoming from the South!"

"Seriously? Whose side are they on?"

"I can't tell, but they look strong-" Gallantmon stopped short as the newcomers neared, and he was able to get a good look at them. They were all bearing golden sashes with a coat-of-arms on them; he couldn't see the arms but he didn't have to. "Tankmon! It's the palace emblem! They're the Kaiser's army!"

"You're kidding!"

"There's no mistaking! They're coming your direction, get them in on the action right away!" Gallantmon's excitement caused him to nearly miss the digimon coming in his direction. "I'll get to you with more direction in a minute!" He cut the communication and waved over at the oncoming ally. "General Coredramon! Your timing couldn't have been better!"

The green dragon landed in front of Gallantmon and saluted. "Yeah, it sure coulda been! We coulda been here from the start! Looks like we'll have to make it up to you by doing twice as much damage now!"

"Anything is appreciated! I didn't realize the Kaiser had anyone to spare!"

"Technically, we didn't. We pulled these guys out of the conflict in the South on emergency notice. Once word got to the Kaiser about this thing he knew we had to get involved, even if it meant shorting us temporarily down there. I don't think he knew there was a whole battle going on already, but it's just as well, I've been itching for a go at these guys for a while! Looks like you've had things under control, though!"

"Only just, they've given us everything they've had and then some...you arrived at a good time, we've had to divide our efforts and they were trying to overload one segment of our attack!"

Coredramon grinned. "Well, we've got some of our best on the job! They should be able ta take out the trash just fine! There's just one thing I'm not seeing, and that's the guys I expected to be at the front of this whole thing."

"You mean...wait, you know about them?"

Coredramon snickered. "I haven't been keeping my eye on them for nothing. So where are they?"

"They...they're plan is to go into the Weapon and try to take it down from the inside. They're trying to get in right now...it has to be even more dangerous trying to do that than what we're doing out here!"

"Hah! Figured as much. Somethin' tells me they'll handle it just fine."

(==========)

The going was easier for Pyrekomodomon once he was off the bottom surface of the Weapon. With less risk of falling, he was able to move much more quickly. _Too bad I couldn't risk trying to wipe out any of those jets for those guys. Too much risk of the blast throwing me clean._

He blasted a gun directly above him, then scooted right around it only to blast another in his path. The area around his access point hadn't been cleared out much at all, but he was doing a good enough job of that on his own; the guns hadn't been designed to fire lateral to the surface, so he was at no risk of being targeted himself.

_You know, I would kill to see Cyberrexmon trying to do this himself. That big lug thinks he can climb like me? I'd be surprised if he doesn't drop like a stone._

He soon got up close to the access point, having left a fair trail of destruction in his wake. As he pulled up to it, he saw that it was covered and locked tight, and there was a computerized panel on the front of the cover. "Hrm...the hell is this now?"

He began reading the panel: [This entryway gives access to the reactor area and is heavily restricted. Entry will be allowed only to those who enter the access codes using the key panel to the upper left. Please enter the six 24-digit key codes. Failure to enter a code correctly two times will result in death...] The rest of the writing was a bunch of obscure hints as to how to find the correct codes.

Pyrekomodomon stared at the panel a minute, and then made an executive decision. "Screw that noise."

Disregarding the key panel entirely, he got up close to the edge of the cover and spat at the point where the cover met the hull. He spread it around a small area and then applied a surge of heat with his gauntlets. The saliva glowed white-hot, but didn't catch fire; what it did do was melt the metal under the cover, allowing him to push it away and create a fingerhold under the cover. He squeezed his fingers into the opening, braced his legs against the wall, and pulled with every fragment of strength his body could muster.

After a few seconds he felt the cover give slightly. Then more. And then, quite suddenly, all the way. It snapped away from the access point completely, and he just let it fall down. Without wasting a moment, he popped inside, finally standing upright again and snickering at the futility of the high-tech security measures. _Maybe spend a little less time on the absurdly complicated code and a little more time on making sure there isn't an easy way around it._

Thundergarudamon was locked in an intense game of chicken with the strange weapon covering her entryway. The trouble was that the bubbles of whatever were hard to predict, some of them shooting directly for her and some of them shooting around her, with no discernable pattern over time. The fact that they both fired out and drew back in only made getting through them that much more challenging. She had to admit, it was an interesting design and difficult to counter, something she wasn't prone to seeing out of Emperius. She had no intention of letting that stop her, though.

The glowing core in the center of the mechanism was vulnerable when the bubbles were coming at her, and a few well-placed Lightning Bombs were likely to take care of it. But getting through those was a challenge in itself, as she had to be far enough away to dodge the bubbles and they didn't respond in the slightest to her electricity.

_At least it's me facing this one. Imagine of one of us who couldn't fly had to deal with it._

She soon hit upon a workable strategy; the bubbles needed time to adjust to her movements, and if she was quick, she could get outside their firing range, allowing her to get off an attack before they could retract and cover the weak point of the weapon. The drawback was that it was much more difficult to keep pace with the Weapon during this hard lateral movement, so she had to be especially careful about her accuracy. Still, that was one of her strengths.

The first Lightning Bomb impact brought a new surprise, a surge of the same bubbles, flying all over the place in a mass rather than one by one. Now the extra distance between Thundergarudamon and the Weapon was a benefit rather than a hindrance, as it gave her time to see where they were going and get around them. _A counterattack when it's hit, that's pretty nifty, too. I'm starting to think Emperius outsourced the creation of this monstrosity in more than just the design stages._

From there it was a matter of rinse and repeat, and on the fifth Lightning Bomb, there was no counterstrike; part of the core blew and the rest of the mechanism dropped away from the opening. Thundergarudamon didn't waste any time, making for the opening before any more surprises decided to come her way. She got in safely and landed, taking a moment to rest her tired wings before continuing on.

A loud crash burst from one of the pods of the laser modules on top of Gargantua Weapon, the enclosure shattered and the operator inside felled in a swift moment. Stormdramon cackled as he shot towards the next one, the blade on his gauntlet shedding the blood from the kill quickly. He streaked along barely above the surface of the Weapon, so low that the guns couldn't reach him.

To his left, Cyberdramon burst through another of the pods in similar fashion, rapidly dispatching another operator. Despite not having quite the speed to match Stormdramon, he was working just as effectively, the impacts from the collisions with the pods hardly fazing him in the slightest.

_I thought this was gonna be a lot harder! Guess Emperius didn't make sure those things couldn't be broken with a well-placed mach-speed digimon impact. Their loss!_

As he and Cyberdramon disabled the lasers, the other airborne digimon in the group were hammering away at the rest of the weapons. While numerous, they simply didn't have the power of the massive laser beams, and were much easier to avoid, allowing them to do quite a bit of damage without taking much in return.

Stormdramon's eyes caught his next target, and he zeroed in with deadeye accuracy. The operator barely had time to know what was coming before the dragon slammed headfirst into the enclosure, his armor dispersing the impact energy harmlessly from his body, and slashed him clean through his neck, ending his life in mere moments. He burst back through the other side of the enclosure and was right back in action, searching for the next target. But he was at the edge of the Weapon, and there were no more laser modules to be found.

"Yahahaha! Got 'em all!"

"Don't get too excited," Cyberdramon cut in, swooping by after having dispatched all of his side. "We just killed the guys working them, some other suicidal maniacs'll probably try to take control when they get the chance. Hurry and find your target before they can do that!"

"Oh, yeah, I got this!" He quickly got back to work, swinging towards the first generator node he'd destroyed and quickly getting his bead on the others. A quick Storm Ray was more than enough to put those out of commission, and he just laughed as the gunfire barely intensified, posing little threat to the speedy dragon. In less than a minute he had his final targets demolished, and swung inside the access point without any further obstruction.

Cyberrexmon's ascent up the side of the Weapon was slow and difficult; he was really regretting not having the time to practice with the system more before he put it into action. Already he had had a couple of close calls, accidentally mistiming the release of the suction and nearly losing his grip.

_Guh...damn, if Pyrekomodomon were watching this he'd be laughing his ass off. What was I thinking, trying to climb like a frickin' stunt man? I shoulda just tried to get to the top and use one of those openings like Stormdramon is..._

The one bit of good fortune was that the gunfire was nonexistent; the weapons weren't able to tilt enough to hit him right on the surface of the Weapon. This made it easy for him to occasionally launch a barrage of rockets and obliterate a few of them on his way up. The only things that could come after him were Emperius digimon, and they didn't seem to take much notice of him. Possibly because of the new digimon forces that had joined in and were wreaking havoc on them, forces that he strongly suspected were from the Kaiser's army.

_Like to get a better look at them, but I'm kind of occupied at the moment._

After a long and arduous ascent, he was finally next to the access point. As he had expected, it was not open and ready for him to enter, but it didn't appear to be guarded with anything dangerous on the outside. The cover didn't look like it was attached too strongly, either, but he wasn't in a good position to try to force it off; he wasn't sure how much he trusted the suction to hold up his weight if he tried to use just his legs to keep him on the wall.

_I guess that means I have to figure out the trick, then. I hope the others are having an easier time with this than I am._

He got up to the cover and took a good look at it. There were several colored points along the surface, and no indication of what they were for. _I need to get a look inside the system...maybe I can crack it somehow._ He scanned the area around the cover for any kind of electronics, but there were none to be found. _Bet everything that controls this is inside. What fun. Guess it's gonna have to be trial and error time. Let's hope it's not too much of either._

Cautiously, he pressed on one of the colored points. It lit up and sent a couple beams towards other colored points, lighting them up as well. Cyberrexmon blinked as he took stock of this. _A puzzle? A friggin' puzzle all the way up here? Either they're insane or they think anyone who can get up here isn't bright enough to solve this. Actually, yeah, I'm going with the first one._

He tried several different things with the puzzle, just trying to get an impression of what he had to do and how to achieve it. He wasn't getting far; all his testing had accomplished was giving him the impression that it was completely random which lights turned on and off. _Who designed this thing? I can press the same button and it has completely different effects each time...there's no pattern, no method of solution! It's like it relies completely on random chance! How is anyone supposed to solve a puzzle like this? It's totally impossible!_

He stared at the cover for a minute, wracking his brain around the question. And then something occurred to him.

_...unless I'm wrong about the puzzle in the first place._

He got up close to the wall underneath one of the colored switches and pressed it; instead of looking at the lights, he listened, and sure enough, he heard some clicking and shifting. He pressed it again, and more clicking and shifting. Now he knew what was going on.

_The lights are a ruse. They're just there to confuse someone who's expecting a puzzle...and who wouldn't, seeing those lights and how they go? That's one of the oldest in the book...damn, when the hell did Emperius get clever?_

He had to test each of the switches to see what state it was in, having essentially randomized them when he was playing around with them earlier. Knowing the trick, though, he didn't have anything to be confused about anymore; the locks all sounded very much the same when they were engaged and a different same when released. It took him more time to get situated at each one than to figure out whether they were open or closed.

When he opened the last one, the cover simply fell away from the opening, making him very glad he had started at the bottom rather than ending there. _That would've been a hell of a story to tell. Hey, guys, I couldn't finish the mission because this thing covering my access point fell on my head and knocked me all the way to the ground. I'd probably kill me before they did._ Shaking his head, he clambered inside, feeling intense relief at not having to do any more wall climbing.

Onyxvargmon slashed quickly as the ball of energy raced towards him; the weapon that fired it kept knocking back in his direction, and it moved faster and faster with every bounce. _I swear, sometimes it seems like they've played some of the games I have,_ he thought as he swung again, and finally felt relief as the pulse got through the reflective shield and impacted the firing port. "One down!" he shouted for Buraimon's benefit.

"Then the other three should be much easier-" Buraimon cut off as the remaining three firing ports suddenly glowed and began firing far more rapidly than before. It was too much to try to fight back against, and Buraimon was forced to bob and weave in order to get away from the onslaught. Despite a few close shaves, they managed to come out unscathed, and the firing soon died down back to the usual level. Buraimon swung up and Onyxvargmon readied himself for the next barrage, but almost got his clock cleaned by a surprise shot from the port he thought he'd disabled.

"Damnation! It's back online!"

"So it appears." Onyxvargmon had no idea how Buraimon could always seem so calm despite having to divide attention between keeping him safe and focusing on the two lower firing ports. "The increased onslaught must have been buying time for the damaged one to recover. It appears that our best chance of getting through will require simultaneous disabling of all four weapons at the same time."

"That means synchronizing our attacks...and we have to get those things in sync as well. Great, this is gonna be a load of fun."

"It might not be as difficult as it appears. They have consistent firing patterns, which are only interrupted when they have to reflect our attacks. We can ge them in time with each other...the challenge will simply be to then reflect their shots perfectly."

It sounded a lot harder to Onyxvargmon than Buraimon was making it sound; dealing with one at a time was tough enough, since those energy balls got moving extremely fast after a few reflections. Still, he felt he could do it, and the energy from the Darkness Fragment was bolstering his confidence in his own speed and timing. "All right, then, let's get them in time! Let's try to time them with the lower right, that'll just give you one to work on so you can be ready to evade if something goes wrong."

"A wise suggestion. All right, let me know when you have them ready."

They went to work, coordinating their blows to get everything more or less synchronized. Onyxvargmon hoped a few fractions of a second weren't going to matter; the launchers hadn't immediately gone into their barrage upon the disabling of the previous one, so it seemed to make sense that they had a small window to work with. Still, he wanted to get them as close as possible, and set out to achieve that. The task became somewhat easier once Buraimon had his target aligned, allowing him to stay more stable and give Onyxvargmon one less thing to worry about.

After a few minutes, he had them as close as he could get them. _I think this'll have to do. Now comes the hard part..._ "I'm ready, Buraimon!"

"Good! If there is any error in your reflections, state so immediately so we can break off the attack and avoid breaking the timing-go!" He stopped himself as the energy balls shot out again, and then there was no more room for discussion, both focused entirely on their targets.

They swung in perfect harmony, reflecting all four in unison back at their respective launchers. The batting back and forth became steadily quicker and quicker, from a few seconds of prep time to barely a second between blows. Onyxvargmon had to contend with both the downtime and the unsteadiness created by Buraimon's rapid adjustments; it was speed unlike any he'd ever had to deal with in an enemy digimon, but somehow he persevered, and their final deflections sailed through and crashed into the launchers. With all four disabled, the energy surge that should have fired them could do nothing but build up, and they exploded, leaving the access point free for the taking.

Buraimon swooped towards the opening and allowed Onyxvargmon to disembark. "Exceptional performance, Onyxvargmon."

"Same to you," Onyxvargmon replied. "I owe you, there's no way I could have gotten in alone. Wonder if that wasn't intentional."

"Perhaps it might have been. I must go rejoin the battle...good luck to you, and I await the results of your efforts."

"You and me both. Stay safe, Buraimon."

(==========)

(==========)

Whoo, battle royale! Figure all that side stuff should be good for something. This is one of those points I wish I could animate something, it would probably work a lot better in that format. It's tough to try to write out something like this, and I doubt I did it all that well. Eh, maybe I'll revisit it later and try to improve it.

I'm one of those people who likes patterns and routines. So when I'm writing this stuff, it usually goes that I set it up in a specific character focus pattern, and only after the fact do I try to vary it up (because the same pattern every time just gets kinda old after a while). I didn't do that this time, though, because it had already taken long enough to finish and that would have added even more to the writing.

Next chapter could be a rather shortish one. A combination of limited writing time and what I'm writing for it. On the plus side, that means I should be able to get it out in two weeks, and there'll still be plenty of activity, which if you read this chapter through you can probably guess what it'll be.

I want to take a moment to thank my reviewers! I don't think I do this enough. I'm glad people are giving me feedback and letting me know what they think. There've been a lot of poeple with a lot of kind words, and that really sticks with me! I'm glad for anything, because it tells me that I'm keeping people entertained and engaged, and that's what I'm hoping to do.


	52. Chapter 51: General Threat

Late late late late laaaaaate. The first full week of September kicked my ass back and forth, just one thing after another, and it left me with little time or energy to write. If I never have another week like that it'll be too soon. But I FINALLY got done with this, and I hope it's all right. Enjoy!

(By the way, feel free to point out errors, I moved some things around and I'm not sure I got all the formatting properly ironed out.)

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 51: General Threat**

_The belly of the beast...it seems so benign inside, just like a recently-built office building, functional but not quite pleasing to the eyes. They must've just finished it...or maybe not even. Maybe it was a rush job...that would be like them, thinking they could get away with that._

Thundergarudamon moved slowly, wary of any danger that might be coming her way. So far, it had been quiet; the entrance hadn't been guarded beyond the strange bubble weapon, and there hadn't been any digimon or other types of threats lying in wait. Though she got the feeling it could be because where she was didn't seem to have had a lot of traffic in the first place.

_Maybe they just don't want anyone down here. I guess I'd be kind of concerned if it was easy to get access here, too...anyone could just come in and break the prisoners out. Just like I'm about to, so maybe it's a valid concern. But nothing automated? Maybe they just didn't get a chance to install them..._

The path got darker as she got further inside. She felt herself picking up the pace despite her apprehension; though she had the shortest distance to her target, it was also the most dangerous, being the closest to the reactor without actually being at the reactor like Pyrekomodomon. And that meant if it went up, she was in the most likely place to be caught up in it. Without any way of telling where the others were or how much they had accomplished, she knew time was of the essence.

The passage she was going through was eerily small, too small for any digimon more than moderately sized to get through easily; she wondered if it wasn't to make it more difficult for anyone to get out. The poor lighting might also have helped that; she was more thankful than ever for her strong vision, unhampered by the dimness.

A clunk behind her caused her to whip around. Someone had jumped down onto the floor from above; she hadn't even realized there was something that could open up above her. Whatever it was was almost as dark as the surroundings, making it tough to identify her even with her good eyes. "Who's there?"

"Your doom." The figure straightened up and pointed at her. "You've gone far enough. I won't let you do any more damage to us."

"You say that like you have a choice." Thundergarudamon drew her spear and held it at her side, quickly trying to plan her course of attack in the narrow space she was allotted. "Once again, who are you?"

"My name is Kuzuhamon. I am one of the Generals under the command of our leader. And for his sake, I'm going to stop you right here."

"Yeah, you already said that. Since when does Emperius have generals?"

"Since our commander dictated that we did. He wanted the best of us to be at his side, capable of organizing Emperius better than ever. Under him, we have had greater success than ever...at least, until you miserable creatures started getting in our way."

Thundergarudamon's gaze hardened. "Should I shed a tear for you? You've made countless lives miserable, tried to take control of one world and sterilize another. You've hurt a lot of people in both worlds, including many people I care deeply for. If you thought we were just going to let you get away with that, you're even more ignorant than I thought."

"You've no right to talk about being hurt, bird. I've seen more pain and suffering than you'll ever know in your life."

"Much of it caused by yourself, no doubt. That's stopping now. My friends and I are going to bring this thing to the ground and make sure Emperius can't use it to do any more damage than they've already done."

Kuzuhamon laughed darkly. "You haven't a chance. Your little partners in crime? They're going to see their own deaths soon, if they haven't already. You shouldn't have interfered with us...now you're going to pay dearly for it!"

"Just like all those other times, right?"

"You may have beaten others, but I'm far above them! I'll show you personally!" She rushed at Thundergarudamon, swinging her staff down harshly at the avian. Thundergarudamon blocked it with her spear, straining under the force but not breaking down, and kicked out at Kuzuhamon to give herself some breathing room. A second strike was dodged rather than blocked, and she countered with a slashing swipe of her own, which Kuzuhamon likewise avoided by jumping well backwards. Instead of jumping ahead again, she readied a different attack, her staff starting to glow with energy.

Thundergarudamon saw this and knew she had to act, lest Kuzuhamon use an attack that couldn't be avoided in the small hallway. She sprinted towards the knight, her body crackling with electricity as she threw herself into a tackle. "Coulomb Blitz!" She slammed shoulder-first into Kuzuhamon, releasing a strong burst of electricity that drove itself into the General. With a cry she was tossed back, tumbling across the ground and getting up somewhat slowly. Thundergarudamon quickly pulled her spear back out and set it surging with electric power. "Charging Yari!" She hurled the weapon at Kuzuhamon, who set up to block it, then got a shock of a different kind when the yari suddenly split apart in midair, forming a cluster of several identical projectiles. She tried to avoid, but it wasn't enough, as one caught her on the arm, slicing it open and delivering a nice nasty shock to boot. The split spears landed and disappeared, reforming into a single one in Thundergarudamon's hand.

"Gah...damn you! You shouldn't be even close to my power!" Kuzuhamon was trying very hard to ignore the pain and blood in her arm as she steeled herself for another attack. "You should be on the ground begging me for mercy!"

"I'm just getting started, Kuzuhamon!" Thundergarudamon ran and jumped at Kuzuhamon and swung her spear again, this time successfully blocked by Kuzuhamon's staff. "You're going to have to do better than that to keep up!"

"Arrogant bird! You think you're so much better than you are!" Kuzuhamon desperately tried to whack Thunderagrudamon with her staff, the latter jumping back safely away from the blow.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Who was it who was so insistent that they'd beat me before we started fighting?"

"At least I've reason to be confident! You've done nothing but peck at us, all you've done won't come to anything! Our victory might be impeded but never thwarted!" She leapt at Thundergarudamon again, and the staff met the spear again; almost immediately Thundergarudamon followed it up with a Fury Bolt, which hit Kuzuhamon full force and drove her back.

"I'm tired of hearing about your 'destined victory.' You're not that different from all the other idiots who've tried to wreck this world before, or the human world for that matter."

"You're wrong! We're different! We'll succeed where others failed! For too long, strong digimon have been looked down upon, treated like dirt just for existing! I won't allow that to continue! I'll use Emperius to carry out our revenge and bring us back to the status we deserve!"

"What in the world are you...wait, you're talking about dark-aligned digimon, aren't you?"

"Exactly! We've been denied our glory too long! Our commander knows this, he's one of us himself! He'll be all too eager to see my vision come to life! The strong ruling over the weak, as it should be!

Thundergarudamon let out a loud derisive laugh. "Are you kidding me? People hate and fear dark-aligned digimon for their history of terrorizing and killing them! You seriously think the best way to get back at them is to do exactly the same thing that's made them hate you in the first place?"

"If that's what they want out of me, then by the gods I'll give it to them! Our new world will be built on the bloody bodies of those who have hated us!" She raised her staff, which was beginning to glow ominously. "Starting with yours! Negative Spirit Strike!" With a flourish, she released a quartet of fox-like energy bursts, aligned with fire, wind, water, and thunder, all tinged with the dark energy of her essence. They crowded the hallway, leaving no room for Thundergarudamon to dodge all of them. Thinking fast, she waited until the last moment, then put herself right in front of the thunder-aligned one. It hit full-force, throwing her back slightly, but not gravely damaging her.

It was then that she realized she had been going about this battle all wrong. _What am I doing? I can use the small space to my advantage as well! Dang it, I could've been done with this ages ago!_

She unleashed a Fury Bolt, spreading it wide and ensuring that Kuzuhamon had nowhere to go to avoid taking it. Before her foe could recover, she followed it up with an Electron Web, putting it up right in front of her and barring her from getting close without suffering another nasty jolt. As Kuzuhamon tried to figure her way around it, Thundergarudamon took her chance, raising her hand and unleashing a Thunder Cross.

Had Kuzuhamon not gotten out of the way of the center of the attack, she might have been finished; as it was, she got winged by it and was still hit with enough force that she was thrown back and tossed against the ground roughly a second time. She tried to rise again, and found that her right arm refused to move. "Agh...no, not this, not now..."

"Not so confident now, are you?" Thundergarudamon taunted, charging a Lightning Bomb in one hand. "Don't worry, I'll finish this fast, so you don't have to dwell on it."

"Grr...you bitch, I'm not through yet!" She raised her staff with her one good arm as Thundergarudamon through the Lightning Bomb. "Obsidian Sphere!" A black crystalline barrier appeared around Kuzuhamon, blocking the Lightning Bomb and dissipating it harmlessly. Thundergarudamon scowled and readied another Lightning Bomb for when the barrier went down, but no sooner had it disappeared than Kuzuhamon jumped up, through the opening she had entered through. She tried throwing the Lightning Bomb anyway, but even with good aim she wasn't at an angle where she could get it more than a small ways through, and she knew it hadn't hit.

"Next time...next time, you won't be so lucky..." she heard quietly from above her.

She huffed quietly. _You just keep thinking it was luck...you'll do about as well next time as you did this time._ She turned and hurried down the hallway; the battle had taken a lot of time, and now she knew she had to hurry if she wanted to save the Libertius captives and herself from an explosive end.

(==========)

Quietly, quickly, Onyxvargmon slipped through the hallways, unseen by anyone or anything. The poor lighting of the corridors in this area was what had drawn him to the entrance he'd chosen in the first place; it was perfect for him, right in his element, and he relished every moment of it.

And it was working out for him quite well. Digimon were scrambling around the Weapon, trying to rally Emperius' defenses against the onslaught outside, and inevitably a few came cascading in his direction. With the distraction of the chaos and the limited range of vision, simply ducking off to the side and staying low kept him from being seen even as they passed within inches of him. He couldn't have asked for better.

It couldn't last, though, and as he got closer to a more traveled area the lighting improved drastically, preventing him from hiding away. _All good things must come to an end, I suppose...perhaps the ones who passed by me unaware will consider themselves lucky that they didn't notice and try to fight._

He picked up the pace as he became more visible, trying to get as far along his path as he could before someone picked up on his presence and started putting up some obstacles in his way. He'd gone over the route he needed to take a thousand times in his mind, and the last thing he wanted was anything forcing him to divert from that course, where he would be traveling all but blind. _Perhaps it would have been prudent to learn more than one route by heart...but there wasn't exactly much time to get everything squared away._

Soon he came to a large room, oblong in shape and possessed of a large, sturdy window from which a portion of the battle outside could be seen. Standing in front of the window was a knight garbed in dark, vaguely leopard-ish winged armor, who turned expectantly as Onyxvargmon entered the room. He pointed his rapier at the canine with an air of impatience. "That's enough. You'll go no further."

Onyxvargmon grinned, making a point of showing his fangs in a mild act of aggression. "Is that so? And I suppose you're the one with designs to stop me, Duftmon?"

"Tries and succeeds. I will not let our victory be waylaid any longer by you tainted ones."

"Tainted ones...you know, I was under the impression that Emperius valued strength no matter what the source. But I've heard that phrase uttered more than once from your ilk. Is that somehow untrue now?"

"Perhaps I'd be more willing to soften my tongue if you weren't so insistent on trying to get in our way. I don't have any patience for those who constantly try to undermine our glory and prevent our wonderful world from coming into existence."

"What a coincidence. My patience is likewise woefully short for idiots who subjugate and destroy anyone who doesn't follow them mindlessly."

"One could say you do the same thing."

Onyxvargmon's grin broadened at that response. "You're really going to try that line? Don't make me laugh. For one thing, we're hardly one to promote mindlessness. Can't blame us for the fact that a moment's real thought about what you stand for is enough to see the absurdity of it."

Duftmon's eyes narrowed at the canid. "I'll make you eat those words, dog."

"You sound stressed out. I take it things aren't going well for you on the outside?"

"Quiet! We've faced challenges before, and we've come out on top! This will be no different! And I'll make sure we make gains against your kind as well!" Duftmon ran forward, swinging down hard with his sword, a move which Onyxvargmon saw coming from far away and easily evaded, and then countered with three blows directly to Duftmon's chest, knocking him away.

"I recommend you compose yourself before attempting to engage me, Duftmon." His tone was somewhat taunting, as if trying to make that very accomplishment all the more difficult. "Such frenzied attacks are too predictable and serve only to make a quick end to the battle for the other side."

"I don't need any help from you, you menace!" snapped Duftmon. "I've had a blade in my hands longer than you or whatever you're made of has existed!"

Onyxvargmon simply smirked. "Then prove it."

"...You must have little fear of death, to call for it so openly."

"Oh, I have a healthy fear of death. You've simply given me no reason to think you can bring it."

"Then maybe this will satisfy you!" Duftmon lashed out again, this time more controlled as he tried to move around Onyxvargmon's defenses. The primary disadvantage quickly became clear as Onyxvargmon parryed with his left-hand sword, then struck out with his right, only barely sidestepped by Duftmon, who soon was forced back by repeated slices and slashes that he could barely make out for their speed. Soon Onyxvargmon scored a particularly fierce blow on the knight, who was knocked back, armor crackling as a protective energy desperately tried to blunt the blow.

Onyxvargmon chuckled approvingly as Duftmon quickly tried to right himself. "Protective enhancements...so your confidence doesn't outstrip your ability to think intelligently. You might be a modern miracle."

"Grh...shut up already! How can you be so fast? It doesn't seem possible!"

"Surely you're not conceding so quickly? I expected more from someone who calls himself a General of Emperius!"

"Of course not! I'll put an end to you yet!" He raised his sword straight out, forming a crackling black ball of energy at the tip. "Black Aura Blast!" The ball fired off the end at Onyxvargmon, who raised a hand to counter. "Sable Ray!"

The black beam fired, hitting the ball dead center. Both attacks stopped cold, diffusing quietly and harmlessly in the air between them. Onyxvargmon blinked in surprise. "Well...that was...markedly less impressive than I was expecting or hoping. I has aspirations of an explosive outcome."

"I suppose our energies are too attuned to each other to react like that. I shall...have to put you on the end of my blade then." Duftmon's voice had gained the sudden tint of someone who had just found out he was in for a lot more trouble than he had originally expected, a fact which did not get by Onyxvargmon.

"Something tells me you're not too sure of that happening."

"I will make it happen. I can't afford to lose here, not with so much riding on it!"

The two squared off again, and this time Onyxvargmon made the first move, rushing in and pushing Duftmon back with a few quick swings that were meant to intimidate more than damage. It worked, putting Duftmon on the defensive and giving him more time to ramp up the force and speed, working Duftmon into a corner. The knight realized his predictament only too late, and desperately tried to get around, forced to endure some clean blows from the blinding blades that were pushing his armor's defensive mechanisms to the limit. He stared down the canine, who was showed few signs of wear himself. "You're...I knew from reports that you were good, but I never expected this..."

"Hardly atypical. Most of Emperius has underestimated their opposition, be it Libertius, ourselves, or others."

"I suppose I have to admit that failing on our part. Why didn't you join us? When you had the chance? You would have easily been one of Emperius' generals, with your power."

"You already know my motivations." Onyxvargmon worked Duftmon yet again, soon getting him into another corner. Rather than try the same risky escape, Duftmon leapt up onto the wall and flipped over Onyxvargmon, parrying quickly as the canine tried to catch him on the landing.

"I suppose I know them, but I don't understand them. You could have not only made Emperius a force to be reckoned with, but been look up to, practically revered. And you don't want this at all?"

"Like I said, you already know where I stand. You seem desperate for me to say something else, though. What's the matter, starting to realize that it's not all about power?"

"Bite your tongue!"

Onyxvargmon stuck it out instead. "Caughtcha. You didn't deny it."

"Whatever doubts I may have will be dispelled after our victory!" He came at Onyxvargmon again, his swing easily parried and countered, the tip of the sword once again scratching against his armor. Onyxvargmon didn't let up, following up and driving him back into a corner again, where Duftmon once again made use of his own agility to get up and over. Onyxvargmon decided to speed things up a bit and re-engaged Duftmon, giving him no time to prepare himself.

"I think I'm too good for you, Duftmon."

"I refuse to accept that!"

"Shock and amazement. Tell me, why are you fighting for something you don't truly believe in? Doesn't seem satisfying to me."

Duftmon blocked a particularly fierce blow and stumbled back. "What do you care?"

Onyxvargmon slashed again, putting Duftmon on the run in an effort to avoid being cornered yet again. "Enough to ask the question, not enough to not kill you before I have the answer."

Duftmon had just a moment to sneak in with a swing, which Onyxvargmon quickly dodged. He tried to follow it up but the lupine was too fast, a quick parry and thrust forcing him back on the defensive. "Damn you and your speed..."

"Damn me all you want, it won't get you anywhere." He jumped in and knocked Duftmon's sword away, then stabbed hard into his chest. A blast sent him shooting backwards, landing hard on the ground several feet from Duftmon, who was on one knee, white sparks dancing around his armor, the protective enhancement having overloaded and failed. The knight scrambled to retrieve his sword as Onyxvargmon got to his feet. "I suppose you're done now?"

"No...I may be putting myself in more danger, but I still have to try to stop you."

"You believe this is worth your life?"

Duftmon stared down Onyxvargmon, clearly reluctant to engage again. "Tell me...have you ever looked at your life and realized that you had done nothing worth noting? That once you were gone, the sum of your actions would amount to nothing anyone would remember?"

Onyxvargmon raised an eyebrow. "I have to profess I've never felt that way."

"...It figures. Youth rarely does." He charged forward again, and was quickly repelled by another speedy sword assault from Onyxvargmon. "That's the reason I'm here. I cannot stand the thought of having done nothing, being invisible to history. I intend to leave my mark however I may! This is the opportunity that came to me, and though I may not be certain of the cause now, I am confident I will be vindicated!"

"You know that those who seek glory for glory's sake are rarely satisfied with the outcome, right?"

"Again, you're too young to understand. When the years have started to wear on you, you'll realize how I feel."

"Probably not." Onyxvargmon zipped ahead and landed a few solid blows on Duftmon, one slash finally cutting through the armor on Duftmon's sword arm and drawing blood. "At least in the human world, they're going to have a hard time forgetting us."

"They won't remember you if we have our way. You'll be nothing, insignificant to time!" Duftmon's swings were becoming slower, the pain in his arm making it difficult for him to maintain his tempo. Onyxvargmon took advantage, swooping in and nailing him with several quick swipes, Duftmon barely escaping from a final killing thrust. "Rgh...I can't believe this..."

"A familiar refrain from Emperius," Onyxvarmgon riposted. "I don't mean to be overconfident, but I have serious doubts that you are capable of overcoming me."

"...I'll accept that in this instance. But I refuse to let you make all we've worked for come to nothing. You'll see what we're capable of in time, dog, and then you'll be the one begging for mercy."

Duftmon scampered through the nearest doorway, Onyxvargmon quickly making chase. He had the speed on Duftmon, but the knight had just enough distance to get to an elevator and slam the doors shut before Onyxvargmon could reach him. Onyxvargmon growled at the missed opportunity, but quickly put it aside. _I'll catch him afterwards. He's not in good shape,he won't get far. I guess bringing down the Weapon is what matters most right now._

(==========)

Pyrekomodomon was almost disappointed that no one had come to meet him when he got into the Weapon. All the chaos outside had gotten his fires burning, and he was anxious to release some of that energy. _Where is everyone? Do they want me to just take out the reactor like nothing? C'mon, I wanna roast something!_

He charged through an empty hallway, eyes darting around rapidly for any sign of anything hostile. Nothing came out at him, until he reached an intersection with a fork in the road. Recalling the plan they'd gone over, he immediately turned to the right, and got a faceful of weaponry, several different guns emerging from ports in the walls.

The sight of the new threat only brought a vicious grin to Pyrekomodomon's face. _It's not living stuff, but hey, it'll do._

He jumped as the weapons opened fire, quickly slashing the nearest one and launching a fireball from his mouth at the next. He leapt onto the side wall, then the ceiling, and launched himself into a jump kick at the next nearest gun, knocking it clean off it's bearings. A Searing Wave along the wall cleaned off the remaining dangers on that side, leaving him with little to contend with to knock out the last two on the other.

_Is that all? Guess they didn't concern themselves with the inside nearly as much as the outside._

He took off again, soon reaching a right turn in the path. He took it fast, then screeched to a halt as his eyes finally spotted something alive. A Blackwargreymon was standing at the opposite end of the hall, leaning forward in a battle-ready stance. "You! I'm gonna tear you to pieces, you piece of trash!"

"Gee, isn't that a nice welcome," Pyrekomodomon shot back brashly. "If you think you can take me on without getting hurt, go for it. Don't think I'm gonna go easy on you, though."

"Shut your trap! I'm no pushover! The commander made me one of his generals because of my power! I'll show you what you get when you mess with the best!"

"Generals? Never heard about Emperius having Generals before. Well, then, maybe if we cut off the head the rest of the body will die, too! Searing Wave!" He let loose a jet of fire through the hall, wide enough that there was no chance of Blackwargreymon evading it. He didn't bother, instead bringing forth his shield and charging headlong through the flames. Pyrekomodomon didn't see it until he got close, and only barely cut off the attack in time to take evasive action, ducking and rolling underneath the charge and trying to leap up and punch at the reptilian's head.

Blackwargreyon was ready; he turned on a dime, put away the shield, and raised a gauntlet to block the blow. At the last possible moment, Pyrekomodomon switched from a punch to a grab and hurled his body over Blackwargreymon's counterpunch, getting a knee to the dark warrior's head before he was tossed away. He flipped back to his feet and then jumped back quickly as Blackwargreymon punched down at him. _Well, he wasn't kidding about being tougher than the others. Still, no way he's gonna stop me._

He surged forth, sweeping right by another punch from Blackwargreymon and hammering his chest plate with a leaping punch up, another down, and then a whirling kick that tossed his foe backwards. Blackwargreymon landed on his feet and skidded slightly, quickly regaining his bearings and charging forward for another counterattack. Again Pyrekomodomon tried to roast him with a Searing Wave, and again Blackwargreymon was quick enough on the draw to raise his shield up. The fire lizard didn't wait to see if it had worked, dropping the flames and bracing himself for the charge again. This time, however, Blackwargreymon had something different in mind, and formed an orb of energy in his hand. "Take this!"

He tossed the orb at Pyrekomodomon, who leapt over it and then was knocked forward as it exploded behind him, tossing him right into Blackwargreymon. He managed to get some control and twist to avoid a deadly slash from the reptile's gauntlets, but not the kick that followed. He went flying backwards this time, hitting the ground roughly and then popping back up again, eyes blazing. "Now you're pissing me off!"

"About time it was turned around! You've been in our way for too long! We never should have allowed you to live long enough to become a real threat to us!"

"What, you thought we'd just stand there while you sent everyone to their deaths? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm the one who's finally going to be where I belong once we've destroyed you fools and taken our rightful place in the world! I will be the one true god and ruler of this pathetic world, as I should be!"

"Oh, I get it now. You're a complete psycho."

"Grah! You won't last long enough to regret that!" Blackwargreymon came at him again, and a third time Pyrekomodomon made with the flames. This time it was a bluff, and as Blackwargreymon raised his shield, Pyrekomodomon sprinted at him. Blackwargreymon lowered the shield and then quickly raised it again as he saw the lizard coming. He slammed his fist into the shield one, two, three, four, five times, then reared back and leveled a final blow hard enough to send Blackwargreymon flying again. "Ragh! Bastard, you'll pay for that!"

"What was that? I can't hear you over the sound of me kicking your ass."

Still the dark warrior wasn't about to quit, and he picked himself up yet again and threw another energy orb at Pyrekomodomon, who was rushing to follow up. With a quick one-armed redirect, he tossed himself out of the orb's way and leapt at Blackwargreymon, throwing himself into a flying punch which his foe blocked with his gauntlets. A moment later, the shockwave from the energy ball hit them both, tossing them down the hallway, still grappling with each other.

Blackwargreymon got the upper hand and walloped Pyrekomodomon into the ground, the fire lizard hitting hard and bouncing back up, getting enough control of himself to launch an Infernal Fang back at Blackwargreymon, who had no time to shield himself this time and roared in pain and rage as the flames seared him and turned his armor red-hot. Pyrekomodomon only had a few seconds to keep the attack up as he scrambled to land more safely, giving Blackwargreymon enough time to regain his own footing and send another energy ball his way. This time he took the evasive action, jumping back several times to get away from the brunt of the shockwave. With some distance between him and his enemy now, he took advantage of the opportune moment.

"Raging Wildfire!" A burst of energy ran through him as his body lit up in flames. The new energy, combined with the boost from the Fire Fragment, had his heart, mind, body all on the razor's edge, every movement and sense amplified multifold, and his temper at its hottest it had ever been. He had had enough of the battle, he had more important things to deal with, and Blackwargreymon was just another idiot getting in the way. _He thinks he's a god? Well, let's see how this alleged god likes it when he comes face to face with the devil's inferno!_

With a feral roar he tore towards Blackwargreymon, practically a blur of flame and fury. The dark reptile thought he was ready, and had barely a moment to be astonished as Pyrekomodomon slipped through his guard. A fist slammed into his chest with startling power, throwing him backwards. He slammed into the ground and bounced up, scarcely back in the air when Pyrekomodomon was on him again, hammering him back down with a heel drop which pushed the fire lizard up at the same time as it drove Blackwargreymon down. With a quick flip he inverted himself, got his feet on the ceiling, and impelled himself right down at the prone warrior, the third punch hitting hard enough to send deep cracks spidering through the armor. The force of the blow kept him going, and he somersaulted through the air and screeched to a halt, whipping around to see Blackwargreymon rising again. He was definitely the worse for wear, and clearly not ready to keep up the assault this time around.

"Gragh...damn you..." the heavy pants were underlined with definite pain. "How can you...be so frickin'...powerful?"

"Impressive. You're still not dead. Doesn't make you a god, though."

"Bastard! You...you know I'd wipe the floor with you...if we weren't in this tiny hallway! It's too...constrained, I hate fighting in small spaces!"

"Yeah, yeah, you just keep in yammering," Pyrekomodomon snapped back with absolutely no sympathy. "You want your death hot or cold?"

"Not today...I'll let you win this round, but I'm not going to let you take my life! Not when I'm this close to my deserved place in this world!" Blackwargreymon launched another energy orb, which Pyrekomodomon countered with his Searing Wave, causing it to explode early and only hit him with mild shockwaves. Once again, though, Blackwargreymon had ducked behind his shield, and by the time Pyrekomodomon could give pursuit, he had vanished around the far corner of the hallway.

He almost gave pursuit, but after a moment's thought, decided against it. _Last thing I want is to get myself mucked up in some ambush...he knows this place better than I do, he'd be at an advantage even while weakened. Besides, he can't guard the reactor by going that way...if the explosion doesn't kill him, I'll have plenty of time to finish the job later._

With that in mind, he turned on his heel and stormed down the hallway, intent on clearing out anything that decided to be foolish enough to get in the way of his destination.

(==========)

Stormdramon was ready for anything, possibly excepting nothing at all. But nothing was what he got, and despite being constantly at the ready, no one seemed to be coming at him.

_Weird, you'd think they'd have these places guarded! Either they're stupid or all their guards ate it outside and that's why they needed all that extra protection!_

He zipped down a hatch and found himself in a rather small room that connected several hallways. At one end of the room was the first sign of life he'd seen inside the Weapon, and one glance at him told Stormdramon that he had been waiting for him. It was a rather large draconic digimon, with an angular head and short narrow snout, long Z-shaped horns, white and red body scales, digitigrade legs, a long tail, and colorful armor adorning his forearms and chest.

"You are the Stormdramon, yes?"

"Yep, I'm THE Stromdramon!" he cackled, fangs bared, as he stared down the larger dragon. "And you're the Zeedramon! I'm guessing you're here because you wanna 'mtryingtodo?"

"...You talk very fast. It is hard to understand you."

"Yeahyeahyeah, I get that a lot! If you don't wanna talk I can just put a blade through your chest and be done with it!"

Zeedramon cocked his head. "You are very eager one. You seem to think you can defeat me."

"We'll, I've come this far, I think I stand a pretty good shot!"

"Hm. I am intrigued by your confidence...I wish to see if it is supported by your ability." He motioned towards one of the hallways to his right. "Through there is the open sky, a battleground of perfection if ever there was one."

"Nuh-uh! Not happening! I've got a job to do, I'm stayin' right in here where I can do it! You wanna fight, let's do it right here, right now!"

"This is not good environment for battle between us-"

Stormdramon snarled. "Shut it! I promised I'd take this thing outta the sky, and you are NOT gonna make me break my promises!"

Zeedramon seemed startled by the sudden reaction from the other dragon. "...Very well. If so insisted, we shall engage in combat in here."

"Yeah, it's so insisted! Get ready for the smackdown!" With only that warning he blitzed Zeedramon, halberd in hand, leaping at the larger dragon in a reckless charge. Zeedramon was caught off-guard by the sudden assault and raised an arm protectively, the halberd smacking his armor with a loud TANG. With impressive force, the blue dragon launched himself forward using his momentum from the connection, flipping over Zeedramon and kicking him in the back of the head, causing him to stagger forward, slightly dazed.

"Hurricane Blast!" The speedy followup attack gave Zeedramon no quarter, buffeting him with strong whirling winds and throwing him off even more. Desperately he slashed out with his claws, preventing Stromdramon from rushing in again and giving him a moment to catch his breath. His initial charge frustrated, Stormdramon changed tack and launched a Storm Ray at the other dragon, hitting him square and throwing him across the room.

Zeedramon was on his feet again quickly, and this time he managed to get off an actual counterattack. "Crushing Blast!" A dozen basketball-sized orbs formed in the air around Zeedramon, and shot forth, exploding with considerable force over a wide area in front of the dragon. Stormdramon got low, taking some of the shockwave of the blasts but avoiding the brunt of the attack. _That jerk! I know that's not the most he could put into that! He'd better not be taking me lightly!_

He scrambled forward as soon as the attack let up, charging for another swipe with his halberd. Zeedramon was ready this time, as his left-hand claws suddenly glowed bright white. "Ferocity Claw!" He slashed down at Stormdramon, who leapt up and over and brought his halberd back to thrust at Zeedramon. Quickly, Zeedramon brought his hand back up to slam into Stormdramon, tossing him into the air safely away from himself. Stormdramon landed on his feet, panting but still energized. "C'mon! You can do more than that!"

"Too grave of risk of damaging the Weapon. I cannot afford to put forth my full power, not here."

"Bah, who cares? We're gonna be wiping it out anyway, let it get a little scuffed up!"

"There is not guarantee of that incidence occurring. I would show you much more out in the open skies, but you have denied that possibility already."

"Fine! Be that way! Cyclone Pillar!" With a flourish, Stormdramon launched a powerful whirlwind along the floor at Zeedramon, who managed to jump out of the way just in time. He raised his hand and formed a suspicious whirling orb above it. "Impact Sphere!" He fired the orb right at Stormdramon, who jumped into the air and used his jets to shoot himself away from the impact zone. The orb smashed into the ground and let loose an explosion of energy, only spreading a few meters out, far less than Stormdramon had expected. _Aw, seriously?_

Zeedramon was already forming another orb, no larger than the one before. He tossed it, seemingly half-heartedly, and Stormdramon easily skirted it and ran at him, slashing wildly with his halberd and sending blades of wind energy his way. These struck Zeedramon and forced him into a defensive position, while Stormdramon hammered him with slashes and more twisters until he managed to lash out and knock him back once more. The blue dragon went tumbling, but quickly picked himself back up yet again. "Hah! Whaddaya call that? That was nothing! Come on, come at me!"

Surprisingly, Zeedramon shook his head. "No. No more. I am done for now."

"You...what? Hey, wait a sec, the heck're you talkin' about?"

"You have quite some power within you, there is no question otherwise. But I sense you have not shown your full capability...you, too, are holding back, whether it is realized or not."

"Huh? Well, I guess I can't do as much in this tiny room, like you said. But I'm not leaving here just for the fight!"

"That was not exactly what I had in mind, but is not for any dispute." Zeedramon stood up, his body and armor revealing the toll of the battle and his demeanor as far from aggressive as possible. "It would be of great disappointment for this to be decided here, when neither of us can truly do what we should. I wish to part and prepare myself for our next encounter."

Stormdramon wasn't quite sure if this was a trick or not. "What...you know, you're kinda weird. Most of Emperius can't wait to take my head off, and you're sayin' you want to wait until I'm even stronger! What's the deal? I thought all you guys were about just showing off as the strongest of everything!"

Again, Zeedramon shook his head. "Such a mind is of faulty thought. Even our young leader grasps this understanding. He knows that the world does require more than pure power for its functions...it was his reasoning for us to be less of a force of chaos than to be of control and dominance. As to myself, I reject even that."

"Wait...you don't think that way? Then...why the heck are you here?"

"There exists not more for me in this world. Twice before I had belief of being of something of meaning and importance, to be working along to with others who were of the same mind. Twice, in which I was shown hopelessness in its essence...at Gradwen, watching all I had lived for and worked for to be taken away without remorse...at Nikia, in the South, where I had built of myself and others something to work for, and saw it ripped to pieces before me. Twice, fate deigns to take everything from me, yet failed to complete its course by taking myself as well." He gazed at Stormdramon, an odd mixture of sadness and stoicism in his features. "I am tired. There is such a thing as too much loss for a life. I am here, though I reject what it means, for what it provides despite that. The essence of victory, should it be in defiance of my belief, may keep me from the loss once more, but should it be like so many ghosts, I believe I shall finally be brought down with it, as it should be. If I am to have my final moments, I should wish them to be spectacular...one last awakening before I sleep. That is why I must wait. I know you will give me that awakening, and I believe, most likely, that sleep. But it will happen not here."

He turned and started towards one of the branching halls from the room. In front of the opening, he stopped again. "I expect it likely you know where you must want to go. I will oppose no more. Others are certain to do the opposite. Do not make me fear that my desires should go unfulfilled once more."

Stormdramon quickly shook off pallor over his mood. "Hey, if you're wanting someone to give you a hell of a battle, you can bet I'll do it! You've got a promise, Zeedramon, I'll give you the battle of a lifetime!"

"...And you do not break your promises."

"Never!"

"Then I shall put my reliance on that. Until we meet again." With that, Zeedramon marched off, his form fading into the darkness of the corridor in front of him. Stormdramon was left alone, still somewhat bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

"...Jeez. Way to make me actually feel sorry for someone in Emperius." He let out a long, forlorn sigh. _I mean, he actually seems like a decent guy...then again, maybe it's because he's not one of those mindless hate machines like most of the others we've seen. I don't really get why he does this...well, if that's what he wants, he'll get it, and get it good._

(==========)

Stealth was out of the question as Cyberrexmon clanked through the hallways, ready to fire at anything that might come his way. He'd found it odd that the access point had been devoid of guards, but that was quickly rectified as various members of Emperius heard him make his way through the hallway. He'd blasted a few of them to kingdom come, but most had just taken off.

_Guess my reputation precedes me. Or they're going for back-up. Either way, I'd better not dally._

After a while he came to the ned of the hallway, where a large, heavy gate with a computerized access panel stood on his right. He had seen this in the schematics, and while it was supposed to be quite secure, he was confident he could interface with it and get through without much trouble. However, before he could get started, his sensors alerted him to a powerful digimon coming towards him through the hallway. That was bad news; he wouldn't be able to crack the code quickly enough to escape, and that left him stuck at a dead end. _Guess it's time for a battle. Hope this won't take too long, Pyrekomodomon's probably waiting for me..._

He turned and stood ready as the digimon came into sight. Instantly his database brought up information on him; he recognized him as someone he'd seen on the battlefield before, but never engaged himself. "Carcharomon. Surprised you were able to restrain yourself from going after us this long."

The sharkman growled slightly, irritated that he'd lost the element of surprise. He was large, taller and broader even than Cyberrexmon and extremely muscular, with the familiar grayish-white coloring of the legendary great white. "Well, well, if it isn't a big hunk of metal with some flesh attached."

Cyberrexmon was nonplussed. "Was that supposed to be intimidating?"

"Doesn't matter if it was or not. You'll more than intimidated enough once I've kicked your ass into a tin can. I'm tired of you and your ilk getting in our way."

"Well, prepared to be more tired, then, because we're not stopping. You brought this on yourselves with your scorched-earth approach. Did you think the humans wouldn't fight back?"

"Of course they were going to fight back. They weren't supposed to do it effectively! And it's the same goddamn thing all over again, they don't even really fight!"

"Oh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Carcharomon snorted. "They hide behind their tools and their bombs, pretending like that makes them strong. Much the same as you...putting all that metal on you, trying to make it look like you're something when you're not! Real fighting is about your own strength and natural ability! Your own flesh and blood!"

Cyberrexmon snickered disdainfully. "Sounds like someone's just whining that he can't define the rules."

"Once we've taken our rightful place in the world, that's just what we'll do! Real strength is what will matter, not this artificial crap that everyone's trying to hide behind!"

The cyborg dino couldn't help a cheeky smirk. "And this behemoth?"

"Wasn't my idea in the slightest." Carcharomon's acrid tone could have eaten a hole in the wall. "The other generals overruled me. I suppose it's a matter of necessity, if they're going to hide behind their artificial power then we have to match it. Then our superior natural power will be the real trump card!"

"Emperius has generals now? Interesting, I'll have to remember that. Now, are you going to run along, or do I have to get painful?"

"Neither! I'm going to grind you into dust, and then find the rest of your little buddies and finish them off the same way, if the others haven't already done the deed! You shouldn't act so smarmy, you can't hold a candle to real power!"

"We'll see about that. I'm not in the habit of losing...I prefer to remain superior technology."

"Hah! Superior technology is NOTHING compared to superior biology! You've never seen a war machine like this before! Everything designed perfectly to obliterate all that stands in its path! It could destroy you before you even knew what was going on!"

"If you think that's the case, then bring it!" Cyberrexmon unleashed his Hailstorm Rail Gun, firing barrages of metal right at Carcharomon and hoping for a quick end to the interruption. In response, Carcharomon raised his arms in front of him and formed a barrier in the air. "Soul Barricade!" The bullets smashed against the screen and fell harmlessly to the ground, eliciting an irritated growl from Cyberrexmon.

Carcharomon lowered the barrier as soon as the fire let up and charged forward, fist raised to pound against the cyborg dino. "Hammer Drive!" Despite the close quarters, Cyberrexmon found space to duck to the side and let Carcharomon get past him, then blasted him from close range with his Tera Blaster. The shots pummeled against the sharkman, and he scrambled to get away, but found nowhere to go. Failing that, he swing around and raised an arm out at Cyberrexmon. "Oceanic Blow!" A burst of water flared out from the air and slammed into Cyberrexmon, driving him back and arresting his fire.

"Hyper Blast!" A fast-paced ball of pure energy followed up the watery strike, Cyberrexmon avoiding by bare millimeters as it pounded into the wall past him, leaving a glowing streak in its wake. He lit up the hall with his Tera Blaster once again, Carcharomon dancing through the attack and trying again to get up close to land a punch on him. The pace was getting faster and faster as Carcharomon edged ever closer, taking only a few glancing shots, until Cyberrexmon gained the upper hand by landing a direct hit and laying it on heavy until Carcharomon finally raised his Soul Barricade again. "Grrr...damned robot!"

"Oh, quit whining. What did you think was gonna happen?"

"You shut up! I'm only just starting here, you wanna see what I'm capable of, I won't make you wait much longer!"

"I'd rather not wait at all." He started firing again as Carcharomon cast away the shield and charged, managed to get close but not close enough as Cyberrexmon shifted away from his attack and once again fired at him as he went by. The sharkman did a better job of not getting pounded the second time around, but Cyberrexmon had a lock on him and was ready for something more. "Reptile Rockets!" The rockets emerged from his shoulder, trying to home in on Carcharomon. Thinking fast, he let loose a Hyper Blast right into the fray, blowing up a couple of the rockets and setting off a chain reaction thanks to their being clustered in the small area.

The exploding missiles left enough smoke to cloud Cyberrexmon's vision and enough dust to temporarily chaff his sensors, and he tensed up and backed away defensively, unsure where Carcharomon was. It took only a few minutes for him to get a bead on him; he was on one knee a ways away, breathing heavily. Cyberrexmon thought he had gotten the advantage for a moment, but then saw the sharkman's eyes open, sharply squaring on him, and he realized with dread that he was about to be in big trouble.

He didn't need his sensors to tell him what was happening this time; Carcharomon was putting himself into a berserker rage. Every muscle in his body had gotten tighter, coils compressed beyond their limit just waiting to be unleashed; his rational mind was ceding control to a feral, monstrous, primal state, mindless and with only one goal in mind, the destruction of its enemy. It was a feared state for anyone having to face him down; he'd seen powerful allies run scared from Carcharomon when he was like this.

_And just my luck, I don't have anywhere to run._

He fired with his Tera Blaster again, and scored repeated direct hits with his cannon, but it didn't even slow Carcharomon; the rage state had bolstered his defenses and rendered him insensible to what damage he was taking. Without even so much as a token effort to avoid the barrage, he drove forward with a cry of "Hammer Drive!" and slammed Cyberrexmon back into the wall. He barely had time to register what had happened before the sharkman was on him again, giving him a good close-up of his wild eyes.

"Rage Slayer!" Now Carcharomon was really delivering a pounding, slamming his fists at top speed into Cyberrexmon, the cyborg enduring but starting to really feel the sting of the repeated blows. _He's gonna overpower me if I don't turn the tide quickly! I can't lose to him, not with everyone counting on me! I've got to...wait, that's it! That might give me the edge!_

He was barely able to hammer out a blow from the end of his gun to drive Carcharomon back, the sharkman speedily recovering and not breaking his rage for even a moment, trying to renew the assault on the battered dino. Cyberrexmon had but a second to act, and he took it. Rapidly his gun shifted, and he blasted a radiating wave over Carcharomon. The wave had more impact than he expected, stopping the sharkmon dead in his tracks and throwing him backwards. He staggered a few steps, then stumbled and fell to the ground, heaving.

Cyberrexmon held back, watching quietly, not sure whether Carcharomon was faking or his technique had gotten stronger. It soon seemed the latter was the case; the wave had drained Carcharomon, and he wasn't about to get up. Even the rage state he had been in had faded completely. "Wha...what the...hell did you...do to me, you metal...bastard?"

"I sealed your abilities."

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me. You won't be able to use them for a while. And it looks like it did a little more than that, too...guess that's from having advanced a stage since I wrote the program. You're not the first to experience it, I used that to help us wipe out Marsmon and Suijinmon."

"That...that's how you brought them down? Playing games...with your artificial tools? I wondered...how you could take out two Generals...should've known it was fakery..."

"Fakery? I don't think what you're experiencing right now is fakery. Complain all you want, but the facts are the facts. You're not gonna pose much more of a threat to me."

"Gah...you...damned machine! You're an insult to...anyone with real strength! No pride in yourself, in your real body..."

"And you have too much pride," Cyberrexmon shot back. "The world wasn't built on muscle alone. Strength is good, but it's not everything. You know this, you've taken advantage of it, and yet you still refuse to accept that simple truth. Why is that?"

"I don't have to explain myself to _you_. If you were truly strong, you'd already get it!"

"Tch. Guess you can still talk big. I'll put an end to that right now!" Cyberrexmon shifted to his claws and stabbed at the sharkman's head with his Titan Slicer. Unexpectedly, Carcharomon rolled away just in time, leaving Cyberrexmon's claws to embed in the floor. He pulled back and took a step back, defensively facing down Carcharomon, who was on his feet but was leaning heavily on the hall, looking half-dead, the last-second lifesaving move taking everything he had and then some. "You're still moving around? You Emperius guys just don't know when to die, do you?"

If looks could kill, Carcharomon probably would have sent everything in the Weapon to an untimely death with the unhinged glare he was giving Cyberrexmon. "You...you think you can win...with tools and trickery. I'll show you...that it's all for nothing! I'll make sure you see...what real strength is...and I'll make you pay for what you've made me do today!"

With that, Carcharomon broke into a stumbling run back down the hallway. Cyberrexmon quickly brought out his Tera Blaster and fired, but the sharkman managed to evade long enough to duck through a doorway. Cyberrexmon lowered his arm, not willing to give chase. _I don't have time to waste hunting him down, and who knows what else might be lying in wait._

He went back to the gate, feeling his own soreness becoming more prominent. _Oof...he really did a pretty good number on me...I'm glad I thought of that before he managed to do too much damage..._ With a quick flick of his wrist, a cable emerged and hooked up to the access panel. It took all of thirty seconds for the code to be cracked, and the gate began to slowly creak open. _Guess not everything in here can be that much of a challenge._

(==========)

(==========)

Hm, talk about being chatty during battle. That's what I get for using dialogue as a crutch, I guess. I'm trying to work on that, but all the extra circumstances made that more difficult than it should have been.

The Silent Insomniac mentioned that he wanted to see me focus on the emotive side of fighting rather than just descriptive. I don't know that I exactly succeeded here, but I tried to kind of split the difference, engaging some descriptiveness but also trying to get into the heads of the fighters at the same time. Feedback is welcome.

Now I just need the time to knock out the next chapter. Wish me luck, I need some of that lately.


	53. Chapter 52: Fall Of The Weapon

OH MY GOD THIS TOOK SO FREAKING LONG-

*cough cough* Sorry about that. But it has been too long since an update. Sorry. School, sickness, writer's block, and other things made this a real challenge, not to mention that it ended up being one of the longest chapters I've written - AFTER I split off the last part into what will be the next chapter. So, hopefully, the next part won't take quite so long.

Anyway, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 52: Fall Of The Weapon**

"_THEY'RE WHAT?_"

"I-i-i-inside the Weapon, sir!" the Snowgoburimon squealed, cowering in terror at the wrathful Havocravenmon. "Th-th-they're nearing the reactor panels! And one is almost to the Libertius captives!"

"How did they get inside the Weapon? What were the guards doing?"

"Augh! S-sir, I d-don't know! The guards, the guards weren't, they weren't where they were s-supposed to be! The, the Generals went looking for them, I-I think anyway-"

"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't see the guards!" the Snowgoburimon squealed in near terror, cowering from the raging birdling. "I looked all over, but I don't know where they went!"

"Blinding incompetence!" Havocravenmon slammed a fist into the wall. "Idiots! What are they thinking? The defense systems aren't going to just turn inwards and fire!" He rounded on the Snowgoburimon, who looked like he was about to pass out. "Don't just sit there like a frickin' baby! Raise the alarms! Get anyone we can spare to the control panels! Don't let them get to the reactor!"

The white goblin was out of the room in nary a moment, too freaked out to try to ask for any more specific direction than what he got. Havocravemon, beside himself with rage, paced furiously around the room, trying to get a handle on his emotions. "Damnation! I can't believe this...inexcusable, I've told them time and time again what we have to be wary of, how could they have fallen down on the job so badly? Now the tainted ones are inside, if they knew how to get in they probably know how to stop the Weapon...grah! Everything was going so well!"

"You reap what you sow, hm?" Havocravenmon whirled around to see d'Arcmon enter the room. "Incompetence breeds incompetence, and we all suffer as a result."

"Would you shut up just once? I've got my hands full enough without you adding to it!"

"Of course. I'm made sure that would be the case."

"You...what?"

"I figured even a catastrophe liked our revelation might not be enough proof for some of the diehards in Emperius, so to make extra sure everyone saw you for what you are, I made hash of the guard assignments. Just to make extra sure everything that could go wrong would."

Havocravenmon's fists clenched almost to the point of rupture. "You...you bitch! Of course! I should have known you orchestrated all this!"

"Oh, I wasn't behind everything. I have no clue what happened to the Illusion Generator, or more accurately, who happened to it. I just happened to take advantage of the opportunity. Perhaps you should have learned a little something about that, you might have been only a colossal failure instead of a complete failure."

"I've done more for Emperius than you ever have! You've no right to start accusing me of falling behind when all you ever did was try to stir up trouble and set us back! And for what?"

"For what? You even have to ask? You're a terrible leader. You don't have the mindset for this kind of role. We have victory in our grasp, we are destined for glory and nothing can change that. Yet you insist on sidetracking us, putting us through all these 'plans' of yours that are pointless wastes of time. This whole project of yours...founded on some absurd notion that we could ever be defeated. That alone demonstrates your failure as a leader. It's a betrayal of everything we stand for."

"It's a concession to reality! It's an acknowledgement that you can't just coast and expect everything to work out in your favor! How can you cling to such an idiotic notion of your own infallibility when we've been waylaid time and time again by our opponents?"

"We'd never have been stopped even once if you hadn't become the leader!"

"Do you even pay attention to the past? We were within a couple of battles of being overpowered by Libertius!"

"Lunacy! We were on the verge of overpowering them and silencing them once and for all! Everything would have just been fine if it hadn't been for you! It should be ME leading Emperius to glory, and I'm doing what's necessary to ensure that happens!"

"By sabotaging it?"

"It's only a minor setback! We're destined for success, there's no need to waste time worrying about irrelevant details! Which is all you have ever done, and all you ever intended to do! You don't seem to understand that this is destiny! We cannot fail, our victory is already written for us! Your stubborn refusal to accept that is the only thing standing in our way! Every single thing you have done is irrelevant and pointless, and that is the ultimate testament of your failure!"

"Oh, really? And who the hell was it that took down Libertius? Who was it who salvaged morale after our leader was killed in battle? Who was it that bought us the time to avoid an all-out assault from not just our detractors, but the Kaiser himself? It sure as hell wasn't you, a useless piece of refuse without the brains to fill a Gekomon's nutsack!" d'Arcmon recoiled as if she'd been slapped, but Havocravenmon plowed on through. "You've never been worth the trouble of keeping around! You're not strong, you're not bright, you're not useful in any way, and all you've ever done is cause trouble and hold us back! You'd rather ignore the bomb about to go off in your face than accept that there even is a bomb! Emperius would have crumbled in minutes under you, and only you are delusional enough to think it wouldn't! Craniummon never considered you for a moment, you know that? There had never been even a remote chance of him making you the deputy commander! Because he knew you couldn't do it! And everyone here knows it! You think they're going to listen to you, especially knowing you're the one who made everything worse here?"

"You...you..." d'Arcmon fumed, then stiffened up. "I don't care what you say! Everyone is going to see this as your fault, and they'll make me the leader like I deserve to be! You just watch!" She turned on her heel to leave, then cried out sharply as something sliced through her from behind. She hit the floor, her body disintegrating into data particles. Phantomon revealed himself as she disappeared, scythe at his side.

"You have been deemed guilty of the crime of treason against Emperius. The punishment is death, and has been carried out."

"Phantomon..."

"Disregard her words entirely, Commander. They are nothing but lies, fueled by jealousy and ignorance. You had the truth at your back, and that is all that you needed."

Havocravenmon nodded dismally, a hand on his head. "Yes. She was an idiot...my only mistake with her was allowing her to stay with us this long."

"Quite right. Hers were the words of failure. You have always tried to guide us to the path of success. We all trust you to continue to do so."

"I just hope there's anyone left to trust that after this. They're inside the Weapon, Phantomon. Can anyone stop them now? Where are my Generals? Don't tell me they tried to go after them..."

"It is likely that they did. They were scrambling to ensure that everything was secure...it's likely they found out about the guard assignments being played with. They may have decided to act on their own, but perhaps there is still time to rally them and organize a better attack. I can try to find them, if they are still to be found."

"Please do that, Phantomon. We're going to need all the help we can get...these are the most powerful opponents we've ever faced."

(==========)

In front of Thundergarudamon, the hallway forked into two branches, one left and one right. One of the branches led to the brig where the forces from Libertius were being held; the other led somewhere else, the details being rather immaterial to her because it wasn't where she was going.

She just wished she could remember which way was the correct way.

_I can't believe this...how could I have forgotten? I told myself about a hundred times yesterday, and now I can't think of it for the life of me!_

It wouldn't have bothered her quite so much if she hadn't been so worried about the seconds ticking away, not knowing where the rest of the crew was in their respective missions. She didn't think she had the time to explore both, especially if breaking them out was going to be more difficult than just finding them and opening a door.

_Unless...unless I take both at the same time..._

It wasn't the most desirable of options, but with time being of the essence, she went through with it anyway. Quite soon, Iris and Shockavimon stood apart again, facing down the fork with a goal in mind.

"You right, me left?" Shockavimon proposed.

"I don't see any reason to argue," Iris agreed. "Hopefully we won't run across anything we can't handle."

"Right. Get in touch the moment you see anything, and I'll do the same."

"Gotcha." With that, they split off, Iris taking the right side path. She moved quickly yet cautiously, trying to keep an eye out for danger or a sign of the brig. Neither one was particularly easy, as the lighting wasn't getting any better.

_You'd think they'd be more worried about being able to see. If they wanted to keep us out, you'd think they'd try to make it so that we could be spotted at a moment's notice. That's what I'd do._

After a minute she reached an intersection, the hall continuing forward and also breaking to the right. She continued forward, then slowed to a stop, looking back at the second path. _Wait...I don't think there were any other branches on the way there...were there? If I couldn't remember which way to go before, I'm not sure I trust myself now..._

A thump from nearby jarred her to attention. A figure was coming towards her from the first path, and it seemed to have spotted her. "HEY! Yer not supposed to be here! Take this!" The creature ran at her and slammed a club into the ground just after she scrambled out of the way. Iris made to backtrack, but another digimon shot out from the intersecting path, a Boogeymon. "Intruder? I'll get them good!"

_Great...well, I guess I'm not going anywhere until I deal with these guys._

The first creature, which she could see now was an Ogremon, was the more imminent threat, as he was charging at her again. She slipped deftly around him as he tried to club her again, and sent a surge of electricity into her hand. As Orgemon turned to get an eye on her again, she punched him, catching his thigh and delivering a considerable jolt that left him howling in pain and staggering around, avoiding putting weight on the affected leg.

"You nitwit! She's just a human girl, you can't be that pathetic!" Boogeymon snapped at Ogremon. "Bah, I'll show you!" He dove at Iris, trying to spear her with his trident, and whiffing by a mile as Iris jumped out of the way, leaping at the wall and jumping back off as Boogeymon was trying to turn back her way. Quickly she formed an electrical ball and shot it at Boogeymon, frying him pretty good.

A thump from behind her told her Ogremon was back in action. She turned and engaged him again, the brute not really doing anything she hadn't seen him try already. _Not exactly the crispest fry in the batch, _she thought with a grin as she slipped right by him again. This time, as soon as she had her opening, she jumped and delivered a kick right into the small of Ogremon's back. Once again Ogremon yowled, and this time went to the ground as he developed a very bad case of jelly-legs.

From behind him, Iris could see that Boogeymon was trying to get back up and into the fray. _I don't have time for this. Let's see how he likes this one._ The demon digimon hadn't even gotten all the way to his feet before he was wrapped in a ball of electricity, then raised up off the ground. A second later, his body was wracked with thunderbolts from various angles, buffeting him a good half-dozen times before he was released, thumping the ground hard, unconscious.

"So much for 'just a human girl,' huh?" she muttered at the rather pitiful sight in front of her.

_Iris! Iris! Hey, I've got a hit! _Shockavimon's telepathic message was clearly tinged with excitement. _Come on back my way, I've found the captives!_

_All right! I'm on my way!_ She considered shocking the two attackers once more to keep them from following her, but decided after looking at them that they didn't seem to be ready to get back up any time soon. _Not worth drawing the extra attention. Best to just leave now._

Getting back to the original split wasn't difficult, and finding Shockavimon from there was even easier, as the left-hand split was pretty much a straight shot. Soon she found herself in a much better-lit area, with Shockavimon standing in front of an opening in the hallway. She waved Iris over eagerly. "C'mon, no danger as far as I can tell! They're just past here!"

Iris walked over and saw, to her surprise, an short open hall with strange markings that connected to what appeared to be a rather gargantuan space. Within that space was a large number of digimon, some of which induced stirrings of recognition in her from her dreams of Shockavimon over the years.

"So this is the human you were talking about..." A feminine knight digimon with a shake-like arm said, her voice bespeaking a quiet grandness. "I can sense the power within her...she is certainly more than initial appearances would seem to suggest."

"Yeah, I think a certain Ogremon and Boogeymon just found that out for themselves," Iris replied. "You're Mervamon, right?"

"My...you know who I am?"

"It's a long story. Yeah, and that's Assaultmon," she added, pointing to a four-legged cyborg with a veritable arsenal of guns on its body, "and that's Pandamon," pointing to a smaller creature that looked like a panda-colored teddy bear. "You were all part of that Elite Guard group that Shockavimon was with."

"She's good," Assaultmon said with more than a hint of awe. "If she can hold her own against two at once, no wonder Emperius is so scared of her."

"Hmph...how pitiful can they be?" Pandamon huffed aloofly. "They of all people should be aware of what kind of power can hide in inconspicuous packages. Why, I myself have given them enough hell over the course of this whole debacle..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I'd really like to figure out how you knew about us, though!"

"Uh, well, it's kind of a connection I have with Shockavimon...just kind of seeing into her world every now and then during my life. I'm actually wondering how you knew about us, if you've been locked up this whole time."

"Well, some in Emperius were trying to keep it quiet, but there were enough of them who were pretty careless that we got the whole story over time. You're infamous among them...the 'tainted ones' who managed to get in their way in the human world! Humans and digimon combining together...I'd never have imagined that could happen!"

"Neither would I before it happened. I'm glad it did, though. How are they keeping you locked up in there? There's gotta be some way to get you out."

Pandamon pointed to the ground in front of the cell, a portion of which was clearly colored differently from the rest. "Anyone who crosses into that area suffers a terrible shock from the machines hidden in the wall. It's electric, but it's not just as simple as that...Raidenlupimon attempted to cross and was nearly killed by it within a few seconds. It not only hurts, but it keeps you from moving. It doesn't matter how fast you go, the machines are out and active instantly."

Shockavimon nodded, looking over the walls in the danger zone. "Hm...that is a problem. But I wonder, they sealed your abilities, so they probably didn't think there was any danger of you actually attacking the machines...maybe if we can find a way to get to them, we can disable them and get you out of there safely."

"It's worth a shot," Iris said. "But we'll have to hurry...the others are probably getting close to the control panels, and we have to be well out of here by then."

(==========)

A small room near the reactor had been appropriated as a guard quarters, and there were several digimon within scrambling around, trying to get as much ready for the dangerous situation as they could. None of them, however, could be prepared for the door being blasted into the room, revealing only a fiery human who looked about ready to destroy everything in his path.

"_Knock knock, bitches!_"

An intense blast of heat rushed from his body, flaring out into the entire room and causing a cacophony of pained yells and howls. Within moments, the digimon were scrambling, not to attack but to escape. Reyn gave chase, closely followed by Salmandmon, who was cackling like a madman at the scene. He didn't waste time trying to kill them, instead just driving them away as fast as they could go, ensuring that they wouldn't be a threat.

Their path was soon clear, and eagerly the pair ran towards the gate room. It was unguarded, nothing but a couple control consoles and the massive steel doors guarding access to the reactor. Reyn laughed giddily as he leaned back against the wall. "I can't believe that actually worked."

Salmandmon smirked. "Toldja. Doesn't matter what size you are, make it sound like you're about to kick all sorts of ass and you'll be intimidating. That easy."

"Heh...that just doesn't sound right."

"Well, maybe it's because size isn't necessarily the same as strength in our world. But I think it'd still work with humans."

"Maybe we'll have to try it sometime. Whoo...well, that was fun, but now what?"

"Now we wait, I guess." Salmandmon's eyes settled on the gates barring their access to the reactor. "And hope that the others can do what they set out to do."

"Don't tell me you're starting to second-guess them now, of all times."

"Second-guess would be putting it too strongly. I'm just hoping they don't have a harder time of it than we just did."

"They'll be fine. They've all been able to handle themselves as well as us. If the worst they have to face is another one of those so-called Generals, it'll be easy as pie."

(==========)

The anxiety felt like it was going to burst out the back of Havocravenmon's skull. Not only waiting for any word on the status of his Generals, not only the threat of the Weapon going to pieces, he had the added fear that one of the five would suddenly burst in on him, and engage him before he could get any assistance at all. As much as he'd tried to prepare himself for combat with any level of opponent, they had been so deadly dangerous to threats seemingly beyond their level that he had no idea what to expect.

_Why did this have to happen now? If we'd had just a couple of days to get settled, get everything organized and operating smoothly...we should have done this differently, but how could we have known? It's too much, if we lose the Weapon, what do we have left? There hasn't been enough time for our next best option to have been completed, we might have nothing left to-_

The door slammed open, nearly giving Havocravenmon a heart attack. He wheeled around, about to unleash a powerful desperate attack, and barely restrained himself in time when he saw that it was Blackwargreymon. "Don't scare me like that!"

If Blackwargreymon even realized what Havocravenmon had said, he didn't show it. "That friggin' lizard! He's a menace!"

With his heart slowing back down, Havocravenmon finally took notice of his General's disheveled state. His chest armor was badly cracked, and even the dark scales of his body couldn't mask the numerous burns all over him. "Good gods, what happened?"

"What do you think happened? I shoulda had that firebug splattered against the wall, and he still screwed me over! If I'da had room to work with, he'd've seen what was coming to him!"

"Oh, thank goodness, Commander, you're unharmed!" Duftmon was next to make his way in, and looking much the worse for wear himself, though perhaps in slightly better shape than Blackwargreymon.

"You faced down one of them?"

Duftmon nodded. "The canine. He was...unquestionably skilled, and I'm sure he had some kind of enhancement as well. He was just too fast...I'm sorry, Commander, I failed you..."

"You came back alive, that alone is worth forgiveness. They allow few to escape who do not submit to them...did Phantomon tell you if he found the others?"

"Phantomon? I didn't see him...I came straight here after escaping, I wanted to make sure one of them hadn't found you and put you in danger. The others went to try to stop the rest, but I don't know what became of them."

"They are on their way." Phantomon glided in through the wall behind Havocravenomon. "They are all alive, Commander, but I regret to inform you they have also already engaged and been repelled. Their ability to mount an attack is minimal at this point in time."

_As if anything could ever go right for us..._ Havocravenmon shook his head. "I suppose it was too much to hope...at least they're not dead. But that's going to make it very difficult to plan a course of action."

"We've got to do something, Commander!" Kuzuhamon burst out as she entered the room, barely standing with support from her staff. "They...they can't win! We can't lose everything, not after coming this far!"

"Kuzuhamon!" Duftmon cried out. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right? I'm not going to die on you, if that's what you're asking...we have to come up with something, and fast, before they take down the Weapon!"

Havocravenmon nodded. "I've ordered as much back-up as we can to the control panels, but these ones...they seem almost like demons. I don't know if even this will be enough..."

"Give me five minutes, I'll rip 'em all apart!" Blackwargreymon roared.

"Not in that state, you won't," Kuzuhamon shot back. "If just one did that to you, the whole bunch of them would have you deleted in no time."

"They were powered up somehow! If they weren't, we'd've wiped the floor with them, no question!"

"Do not take it as personal judgment that I do not believe that." The stiff response was from Zeedramon, who entered carrying Carcharomon in his arms. He seemed physically to be in the best shape, but the tone of his voice suggested that his mood was perhaps even more dour than the others.

Blackwargreymon glared hatefully at the dragon. "The hell're you trying to say?"

"Quiet!" snapped Carcharomon weakly, trying to squirm out of Zeedramon's arms. "I swear, last thing I need to hear right now is you yelling about stupid crap..."

"You should not push yourself."

"I swear, you are going to pay for embarrassing me like this..."

"How should you have entered, when even standing could not be accomplished by you?"

"I can friggin' stand!"

"You can barely even talk," Duftmon said. "What did that dinosaur do to you?"

"Tch...some stupid ability seal or something that made my whole body feel like it turned to slime. Just like a metalhead to use cheap tricks against someone who's actually strong..."

"If you got your ass handed to you by 'cheap tricks' you screwed up in the first place," Kuzuhamon said icily, knowing full well what Carcharomon was referring to. "Maybe if you used your brain instead of going mad at the drop of a pin-"

"Enough," Havocravenmon said sternly. "We've got enough problems without fighting between us. Whatever the case, you all came back. Under the circumstances, that's all I could've asked any of you."

Only silence greeted him in response; none of the Generals was looking at him directly. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking. _Just coming back isn't good enough for them...they weren't victorious, and that's failure in their minds. I have to do something..._ "Listen, I know you're not happy with how things have turned out. Neither am I...it's not enough that we've had these unforeseen opponents, we've also had a lot of sabotage from within our own ranks. We've been put at every disadvantage...things aren't going to go well in cases like that. But we can turn this around. You all came back, which means you can fight again...and we'll find some way to make sure it turns out in our favor. Understood?"

This seemed to help, as nods came from Blackwargreymon, Kuzuhamon, and Duftmon, their expressions regaining some of that determination. Carcharomon still resolutely averted Havocravenmon's gaze, but he thought he understood why; being seen in a state like that had to be hard on the sharkman's pride in his strength and resilience. Zeedramon, on the other hand, he had no clue what was with him, but something was definitely off.

"What can we do, Commander?" Duftmon's question brought his focus back to the matter at hand. "If we couldn't stop them, our depleted forces are likely to fall, too. What can we do if the Weapon falls?"

"If I may..." All eyes turned to Phantomon. "It is true that the Weapon may be on the course of destruction. However, I believe we have a single fallback option remaining. The Dreadnaught is currently functional to a satisfactory degree, and we should be able to make our escape in it."

"It is?" Havocravenmon exclaimed. "How? I thought it was still weeks away!"

"I diverted extra resources towards its construction and rearranged the priorities in order to allow it to be useful as soon as possible. It is still only partly functional...it is not the fully armed airship that you envisioned, but it can take to the skies and the divergence barriers are at the ready."

"So we can safely escape the Weapon with our strongest forces and have time to regroup!" Kuzuhamon exclaimed.

"Then that's what we'll do," Havocravenmon concluded. "We need to gather as many of our most powerful fighters as we can. And gather up the spatial compression tanks that haven't been released, our larger firepower is going to be absolutely necessary. Anyone who isn't engaged in any defensive, if they're highly capable bring them with. We can't just bring anyone who wants to come, there's not enough space...but if they survive this, then we can retrieve them later. Right now, the most important thing is to salvage our best fighters so that we can take the battle to them again!"

(==========)

The sounds of terrified yells and shouts echoed through the corridor, as several digimon desperately tried to escape the whirling dervish of death that was careening towards them, knocking away all the fire directed at it. Most of the digimon were caught up within it, and sliced to ribbons; the few that managed to escape just tore out of there, abandoning their station in favor of saving their skins.

At the end of the hallway, the dervish slowed down, and Stormdramon landed deftly on the ground, halberd in hand and a wicked grin on his face. "Whoo! Too much fun! Can't even touch me!"

He surveyed the room in front of him. It was surprisingly complex, an area clearly designed to make it difficult to reach the access console. He noticed the two separate paths, each one lined with numerous obstacles, all mechanical and all looking quite dangerous. The paths were completely separate, but there were clear walls on the insides which would clearly allow them to see each other's progress. _Hm...if I remember right, and I'm pretty sure I do, I'm gonna have to split here and do the rest of this as two people! Should be a piece of cake!_

Without further delay, he separated himself back into Skylar and Breezedramon. "All right, which side do you want?" Skylar asked.

"The side that's easier, of course!"

"Har har. Won't know until we get in there, so pick one."

Breezedramon laughed. "Yeah, I know, I just always wanted to say that! I'll do left!"

"Then I have the right. Let's get moving, we can't afford to waste more time than we already had to with Zeedramon."

"Right! You be careful, Sky!"

Skylar nodded and ran towards the right-hand door, Breezedramon swooping over to the left. As soon as they were both in, the doors slammed shut behind them, and the machinery in each room came to life.

Skylar carefully regarded the gauntlet in front of him. Though there were no clear divisions, he could see the equipment had been segmented into a series of modules, each one acting as its own cohesive unit. _Challenging, but not impossible to get through...whoever designed these wanted to make sure it wasn't easy to take over this thing, but that it could be done if necessary...I have to admit, it's kind of impressive foresight._ The first module was a series of rotating flamethrowers, with a straight shot through them to a safe spot between them and the next section. They seemed to go on and off at random intervals, making timing them almost impossible.

Still, he wasn't fazed in the slightest. Focusing, he created swirling wind barriers in front of the flamethrowers, causing the flames to be pushed back towards the machinery. This game him a very safe path to walk through, easily getting him past the first obstacle and allowing him to get to the safe area to figure out the next one. A quick look confirmed that that one would not be quite as easy to get through; again his path was impeded, this time by electrical surges that sizzled in the air across the lone path through. _Hm...wind isn't gonna do it this time...maybe there's something around that'll turn them off…_

Meanwhile, Breezedramon in the other path found himself almost hypnotized by a set of quickly-whirling blades. _Whoo...those are fast! I'm gonna have to be careful going through them!_ Spreading his wings, he swooped up and down and around, slipping deftly through the dangerous blades without so much as a scrape on his scales. He shot forward as soon as he was through, and yelped as he heard something slam behind him just as he passed; a pair of blades had tried to bisect him as he crossed, narrowly missing catching him.

"Gah...too close!" Breezedramon shook off the nerves and looked ahead. There were several circular platforms in the floor of a chamber in front of him, with circular impressions at the top of the chamber. _Gee, I wonder what this is? Let's see how fast they move…_ He swung a hand over the edge of the first platform, and had to scramble back as it shot up like lightning. "Waugh!" He picked himself back up as the pistoning platform returned to its original position. _That's too fast for me to fly across! But there's no way around…_

He looked around, and his eyes settled on a switch on the floor near the chamber. Cautiously, wary of a trap, he walked over and pushed it down slowly, watching and listening for anything threatening, and hearing a loud clacking as it went down. Nothing dangerous came, but when he released it he heard the clacking again. _So it probably has to be down to work...but there's nothing here to hold it down. Crap! Now what do I do?_ He tried pressing it again, and releasing it again, with the same result.

On Skylar's side, he had just about exhausted any hope of finding anything to help him cross the electrical barriers. He was just about to try heading back through the flamethrowers to see if he had missed something at the outset when he heard a strange sparking sound, and turned back to see the electrical barricades now flickering on and off in a pattern. _Huh...maybe I just had to wait. I'd better hurry and get through before they decide to change back!_

He broke out into a sprint, and had only gotten to the first one when they all returned to the on position. A powerful jolt caught him, and he was only barely able to get out with his wits intact. He stumbled back to safety, feeling woozy but not seriously out of it. His attention went back to the electrical barriers as soon as he could focus again, and the pattern of behavior seemed to have become very erratic; they were sometimes all on, and sometimes in that on/off pattern, and Skylar could see nothing that was causing them to change. _What in blue blazes…_

He didn't know what possessed him to look over at Breezedramon's side, but as soon as he did he was glad for it. The blue dragon was playing with something before some kind of enclosed chamber, and whatever it was, it seemed to be having an effect on how the barriers were behaving. _Breezedramon!_

He saw the dragon jump in alarm on the other side. _Gyahah! Don't scare me like that, Sky!_

_Sorry. Hey, keep holding down on that whatever-it-is you're fiddling with over there! It's the only way I'm gonna get through this stuff over here!_

_Wha...really? There's a switch here that affects stuff on your side? Hey, see if there's one over there, I'm kinda stuck here right now!_

_There isn't one where I am right now, but there might be across this thing. So keep holding it down!_

_Okay, okay! I'm on it!_ Skylar heard the crackling once more, and this time the beams stayed in the patterned mode. Carefully, he made his way through, having no trouble figuring out the activation pattern and getting past without further incident. Once he was in the next area of safety, sure enough he found a switch on the floor.

_Hey, Breezedramon, I see something. You think this might work on what's on your side?_

_Press it down and I'll find out!_

_All right, no need to be pushy._ Skylar stepped down on the switch and held it down. He heard a thunk when it went down, and looked over towards Breezedramon to see if he could see anything.

Breezedramon stood in front of the pistoning platforms again, and once again waved a hand over them. It shot up once more, but unquestionably slower than it had before. _So I should be able to fly through this time. I'd better make it quick, though._ With a flourish, he swung up into the air, looped a couple times to build his speed, and went careening through the chamber, the pistons slamming rapidly into the top of the chamber as he passed. He had to slow down dramatically as he emerged, in order to not get himself into more danger than he was ready for.

_You all right, Breezedramon?_ Skylar's telepathic message came through.

_Yeah, I'm good._

_Good, because I might need your help again._ Skylar was facing down what looked to be the last series of obstacles in his path, and these ones were doozies. In front of him was a pit with some kind of unknown substance in the bottom, one that Skylar was fairly sure he didn't want to find out about firsthand. Above the pit, blocks appeared in a pattern, which he was sure was the way he was supposed to cross. However, the blocks rotated at top speed, which he knew would make it very difficult to get his footing and be able to move to the next one, and after a short time, a large beam fired out from the ceiling above the block, disintegrating it temporarily.

_I think I see a switch over here again. Let me know if it does anything!_

_All right, I'll let you know._ Skylar watched intently, looking for any sign of improvement from the switch. Soon, he did notice that the beams took at least twice as long to fire as they had before, which was at least a benefit to some degree. Even so, he still didn't think it would be enough to get him across. _It helps, but these blocks are spinning at like a hundred RPMs. I doubt I could even land on them, much less time a jump to the next one._

_Weird. How are they spinning?_

_I'm not even sure. They don't look like they're attached to anything. Maybe there's something inside them that does it._

_Not attached to anything? Hit them with a twister! You can probably slow them down or even stop them!_

It was such a simple idea that Skylar had to smack himself for not thinking of it on his own. _Of course! If it's already freely-moving, that should at least counteract the effect!_ When the nearest block rose up again, he surrounded it with a quick-moving whirlwind. It slowed down to a practical stop, allowing Skylar to jump on and act on the next one. With each one, he felt the beams bearing down on him just a little more, and picked up the pace in order to ensure he got through safely. The jumps from block to block weren't too much easier themselves, and he found himself using his wind abilities to assist his leaps as well. Finally, after a dozen jumps, he made it across to the other side, panting heavily and feeling very tired.

Breezedramon saw his partner get all the way across, and jumped off the switch in order to survey his own final test. There was another chamber, wider this time and diamond-shaped, with three white surfaces that looked all but identical, and the fourth on the upper left colored blue and lined with wicked-looking spikes. Breezedramon looked it over suspiciously; he had the feeling there was some additional trick to the thing, but it wasn't obvious from anything he could see. _Hey, Sky, if you see a switch over there, can you push it down?_

It took Skylar a moment to respond. _Yeah, there's one over here. Give me one second._

Breezedramon didn't have to have him respond to know it had been pressed; he could tell as the upper left surface turned white and spike-free, while the lower left surface now took on the blue color and the dangerous spikes. _Hm, but that still can't be all...if that was it, it could still be easily crossed without anyone using the switch, and they definitely had them there for a reason!_

_Did anything happen?_ Skylar asked.

_Yeah, I still need to figure something out though. You can let back up for now._

_Huh? I already did._

_Wait, you did? But it didn't go back to the way it was before like the others...try hitting it again!_

_Okay…_ Breezedramon watched as the surfaces changed again, the lower left returning to its benign state and the upper right shifting to the danger surface. Breezedramon had Skylar press over and over again, eventually determining that the change was apparently random.

Still, something was bothering him. Just that change itself wasn't enough to make the switch necessary; he felt there still had to be another trick to it, one that had to make the shifting floors necessary somehow. _There's gotta be a way other than flying in to figure out what it is...I wonder if it'll respond to anything flying in? Maybe…_

He formed a Twister Orb in his hands, and launched it into the chamber. Finally, his suspicions were confirmed when the orb took a sudden, sharp detour towards the current blue surface on the upper right. _So it draws you in as well...probably harder than I can easily push against…_

_Hey, are we done yet?_

_Not yet! Be patient! I'm gonna need your help for this one! You're gonna have to hit the switch whenever I tell you to, and you'll have to hit it fast because this is gonna be hard for me to get through!_

_Ugh...this is taking so long. All right, I'm ready, just make sure you give me a little bit of time, I don't have instantaneous reflexes._

_You just be ready, I'll do my part!_ Once again Breezedramon took off, flying into the chamber as far as he could from the spiked surface. It pulled on him almost instantly, and he corrected hard but still found himself being drawn down towards them despite his best efforts. When he was close, he pathed out to Skylar to hit the switch. It was exceptionally difficult to prepare for the change, with it being essentially random, and he had a harder time adjusting to the next pull. It didn't get easier, as each time he had to adjust enough so that he wasn't too close to any of the other surfaces, or else he wouldn't have enough time to change gears. It got very frantic towards the end as he felt himself scrape lightly against the spikes before they retracted, but with one final push, he shot through out of the chamber and fell in a heap on the ground, heaving like he'd just flown around the world.

_You all right, Breezedramon?_

_Ugh...yeah, but damn, that was too close...man, I'm exhausted. Never flown with that kind of drag on me…_

_Pick yourself up, buddy, we're at the end. We gotta hit that switch._

Groaning, Breezedramon pulled himself up and took off once more, slowly making his way towards the exit. No more surprises lay in wait for him, and as he emerged he saw his partner doing the same from the other side. The room they were in was sparse, only the console with one large button breaking the monotony.

"Well, that was not a lot of fun, but we got through without too much damage," Skylar said tiredly. "Hope the others didn't have to go through anything worse."

"Hear hear," Breezedramon mumbled, fluttering towards the console. "Be glad to be done with this whole thi-whoop!" As he got to the console, he suddenly dropped out of the air and face-planted on top of it, thumping the button with his stomach. The light on the access console flickered off as he picked himself up. "Um, okay, I guess that works."

Skylar couldn't resist a chuckle. "Breezedramon, you just had to press the button, not dive-bomb it."

"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah. I just flew against friggin' dragon magnets, gimme a break. Let's just get our butts outta here before we get caught in a megasplosion, okay?"

(==========)

_You okay down there, Ike?_

_I'm fine. Just don't move around too much, it's easiest if you're weight's just about right there._ The metal dinosaur was sitting on Isaac's shoulders, keeping a tight grip around his head and neck. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but after the beating they had taken from Carcharomon, the decision had been made to split up early in order to refrain from drawing extra attention to themselves and minimize the damage they might take. Datacarnomon had still proven too noisy for comfort, however, which had prompted the current arrangement.

It had worked out to their favor in one way, though: they had managed to make a mental connection to each other's eyes, allowing them to each get extra feedback from the new input. And the experience was quite intriguing for both of them as well.

_Dude, that's what the world looks like through your eyes? Man, you gotta teach me how to get to see like that, that's awesome! You get like all sorts of data and numbers, it's like a video game almost, I've always wanted to have that kind of thing!_

_I can't believe you humans get so LITTLE information...I guess it never occurred to me that that wouldn't happen. I dunno how you do it...though, it's pretty awesome that it's so clear and uncluttered._

The hallway in front of them was devoid of life, though both remained wary for any sudden intrusions. They had scanned the hallways thoroughly to ensure that there were no machines that might get in the way, but digimon were always less predictable.

_I'm still not seeing anything, and we're almost there. You don't think they bailed on us?_

_Kinda hoping they did, it makes our lives that much easier. Or maybe we just drew them all towards us before._

_We're pretty far away from where we were then, though. I expected more in the way of defenses...maybe they just aren't organized._

Another heavy door was all that stood in the way of them and their destination. With considerable effort, Isaac pulled it open, the hinges screeching loudly as if they hadn't been oiled in ages. "Gah! How do those things get so bad so frickin' quickly?"

"Isaac, quiet!" Datacarnomon hissed. "We don't need to add to it! Come on, get in and close that thing!"

"Sorry!" They had to endure the screeching once more, but soon Isaac had the door shut and bolted, and they were alone inside their target room. The access console was within sight, but a suspicious-looking frame stood in front of the path to it. To the left of the frame was some kind of computer, while to the right was a small vent.

"So I'm guessing this is where you get to do the fun part and I have to hang back?" Isaac surmised.

"Yep. You have to work the mechanics, I have to get through the vent to the other side and turn off the barrier. Looks like you won't be able to see me, so you're gonna have to pay attention for when I tell you to do something."

"Great, and I don't know what controls what, either. That's gonna be fun...well, you ready for this?"

"Sure am! You just keep your eyes open and don't let anyone ambush you."

"I will, but I don't think there's gonna be much chance of that. They're gonna have to crash down that gate if they want in, that'll make enough noise to get my attention."

"You can't ever be too careful! There's digimon that can go through solid structures...I remember Emperius having a Phantomon on their side, at the very least. You'll want to make sure you have every tool of awareness active!"

"Oh, uh...wow, I guess that didn't occur to me. Thanks for letting me know."

"No prob. Now let's get to work!" Datacarnomon hopped up into the vent, clanging loudly against the wall before dragging himself up inside. Isaac took position at the computer, trying to see if he could figure out anything about the connections so he could better help his partner.

There weren't any lights inside the vent, forcing Datacarnomon to shift to night vision in order to see anything. He crawled forward a bit, quickly hitting a turn upwards. Looking up, he could tell that there was something impeding his progress. _All right, Ike, round one. Keep hitting the buttons until I see something._

_Gotcha._ Isaac randomly pressed a few different buttons on the computer, hoping that none of them would end up shutting the thing down and leave them in a bind. After about half a dozen attempts, he hit on one that got a rise out of Datacarnomon. _Bingo! Looks like they're down...hang on, I'm gonna wait here a moment and see if they plan on turning back on._

Datacarnomon's suspicions were soon confirmed as the barriers restored themselves not long after they went off. _All right, looks like that switch only works on them temporarily. So press when I say so only. Hit it once now._ As soon as they went back down, he went to work, climbing up slowly, trying to brace himself against both sides of the vent in order to keep himself up. He didn't rush it, only going past one of the barriers each time before waiting for them to turn back on. After passing four of them, he reached the top, where the vent bent back horizontally.

_Good! That's a good start...just keep alert to things around you as well as to me._

_Yeah, I know, I am. You stay focused on what's in front of you!_

Datacarnomon crawled forward slowly, always checking for danger with his sensors as well as feeling around for any unexpected triggers that might have been hiding in the darkness. The only thing he found was when the vent dropped off into another vertical section. Wary of what might lie beneath, he fired a couple shots down at the lower surface, and saw it break away as a trap door; whatever was down there wasn't visible to him, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out. _Hey, Ike, start hitting buttons again._

After a few moments, the trap door rose back up, but Datacarnomon still wasn't confident it was going to stay up. He didn't want to risk slipping and falling down to whatever was down there, so he had Isaac keep pressing buttons. Another long wait eventually yielded a result; something started buzzing underneath the trap door, and when he fired a shot down it didn't fall away. With some level of safety ensured, he made his way slowly down the shaft, still putting as little of his weight on the trap door as he could manage.

The next few sections were pretty quiet, forcing him to crawl forward, then right, then up, then back, then left. It was somewhat of a maze, except there didn't seem to be any alternate paths to trip him up, or at least, not until he saw an intersection ahead of him, which appeared to be somewhat slanted. _Hm, weird...is that a trap, or a path? Or both, perhaps?_

He fired a shot experimentally, and once again got a reaction. A loud clang rung out through the vent, followed by the sound of something rolling. He was a large ball, presumably metal, roll quickly down the path, then heard it continue to roll and then drop off, crashing into something unknown but probably not pleasant. Another shot fired yielded the same result. _Hm, maybe I can run them out of those balls rather than trying to find a switch for them...but then again, they might be recycled through. Guess I'd better try the safe way first._

He signaled for Isaac to hit buttons again. Isaac picked a random one and hit it, and very quickly there was a loud cascade as the metal balls fell in a free for all, rolling past Datacarnomon in a mad rush, delivering a series of loud crashes into whatever they had fallen into. Quickly Datacarnomon fired another shot and found there was no more response, but he could hear the sounds of clanking underneath and got the impression that his recycling idea was on the mark. He pushed past the trap as fast as he could, getting across just as a ball released, almost clipping his tail as he surged forward the last few inches to safety.

He was feeling pretty sure he was getting close to the end; his internal map was putting him not far from the hallway to the access console. He continued on, twice stumbling across some kind of switch which didn't react at all when he pressed it, making another turn left and then right, and found himself impeded by some kind of invisible barrier. _Ike, go for it._

_You got it._ Datacarnomon waited patiently for a reaction, a sound, any sign that the barrier had gone down, but after a few minutes, it was clear he was getting nothing. _Are you still pressing buttons?_

_Yeah...is nothing happening?_

_I haven't seen or heard anything...hm, maybe we have to do this a little more carefully. Hang on, I'll shoot, then have you press a button, then shoot again, and so on and so forth. Maybe it's just too quiet to hear._

Datacarnomon raised up his hand and fired a shot at the barrier. The shot hit and reflected right back at him, smacking him square between the eyes. He yelled out, more surprised and irritated than injured, and using some select words that had Isaac wondering what had just happened.

Eventually he calmed down enough to get his partner in on the loop. _Gah...okay, mirrored barrier. Apparently I can't shoot at it. Guess it'll have to be manual contact. Hold every button until I tell you to let go, okay?_

_Got it. Be careful in there!_

_I'll be as careful as I can be, but that might not be saying much._ Datacarnomon placed his hand gently on the barrier, and then signaled Isaac to hit the first one. When there was no reaction, he called for the second, and so on, until after several attempts he felt the resistance on his hand disappear. _Bingo! Hold that down, I'm gonna run through quick!_

He crawled forward, feeling a prickling of anxiety as he wondered if the barrier was going to stay down or pop back up unexpectedly and do quite a bit of damage. Thankfully he got through without incident, and shortly thereafter, he made a final turn to the left and saw an opening in front of him leading to the ground below. He switched back to normal vision, crawled forward, slipped through the opening, and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Welcome back!" Isaac said with a grin. "You all in one piece?"

"Far as I can tell. Seems like a lot of work to go through for something like this. You'd think they'd have something a little easier to work with." He located a switch on the wall and pressed it, and the barrier in the frame went down immediately. "And yet I thought I remembered the plans showing something more complicated. Maybe it's not even finished yet...hate to see the final product."

"Well, this thing did just get off the ground recently. Maybe they haven't had time to work on all these emergency things yet. Does seem odd that they'd go to all the trouble, but then again, you don't want just anyone to be able to get at them, right?"

"I guess that's what you get when you're only about power...you get a lot of guys you can't trust." Datacarnomon went up to the console and stood in front of it, connecting to it technopathically rather than paying attention to the button on top. "At least this is simple enough...no gimmicks, just a simple on/off binary. And...bingo!"

There was a click, and the red light on the console went dead. Datacarnomon turned to leave, but didn't even get a step before something shot out from the console and slammed into his back. There was a large shower of sparks and a loud mechanical screech as the he went tumbling forward.

"Data!" Isaac run up to his partner, trying to sort out what happened. Datacarnomon wasn't responding, despite his efforts, and it took him a while to realize why, only clicking when he looked up at the offending object and realized what it was. _No...you can't be serious...a Machine Killer Rod? There? Why would they...they can't have been thinking..._

He flipped Datacarnomon over and banged on him a bit, trying to get any sort of response. Having no success, he tried listening for any response from the machinery in the robot's body, but the ambient hum was making it hard to discern anything. The panic was starting to set in, and almost without thinking about it, he created his own technopathic bond, trying to get a feeling for his inner systems in order to see if there was any sign of life.

It was almost an explosive relief when he found them. They were very slowly winding back up, and definitely not close to the strength they had been before, but even being there was enough for Isaac. _Damn...he must've been WAY lucky, not to have been totally wiped out by that thing..._

"Ngh...holy crap...the hell happened?" Data's eyes flickered back on as he spoke, sounding extremely tired and disoriented.

"Ah, man...Data, you gave me a huge scare."

"Yeah...me, too. Was that a Machine Killer Rod?"

"Yeah. I can't believe they would put one of those in there...they can't have been planning for us, could they?"

"Nah...most likely...more for drones. Some things can masquerade as harmless bots, but they can be controlled remotely and do a heck of a lot of damage. Probably what they expected to have to do with this whole thing. Only thing that surprises me...well, you can guess."

"A very happy surprise, in my book."

"Better than finding it." Datacarnomon chuckled wryly. "And here I was yapping at you about being careful, and then I go and almost brick myself because I was too careless to watch for traps. Er, speaking of which, my body doesn't seem to want to respond to my inputs very well..."

"Don't worry, I gotcha." Isaac picked Datacarnomon up and maneuvered him so that he was locked in a tight grip hanging off his back. "Just try not to move around so much that you get knocked off. I guess I'll be trying to avoid the fights for now."

"That would be appreciated."

(==========)

The seconds were ticking away, and Iris and Shockavimon had gotten no closer to finding a way to bring out the shocking machines guarding the Libertius cell. "This is getting us nowhere..." Iris finally conceded, folding her arms impatiently. "At this rate we'll be lucky to avoid getting caught in the reactor explosion just on our own. We need another plan."

"Right, but we don't have time to find any sort of control panel or information about these things," Shockavimon responded grimly. "What else can we do?"

"I dunno. Have any of you guys heard anything about this thing?"

Several head shakes from the Libertius captives. "They've never told us anything about how the machines are set up, and we've been unable to find out anything on our own," Assaultmon said. "Just about all we know is what Pandamon told you."

"The only way we know of activating it is by going in there," Mervamon said. "We've tried throwing things in there to get them active, but they get vaporized in just a couple seconds."

"Man, I wish Isaac was here...he'd probably be able to figure out more than I could," Iris said ruefully. "There's gotta be some way..."

"Well, there is, isn't there?" Shockavimon said. "Going in there and activating it."

"...You aren't about to suggest what I think you're about to suggest, are you?"

"If one of us goes in there, they can bring them out and the other one can try to wreck them. We're both highly resistant to electricity, so maybe we can handle it."

"It's not normal electricity, Shockavimon!" Assaultmon exclaimed. "Raidenlupimon couldn't handle it!"

"I've gotten pretty resilient since this whole thing started...maybe I can handle it anyway. Iris, do you trust me?"

Iris sighed. "I guess so...which one of us is going in?"

"I'll do it. I'm the one gambling on it, so I should be the one to take the hit if it doesn't work. Just watch and react quickly, okay?"

"Got it. Everyone else, stay back."

"Shockavimon, please do not do this!" Mervamon pleaded. "We are willing to be sacrificed for the greater good...you have stood so well against Emperius, if you survive it is in our favor no matter what happens to us!"

"We're not going to just leave you behind without trying! Iris, get ready, I'm going in!"

Without further warning, Shockavimon dashed into the danger zone. The effect was as immediate as they had warned; no sooner had she crossed the line than four beams of electricity zapped her body, causing her to squawk loudly and fall to her knees. The machines had appeared almost instantaneously, as if warped into existence, giving her no time to prepare for them.

"Shockavimon!"

"I'm...okay! Just...go, quickly!"

"Right!" Iris launched a blast of electricity at the upper right machine. It faltered momentarily, but there was a quick flash from the other three and it roared back to life. "Damn! I guess that means all of them...Shockavimon, are you okay?"

"F-fine...but I don't think I'm gonna last too much longer! If you can stop it, make it fast!"

"Okay! Here goes nothing..." Iris focused as best she could, aiming as precisely as physically possible in order to not risk having to take a second shot, and unleashed four powerful pulses in the direction of all four of the dangerous machines. The attacks were true, hammering the four machines nearly simultaneously. What came next none of them expected: the machines unleashed a massive blast which knocked Iris and the captives back and nailed Shockavimon full force. She screeched loudly as they impacted her body, and fell motionless onto the ground.

Iris rubbed her head, having banged it against the wall on her way back. "Owww...ah, Shockavimon!" She ran towards her fallen partner, heedless of the potential danger, the captives, anything except Shockavimon. She knelt down next to here and picked her up. "Shockavimon, are you okay? Speak to me!"

"Ngh...I think...I'll make it..." Shockavimon said slowly, tightly, her voice wound with pain. "Having...a bit of trouble...moving, though."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get out safe." Iris stood up, and only then realized that she was standing right in the middle of the danger zone and there was nothing coming out at her. "It...it worked! They're not attacking anymore! We can get everyone out of here!"

"My goodness...that was some explosion!" Mervamon said shakily. "I'm amazed she survived that..."

"She's as tough as ever, that bird," Pandamon said stiffly. "I fear for our safety, though...even if we are free, we're as good as moving targets without our ability to attack."

"Hey...don't count out my partner," Shockavimon managed to cough out roughly. "You saw what...she did to...those machines. She'll keep you safe...mark my words."

"Yeah...I'll make sure nothing comes near you guys," Iris said with a nod. "Can one of you hold Shockavimon?"

"I will do it," Mervamon volunteered. She walked over to Iris and gently picked up Shockavimon. "Thank you so much for this. We owe you our lives."

"Let's not set any debts until I get you out of here," Iris said. "We're still not out of the woods yet...even if we manage to overcome any guards, I still have no idea how much time we have before Reyn and Salmandmon take out the reactor. We're gonna have to try to get as far away from the reactor as possible, and then find a way out if we can."

"We'll trust you to lead the way, Iris," Assaultmon said.

"I'm glad you trust me that much. Let's go."

(==========)

The Dreadnaught was impressive even to Havocravenmon, who had had the designs for it in the first place. A couple hundred feet long, well-armored and shielded, armed with powerful jets that could get it moving fairly quickly, with a sleek blue-and-yellow dart-shaped design, it was hard to believe it was only minimally functional.

"What kind of capacity do we have here, Phantomon?"

"We can carry a good few hundred of the tanks, plus a sizable number of warriors not in compression. The navigation systems have been automated to run with little to no crew...however, we will need some non-warriors to finish the construction and activation of the various weapons and other systems."

"We can do without that for now...we'll find someone to take care of that later. Are there any weapons systems online?"

"Only one. It is the most powerful, but activating it requires an immense amount of energy and charge time. In the current state, doing so would require deactivation of the divergence barriers and all propulsion systems save for that which could keep up up in the air. I would only recommend it as a very last resort."

Havocravenmon nodded. "Fair enough. Perhaps it won't come to that...we'll have to see."

"Commander!" They turned to see Duftmon running up. "We've spread the word about the evacuation! We'll have enough of our most powerful fighters to give us a fighting chance! But what should we do about the Weapon?"

"What can we do? It's not going to be saved at this point..." Havocravenmon paused as an idea dawned on him. "But...perhaps we can still use that to our benefit! Order the course of the Weapon changed, set it on a direct line to the Kaiser's palace!"

"A brilliant idea, Commander," Phantomon said approvingly. "If they are delayed long enough, the destruction of the reactor will likely do considerable damage to the palace as well. Perhaps weakening them enough for us to get a chance to swoop in and fill a power vacuum."

Duftmon glanced at him uncertainly. "That's certainly true...but it could be kind of a long shot."

Havocravenmon nodded. "Undoubtedly, but let's make every chance we can. Doing nothing will guarantee us nothing, that's not as good as a chance."

"You're right, Commander! I'll give the order straight away!"

(==========)

Onyxvargmon had almost gotten to his destination when he felt a powerful shudder which knocked him off his feet. Recovering quickly, he dashed forward and thrust his sword into the back of a Betsumon who was slower to recover. _Wonder what that was all about...but as long as it helped me, I can't complain._

Nothing else remained in his path, at least as far as he could see; however, the strong smell of digimon still lingered in the air, telling him that they couldn't be far away. As he got into the gate room, the scent got stronger, yet there were still no foes in sight. The room was sparse, a control panel on one side and a large circular metal door straight across from it, and nothing else.

_Strange...the schematics seemed to indicate there would be more in this room. Perhaps they simply haven't finished implementing everything yet..._

He wandered over to the control panel and looked it over. Unfamiliar as it was, he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to work it. _This is definitely more Isaac's specialty...well, I can't exactly go calling him, now, can I? Guess I'm just gonna have to play around with it..._

He pressed a button tentatively, then yelped as some kind of rod shot out and nearly smacked him in the leg. He backed off quickly, but the machine seemed to be done with its counteroffense. _Jeez...close call, that would've hurt like a bitch. What is that thing, though? Seems odd that that's how they'd try to defend something like this._

Now taking much more care, he called back one of his swords and used the extra length to make his next move. A couple of the buttons on the console had no obvious effect, but after a few tries, he landed on one that started the massive metal door opening, starting from the center and pulling outwards. He turned quickly, and the source of the scent became quickly obvious as a battery of enemies laid behind, stationed in a moderately long and large corridor with no other obstacles or defense points. _Well, well, last line of defense, huh? This'll be fun._

As he readied himself for the charge, however, the door reversed its action, slamming shut remarkably quickly. Momentarily thrown, he turned back and pushed the button down again. Once again the door opened, until he let up the pressure from the button, whereupon it closed back down rapidly. This time, the enemies beyond attempted to pelt him with some fire during the short window they had, which Onyxvargmon had no trouble avoiding. Still, the new discovery had him very disconcerted.

_Well, crap...that could be trouble. If I remember right, there's no real exit from that side...even if I opened the door all the way, I could probably just make it in, but I have no idea if there's any way to open the doors from the other side. If they haven't built in all the features over here, who knows what they might be missing? I could be waiting forever to get out...if I even survived the explosion in the first place. Hm, what to do...I suppose phasing through is my best option. Well, better get to it._

Quickly he reverted to Darkwolfmon, and retreated back to the hallway for some shadow to sink into. He reappeared silently on the other side, unnoticed as all the digimon were intently focused on the gate, watching for it to open again. _Guess they forgot about what I can do,_ he thought as he quietly went over to the access console. Just ten feet away, however, he smacked face-first into an invisible wall.

Ten seconds later, he was back on the other side of the gate, panting after a rapid exodus which had him weaving through a cavalcade of fire from the guardians and barely getting out intact. _Well, that didn't go so well. Damn them, they had to make this tricky, didn't they?_ He leaned back against the wall, contemplating his options. _I won't be able to phase back in...they're watching that point, and there isn't another suitable shadow in the room...even if there was, they'd probably be watching that, too. And the only way I can open the gate is if someone's holding the button down...probably another button on that control panel lowers the barrier around the access console...I don't think there's any way around it, this is going to require two people. Well, I hope I've learned enough to handle myself in this kind of fight..._

With a resigned sigh, he split back into Derek and Blackcanismon. "Well, this is a fine mess," Derek said sourly. "I was hoping not to have to do this. It'd be a lot easier fighting all those guys together."

"Regrettably, we have encountered an unfortunate impediment in that arrangement," Blackcanismon replied. "We simply shall have to adjust accordingly."

"Right...I guess we've got to have one of us at the controls, while the other one fights. And to make sure they don't ice the one at the controls, the gate's probably going to have to close before they get the person who can open them back up again, which means no back-up."

"Then I shall volunteer for the unpleasant role."

"No...I'll do it."

"Derek, perchance, will this devolve into a disagreement about who should end up being the potential sacrifice? I wish to avoid such ridiculousness if possible."

"For someone who doesn't like to beat around the bush, you can take an awful long time to get to your point. No, I'm thinking they're going to underestimate me more, which might give me a better edge. Let's not forget that they know you as one of the Elite Commanders of Libertius, while they think of me as just some silly human along for the ride."

"Somehow I doubt they will conceive of you as such."

"Well, okay, they know I'm capable of something. But I doubt they think I measure up to you. That might just make them overconfident enough to not put in their full effort."

Blackcanismon didn't look very enthusiastic, but he nodded nonetheless. "I suppose I must concede to your reasoning. You must take exceptional care, their numbers are significant and would be no trifle even in the best of situations."

Derek nodded grimly. "Trust me, I'm _well_ aware of that. Let's go."

They split, Derek taking position at the gate while Blackcanismon attended to the console. Propping himself up, he placed a paw on the button, then fixated his attention on the opening gate, waiting to let up the moment Derek got in. For his part, Derek, as nervous as he was, had at least some idea of what he was going to try to do, as a dark cloud enveloped his right hand. _It's gonna be chaos in there...maybe I can use that to my benefit._

The onslaught began as soon as they could see him; whether they were taking him more lightly or not, it was clear the foes weren't about to make it especially easy on him. Derek leapt through the moment it was feasible, and just kept moving as the attacks followed him. A cannonball slammed into the wall just behind him, fired from a Hookmon who had his one good eye keenly on him. He ducked under a blast of fire provided by a Boarmon, then deftly spun away from a wild slash from a Tekkamon. The attack left Tekkamon spun around, and Derek took the opportunity to kick it away from him. He then turned and jumped away from a Wind Seeker attack from a Harpymon. _Dammit, I'm gonna have to do this on the fly._

He raised his hand at the Hookmon, who was lining up another shot at him. A speedy black jet flashed out and hit him in the head, his eye turning black. He lowered the cannon gun, suddenly lost as his entire world went dark. Derek quickly followed up with the same on the Harpymon and a Gargoylemon, both of whom went fairly wild and crashed into each other. Derek went on the move again, chased by a Minotaurmon and a Centaromon from behind, and Boarmon and a Setmon in front of him trying to get in his way. Derek blinded Boarmon, then formed a pit under Setmon which sent a blast of dark energy up into him, stunning him and leaving clouds of darkness wafting up from his body.

Boarmon desperately tried to fire his Nose Blaster at Derek, but without his sight he couldn't hone in on him, and instead nailed Centaromon, who was driven back by the blow. Minotaurmon backed off to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, giving Derek some breathing room. He leapt over Boarmon and Setmon, then spun and launched a powerful dark shot at the latter, piercing his body and ending his life. _One down, eleven to go._

He had to duck and weave as a powerful twister nearly struck him. BlackGaogamon tried to follow him, but Derek was quick, and managed to put himself behind the still sightless Boarmon. From above, a Black ExVeemon set his sights on him, but despite being a dark digimon he still fell victim to the blinding shot as well. An Owlmon dove down towards him, and he scrambled out of the way, almost right into Tekkamon's slash. Derek ducked and countered with a quick swipe of his hand, releasing a precise bolt of energy which cut right into Tekkamon and brought him down.

Gargoylemon launched a blast of frigid air in Derek's general direction, but ended up coming far closer to hitting Owlmon, who was trying to nab Derek with his sharp talons. Somehow Derek slipped through and got a clean shot at Centaromon, blinding him as he was charging his Solar Ray. Unable to stop the attack, Centaromon fired blindly, the beam directly hitting Harpymon and wiping it out. Derek continued his rapid movement, getting away from Minotaurmon again and then almost getting punched in the back by a BomberNanimon. He launched a dark pulse out in an expanding wave from his body, tossing BomberNanimon like a rag doll and catching BlackExVeemon as he was trying to zero in on Derek by sound. BlackExVeemon fell to the ground, nearly hitting Hookmon, who reacted by firing a cannonball which barely missed him and went on to slam into Owlmon's head, instantly killing him.

_They're doing more damage to each other than I'm doing to them...just what I was hoping for._ Emboldened by his results, he decided to get a little more daring. BlackGaogamon was trying to jump at him to rip him open with his claws; Derek dodged and then jumped onto him, grabbing his fur on his side. "Come and get me, assholes!" The effect was immediate: both Centaromon and Hookmon turned towards the sound and fired their respective attacks, Blackgaogamon not realizing until too late the danger he was in. Derek let go and rolled away as the canid digimon was hit from both sides, and crashed to the ground, disappearing in a flurry of data.

BomberNanimon was trying to come at him from behind again, so Derek took off, running towards Boarmon, who still couldn't see and was trying desperately to figure out what was going on. Derek let out a yell, drawing his attention, and he fired his Nose Blaster again. Derek dove down, letting the attack pass over him and slam into BomberNanimon, who went flying backwards. As soon as he could, he repeated the dark cutter that he'd used on Tekkamon, gutting Boarmon and finishing him. Then he spun around to get back to BomberNanimon, only to see him sitting on the ground, dazed, the fuses on his body active and very short.

The explosion was intense, with only Derek, Gargoylemon, and Hookmon far enough away to escape relatively unscathed. BlackExVeemon and Centaromon both bit the dust, and Minotaurmon took a good shot, being thrown against the wall and laying motionless on the ground. Shaken but not hurt, Derek turned his attention to the other two survivors, both of whom were shaking off the blinding effect. _But now it's just two on one...I think I can handle this._

Quickly he let loose a dark shockwave, hitting Gargoylemon and leaving him dizzy and disoriented. Hookmon fired at him, and he dodged and fired back, winging the pirate digimon. Hookmon went for a second shot at him, only narrowly missing this time. Derek focused, and a dark aura appeared around Hookmon, spreading and distorting the space where he was standing. Hookmon found himself unable to move, and the fluxing intensified until it tore him apart where he stood. Derek turned his attention back to Gargoylemon, until loud footsteps from behind suddenly shifted his attention. He had only half a second to realize Minotaurmon had been faking unconsciousness before the bull's metal arm met his stomach.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened in the next few moments, on account of the pain overloading his brain. All he knew was that he was lying on the ground a short time later, his entire body wracked with intense pain, barely able to move. He could hear Minotaurmon and Gargoylemon coming at him still, intent on finishing him off, and only by an intense effort did he get enough focus to unleash another dark pulse, stopping them both cold.

He could barely think, but part of him was reacting on instinct, ignoring his sudden cognitive deficits, the pain, everything. Gargoylemon never saw it coming, an intense black beam that blew right through his body, breaking him apart and finishing him off. Minotaurmon was next, and as he backed away, expecting another deadly beam and hoping to outrun it, he suddenly found himself instead locked in some kind of bubble. Darkness began flying from the sides towards the center, buffeting him and putting an intense pressure on his body. Then the entire interior of the bubble went completely dark, lingering a few seconds before disappearing, leaving absolutely no trace of Minotaurmon whatsoever.

It took Derek a couple minutes to realize someone was calling to him. Still enduring intense pain all over, he managed to push himself to a sitting position, and only then realized that the gate was open and Blackcanismon was the one trying to rouse him. "Derek! Thank goodness, I thought you were...what happened?"

"Ngh...I got...careless, I guess..." Very slowly, Derek got to his feet; despite the ridiculous levels of pain, he felt remarkably whole. "Damn...can't believe I...didn't break in half. He hit me good..."

"Can you walk? Come here, let me look at you!"

"Hey...hold on a sec...we gotta deal with that access thing."

"Derek! You can hardly walk!"

"Which means I can still walk..and that means I can still get over there. Find a button that lowers that barrier...once we take care of that...you can check me out. Only then."

Blackcanismon shook his head in frustration. "Grrr...if you go over there and collapse, I'm not gonna be able to come get you!"

"I'm willing to take that chance."

"Argh! Fine! Try not to scare me, okay?" Blackcanismon started hammering different buttons, trying to figure out what would have the effect he was looking for without really knowing what he was doing, just trying to speed things up so his partner wouldn't be in worse trouble.

"Hey! Slow down over there!" Derek's voice caused him to look back anxiously, almost letting up on the gate button. "I think I heard something make some noise...try holding whatever button you just hit!"

Blackcanismon complied, and Derek did his best to quickly get up to the access console; sure enough, the barrier that had impeded them before was down. The console was very simple, with one large button and a red light shining brightly up on the top. A little wary after the earlier close call, Derek made sure he was well off to the side before pressing the large button. The light went off, and mercifully there were no unpleasant surprises waiting for him. With nothing else to do, he slowly made his way back to the control room. As soon as he was past the gate, Blackcanismon rushed over, letting it slam shut, and quickly checked over Derek.

"Jeez, don't overdo it, buddy," Derek mumbled, letting himself be brought to the ground. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

Blackcanismon said nothing until he had spent a full two minutes sniffing and feeling Derek's body for major injuries. Finally, he relaxed and lightened up slightly. "You appear to be without critical injury...thank goodness...how do you feel?"

"Like I just got hit by a mack truck going the speed of sound. But aside from that, surprisingly good."

"That sounds unfortunate enough already. Let's make haste in our exodus from this monstrosity, so that proper attention can be paid to your status!"

(==========)

Down by the gates, with two open and only one to go, Salmandmon was pacing nervously. "Crap! Looks like we've changed direction...and unless I'm completely off, based on the way it was going before, it's shifted to the direction the Kaiser's palace!"

Reyn stared at Salmandmon, completely lost. "You know this...how?"

"Because I know where the Kaiser's palace is and I know which way this thing was going before. Try to keep up, Reyn."

"So why the hell would they want to do that? Sounds like they'd just be putting themselves even further in the line of fire."

"Yeah, unless they get close enough that blowing up the reactor could take them out! And if we don't blow it up, the whole thing might just crash into the palace! And it'd be enough to wreck everything, for sure!"

"Well, it's not like this thing is going to land there in the next few minutes. Won't they just evacuate?"

"They don't know it's coming their direction! By the time word gets to them who knows how close we'll be? We need to get to the reactor and finish it fast!"

A loud thunk, followed by a scraping sound, drew their attention. The last gate was shifting away, slowly revealing the reactor room. "Looks like we'll have our opportunity in a moment," Reyn said.

"Finally!"

"Hey, they weren't exactly up against nothing, you know."

"I know, I know, it's not their fault...let's just get in there and do this thing!"

They ran towards the reactor room, slowing only when they were inside. It was quite a large room, mostly empty space, with the reactor being much smaller than Reyn had anticipated, only a twenty-foot machine towards the rear wall. There were plenty of consoles all around the room, though what purposes they served were a mystery to him. He figured at least one of them had to control the blast shielding, except...

"I don't see any shielding anywhere. You don't think they didn't put it in?"

"That would be even crazier than I could imagine Emperius being. It's probably in the walls."

"In the walls? Wait, you mean, like, the entire room is closed off? Not just the reactor? That sounds like a mistake to me."

"Quantum reactors are supposed to be incredibly powerful and incredibly destructive if they go haywire. It's probably safer to have a larger space containing the blast...it'll have some time to dissipate before it hits the protective barriers, so maybe there'll be less energy and less collateral damage."

"Oh...I guess that makes sense. But that means it's gonna be hard timing the shielding so that it's up before we take the reactor out."

"Well, see if you can find any way to set anything up by the reactor. I'll try to find the controls. If worse comes to worse, I know the console out where we were waiting controls them as well...I'd rather it not come to that, but if it has to, it has to."

Something about Salmandmon's tone of voice didn't sit right with Reyn, but he didn't say anything; instead, he went over to the quantum reactor, examining it and looking for anything that might allow it to go haywire. He and Salmandmon were prepared to work something up using their fire abilities if it came to that, but he was hoping he could find something that would give them more time to make an escape; the shielding would dampen the blast but not contain it fully, and he wanted to be sure they could get as far away from the danger as possible when it hit.

There wasn't much to work with; the reactor didn't have any control consoles on it itself, and there was no big red self-destruct button to be found anywhere either. However, there were a few stray metal rods around, which he figured they could potentially rig up into a delayed mechanism that could set it off. He wasn't sure how it would work yet, but he was hoping Salmandmon had a few ideas. However, when he went to tell the lizard about his thoughts, he was greeted with a very grim demeanor.

"Salmandmon...what's up? Is something wrong?"

Salmandmon sighed, reluctant to say anything but knowing he had to. "...There's no controls for the blast shielding in here."

"Huh?"

"None of these consoles do anything involving the blast shielding. I've checked all of them, and they're all for power routing or system testing or the like."

"But...that doesn't make any sense! There should be something to bring it up automatically! What if there's a problem with the reactor and no one can get down here quickly enough to deal with it?"

"They probably have it routed so that it can be triggered remotely from a few places...but maybe they wanted to avoid anyone locking themselves in. Or maybe they just haven't set it up for in here yet. But that makes things tough for us...someone's gonna have to activate it manually from the other side of the hall."

"Jeez, that'll make things even harder! We're gonna have to be careful setting things up if we want to be able to hightail it outta here-"

"We can't do that." Reyn stopped short and stared at Salmandmon, who was looking very grim. "There's not enough time...and if there's no automatic override that could set it up, anything we try to connive is gonna take too long to set up, and there's no telling how close we are to being unable to safely detonate."

"So what now?"

Another deep sigh from Salmandmon. "It's not what I wanted to do, but we're gonna have to do this the fast and painful way. Reyn, get out there and raise the shields. Once they're closed, I'll blast that thing myself."

The reaction was instant and predictable. "The hell you will! I'm not gonna lock you in with that thing!"

"Don't make this harder than it already is, Reyn! It's not going to work out like we were hoping - we don't have the time, and the way this thing is set up isn't going to give us the ability to finesse anything, at least not safely!"

"But you're gonna be right in the blast! Salmandmon, I can't-"

"Dammit, Reyn, shut up already!" Salmandmon snapped harshly, stunning Reyn into silence. "I'm not any more ready for this than you are, but we don't have another choice! If we screw up here, we kill everyone inside, everyone fighting outside, and who knows how far the blast will spread beyond that! And if we dick around trying to figure something else out we're going to blow the Kaiser's palace to kingdom come, and then we're in even deeper trouble! Hurry up and get out there, before it's too late!"

"Nugh...goddammit, Salmandmon...you'd better not die on me in here, you hear me?"

"I'm not making any promises! Now go!"

After only a brief moment, Reyn complied, sprinting back through the gates to the room they had waited in. The console had clear instructions for how to raise the blast shielding, and as much as he didn't want to, he quickly ran through them. A loud mechanical whirring emerged from the direction of the reactor room, and he could see a strange metal wall closing the reactor room off, cutting off the sight of his partner.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

Only after he heard the whirring stop did he realize he was still in the danger zone. Without any other choice, he ran. He didn't know how long he had, or whether he could even get far enough to keep from meeting an unfortunate fate himself. He just ran, cursing the circumstances and ignoring everything in his way, including a few lingering shocked digimon clueless as to what was going on.

He was only back to the guard room when the blast hit.

(==========)

(==========)

I could say a bunch of things here, but I think I've already spent enough time poring over this chapter. I normally wouldn't leave it on a cliffhanger like this, but again, I ended up cutting it off here because it's probably gonna take me another couple of weeks to finish what would have been the end of the chapter. And it's already been way too long since I put one up.

Let me know if there are any typos, inconsistencies, or artifacts from my preparation. I didn't have much time or energy to fully proofread.


	54. Chapter 53: Denouement

...Oh, hey there! Maybe someone's still here to read this, huh?

This should not have taken me this long. But a combination of illness, graduate school, other business, and serious brain drain made it nigh impossible for me to get up the impetus to write this chapter. It drives me nuts because I hate putting something like this off, but the rest of my life had to come first.

Truth be told, this isn't my best work. But it's complete, and I need to get it put up so I don't feel like I've done everyone who's read this a disservice by making it seem like I've stopped. I swore I would see this through to completion, and come hell or high water, I'll do just that.

Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 53: Denouement**

The battle outside Gargantua Weapon had died down significantly. Aside from a few stalwarts, most of Emperius had been killed or subdued or had bailed out on the fighting. What few enemies remained were easily held in check by the united front against them. Everyone else was trying to keep pace with the Weapon, in case any other unpleasant surprises were waiting in store.

"You saw the direction that airship was going, right?" Gallantmon called in to Slayerdramon.

"Yes, and I have two of my men pursuing it at this time. It is moving quickly, but they'll make sure not to lose sight of it."

"Good. I'm guessing there's a decent force in there hoping they can get the jump on us. We'll have to make sure they don't get a moment's rest." Gallantmon switched off the radio and looked back at the Weapon, feeling a creeping concern in his gut. "They're taking an awfully long time in there...I hope nothing happened to them."

"They'll be fine," Coredramon assured him. "These guys have put up a tough fight against everything! They aren't gonna be stopped now, I guarantee it!"

He had no sooner said it than the world around them was rocked.

They had all known the explosion was coming, yet nothing could have prepared them for the sheer magnitude of the blast. The entire front wall of the Weapon was blown away, anything within a thousand feet in front of it obliterated without a second thought, and all the digimon in every direction near the Weapon were tossed like rag dolls through the air. Even from a couple miles away, the shockwave almost knocked Gallantmon and Coredramon over. The jets holding the Weapon in the air were snuffed instantly, and the Weapon cascaded surprisingly quickly towards the ground, crashing in a horrific squeal of shearing metal and crackling with the sparks of flame from the destruction.

"Holy crap! I knew those things packed a punch, but goddamn!" Coredramon exclaimed as he steadied himself. "I hope everyone was all right!"

"We need to get a rescue squad over there right away!" Gallantmon shouted into his communicator. "Anyone who's not injured, hurry over and find any survivors! Right now!"

(==========)

The first thing Reyn was aware of, after ascertaining that he was indeed still alive, was that he could see daylight. A massive hole had been punched through the walls of the guard room, and at the non-daylight end, he could see the twisted metal that had been the gates, plus what might have been the blast shielding.

_If I'd stayed where I was, I would've been killed._

Shakily he started towards the daylight. He wasn't feeling well at all; the explosion had hurled him against the wall, leaving him extremely sore all over, and he knew he was lucky that that was the worst of it. With so much debris flying around the room from the explosion and the resulting crash into the ground, he'd only been relatively safe due to getting behind a knocked-over table and waiting it out. The dust was making hard to breathe and see, his eyes constantly watering as he desperately tried to wipe them.

_If it's that bad out here..._

He didn't really want to find out what had happened, was afraid of what he knew he might very well find, but something kept him moving anyway. The uneven ground made walking back towards what was left of the reactor room an even more troubling challenge, especially given that he couldn't see very well, and he stumbled and fell several times, once slicing open his arm on a sharp corner of something metal. Still, he didn't stop, pushing his protesting body onward until he got to where he needed to go.

Parts of the walls were still there, mainly the wall with the doorway he'd gone through. The entire far side was gone, exposed to the outside, where he could see a flurry of digimon flitting around, gawking at the sight of the downed Weapon. Even where the room itself had remained, it was a tangled mess of wreckage He looked around, trying to see if he could find Salmandmon, hoping against hope that he was still able to be found in the first place...

He almost wished he hadn't. His eyes widened as he saw the red lizard, limply pinned to the wall by a very large piece of metal shrapnel speared right through his chest. _Oh, no...oh, nonono-_

He ran, or did a stumbling impression of one, trying just to get to his partner, fearing the worst. There was no response from Salmandmon as he croaked out his name, trying to find any hopeful sign that might mean something other than the worst. As he finally reached him, he instantly went to the reptile's neck, trying to find a pulse, barely able to keep his hand steady as his parched throat caused his own breaths to come in wheezing gasps.

After a full frantic minute, he thought he felt something. He wasn't sure, it could have been his brain tricking him out of denial, and after the brief moment he wasn't able to find it again. But that single glimmer of hope, that far-fetched possibility, spurred him into action.

Cautiously, using all he could to support Salmandmon's weight, he pulled the huge metal piece out of the wall. He didn't remove it from Salmandmon's body, not yet, the part of his brain still working rationally telling him that if there was any chance of survival, the added pressure would actually be helpful. He struggled greatly with the weight, his own injuries and exhaustion barely able to handle the extra burden. Somehow, he made it to the edge of the room, out into the bright light of the sun, and fell to his knees, unable to go any further as all that laid in front of him was a massive drop to the ground.

_Someone...help us..._

He gripped Salmandmon tighter, and was startled to feel the lizard flinch ever so slightly. "S...Salmandmon...you..."

"Hey!" Reyn looked up, and saw an Aeroveedramon diving in towards him. "Don't move, I'm coming in!"

Reyn tried to call out a response, but could barely manage a hoarse whisper. He could only sit numbly as the blue dragon swept in and took hold of him and Salmandmon, finally passing out once they were up in the air.

(==========)

"Hey! Wake up already!"

It finally sank in to Isaac that someone was yelling at him. He opened his eyes and immediately shut them again as a bright light caused his head to suddenly break out in all kinds of pain. "Aaaaaagh…"

"Well, at least you're responding. That's a plus, I guess. You all right?"

It took a moment for him to get what few bearings he could manage. "...that you, Skylar?"

"No, it's someone from Emperius, we just care about you so much after you destroyed our hopes and dreams. Of course it's me, you doofus. Open your eyes so I don't have to fail to carry you out of here."

Isaac opened his eyes just the narrowest bit so he could scowl at Isaac. "Are you gonna start this all over?"

Skylar looked down at him with a tired expression. "Would you rather it was Reyn fawning all over what he would say is a serious concussion? We can relax once we're out of here, right now we're still in enemy territory and anyone that made it through that blast alive can't be happy with us. I'm just trying to get you moving as fast as possible."

A loud groan rattled its way out of Isaac as he forced himself to sit up. "Fine, you've made your point. Ngh...man, I don't even remember what happened. Where's Data?"

"Breezedramon's attending to him. What happened to him? He looked like he's been through the wringer."

"Something like that. I thought he was gonna eat it at first...really glad he didn't."

Skylar's expression turned to one of concern. "It's that bad?"

"Well…" Isaac shook his head, and then immediately brought a hand up to it as he winced in pain. "Shouldn'ta done that...let's just get outta here, and make sure it isn't."

"Yeah, let's. We're close to the top right now, there should be people flying all over if they didn't get wiped out by the explosion. It'll be the easiest way to get someone's attention."

"Gotcha…" he finally stumbled to his feet, trying to ignore the pounding in his skull. Datacarnomon didn't prove to be far away, awake and actually moving around a bit, though he still looked much the worse for wear. Breezedramon was talking to him, looking quite fearful about something; Isaac supposed that Datacarnomon had told him what happened.

"Data, you think you can walk?"

Datacarnomon looked up at Isaac. "Well, just the act, maybe, but I doubt I could keep pace. I don't want to burden you, though, you look like you're not in much better shape yourself."

"I'll manage. Just try not to make a lot of noise."

"I'll be quiet as if I was dead."

"...Not that quiet, please."

(==========)

"Is he awake?"

"I think he's coming around...Derek! Come on, talk to me, let me know you're all right!"

Derek's eyes fluttered open, and he suddenly found himself in the middle of a congregation. "Wha...what's going on? Are we still in the Weapon?"

Iris nodded, giving him a relieved smile. "Yeah...we were trying to get on our way out and happened to stumble over you. What happened? You look like hell!"

"Ngh...I had a bit of a run in with some unsavory characters. Where's Blackcanismon?"

"I'm currently in residence over here," the voice, tinged with more than a hint of asperity, came fro behind and to his right, "recovering from having dragged your sorry ass halfway across this bloody monstrosity."

"He sounds a bit stressed," Shockavimon said with a roll of her eyes.

"I guess I can't blame him." Derek tried to push himself to a standing position only to find that his body was fighting every single motion, and he was barely able to sit up. "Oof...I, uh, hate to be a bother, but I think I'm gonna have some trouble getting around."

"I can carry him," Assaultmon volunteered. "See if you can get him onto my back."

"THANK you," Blackcanismon said tightly.

(==========)

The atmosphere in the Dreadnaught was about as dark as it had ever been for the leaders of Emperius as they watched their war machine crash into the ground. "There goes the Weapon..." Duftmon said gravely. "And all for naught for us...this is a massive setback...Commander, what are we going to do?"

Havocravenmon was quiet for a moment. "The choices aren't appealing. Our forces have been decimated...all we have left are those in and out of containment within the walls of the Dreadnaught. We may have salvaged many of our strongest, but we are at a disadvantage in number, and that won't work in our favor."

"So we need to recruit," Carcharomon suggested.

"If only it were that simple. Even if we've been driven away, they won't stop following us. Libertius, the tainted ones, they will come after us, trying to finish us off before we can restore ourselves and take them on face-to-face. And they have the charisma to build their own consensus...look at what they accomplished in such short order. They will make our names poison wherever we go."

"It's those damned humans!" roared Blackwargreymon, pounding an angry fist against the wall. "They're the cause of everything bad that's happened! I want to see them all burn! I want to see them all suffer!"

"That doesn't help us much-"

"It might, Commander," Kuzuhamon interrupted. "They've got their armies over here, but if we take it to their world, the tainted ones will have to make the journey on their own. There's no way they have enough time to mobilize all of Libertius to their aid. It means all we have left to face is them."

"They are not the only extant threat in that world. Other heretics, traitors from our own midst, the human weapons."

"So what? We'll defeat them without a care in the world! Our victory is destiny! We can't-"

Without warning, Havocravenmon grabbed Blackwargreymon by the throat and slammed him against the wall. "How many times do we have to go through this before it sinks into your goddamn skull? WE ARE LOSING! If we're going to win, it won't be through ignorant, idiotic rhetoric! We can't treat this like a foregone conclusion, we have to actually work for this! If I hear you spout this complacency-inducing drivel once more I'll run you through myself!"

He let go, allowing Blackwargreymon to slump to the floor in shock. The rest of the digimon looked at their commander in shocked silence; he returned only burning anger. "Do all of you understand that? I won't stand for this delusion any longer. Destiny is for fools too lazy to try to win by their own efforts. We make our own fate. Is that clear?"

There were nervous nods all around. The challenge of having to accept the notion of fallibility wasn't going to go down easy, Havocravenmon knew, but better that than what would come if it didn't. He marched over to the front of the room, thinking deeply about his course of action. "...If we want to make a campaign to the human world, we must expect fierce resistance. They know of us, and they are prepared to fight. The tainted ones, their allies, and the humans will be on the battlefront...if we work at it, we may still be able to overwhelm them. We have many powerful warriors still, they have a chance of overcoming what will be thrown at us. If that succeeds, there should be little else they can do, as long as we don't get complacent."

"And then we can destroy them?"

"No."

"Wh...no?"

"Destruction is wasteful and doesn't help us one bit. No...I want to consider another option. One that may give us other benefits besides fulfilling our ultimate goal of defeating the humans. It may not be simple in its execution...however, if they were to be guided towards it..."

Zeedramon shook his head doubtfully. "Unlikely to convince them to obey us without force."

"Us, maybe...I very much doubt the humans can all be united under one front themselves. If there are some who can be...manipulated into doing what we wish..."

Duftmon's eyes lit up. "Use those humans as a front for our desires...it might work! But what do you have planned for them?"

"Well, I'll tell you..."

(==========)

The next few hours were more or less a blur for Reyn. From the chaos that surrounded them when they landed, to the various strangers poring over him and applying medical treatments to his wounds, to bring brought back to another room where Salmandmon was laying silently in a bed, he had no idea how much time was passing or even where he was. Exhausted as he was, both physically and emotionally, not much was getting through to him; the words and warnings of the medical team seemed to just pass right over him without sinking in.

It was only when the rest of the group packed into the recovery room that he finally seemed to regain some alertness. He gave a weary smile as he saw them all present and accounted for. "You're all okay...thank god."

"You look like hell," Isaac said. "What happened to you?"

"Mnh...I didn't have as much time to get away as I'd hoped."

"I figured...I was talking about your arm." Reyn looked down absently at his forearm, which was heavily wrapped in bandages. He hadn't even registered this fact until Isaac had pointed it out.

"This? Uh...it's nothing...just a little cut."

"A little cut my metal butt," Datacarnomon replied instantly. "Practically cleaved your arm open, from what I can see."

"Stop looking under my bandages, Datacarnomon."

"What about Salmandmon?" asked Shockavimon, her voice quivering a bit as she watched the red reptile lie motionless on the bed. "We heard he got hurt really bad...is he gonna be okay?"

Reyn sighed. "From the sounds of it...well, they said the only thing they can say is that if he's not dead now, then he's got a better chance than they would've thought."

"That...that doesn't sound very hopeful."

"How'd you guys end up so badly off?" Derek asked. "You said you thought you'd get plenty of time to get away...what happened?"

Despite his own exhaustion, and a distinct difficulty keeping on track, Reyn managed to make his way through a crude explanation of what had happened. Predictably, the rest were horrified to hear what Salmandmon had chosen to do to solve the problem of the reactor, and even more so once he showed them what had embedded itself into his body. When he finally finished, there was no question that the magnitude of what had happened had sunk in clearly.

"That's crazy! How the hell did he even last long enough for you to find him?" Breezedramon exclaimed.

"That had to be incredibly unlucky," Isaac muttered. "Thrown against the wall, probably hit him almost after he the shockwave died down...a million-to-one shot! Unbelievable that it happened...and yet he could just have easily been killed instantly if it had just been a slightly different angle! I guess one can be unlucky and lucky at the same time..."

"A more unappealing predicament lies beyond the realm of my imagination," Blackcanismon said with a shudder.

"And yet he's still alive," Iris pointed out. "In bad shape, but still...something like that probably should have been certain death. Does that sound odd to you?"

"Sounds like a freaking miracle," Derek replied. "That's more like a billion-to-one shot."

"But how?" Skylar burst out.

"Skylar, easy!"

"Sorry, but...it doesn't make sense! Odds or no odds, I don't see how it's possible! That thing had to have totally screwed him up inside! Nothing short of divine intervention should have kept him alive even this long!"

"You can't be serious, Sky!" Breezedramon leapt in.

"I am! Unless his anatomy is radically different from ours, I don't see how it wouldn't be!"

"I didn't really need to hear that, Skylar," Reyn mumbled dismally. "If that thing did that much damage, I don't see how he'll make it."

Isaac shook his head. "No...I don't agree with that. If it went through his heart, he should have been a goner before you even got there. That fact that he wasn't...well, I think it sounds good, or as good as it can. The digimon we've fought haven't lingered around very much when suffering clearly fatal injuries, I don't see how this would be any different. So maybe he just got incredibly lucky, and it...missed somehow."

"Unless all his major organs are in his legs, it can't have missed!" Skylar insisted. "It's not like I want that to be the case, but how could it not be?"

Isaac sighed heavily, the sound of someone with something weighing on his mind that was about to come out against his better judgment. "...Maybe you're right, Skylar. But then...what? If that didn't take him out like it would any normal digimon, then why not? There has to be a reason for it."

"You sound like you've got one budding in there," Shockavimon said.

"Maybe, maybe not...but what about Data? He got speared with a Machine Killer Rod, by all rights that should have been the end of him right then and there. But he got through it...not just that, he's up and about now, even if he's still not back to 100%. You think that's normal? And you, Shockavimon, the kind of blast you took, you think it's normal for you to have gotten through that and be in the shape you're in so soon afterwards?"

"W-well, I mean, it was electricity...how bad could it have been?"

"If other electric digimon couldn't have handled it, it must have been pretty bad," Iris said.

Isaac nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't have put money on you getting through that unscathed. Look at Derek, he seems just fine after taking a hit I couldn't even imagine taking, and I'm the one who's built for impacts if any of us are. People have died from a lot less force than that."

"I get the sense you think this is more than just luck," Derek said. "But we've gotten a lot stronger...couldn't that be it?"

"Strong enough for this? I seriously doubt it. This isn't just taking a few blows, we're talking instant death here. Or at least what should've been. But in every case we got through it, and not just that, but through it with not much to show for it in terms of lasting injury. I mean, I guess it still remains to be seen with Salmandmon, but I've got a feeling it's going to be the same story."

"What story are you so subtly hinting at, Isaac?" Blackcanismon asked suspiciously. "You appear to be harboring an explanation for these mysterious happenings."

"It's only a guess, and not one I could test at any rate, but...well, just bear with me. Our merging together has had a number of effects on us, and the more complete we've been able to get together, the more impact it's had...couldn't it have reached the point where we might even be able to cheat death?"

The others just stared at him for a minute. Reyn was the first to find his voice. "Are you suggesting...that we can no longer die?"

"Not...exactly that, but...in every one of these cases, it was just one of the pair that took the worst of the damage, at least to the level where it would have been instantly or rapidly fatal. Maybe...as long as one half is at least not in the same state, the other can stave off the reaper. Maybe not in every case, but at the very least, our ability to survive and recover could be drastically increased…"

Everyone fell silent for a moment, trying to wrap their heads around the ramifications of what had just been proposed. The idea of escaping what should be unquestionably mortal injury seemed too absurd to believe, and yet they couldn't deny that what they had gone through looked very much like just that.

Finally, Shockavimon spoke up. "You know what, I think I need to just sleep on this for a while...after everything that's happened today, I can barely think straight, and this is just too much."

"Sleep would be a good idea for all of us, I think," Derek agreed. "We probably shouldn't be all be in here for much longer anyway, not with someone trying to recover from something like that."

"Yeah, you're right. We should let Salmandmon rest in pe...uh, I mean, rest quietly without all of us crowding around."

"Yeah...Reyn, are you gonna be okay?" Skylar asked, his expression completely blank as he was trying to process what he had just heard.

Reyn shook his head. "We'll find out, I guess. I'm gonna try to get some sleep."

(==========)

_It had to happen now…_

He peered over the vista, as the swirling dark clouds billowed and blew in a slow rotation, masking what laid within. The charge that had been laid out rung fresh in his mind, echoing malevolently and leaving him tormented by what he knew he had to do.

_They don't deserve this. Not so soon after such a tremendous event...but the consequences of withholding it could be even worse. I have to tell them…_

He turned his back on the clouds and sprinted away, cursing to himself. _Damn them...they knew what they were doing, this was no coincidence. I only hope they've made their final mistake, and don't realize it until it's too soon to undo it._

(==========)

"I'll be honest...I thought that was going to go a lot better than it did."

Reyn shook his head. "Yeah...because blowing up a bomb you're standing next to usually works out so well."

Salmandmon grinned at him. "Well, at least you're back to being yourself, snarker."

"Not even close. Seriously, though, what did you think was going to happen?"

"Well, I thought I'd get tossed around a lot, and probably buried under some stuff. Those blast shields held up way better than I woulda thought with that kind of explosion. Never imagined I'd get speared through the chest like that, though...and you say I survived because all the merging we've done kept me from dying while you weren't? That makes about zero sense."

"Isaac said it was like...our life forces are joined together or something," Reyn explained. "That our bodies and minds have combined and intertwined so much that a significant part of each of us is in the other. Or something like that, I'll admit it kind of went over my head. Maybe because it's kind of a freaky thought..."

"Well, whatever it is, I think it worked." Salmandmon swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped to the ground. "I feel almost back to normal already. Maybe a little off, but not as much as I would have expected...the last time I was even close to this badly injured was when I first got to your house, and I wasn't even close to back to normal until we first merged. How's everyone else?"

"Tired, but in good shape. Some of us took some hard hits, but they bounced back just like you, faster even. As confusing as what he said was, I think Isaac's onto something...it's weird, it kinda makes it seem like we might actually be most vulnerable when we're merged together."

"I dunno that I'd go that far. We're so much stronger like that that we'd be much more likely to not get stuck in that kind of situation in the first place. Besides, I'm not sure how far I'd want to push the whole idea...something tells me that if one of us got decapitated no amount of shared life force would fix that."

"Hard to know without testing it, I guess, but I honestly could go my entire life without ever knowing that for sure and be just fine with it."

"Amen to that. What happened to Emperius? I haven't heard anything saying they were killed off, which suggests to me that they haven't been."

"Some of the guys outside reported that a huge battleship launched out of the weapon while we were making our way to the reactor, and we've heard word that others escaped using some teleportation technology within the Weapon. Some guys on our side were trailing the battleship at first, but they lost track of it a while ago...sounds like it cloaked itself while going through a cloud bank, and there was just enough confusion that they couldn't get back on it, so they're sweeping the area and hoping they get lucky."

"Oh, jeez. How huge is this battleship?"

"Well, only a fraction of the size of Gargantua Weapon, but still big enough to be a serious threat. They probably have a bunch of the compression chambers as well, so they're armed and have a decent army still. And there might be some way for some of their guys to get back to them as well."

"Don't doubt it. I wonder where they're planning to go. We're going to have to follow them, of course."

"Of course. They were last seen heading north, but they apparently have some sort of cloaking and the guys lost sight of them. Another Illusion Generator?"

"Probably not, I doubt they could manage to draw enough energy with a quantum reactor for something that size and nothing else is going to be strong enough to power an Illusion Generator that works while they move. It's probably more standard light-bending cloaking, that's easy enough to scan through."

"Isaac's working on that with some of the Mechalopolis guys. Whaddaya think they're going to try to do now?"

"Mm...hard to say. On the one hand, they need to rebuild their forces and really regroup, which ostensibly you'd think they could only do in our world. On the other hand, they know we've gotten Libertius back up to speed and there's a bunch more guys willing to take them on over here, they might actually consider the human world a more attractive target right now. If they can establish a safe harbor over there, they'll be able to come back as they please, allowing them to rebuild their ranks and get more ready for another onslaught. They've got just as many enemies over there, but those enemies have a lot less firepower. No offense."

"None taken, it's the truth. Maybe we'll be able to find out more once we get a bead on its location. They might be able to set themselves up on one of your other continents as well...probably a lot fewer hostiles there. For now, though, let's take what little time we have to relax, huh? We've been through way too much in the last day."

Salmandmon nodded insistently. "Too true."

(==========)

"It is an unenviable feeling, knowing that you have spent years deluding yourself into something that you would later find to be completely foolish. Realizing you set in motion a disaster which you would later regret with your entire being. I may never finish atoning for what I've done."

Derek sighed. "Well, you've made a good start, I'd say. Throwing Emperius into disarray before we even got there...you sure made our jobs easier, Glademon."

The golden knight shook his head dismally. "It is not nearly enough. I have caused injury and suffering to many, including a close friend who trusted me fully. That alone is bad enough, but for it to have been for a cause that was so backwards and ridiculous…"

"Your course of redemption shall not be facilitated by simple professions," Blackcanismon said. "Proactive measures will be required to establish your credence. I certainly would necessarily desire such affirmation."

"I could hardly blame you...after empty speeches for years, I wouldn't expect you to trust me on my word alone. I wish I could take back everything I'd done in the past...but I suppose it's far too late for that. Now all I can do is make up for it...if such a thing could ever be achieved, in any event…"

"If such endeavors were tasks of simplicity they would be devoid of any meaning whatsoever. If you seek redemption, you must complete accomplishments of great tribulation and superior importance. Certainly no shortage of unpleasant situations exist within this world that necessitate such remedial measures."

"Winning back Blackie's trust is probably gonna be the hardest challenge of all of them, though," Derek cut in, only half-jokingly. Blackcanismon gave him a look, but eventually acquiesced with an evasive nod.

"I wouldn't dare look as high as that to start. Perhaps once I've proven my worth to myself, I can hope to ask you to call me a friend once again...but certainly, I can't expect such forgiveness from you at this point in time. Not with the wounds still so fresh."

"No, you cannot. But...I would be remiss in stating that I wouldn't hope you could achieve such a feat in eventuality."

Glademon nodded. "I thank you for that...it will give me something to hope for. I suppose I will take my leave of you now...I shall see you again another time…"

Rather quietly, the golden knight exited the darkened room, leaving behind only Derek and Blackcanismon. The former turned to the latter with a look of concern in his eyes. "You okay, Blackcanismon?"

Blackcanismon shook his head. "Forgiveness is...sometimes the most challenging aspect of this world. Truthfully, the simpler path would have entailed finishing the battle begun before…"

"Is that really what you would have wanted?"

"Nowhere in my statement did that sentiment become expressed. I only mentioned that such would be the simpler option...as with redemption, forgiveness is meaningless if achieved without effort...despite the temptation for the simplest possible resolution, rarely do the results measure up."

"Yeah...I can't tell you how often I've felt that way with my parents...sometimes I just thought about running away from it all, but that wouldn't have solved anything...it would've just created a whole bunch of other problems."

"I can imagine many regrettable repercussions occurring as a result of such actions. I shall take that example to heart."

(==========)

"Do you kinda wish we were out there looking for wherever Emperius got off to?" Shockavimon asked from the bed in the room Iris had been sleeping in. "Or like there's something more productive we could be doing?"

Iris was quick to shake her head. "This is the first break we've had in a long time. Let's just enjoy it before we have to get back to business."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Shame that Emperius got away, even if they're weakened. I guess we can't rest easy just yet, but it doesn't sound like it'll be long now."

"I'm not even sure I can imagine getting back to a normal life at this point," Iris said with a shake of her head. "Heck, I'm not even sure what qualifies as normal now."

"That is kind of a tricky question, isn't it? Our lives are completely different from what they were before, so I guess normal's just going to have to be redefined as well."

"I kind of wonder how things are going to work. I mean, the way things are between us, I have a hard time believing we would end up going our separate ways. But if that happens, someone's going to be away from home."

"Ah, that's nothing. I'd be perfectly happy settling down in your world. Well, provided we could get easy access back and forth, but you can bet Isaac and Data have probably had designs about that grinding in their heads for a long time now."

"But what about Libertius?"

Shockavimon shrugged. "I'm not sure what their future holds, honestly. Really, their entire existence has revolved around fighting Emperius...once they're out of the picture, Libertius has pretty much run its course. There's just not enough strife in Northern Teraquaz to sustain them on this scale."

"You think they'll just pack up and head home? I dunno, it seems...weird to imagine that."

"Well, there's precedent for that. Even if they stuck around, I think things would change pretty drastically. A lot of them have probably had enough of the fighting, especially after being stuck as captives for weeks. The ones still itching for battle will probably head south, but I know not everyone here wants to get involved in that...it's a conflict of a very different flavor, where right and wrong isn't nearly as clean-cut as it was here. Whoever's left probably isn't enough to justify having a whole complex dedicated to them...I imagine they'd either become roving mercenaries or would join the Kaiser's forces."

"Seems kind of a shame. You've all been through so much together, it's sad to see that end."

"Yeah, but it makes sense. You've been around enough to see that there's plenty of people to fill the same roles on a smaller scale. Besides, what we shared will last, well beyond the group itself."

"I guess you're right. You think you could get used to living in our world?"

"I don't think it'll be that hard. I got a taste of the life when we weren't trying to deal with Emperius, and it seems like there's plenty to do there. Besides, it's not like it's a final choice or anything. I imagine we're going to have a lot of fun in both worlds."

Iris nodded. "Yeah, I've only gotten to see a small bit of this place! There's a whole world out there I want to get to know better! Not to mention we've got a title to defend!"

"You _really_ wanna go back through all that?"

"I dunno, I think we could make some waves every now and then! It's not something I'd want my life to revolve around, but if we could jump in blindly once and cream the competition, what's to say we couldn't do it again?"

"I guess you've got a point...me, though, I wouldn't mind a little peace for a while. Your world...seems like it's a lot more peaceful than ours is."

"Well...it'll probably only seem that way until you get to know more of it. There's a lot of drama and conflict all around, it's not nearly as nice and quiet as it seems."

"I figure as much, but it can't be nearly as much as over here. I mean, we're creatures built for fighting...that makes it just that much easier for it to happen. Humans, they aren't made the same way...they may have their ways of making it happen, but it'll never just be quite as natural as it is for digimon. It's not like I regret that about us, but...well, it does make everything a bit more dangerous and troublesome."

"I guess you've got a point there...whatever humans can do to each other, it doesn't extend to creating fireballs out of thin air or causing massive explosions with barely a thought."

"Right. And that danger doesn't make coexistence as easy, either...it's all too easy to develop prejudices and blanket hatreds when not doing so can very well mean the difference between life and death. And that makes it much harder to get rid of, too. I'd want to see what it's like living in a world where that isn't the case."

(==========)

"How'd we do, in the end?" asked Isaac as he watched the rapidly-scrolling display on the screen his partner was looking at. The movement of the text was almost hypnotic, lulling him into a sense of peace and relaxation which was unceremoniously broken by Datacarnomon's response.

"Well, from a standpoint of pure numbers, it looks like Emperius suffered about a 55% casualty rate. And we captured a fair number from the remnants of the Weapon, probably another 10%, so at least 65% of their forces are finished."

"Well, that sounds good, but I don't like that caveat at the start. Let me guess, a lot of the stronger guys got away."

"Bingo. I'm guessing once they saw that it wasn't going well for them, they got as many of their most powerful fighters out of there on that battleship. They may have only about a third of their numbers left, but what makes up that third is mostly higher-level digimon. They still won't be pushovers."

"Still, smaller numbers should prove to be an advantage to us. We've taken on some damn strong digimon already and come out pretty well."

"What has me most concerned are those generals we faced. They'll have the advantage of knowledge against us next time, so we'll have to be prepared for what they can do. I doubt Carcharomon plans on letting us drain him a second time."

"Good point. We should think of a few new strategies for the next time we have to go up against him. It would be nice if we could finish it on our own terms, without a lot of pressure...and keep him from running away next time."

"Right. Anyway...enough of this. I need a break." Datacarnomon disconnected from the computer and hopped of his chair, clanking loudly on the ground as he landed. "I'm gonna go find some of my buddies and catch up with them. You wanna come with?"

"Uh, sure. I hope I won't be a fifth wheel, though."

"Nah, it'll be fine. I'm sure they'll want to get to know the guy who helped save their skins from Emperius. You'll probably want to get used to that, because you're gonna get it a lot over in your world once this is all done."

"Oh, boy, don't remind me…"

Datarcarnomon smirked. "What, you don't like the idea of being a hero in everyone's eyes?"

"It's not...that, exactly. It's just kind of, you know, a little uncomfortable having everyone's eyes on you. I'm not really used to being the center of attention."

"I wouldn't have thought that would bother you! You seem like the kinda guy who could take it all in stride - heck, I would think you'd enjoy it!"

"I want to! It's kinda silly, being nervous about something like that, at least that's what I think! But I can't help it, it's just something I haven't been able to get over, and it's not that I haven't tried...it's just that I can't make myself get over it!"

"Well, you know how a robot like myself goes about it? We have an experience, take the data from it, analyze it thoroughly, use the data to alter our actions and add or change the steps, and do it all over again! So you should just do the same thing! Figure out what it is that makes you nervous and add in some stuff to take care of it!"

Isaac chuckled. "You make it sound so simple!"

"It is! C'mon, you're coming with me, and you're going to bask in their adoration if I have to beat you into it!"

"Whoa, whoa, okay, jeez, no need to go overboard, I said I was coming with, didn't I?"

(==========)

"So that's the situation, or at least what we know of it," Skylar finished. "We're waiting on word from the air about where the airship went, but for now, things have settled down."

"Fantastic…" Gallantmon muttered. "We've never been in such a prime position...we owe you and your friends a great deal."

"Well, it wasn't all us, we had a lot of help in making this all come about."

"True, but it's all revolved around you. It's because of your efforts that we've gained the allies we have, and that Libertius survived teetering on the brink of destruction. We've gotten back our ability to defend our land, and for that, I for one will be eternally grateful."

"We're just happy to help!" Breezedramon chirruped. "It's all for a good cause!"

"Exactly," agreed Skylar. "It's for everyone's benefit, and I'm just glad we even can play a part in seeing it through. And honestly, it's hard to take credit for all this when we just kind of stumbled into it ourselves. Really, it's a lot more good fortune than anything else."

Gallantmon shook his head. "I don't believe that. Perhaps it was good fortune that you found out that it was even possible for you to combine together like you do, but look at what you did with it. You took it upon yourselves to defend two worlds, both of which were quite new and unfamiliar to one of you. You went up against foes far stronger than yourselves and still prevailed through persistence and ingenuity. You forged alliances which allowed others to take up your cause when you needed more than yourselves, organizing a more powerful and reliable defense than ever would have existed without your influence. And you have repeatedly torn down a system which has sought our destruction and was proving all but unstoppable until you desmontated that they weren't. That is far more than good fortune."

"When you put it that way, it's kinda hard to argue with you," Skylar admitted.

"I hope so. You should take great pride in what you've accomplished...it's not something just anyone would have been able to do. You've got a great future ahead of you, all of you, no matter what you do...if you can overcome this, there isn't much in either world that could pose a greater challenge."

"You're right...thanks, Gallantmon."

Gallantmon gave a nod. "And thank you as well. I won't keep you any longer, go rest while you can. You deserve it."

"Thanks. We will. We'll let you know when we find out more." With that, Skylar and Breezedramon left Gallantmon's office and headed back down the hall. Only when they were out of earshot did Breezedramon flit up and cuff Skylar on the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"It was for trying to shove all that praise into your skull where it belongs! Gallantmon's right, you should totally be swimming in pride right now!"

Skylar scowled at the dragon. "Excuse me for trying to be modest. You sound like Isaac."

"Modest isn't acting like you didn't do anything! Modesty's more not trying to make a bigger deal out of all the good stuff than it is, or something like that. It's not saying all the spactumtaculamer stuff we've done is all just luck, that's just silly!"

"I'm not sure I agree with that. Acting like it's just all because you're so good is liable to make people think you've got a big head, and that's not particularly appealing to them."

"It's not any better to just yap about how it something's all luck and stuff either! It's acting like you're not any good at anything when you obviously are, and that just makes people think you're either an idiot or a liar! And, I mean, when you obviously did something huge, not taking credit for it is like telling them it wasn't any big deal, it makes them think it wasn't important to you! And something like this, this is a really hugenormous deal!"

Skylar had to pause on that. _I think he has a point...I guess it can seem like you come off as callous if you downplay something other people see as an important accomplishment, especially if they were impacted by it...is that what Isaac's always talking about? Maybe I should rethink my approach...the last thing I want is to seem like I don't care..._

"Excuse me, Breezedramon, Skylar?" The two turned their heads down an intersecting hallway to see Monodramon running up to them. "Salmandmon and Reyn wanted me to come get you. He wants to meet with you in the cafeteria. Something about plotting a course of action or something along those lines."

"All right, thanks. Well, best not keep him waiting, huh?"

"Nope! Let's go!"

(==========)

"It's a lot busier in here now that everyone's back," Reyn said as he took his seat next to Salmandmon, who was already tearing into a pile of food seemingly as large as himself. "If you guys have trouble hearing, we can relocate."

"I think it'll be fine, it's not too loud," Derek said. "So what's up?"

"I think you can probably guess. Yesterday was a huge victory for us, but it's not finished yet. Emperius has been drastically weakened, but they're still there and they're certainly not going to take what happened lying down. However, we still haven't heard from anyone as to where they are, and even if they have plans, it's going to take them some time to regroup. Meanwhile, we're at a crossroads as well...if there's any time that we could take a break and check back in with our world, it would be now. On the other hand, we could also put all our resources into tracking down and finishing off Emperius, which would speed up the process and give them less time to plan for us. I'd like to hear your thoughts on these options."

"I dunno...I would kinda like to see everyone again, and make sure they're doing all right," Iris said uncertainly. "I know we can't rest on Emperius, but with them in defensive mode, now would be the best time to make sure they're ready for anything over there, and let everyone know that we're still all right."

"Now would also be a perfect time to drive forward and finish them off," Isaac argued. "The more time we give Emperius to rest and regroup, the harder they're going to make it for us to finish the job. When it comes down to it, our world isn't going anywhere, getting back will be a cinch. And as long as we leave Emperius alive, they're going to be a danger to everyone over there. We're best off just ending it now."

"I have to side with Isaac on this one," Skylar added. "Much as I'm sure my mother would prefer I come home and prove I'm still alive, from a pragmatic standpoint, we're probably not going to be in as good of a position to deliver the killing blow at any other point in time. It makes more sense to do it now than give them time to rest. Besides that, in the state Emperius is in, they probably aren't able to send anyone over to attack them anyway."

"I guess that makes sense, but part of me just wants to have that peace of mind that they're not struggling over there," Derek countered. "I'm with Iris, I think even a quick trip, just a day or something, just so we know they can handle themselves. And if they can't, maybe we can organize some back-up."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "I guess that's an even split then...well, before your vote, anyway. Guess the difficult decision gets put in your hands, Reyn."

Reyn smirked. "Not really, no."

"Yeah, we took a poll, and we're all for going out and kicking their asses right now," Salmandmon said. "So, yeah, we kinda skew the vote a little bit in that direction."

Iris glared at Reyn. "Wait, so our votes didn't even matter?"

"Oh, they mattered. After all, if you'd all been in favor of checking back in, it would've at least meant a bit of a debate over what to do. But since that wasn't the case, it sounds like we've got our course voted on by popular decision. Besides, they're the veterans here, I think it's smart to go with them on tactical decisions."

"And Skylar's got a good point," added Shockavimon. "It's really unlikely that they're still sending people over there after what happened, so if nothing else, they've got some time to regroup and reload. We can delay more attacks, if not stop them entirely, by taking the initiative over here."

Iris let out a long sigh. "I guess so. I'm just worried about everyone over there...I hope there weren't any catastrophes."

Reyn nodded understandingly. "I get that...I'm worried about them, too. But if there were any major issues over there, there's probably nothing we can do about them after the fact. We're best off doing what we can right here and now."

"So what's our plan for once we get a bead on them?" asked Datacarnomon.

"Well, we'll probably have to assess that once we figure out what they have at their disposal. Where they end up, what kind of defenses their ship has, whether they have any fallback locations, all that good stuff. We won't be able to just jump in and go all gung-ho on them. Not to mention, we'll probably want some support of our own, now that we have some of that."

"What if they decide to retaliate against our own world?" Skylar said with worry in his voice. "We could find ourselves in a bind again if they have a lot of time to attack before we find out and make our way back there."

"Well, that's something we have to be aware of…"

"How do we know they haven't gone over already?" Iris jumped in. "If we can't find them now, maybe they've already made the trip! That sounds like a good enough reason to check in over there to me!"

Reyn and Salmandmon exchanged glances; this somehow hadn't occurred to them. "That's a...valid concern," Salmandmon finally said. "I guess we should look into that...there's gotta be some way to find out if the ship's still in this world. If it isn't, we'll have to make haste. But let's ascertain that before we-"

There was a sudden commotion from the entryway of the cafeteria, and all eyes turned as a familiar demon dragon barreled his way in and made a beeline for their table. There was a look of tension in his features that didn't sit well with any of them. Isaac was the first to speak as he approached. "Reaverdramon! Hey, we never got a chance to thank you for your help with the Weapon-"

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask that the accolades are saved for another time," Reaverdramon cut him off with an urgent wave of his hand. "I'm loathe to spring this on you so soon after that massive battle, but there's an extreme crisis about to explode, and this could make Emperius look like child's play. I need you all to come with me, right now."

Reyn nodded, not about to argue with such a dire proclamation. "If it's that bad, then we're definitely going. Come on, everyone."

(==========)

(==========)

So...yeah. Cliffhanger. Just like last chapter, except hopefully it won't be two months before I update this time. It may be a bit easier to finish than this one was because I at least know how everything is supposed to go. I just have to write it...hopefully I'll have some time over the Christmas break to do just that. I don't really have the energy to write much more here now, so I'll just end it and hope that things start picking up in the next chapter, which I'm going to try to force myself to finish and put up before January is out. Until then...


	55. Chapter 54: Ascend Into Chaos

Can it be? An actual update? What is this madness?

It has been far too long, and I do apologize for that. I won't bother going into all the factors, they hardly matter to any of you and they won't change the fact that it's been several months since the last chapter was written. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, but I'm making no more promises about update consistency. All I can promise is that, yes, this WILL be finished, and finished as I intended, not cut short for the sake of celerity.

Now then, let's get on with one that I've really been wanting to do for a while! Enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 54: Ascend Into Chaos**

Below the bluff Reaverdramon had brought them to, the land was barren and desolate, bearing little besides rock and sand. The fairly featureless expanse made the large dark sphere floating in the middle of the wasteland seem that much larger and more imposing. Barely visible through the dark dusky fog surrounding it was a floating island of land almost completely occupied with what seemed to be some kind of massive castle. Grey mist swirled malevolently around the structure, billowing and sweeping around it but never straying far from their nexus.

"That place could not look more creepy if it tried," Isaac remarked grimly as they observed it from the bluff. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what's up there?"

Reaverdramon's eyes remained firmly on the malevolent structure in the distance. "They call it the Castle of the Demon Kings. It houses some of the most powerful demon digimon ever to reside on Tetraquaz...perhaps in the entire world. I've heard the stories about their exploits many times when I was younger...no doubt the demon world is rejoicing at this moment. This was said to be the harbinger of their return to glory...you can imagine what that must mean for everyone else."

"Isn't that a comforting thought," Salmandmon said with a scowl. "Are those stories by any chance the ones about the demon uprising centuries ago?"

"Correct. For the benefit of the unfamiliar...long ago, demon digimon massed together in an attempt to conquer the digital world and twist it for their own desires. They deigned to eliminate the most powerful nondemons and either kill or enslave the rest of the populace, putting themselves in supreme control of the world, in hopes that they could eventually corrupt it into something that generated only demons and nothing else. The ones in this castle, calling themselves the Demon Kings, they were the most powerful and the driving force behind the uprising. This castle was their mobile base, created so they could travel freely wherever they were needed to support and boost the power of the demons who fought for them."

"Not unlike Gargantua Weapon, huh?" observed Derek.

"Exactly. Certainly not comparable in size, but it didn't have to be, since only the Demon Kings reside there. They were a plague on the world for years, but in the end, the demons failed in their uprising...though they were strong, the opposition fought back fiercely, and their numbers proved too much for the demons...decimated and humiliated, they were forced into hiding. The Demon Kings saw the writing on the wall, but were unwilling to concede defeat...instead, they sealed themselves away so that no one could find them or attempt to go after them until they chose to return."

"If I was a demon, I'd be pretty pissed about that," Datacarnomon said.

"It was very much the opposite, actually...the demons knew their best chance of eventual success was to trust in the Demon Kings, and so they have remained fairly quiet, watching and waiting for the day of their return, when the uprising is expected to begin anew. And they believe that when it happens, they will be unstoppable."

Reyn looked over at Reaverdramon. "Why? They were stopped once before, weren't they? I can't imagine they'd have the element of surprise, or that they'd be taken lightly."

Reaverdramon shook his head. "And I'm sure they expect neither. No, the Demon Kings were supposed to arise only when they believed they could gain a weapon that would ensure victory would be theirs, an unstoppable force that would render their numbers disadvantage pointless."

"So they have some kind of unstoppable superweapon at their disposal?" asked Datacarnomon.

"Not yet. But they have their sights set on it. Or rather, them."

After a few moments, it clicked with Reyn. "You're talking about us!"

"I am indeed."

"Wait, they think we're gonna join up with them?" Breezedramon asked incredulously. "No way they're that stupid!"

"If only they were, perhaps we wouldn't have to deal with them in this day and age. No, they have seen your power, a set of powerful beings who have overcome challenges of great magnitude, and I believe they think you are the key to their success. They would not expect you to join of your own volition...they would intend to corrupt you, strip you of your souls and turn you into demonic weapons to be used at their disposal. In their twisted minds, they expect that no force on this world could stop them from realizing their world of evil if they could make use of you."

"That's why your brother was supposed to keep us alive," Isaac realized. "He was supposed to turn us over to them."

The demon dragon nodded darkly. "I believe some of the demon digimon leaders have been in contact with the Demon Kings for some time...feeding them information and receiving messages and orders from them. They've known of you likely since shortly after you arrived here, and no doubt they've been tracking you for a while. They know what you're capable of, and they wouldn't enter into this lightly."

"So trying to go after them would almost certainly be some kind of trap for us," Skylar surmised.

"Doubtless, but they aren't content to make it easy for you to get around facing them. I heard their voices in my mind as I watched the castle emerge from the seal...they announced to me to tell you that if you did not serve them, they would enter the human world with their hordes of demons and annihilate it...likely they would corrupt it much like they intend to corrupt our own."

"Damn!" Shockavimon snapped. "Are they working alongside Emperius?"

"No, that would be too simple for them. Most likely, they simply know what kind of pressure to put on you in order to gain your attention. I would not have even transmitted the message had I not believed they would be fully prepared to follow through on their threats...they are not ones to back away from their assertions."

"Why would they tell you and not one of their cronies?" Shockavimon asked.

Reaverdramon sighed. "My guess? As punishment. They know I've been fighting the demon culture that's been centered around them, and it would please them to no end to force me to accept the knowledge that I was the one responsible for allowing them to attain their glory by bringing you to them."

"That presumes we're going to lose in the first place," Salmandmon hissed. "They must really think they're hot stuff. What kind of tricks do they have up there?"

"Whatever they are, it's going to mean trouble for us," Reyn said. "The options are walk right into an obvious trap, or avoid them on the hope that they don't follow through with their threat. And what are the chances of that?"

"We can't risk it happening," Iris declared. "Even though we know they're trying to draw us in, we have to confront them. Maybe there's something we can do to defeat them, or at least get them to hide again for a few centuries."

"I suppose Emperius and the Dreadnaught shall have to be relegated to secondary importance for an indefinite period," Blackcanismon growled. "These demonic interlopers will rue their threatened scourge at such a critical moment."

"Let's make sure of that," Reyn concluded. "Reaverdramon, can you gather some of the strongest digimon aligned with Emperius and have them stationed at the ready? If something should go wrong and the worst should happen...well, I'd rather give us the least possible chance to do serious damage. We'll do everything to can to make sure it doesn't happen, but...well, we have to be prepared for every eventuality."

"Absolutely. I wish I could give you more support...these are the figureheads of all those who have made demon digimon such monsters. It would be a blessing to all those who have suffered at their hands if they were to be wiped out."

"Then let's see to it that that happens. All right, guys, let's get going. The longer we wait, the longer we're distracted from our main goal."

(==========)

The first difficulty was getting everyone up to the castle. With only two fliers and three who needed a ride, it seemed at first that there would have to be two trips for either Stormdramon or Thundergarudamon, or both given the weight of Cyberrexmon. Fortunately, the cyborg came up with a passable alternative, acquiring from Libertius's technology center a set of disposable jets he could use to get up to the castle and then discard so they wouldn't obstruct him later on. With the first hurdle past, the five were soon up in the air, Pyrekomodomon on Stormdramon's back and Onyxvargmon on Thundergarudamon's.

They flew slowly, trying to stay together as best they could in order to stay on the same course. Soon they had entered the swirling dark mists around the castle, the wind rotating at a solid pace, making the flight that much more challenging. The riders kept their eyes out for any debris, digimon, or other hazards, but they were absent through the entire flight. After some time, the castle of the demons came into view.

It was an imposing structure, gigantic and dark-colored, the outside looking rather twisted and misshapen. Rows of windows lined some of the spiraling structures, but only blackness could be seen through them, almost as if they were windows to an entirely different dimension. At the front, massive doors decorated with ornate carvings visible even at a great distance stood at guard. Large pillars stood around the castle, emitting jets of bright gray gas into the sky, which darkened as it merged with the swirling dark winds surrounding the demonic domicile. The fliers made sure to give these jets a wide berth as they made their way to a landing site on a stony pathway in front of the castle.

"That was easier than I expected it to be," Stormdramon said as he and Thundergarudamon landed and let their passengers disembark. "I thought they might at least try something to keep us out."

"I thought they were trying to draw us in, that wouldn't make sense," countered Onyxvargmon.

"Yeah, but still, you'd think they'd be trying to catch us off-guard from the start."

"Worked on you, didn't it?"

"Enough," Pyrekomodomon cut in. "Expected or not, we're here. We should be ready for anything, who knows what they're planning on doing."

"No kidding...man, this place looks a lot bigger close up than it did from far away," Thundergarudamon said with a chill. "Not what I was looking forward to. We'd better be careful, it'd be easy to get lost in there. Cyberrexmon, can you read anything from nearby?"

"...I'm not fully sure, there's something in the air that's causing disruptions, I don't know that I really trust any of the readings I'm getting. But as far as I can figure out, there's nothing lying in wait for us. At least, no creatures of any kind."

"What does that mean?"

"Can't you feel it? There's a lot of chaotic energy around this place...swirling around us, even through us. A subtle threat, but not one that can be ignored. It's all over, we wouldn't be able to avoid it if we tried."

"Yeah, I know what you mean..." Stormdramon shuddered, unusually subdued. "Every fiber of my body's on edge. It's weird...I feel almost stronger than normal, or at least more alert. Another thing I wouldn't have expected."

"It's probably there to make us more vulnerable to their coercion," Pyrekomodomon said seriously. "It's a calculated gamble...chaotic energy is unstable, who knows what kind of effects it could have that they didn't intend and we won't expect. And it probably only helps them as well, maybe even more so, so don't expect to get the upper hand because of it."

"I see open doors," Onyxvargmon said suddenly. All eyes turned to where he pointed; the main doors had pulled in, leaving an obvious entrance that could only be meant for them. "I don't think they're planning an ambush...I think they want us to come face-to-face with them."

"That's almost more disturbing," Thundergarudamon mumbled. "They must really think they have the upper hand if they're inviting us to fight them."

"They really are intent on corrupting us, huh? Well, I've got no intention of letting that happen." Pyrekomodomon clenched his fists and started forward along the path towards the castle. "Let's show them that we aren't about to let them have their way. They messed with the wrong warriors."

(==========)

The lighting inside the castle was, not unexpectedly, quite dim. The main lighting came from a series of eerie torches that glowed gray rather than orange like a normal flame; they still emitted light, but it had a rather unsettling quality about it.

Only shortly after they entered, they reached a large circular room. Several doors were spaced around the room, and flanking each set of doors were more torches, these ones also colored strangely; one set a red-orange, one a bright yellow, one sky blue, one a sharp metallic gray, and one jet black.

"Gee, you think they're trying to hint at something?" Thundergarudamon said sarcastically.

"Clearly they know how they want to deal with us," Onyxvargmon huffed as he glanced at the strangely-lit torches. "I vote we pay not attention to their 'suggestions' and go as a group to finish each one of them off. Better than catering to their whims."

"I hope you don't think they're going to make it that simple for us," Cyberrexmon said, his eyes locked on one of the doors. "They've already made one of their tricks known."

"Is this the part where you tell us we're gonna have to split up and go through each one like they want?" Stormdramon asked in a rather whiny tone. "I hate when these kinds of things force you to go the stupid route."

"Much as I'd like to disabuse you of that notion, I'm afraid that looks to be the case. They've set up barriers around the doors, ones that I would venture only the one who corresponds to each door can actually pass through. I can't detect any generators in the vicinity, either, so we can't disable them in any way. The best we could do is try to find a way around, but how long do we want to spend on that with Emperius pushing us for time?"

"None, to be perfectly frank," declared Pyrekomodomon, walking up close to the orange-red-torched doors. "If we waste time here, we give them a chance to take advantage of us. And trying to get around them might be more hazardous than just taking on these demons head-on. We're going to have to play by their rules this time around. Let's make them pay for it."

"If that's what you think...I guess we'll go with that," Thundergaruduamon agreed. "I just hope it doesn't end up being a bad decision."

"Yeah, me either. Good luck."

(==========)

All was quiet for Cyberrexmon at the outset. He moved slowly, scanning for any potential traps or other hidden dangers, but nothing registered either through his field of vision or his various sensors. In fact, the hallways seemed almost too bare.

_I'm not sure what they're going for here...are they trying to lull me into a false sense of security, or trying to make me paranoid? I hope the others don't have to go through anything like this…_

The passage began to make more twists and turns, leading him to believe he was about to enter some sort of maze. _Maybe I should be keeping an eye out for hidden doorways or passages...whoever's trying to lure me in might be hoping I get lost for good in here, and I can't afford that. Though why go to all the work if he's trying to lure me in in the first place?_

He continued his steady progress, using his eyes and hands to probe for any secrets in the walls as well as searching for peculiar elements with his sensors. He still continued along a fairly straightforward path for a long time, finding nothing that would potentially redirect him but still getting the feeling that he was missing something.

Then, without any warning in the slightest, he was suddenly enveloped in a think, dark fog.

He had no idea where it came from or even what it was, it hit and covered everything so fast that he couldn't even try to get away. A little shaken at the sudden turn of events, he tried to scan through it only to find heavy interference. None of his sensors was doing a thing with the fog around, none of his visual enhancements would get through it, and that was starting to make him nervous.

But it only got worse when he realized that he wasn't just unable to see anything - all his other senses had been arrested as well. The halls had been fairly quiet before, but now even the soft ambient sounds had been quelled entirely - it was as if he had gone into a soundproof booth. Even the fain musky scent of the hallways had disappeared. And worst of all, he couldn't even feel the ground beneath his feet. He knew it was there - he was still standing on something - but he could not feel what he was standing on, no more than he could see it. He reached out to where he knew a wall had been and could feel nothing as well, not even figure out where the wall had begun.

Now he really was starting to feel panic welling up in him. The sense of complete vulnerability - the inability to detect any threat that might come his way, the idea that he might be sliced open from behind, in front, or even above or below, without even the slightest knowledge of what would do it - was rapidly wearing on him. He made every possible effort to calm himself down, but even that wasn't enough to keep terror from gripping him more and more tightly.

He forced himself to keep moving, but that didn't help in the slightest - he had no way of telling if the ground was going to suddenly fall out from under him, whether he was going the right way or just wandering aimlessly, whether he was even actually still in the castle - for all he knew, he'd been dropped into an alternate dimension with no means of escape. All this was not helping his mood, which was now bordering on an absolute breakdown.

Then, through the mists, he became aware of something, something calling to him; he wasn't quite hearing it, but almost feeling it…

_Come...come to me...let me help you...let me save you…_

The sensation, whatever it was, despite his inability to know where it was really coming from, still managed to allay his rising madness and calm his down. He held onto it, grasped it the best he could, trying to follow it to what he was starting to feel was safety. Even though he couldn't place it, he began moving, feeling an almost instinctual draw towards a particular direction, as if being guided to it.

_Yes...come to me...allow me to take you away from this nightmare you are trapped within…_

Cyberrexmon felt a shudder go through him just feeling the words; never had such an odd and intangible sensation filled him with such calm, such tranquility...almost a full-on pleasure, putting him at such ease. He didn't notice his mind getting somewhat fuzzy, so captivated by the words being fed to him. He moved slowly, and found himself approaching a silhouetted figure, much larger than he was, with a form he couldn't quite place but found himself unable to care about.

_Come to me...I can make all your worries disappear...come to me and receive my power…_

Blurrily, he approached the dark figure, not feeling any fear or uncertainty now, just a quiet peace that he felt could only be improved by following the directions given to him. He stopped in front of the figure, which shifted and raised an appendage, he presumed an arm, over him and laid it on top of his head. As soon as it did, Cyberrexmon felt a strange energy weaving into him, yet another unusual sensation but far different from the comforting words; this was something not quite pleasant, yet not quite unpleasant, just kind of a pressure that was spreading throughout his body. His body was starting to feel odd, like something was accelerating within him…

And then the peace was shattered instantly by a piercing alarm screaming within his head,

[WARNING...WARNING...SEVERE CORRUPTION DETECTED...INITIATING PROTECTION MATRIX...WARNING...WARNING...CORRUPTION MAY LEAD TO FATAL ERRORS...TAKE IMMEDIATE COUNTERACTION...]

Suddenly he was thrown unpleasantly right back into reality, grabbing his head and trying to silence the alarm. He stumbled backwards, not entirely aware of what had just been affecting him; desperately, he fired blindly in front of him, hoping to hit whatever was causing the screeching in his head. He heard a loud roar break through the alarm warning, and just as suddenly, the alarm faded away and died down to nothing.

Cyberrexmon finally opened his eyes. Instead of the indistinct darkness, he now saw himself in a somewhat dimly-lit room, the only light from harsh gray torches along the walls. In front of him was no longer an unidentified silhouette, but the unpleasant figure of GranDracmon, who appeared both enraged and confused. "Impossible! How could you break out of that?"

Cyberrexmon growled angrily; his pulse was still racing, even more than before the alarm, and he still didn't feel entirely himself. "So you were behind all that? Oh, you're gonna pay now!"

"Miserable cyborg! No one ever escapes from my mind control! You won't be the first!" The mouths on GranDracmon's legs fires blasts of ice at Cyberrexmon, who tried to run from them while firing his own barrage of rockets and blaster fire. Both sets of attacks connected at the end, creating a temporary cease-fire as both the demon and the cyborg recovered from their respective blows.

Cyberrexmon was shaking with anger as he tried to clear the icy fog from around him. _How could I...how could I fall so easily...am I really that weak-willed, that some demon could charm me with a few words and some stupid energy thing? What kind of superior technology falls to that?_

Another blast of ice came right for him, striking him directly. Yet, unexpectedly, he didn't feel the impact nearly as much as he thought, and it didn't even move him from his spot. All it did was cause a sudden rush of energy run through him, almost more than he could contain. The next blast of ice was crushed before it could eve reach him.

"What is this? What's going on?" roared out GranDracmon. "This is ridiculous! You WILL submit to my will!"

"Not a chance!" roared back Cyberrexmon. "I won't lose! I have people counting on me, and I can't be replaced! If I'm not good enough to beat you now...then I'll just have to get an upgrade!"

A bright glow obscured Cyberrexmon's form as he began to shift. His frame grew even larger and bulkier, even the outline demonstrating an imposing power and resilience unlike anything he's had before. Metal covered his body entirely, leaving nothing uncovered, taking on a polished sheen that gleamed in the light. His left arm grew long, wicked claws, and his right arm built up its cannon mechanics, allowing it to shift between forms much more fluidly than before. Four other cannons formed on his back, connected to rods that could move them freely around and turn them in any direction. The energy core in his body grew radically more powerful, filling him with a strength he'd never even imagined possible; likewise, his mainframe advanced beyond anything he'd ever conceived, flooding him with data and information like never before. His sensory systems were also markedly enhanced, greatly increasing his range of detection options and even allowing him to observe himself from a third-person perspective. Every weapons system in his body altered itself to match his new form, and as his gaze settled on GranDracmon, he felt almost unstoppable.

The demon didn't understand what was going on, but could sense something serious had take place. Nonetheless, he remained as defiant as ever. "You...I don't care how powerful you've become...I will prove that you are beneath me, and force you to become my servant!"

"I'd like to see you try." The new creature stood up straight and spread his arms out. From the center of his chest, a hatch opened and a gun pointed out towards Grandracmon, who was unimpressed at the display.

"That's it? All that spectacle and you couldn't come up with something a little more powerful than that pathetic little gun? You'll never win with that!"

The cyborg said nothing, the only response being two more guns appearing from hatches on his shoulders, two appearing from his knees, one appearing from the middle of his snout, and one appearing from the tip of his tail, which pointed forward at Grandracmon with all the others. Now the demon took a hesitant step backwards, clearly intimidated. "Uh...crap."

"These little guns prove that size doesn't matter. I call it my Pleiades Rail Guns." At that, all seven guns fired, each one launching an astonishing barrage of pellets at the demon, reaching 120 rounds per second. The large pellets ripped through GranDracmon, who tried to cover himself but found no respite from the devastatingly fast and powerful shots. In just ten seconds he was brought to the ground, most of his body torn up and bleeding profusely, moaning in shock and denial.

He halted the barrage, pulling the guns back into his body and then raising his right arm. It shifted quickly to its cannon mode, a wide and deadly-looking barrel with a glowing core that practically resonated with power. He pointed it at GranDracmon as the barrel lit up, charging to full power in seconds.

"My name is Weaponrexmon. I will never falter. I will never give in to evil. And I will not let you live! Dynamo Buster!" A powerful beam erupted from the cannon, engulfing Grandracmon and ripping his body apart. The powerful blast was enough to vaporize part of the wall of the castle, leaving behind only dust, Grandracmon's data, and Weaponrexmon.

Finally, he felt at peace again. _No more close encounters like that...I can't afford to let that happen, not when so much rests on my performance. Onyxvargmon was right...I can't be replaced. But I can improve myself...that's what I have to do to ensure I never fall behind._

_But...how did this happen? What did he do to me that caused such a reaction?_ He looked over his new body, his mind buzzing with all sorts of analyses as he tried to make sense of it. As the answers started to come in, he felt almost overwhelmed by the volume of information, coming in on a scale he'd never before experienced. It was so much that he had to force it to be dialed back, not yet capable of keeping up. What data had already come in, however, was giving him more than enough to think about.

_Amazing...I never would have thought...they couldn't have known about this. No wonder GranDracmon didn't understand how I evolved...but if that's true, then what does this mean for us?_

(==========)

An orange ball of flame smacked against the floor a long ways away from Pyrekomodomon, revealing utterly nothing but a long, empty hallway. Darkness buried the path once more when it disappeared, but nothing seemed to be in his way.

_Hmph...either they're ridiculously overconfident, or they're just that stupid. No traps? No tricks? Please, this doesn't feel threatening at all._

He continued to walk forward, a little less cautiously than before, trying only to attend to any potential turns in the path. The lack of danger remained consistent, but the hallway seemed to drag on for miles, and it didn't take long for his ire to begin heating up as he walked more and more without reaching his destination, wherever that was to be. _Come on, what the hell does it take to confront a demon?_

Then, out of nowhere, a bright white flame appeared right in front of him. He jumped back quickly, getting himself into a battle ready stance, but the flame just remained stationary, floating in the middle of the hallway without any apparent support or source, and he relaxed somewhat as the sense of danger dimmed. _Is this the trick? Hah, this isn't that bad. Just a parlor trick..._

He attempted to skirt the flame, only to find that it started moving to stay in front of him. Perplexed, he started to bob and weave, the flame fairly accurately mimicking his moves. As he got further forward, another flame appeared, then another, until soon several were beginning to swirl around him. They were doing nothing except dancing around his body and driving him nuts.

_What is this crap? Are these stupid things supposed to do something? Come on, get on with it already!_

Abandoning all caution, he charged forward, trying to see of the flames would be able to keep up. Instead of moving with him like they had, though, the ones in front of him shot towards him, one going right through his head. He yelled in surprise and anger as he was suddenly blinded by a flash of white, and then sent quickly back into the darkness, the flames doing no damage but further fueling his rage all the same. He rubbed his eyes in irritation and wheeled around, seeing only more flames flickering in front of him, almost taunting him now. When he turned back forward, more had appeared.

_Okay, now they're really pissing me off! I'm tired of this, I've got business to take care of!_

He took off at a full run, paying as little heed to the flames as possible. As soon as he did, they began charging him and diving into him, still passing through harmlessly but frequently jolthing through his head and blinding him. Several times they kept him from seeing where the turns in the hallway occurred, resulting in him smacking into the wall at high speed. A couple minutes of this treatment was enough to send him into a frothing rage, hissing and snarling and roaring at the strange flames. He even tried to leap and attack them a couple times, even knowing in the back of his head that it wouldn't do any good. By the time the flames disappeared, he was practically a raging beast, and it took everything he had to get a tenuous grip on himself and realize the entrance to the demon's chamber was right in front of him.

As he entered, the room lit up with the ominous flames, this time actually perched on torches. They revealed the gigantic, misshapen blue and tan form of Diablomon, grinning madly as his eyes fell on the approaching reptile. "So, you've come, have you?"

Pyrekomodomon simply glared up and bared his teeth at the immense demon. "What, you thought I wouldn't? I'm onto your games, and I'm putting a stop to them. That simple."

"Rr hrr hrr...we knew you wouldn't make this easy...but we are the kings of demons. We cannot fall to you. Our power is absolute-"

A blast of fire in Diablomon's face cut him off. Pyrekomodomon eyes drove into him with an incinerating gaze nearly as potent as the attack. "I'm tired of my enemies yapping. Get on with it already!"

"Rr hrr hrr...very well! Tentacle Bug!" With blinding speed, Diablomon shot an arm forward, stretching beyond what seemed possible to slam Pyrekomodomon into the ground hard. The hand tried to grab at Pyrekomodmon and crush him in its grip, but he slipped out just as the motion began, panting hard and definitely feeling the blow, but his burning anger was masking the effects.

"Infernal Fang!" He took a deep breath inwards and spat a vicious fireball right at Diablomon's head. It smacked against the demon's helmet and showered embers over his eyes, forcing him to rub them away with his hands and giving Pyrekomodomon time to launch his next attack. He sprinted to the corner of the room away from Diablomon and unleashed a Searing Wave aimed at the demon's chest. Diablomon recovered too quickly, however, and brought his right shoulder down to block the inferno with the gigantic armored plate, using his right arm to subsequently launch another Tentacle Bug at the reptile. He dove away, but one of the claws sliced into his foot, eliciting a pained his from him and slowing him down.

Diablomon laughed again, the voice leering and taunting. "Strong as you are, you're a fool to try to take me down this way! I've endured far worse than you've managed to throw at me! And now you can't even run at me!"

"You talk too much," snapped Pyrekomodomon viciously, though the pain shooting through his foot was taking the demon's side. "Searing Wave!" He launched his attack again, this time aiming for the demon's leg; the flames connected this time but had scant effect.

"You see?" Diablomon cackled triumphantly. "Nothing you can do can harm me! I have all the power here, and it's time you saw just what that meant!" He reared back, baring his chest, with the green jewel in the middle starting to glow brightly. "Catastrophe Cannon!"

The jewel let loose with a brutal burst of green energy. Even if he hadn't had his foot injured, it would have been a close thing for Pyrekomodomon to escape; in his current state, there was no chance as the blast hit him full-force, driving him into the wall. All the air was driven out of his lungs in a strangled cry as he was battered against the unforgiving stone, pain raging through his entire body. When the attack let up, he slumped right to the ground, heaving painfully, grey smoke smoldering from his body.

Laughing his ugly, wicked laugh, Diablomon shambled over and grabbed Pyrekomodomon bodily, nearly crushing him in his grip. "You see how easy that was for me? You couldn't have hoped to hold a candle to my power! Foolish mortal, what made you think you could defeat a demon king in our very home?"

Pyrekomodomon's only response was a toxic glare at the demon and a weak and ineffective struggle to break from the grip. The demon didn't seem to even take notice. "Had you had the brains of one of us, you would have known to stay away...now the time for escape is long gone for you! Your soul will be forfeit to me, and your body my plaything...you will do my command, become the vessel for my desires, and with you, I will bring this world to its knees! Prepare yourself for an eternal torment of nothingness!"

"Grrr...shut...up…"

"Still resisting? Hah...my chaos will soon put out that flame!" Diablomon began to glow with an ominous gray aura, which began swirling from him around and into Pyrekomodomon, driving into him the dangerous chaotic energy heavy in the air of the castle. He began to jerk and thrash and Diablomon's hand, the demon taking that to be a sign of his success at turning the rebellious reptile into just another brain-dead minion, albeit one he knew he was capable of conquering the world with. But something felt wrong; the heat from the body was suddenly growing, the sensation in his hand growing hotter and hotter…

Too hot.

Diablomon let out a shocked, pained howl and tossed Pyrekomodomon away, waving his badly burned hand to quell the sensation. Pyrekomodomon landed hard, but seemed unfazed by it as he slowly got to his feet; his breathing again heavy, this time not from exhaustion, but from a volcanic anger that was bursting from within him, no longer under his own control, he hissed out in a ragged, inhuman voice:

"...My soul...is off limits."

The fiery aura suddenly broke out completely, blazing through the entire room, so bright it almost seemed like daybreak. Diablomon was pushed back by the intensity, unable to comprehend what was happening. "What...what is going on? How did you not fall to me?"

He was in no state to respond as his body began shifting again, undergoing a new metamorphosis. He felt a surge of bestiality within him, twisting his body into a more feral appearance, his head lengthening and his fangs becoming sharper, each one now dripping with a flaming venom. Every muscle, every tendon, every joint in his body became stronger and sharper, giving him a radical increase in both strength and speed. His long tail became even more powerful and acquired deadly spikes at the end, pumped with the same fiery toxin his fangs had gained. His arms, legs, and chest took on a new, lighter yet drastically stronger armor, bright blue with jagged red and yellow stripes across them. The gauntlets covering his hands shifted to the same make and color, melting over his claws and practically fusing to his hands, making them almost a part of his body. The ridges along his spine exploded in pillars of flame as he let out a feral, reptilian roar which shook the entire room.

The intense power radiating from this new form was not lost on Diablomon. Depsite the demon's significant size advantage, he knew full well that this was an extremely dangerous creature; but to him, this only made him more valuable. "Such power...such raw energy...it must be mine! With this I would be the new king of demons!"

"_You won't even get to try!_" The newly reformed reptile launched himself forward in a spinning fireball, easily clearing Diablomon's Tentacle Bug attack and carrying him right to the feet of the demon. Almost instantly upon landing, he rocketed straight up, launching an uppercut into Diablomon's jaw, landing the blow with such force that it lifted him several feet into the air. It was all he could do to remain standing, but the flame warrior wasn't close to being done; he propelled himself into a midair jump with a burst of heat, flipped backwards once, and brought his hands forward. "Plasma Crash!"

A massive wave of blazing plasma, far larger than he was, barreled from his hands into Diablomon. The demon had no recourse as his whole body was roasted by the hellish heat, his armor now doing nothing to quell the intensity of the flames. He was barely sensible when the attack let up, his body partly charred and in serious distress, only just barely aware of the looming threat.

"I'm...not finished...yet...I will...I must...ragh...Catastrophe Cannon!"

Desperately he let loose with his most powerful attack, but in his weakened state it had little force left behind it, and the fire reptile dodged it easily. He leapt backwards onto the wall, then jumped right off onto the ceiling. A moment later, he shot towards Diablomon from above, using his heat to launch him into a rapid rotation with his razor-sharp claws forming a deadly tip. He drilled right through the bulk of Diablomon's body, splattering demonic flesh everywhere as he tore through, quickly emerging from his back. Diablomon could only gape feebly, rendered immobile as the massive hole in his body spilled his evil blood.

"Not so fun being the victim, is it?" The fire lizard didn't even give Diablomon the dignity of a last look as he formed an orb of fire in his hands. "Thermal Explosion!" He launched the ball of fire into the middle of the hole in Diablomon's body, where it unleashed a massive explosion that caused the entire room to quake. The demon king's body was ripped to pieces, the remnants splattering all over the room before dissipating into data.

The room began to darken once again as Diablomon's absence caused the eerie torches to fade into nothingness. The only light remaining came from the newly evolved reptilian warrior, the heat from his body and the roaring flames emitting enough light to make his surroundings fairly clear. His breathing still hard and on edge, the new fire lizard went down on one knee, trying to center himself and quell the burning rage until he needed it again. It took a couple minutes before he felt something like calm come over him, the flames on his spine dimming to merely a healthy roar. He looked over his new body, each change regarded with a mix of awe and confusion.

_I don't really understand what happened just then...but I sure am glad it did._

(==========)

At first when Stormdramon passed through the doors marked with his colors, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The hallway was thin, dark, and devoid of any traps or tricks as far as he could detect. Which led to him rather speedily zipping through, in hopes of getting through with his battle as quickly as possible.

When the hallway widened a ways down, he began to pass through a strange, thin fog, slightly obscuring the area in front of him but not enough that he couldn't see his way through. Then he suddenly felt something dragging on him, slowing him down. Confused, he put more juice into his jets, but just as quickly the drag weighed him down more, not letting him speed up.

_What the hell? What's with this? Wait, maybe it's that fog...maybe it's there to keep me from flying!_

He decided to land and move forward on foot, thinking that would speed things up more than trying to fight the fog. But even as he began forward, his body felt like it was being pulled back, having to fight for every inch of progress. As it wore on, he felt himself getting more and more frustrated. _This is so stupid! What the hell is that demon up to, and why the hell is he pulling a stunt like this? Maybe he's just too cowardly to face me and wants me to give up! Well, I'll show him!_

He took off again and cranked up his jets once more, straining against the dragging fog with everything he had. It was an agonizingly slow rate of progress, barely any faster than it had been on foot, but he didn't let up one bit, powering through at full blast. Finally, he made it through the large passage into a narrower hallway devoid of the fog, and almost as soon as he was through he tore down the hallway at full speed, heedless of anything in front of him, his mind only focused on making up for lost time.

He had barely any time to react when the hallway ended and he found himself careening towards a dangerous blue column of light, and his frenzied state of mind prevented him from realizing the threat until it was too late. He flew right into the column, and was immediately stopped dead as he was zapped with a blast of energy. He roared out in pain and shock as it coursed through him for several seconds, before dying away and dropping him hard onto the ground.

Dazed, he slowly picked himself up, trying to shake off the cobwebs. In his foggy state, he once again didn't realize the danger until it hit him. A sharp jabbing pain shot into his back, causing him to cry out and turn around - or try to. His heart began to race when he realized he couldn't turn his body.

"Fantastic...thank you so much for falling right into my trap!" a voice from behind taunted him. It was cold, cruel, and merciless, and every word sent a chill through Stromdramon.

"Wh-what's going on? Who are you?" With his back immobilized, he had to rely only on his legs to get him around - but that was soon taken from him as more sharp jabs plunged into his upper and lower legs, rendering them immobile as well. He looked down and his eyes widened - something long and thin was embedded in his legs, extending back to something he still couldn't see.

"My name is Murmuxmon. However, you will only call me 'master.'" More strings pierced his arms and shoulders, rendering Stormdramon virtually motionless except for his head. It only got worse when he felt himself being moved by the strings, with plenty of extra pain to go along with the movement, so that he was turned to face Murmuxmon, who was holding the threads in his hand - a hand which, being thin and wooden, looked very much out of place with the rest of his body.

"Wh-what the hell are those?"

"You mean these strings? You surely can tell where I acquired them, can you not?" Murmuxmon smiled fiendishly. "A Puppetmon who decided to try to turn one of our own on us at a critical moment by controlling him...I knew that was a power I could make good use of. I quite enjoyed playing the role of puppet master before we were forced to lock ourselves away...and now to have that opportunity with such a powerful creature, surely this will be our key to controlling this world!"

"You're crazy! I'm never gonna-AUGH!" Stormdramon was cut off as one last thread jabbed its way right into the back of his head, sending a jolt of pain all throughout his body. As the pain died away, he felt panic rising as he realized he was losing sensation throughout his whole body.

"Whatever you were going to say, it matters not. You can't escape now. I have you, and I will have you for all time. You will serve as my puppet, and once I'm through with you, you won't even need the strings." Murmuxmon was beginning to glow gray, and that glow was starting to travel down the threads towards Stormdramon. "But don't worry...once you're mind and body have been corrupted, you'll most likely enjoy it. You'll be feared throughout the world, and have power beyond any other being, short of us demon kings of course."

"Gah...no, I can't...agh…" Stormdramon could barely even struggle, and his feeble growls of resistance did little to convince either him or Murmuxmon that he was any closer to escape.

"You are a fighter, but it's futile. You've already lost."

Stromdramon didn't have a chance to reply as he felt something pulse into his body from the strings. It was a strange and powerful energy, and it was flooding him, clouding his vision. He fought to keep it out, but it overwhelmed him quickly. In desperation, he tried to think of something, anything to keep him from falling under Murmuxmon's spell…

His mind wasn't cooperating with him, however; something else was forcing its way in, unbidden memories, swelling and growing more prominent with every pulse of the chaotic energy...

"_Hey, I promise I'll be back. You hear me? Heck, I double promise."_

"_...R-really? Double promise?"_

"_Double promise. You know I don't break those."_

"_I...I want you to come back sometime! You gotta be safe out there...I don't wanna lose you again!"_

"_I'm gonna be just fine, I promise! And once all this stuff's blown over I'll make sure I come back and see you all again!"_

The images and sounds of the memories built to a swirling crescendo, blocking out his thoughts. Suddenly he was acting beyond his control again, but this time not at Murmuxmon's behest - with a roar, he began thrashing, pulling at the strings and trying to dislodge them from his body. One by one they began to be ripped from him, each one accompanied by a spray of blood at its extrusion, the wounds sealing themselves almost as rapidly as they were created.

Murmuxmon was unable to understand what was happening. Rapidly he tried to replace the strings, but a sudden fierce wind shot up around the dragon, completely barring them from getting to him. "What the...how is this possible? You shouldn't be able to-"

"Shut up!" Stromdramon grabbed and yanked at the thread in his back, yanking it out, the pain barely even registering with him. "I won't be your little puppet! I made promises...that I'd be back! And I don't...fucking...break...my...promises!"

With a final roar, he grabbed the thread buried in the back of his neck and pulled it with all his might. It tore out, sending blinding pain all throughout Stormdramon's body, but now he was just feeding off of it, letting it build within him as he began changing. The building wind practically exploded around him, flinging Murmuxmon back against the wall as it enveloped his shifting body.

Gone was the thin green armor that had defined his previous form; instead, his taller and more muscular body took on a bright teal armor, smooth to the point of feeling almost slick, light enough to feel almost weightless. The armor covered his torso completely, formed as bracers on his forearms and half-gauntlets that covered the palms of his hands, leaving his fingers and long claws exposed, encircled his lower legs, formed a bladed axe on the end of his tail, and covered the top part of his head, with a protective shield over the eyes that linked to a feedback connection to his brain, creating a HUD in his vision while giving him full range of vision. The jets on his wings doubled, each one becoming smaller but far more powerful. The sharpened blades on the tops of his wings gained small mounted machine guns on the top and bottom, which could swivel and fire in all directions. His forearm and leg armor also gained small jets to help direct his flight even more and small machine guns much like the ones on his wings.

As the wind finally died down, Murmuxmon wasted no time trying to regain the upper hand, sending out his threads to once again stab into the dragon. But the new wind warrior didn't give him even a slight chance of success, raising his hand and creating a massive swirling twister. "Mach Tornado!" The threads were instantly pulled into the twister and torn to shreds by the sheer force of the wind. Murmuxmon himself was starting to be dragged towards the tornado, and he desperately tried to hold himself back against the wall, but the dragon was just getting started.

"So, you enjoy putting others under your control? Let's see how you like being on the other end!" With a roar, he blew the twister up to twice its original size and kicked the winds into overdrive, bringing them far past the speed of any natural tornado, almost to thrice the speed of sound. The powerful suction force rapidly drew Murmuxmon closer, soon pulling him directly into the maelstrom and buffeting him mercilessly. His tormented howl brought no sympathy to the dragon, who drew a small weapon from a slot in the armor on his back. The weapon glowed and expanded rapidly in his hands until it took on its true form, a deadly-looking partisan; this he charged up with with the bright blue glow of pure wind energy and raised it above his head. "Take this! Tempest Partisan!"

He swung downward, sending a large arc of wind energy into the twister, which caught up in the wind and sliced Murmuxmon over and over again. Then he sent another, and another, until he'd tossed six of them into the fray. By this time Murmuxmon was out of fight, simply being carried like a rag doll in the tornado while the blades cut through him.

"Now you die! Aeroburst!"

The energy from the tornado began to compress inwards, actually being pushed inside Murmuxmon, drawn down to just a small point within the demon as he hung in the air. With a rapid flourish, the wind dragon unleashed the compressed energy and it exploded, taking Murmuxmon with it. His entire body was quickly torn apart and the remnants were quickly turned into data, fluttering off into the air of the chamber and disappearing.

Now alone, the dragon shrunk his partisan back down and reseated it into his back armor. _Bastard. I hope the others didn't run into anyone as nasty as him. Speaking of which, I should see if I can find them._ He took off and flew through the far hallway, his new goal in mind.

(==========)

Every step Thundergarudamon took echoed in the empty hallways. The lighting was very poor, but her keen eyes were leading her true even in the adverse conditions. Every now and then she stopped and listened, trying to make sure nothing was following her or trying to jump out from a corner.

She had yet to see any sign of life, but every now and then, she heard a distant sound, different ones each time but always some kind of bestial sound, a growling or roaring or screeching that she could tell wasn't anywhere near her, but still sent a shiver through her spine. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't shake her worry for the others.

_They can handle themselves as well as I can, I know...but we don't really know what we're up against...what if they're falling into traps, or being attacked by something too strong for them? Oh...I hope they're okay…_

Another, louder roar cut through the hallway, startling her. She looked around rapidly, but the hallways were still unoccupied; it had come once more from elsewhere in the castle. She shivered again; it had sounded so angry, if one of the others had come across it-

She shook her head to try to dispel the thought. _I've got plenty to worry about on my own...if I can't concentrate, I'm going to be in even more danger. Something could come up behind me and take me down before I even knew what happened…_ She continued forward, but her nerves were even more on edge than before, and all the bestial utterances from the distant areas of the castle were making her jerk and jump, even despite knowing they weren't anywhere near her.

She turned once more and saw a bright light in front of her, opening out into a large open room. As she entered, it was impossible to miss the gigantic demon standing inside, a large horned brute built like a centaur. Most of the lower body covered in purple fur, and the front bore a large, unpleasant-looking mouth. A triad of obscenely long claws marring the end of each hand, and large wings adorned its back. It stepped forward as she entered, growling devilishly at her. "So, the victim arrives…"

"Galfmon…" Thundergarudamon's hand went right to her yari as she felt her heart rate pick up quite a bit. "I...I won't let you win. You'll find I'm not as easy a target as you think I am!"

"Such foolish confidence...you'll fall like so many have before you. Your friends have already succumbed to our powers...you will be the next!"

"You're lying!" she shouted back, though that didn't stop the twisting in her gut. She was certain he was just trying to get at her, and despite her best efforts it was working. "You think you can fool me? They'll win, and I'll win!"

"You're a fool for thinking that! You will fall under my power! Black Requiem!" The mouth on its lower body opened wide and emitted a powerful black energy right at Thundergarudamon, who took off to avoid the attack. Galfmon reared up to try to match her height, and Thundergarudamon then shifted to the side, knowing he couldn't easily shift both up and to the side. She tried to get close, but he lashed out with his long claws, forcing her back.

"Fury Bolt!" A large blast of electricity was unleashed from Thundergarudamon's wings, hitting Galfmon in the chest. The demon didn't seem fazed in the slightest, and he laughed harshly. "That's all you have? Pathetic! If that's all you and your little friends can do, none of you stand a chance against any of us!"

"Shut up!" Thundergarudamon backed away to avoid another Black Requiem attack. His words were still ringing in her head, tormenting her as she tried to figure out a strategy to defeat the demonic beast. It was getting harder and harder for her to concentrate as unpleasant thoughts about the fates of the others began to nag at her more and more. _He didn't even flinch at that and that was a direct hit...are they really that strong? How are they going to win if they can't do any damage?_

She almost didn't realize the Black Requiem attack was coming right at her, and swerved to avoid it. Already she was starting to feel worn out from the combination of the exertion and the mental stress, and she had a feeling this was what Galfmon was working at. _This isn't working...I need a strategy, and I need time to figure it out and pull it off! But I'm not gonna get it here..._

"Black Requiem!" Another dark shot fired off at her, forcing her back into the air. Quickly, she formed a Lightning Bomb in her hands, flew up above him, and tossed it right onto Galfmon's head. Once again, Galfmon didn't even react to the blow, and once again he tried to swipe her out of the air. She avoided again, but this time deliberately swung down in front of the dangerous lower mouth. As it opened to repeat its attack, she formed another Lightning Bomb and hurled it into the mouth. Finally, something went her way as Galfmon was rocked by the surge of electricity, and stood stunned for a short time.

It took a moment for Thundergarudamon to realize she didn't feel so tired anymore - in fact, she felt quite on edge, almost more so than when she first entered the room. This led her to briefly consider taking him on face-to-face again, but the intrusive thoughts still remained and still were making it hard to concentrate. _I need some time to compose myself…_she thought grimly as she flew up near the ceiling and kicked out one of the black windows. A large hallway stood behind it, and she quickly slipped through and started off to her right. _Maybe we don't have to play by their rules...maybe I can find one of the others and we can tilt this in our direction. And maybe I won't have to worry so much about them anymore..._

(==========)

Onyxvargmon had considered reverting to Darkwolfmon form and trying to phase through the shadows in order to speed his progress, or even bypass the restrictions the demons had been trying to place on them. But as he got into his hallway, he felt a strangeness among the shadows of the hallway, a sort of inner sense telling him that trying to manipulate these shadows would be dangerous and that he shouldn't try to go through them.

_What sort of power is this, that even alters the nature of shadows? The demon behind this must be strong…_

He felt a sense of trepidation now, but tried to shake it off as he began down the hallway. There was practically no light, which ordinarily would not have bothered him, but he felt in his heart that the shadows were deceiving him, not telling him exactly what the true nature of the surrounding world was. This sense caused him to make his way only slowly, and use his other senses to try to determine where to go. It took him little time to find out that his suspicions were correct; his sense of the darkness was trying to trick him, telling him there were walls where the path turned and openings in the wrong places.

_Whoever is doing this has an extremely powerful control over the darkness...that could bode ill for me, if my abilities aren't effective against it...I may have to find a different strategy against him…_

He continued his slow pace, one sword drawn in order to provide a defense against something that might try to come out of the lying darkness and end him. His tension didn't ease until the darkness began to wane, and a dim light appeared in front of him, revealing a larger room not far in front of him. He sprinted the last few yards, and then instantly both regretted and exalted the action as large hands tried to swipe down at him the moment he passed into the room and missed by scant inches. He kept running to put some distance between him and his attacker, then turned to face him down. The demon was vaguely canid in appearance, but also possessed horns, six black wings, and large chains around its arms and legs. Its hands were adorned in glowing knuckles. "You got lucky, warrior...I should have had you!"

"Nothing about this seems lucky to me," Onyxvargmon replied darkly. "You are Belphemon, are you not?"

"Indeed. And today, I will be the end of you! How eager I was to choose you...you almost seem reminiscent of myself! You would be a perfect vessel for my desires!"

"Oh, please, just because I'm canid and have control over darkness doesn't mean I want anything to do with you!"

"Your wants are unimportant. Soon, you will have no want other than to serve my every command! Lampranthus!"

The chains around its arms became flush with dark fire, which Belphemon launched in waves at Onyxvargmon. Sensing the same twisted darkness that had been in the halls, he knew it wouldn't be wise to try to endure it; instead, he took off again, dashing around and jumping over and sliding underneath the waves, doing his best not to let even one lick touch him. As soon as he saw an opening, he let loose with an Umbra Swarm right at Belphemon. The demon didn't even move, and as the attack made contact, it was absorbed into him.

"You thought you could defeat me that way? I, the ultimate master of darkness, felled by something I control absolutely?"

"Well, it was worth a shot…" _Damn, it's worse than I thought. He doesn't just resist it, he can't be harmed by it...and with his size and strength, I don't think I'll be able to take him down with my swords...now what do I do?_

"Pitiful! I'll show you what the real power of darkness is! Gift Of Darkness!" Belphemon's claws burst forth with blazing hellfire, and he leapt at Onyxvargmon, wildly slashing. The smaller canid could only dodge quickly, then dodge again as Belphemon swung again. Neither one let up, each powerful attack nimbly evaded only to be followed up with another. Onyxvargmon found himself somewhat surprised that he wasn't tiring out under the relentless onslaught, but couldn't focus on the thought for more than a brief moment as his attention was forced back onto the repeated attacks.

Then his eyes spotted one of the black windows he'd seen adorning the outside of the castle on their arrival. _A means of escape! Perhaps I can find one of the others to assist me!_ Belphemon's attacks were making it difficult for him to make any moves towards the window, however, and he knew if he didn't hurry his luck would run out at some point. After one attack, however, Belphemon's attempt at a blow left him an opening - he jumped forward, leapt onto his head between the horns, and launched himself off, landing well behind the demon and with a straight shot towards the window. He shattered it from afar with a Shadow Pulse even as he dashed towards it, Belphemon roared behind him and trying to unleash another Lampranthus attack. Onyxvargmon won the race, leaping up through the window before the black flames could reach him.

He was in what seemed like a curving hallway, with left and right being his only options. Knowing he wouldn't be alone long, he quickly started off to the left, hurrying down the hall trying to find some kind of alternate route he could take. He ran for what felt like several minutes without luck, seeing a few features but nothing that would indicate an alternate path for him to take. While Belphemon wasn't directly bearing down on him, he had a sense that the twisted darkness wasn't too far away from him, and he doubted he would have much longer to search.

And then a figure swerved out of the darkness and careened right towards him. In shock, he screeched to a halt and dove to the ground, as he heard the figure also swerve above him. He quickly scrambled back up to face down the newcomer. "Who are you?"

"Who's there?" A female voice said almost simultaneously.

"Wha...Thundergarudamon? Is that you?"

"Onyxvargmon!" She swooped down and landed in front of him, a hand over her heart. "Thank goodness, I've been trying to find someone...are you all right?"

"I'm doing all right at the moment, aside from having a demon on my heels...but if I were to hazard a guess, you're in a similar position?"

She nodded grimly. "I was hoping to find someone to help out in attacking him...but it looks like we're in a worse state than before. Taking on one with the two of us would have been hard enough, but two of them?"

"And my attacks can't even touch Belphemon…" Onyxvargmon shook his head. "This is as undesirable a position as I've ever seen. They have to be coming in close, and I haven't seen any place to run where we might get around them. I hope we're the only ones with this kind of trouble on our hands..."

"I know, right? I'm getting worried sick about the others…" A growing rumbling from nearby put them both back on edge. "Galfmon...he must be getting close. We're going to have to face him in a minute…"

"Listen, Thundergarudamon...I'll hold them off. You take the chance to escape. Maybe I can create enough confusion to keep them from coming after you, so you can find the others-"

"No!" Thundergarudamon replied instantly. "I can't let that happen to you! I'd never forgive myself for just running away and letting them corrupt you like that! I'm worried about the others, but I would KNOW you were in grave danger! Let me help you!"

"I don't want to just put you in the line of fire! I don't want to see you get hurt, not when I know I could have given you a chance to escape!"

"Then I guess we're just going to have to be guarding each other. I'm not leaving you behind."

Onyxvargmon fell silent. After a moment, he nodded. "...All right, then. But I won't let that creep touch you."

"Do you think you have a choice in the matter?" Galfmon roared as he made his appearance. "You thought you could run from me, could you, bird? Thought your little dog friend could help you?"

"Rahahaha, so yours ran too, Galfmon?" Belphemon laughed as he walked out from the shadows, panting somewhat from his run. "These little buggers are fast! But that won't save you!"

"We'll never turn over to your side!" Thundergarudamon yelled defiantly. "We'll fight you to the end!"

"You heard the lady," growled Onyxvargmon. "You're not getting any pawns today."

Belphemon roared with mocking laughter. "Aw, lookit that, two little lovebirds! Don't worry, you'll be together for as long as you're serving as our slaves!"

"It's time we showed you just how futile this all was!" Galfmon's lower mouth opened again, this time emitting a dusky gray energy that sailed right at Thundergarudamon. On the other side, Belphemon's chains glowed with the same gray energy, which he launched in a stream at Onyxvargmon. The two auras met at the center with the two symbiotes and coalesced into one unit which engulfed them, driving into them and infusing them with chaotic energy. Thinking almost as one, they stood back to back and grabbed each other's hand, feeling the other's racing heartbeat in themselves; with one of their own standing next to them, they felt a very different kind of response emerging from within them, one that began to reshape their bodies and take them to their final level. Neither demon noticed anything was wrong until the gray chaotic energy was suddenly overpowered by a dual aura, one side bright and the other dark. When the auras receded, they weren't prepared for what they saw.

Where Thundergarudamon had been, there stood a different electrical avian creature. Her body had increased in size, and taken on a sleekness and strength unlike anything she'd had before. The growth was especially pronounced her wingspan, whose flight feathers were now long enough to almost reach the ground. Long feathers curved down off the back of her head, extending roughly halfway down her back before curling up slightly. Her body was sheathed in glittering bright yellow armor whose surface crackled and sparkled with electricity, and a technicolor sash adorned the outside of the armor, wrapping around her from her neck down and hanging down behind her.

Standing opposite her was the reshaped black-furred wolven warrior, virtually her equal in height now, wisps of darkness rising off of his body and swirling gently around him. Garbed in a tight black collared shirt with ornamental golden stripes flanking the button line and encircling the cuffs, black pants and black leather boots, black fingerless gloves, and a black cape with a dark red underside reaching down to his lower legs, there was an unmistakable regality about him that practically radiated intimidation.

"What...what just happened?" Belphemon asked absently. "Why did they change?"

"Does it matter?" snarled Galfmon. "They're not under our control yet! Take them down so we can take them over! Black Requiem!" Galfmon's lower mouth opened again and fired out its dark energy. Quick as a flash, the lupine and avian switched places, and the dark wolf took the full force of the dark attack, absorbing it into him just as Belphemon had been doing earlier. "Wh-what? Impossible!"

"Clearly not." He raised an arm and a dark form gathered underneath Galfmon. "Ebony Eruption!" In an instant, a gaseous column of dark energy blasted up from that dark form, coursing through Galfmon and driving him upwards slightly. He followed up immediately with a set of glowing orbs flung up above the demon, hovering above its body ominously. "Nocturne Impulse!" Each of the orbs unleashed a jet-black ray down onto Galfmon, battering him with their fearsome power.

"Galfmon! Dammit, I'll take care of this!" Belphemon started forward to try to impede the dark wolf's attacks, then jumped back as a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground near his feet. The electric avian stood boldly in front of him, her wings surging with electricity. "You...get out of my way!"

"No."

Belphemon roared angrily. "You will obey me, or you will die! Gift of Darkness!" He leapt forward, hellfire encircling his claws, intent on slashing her into ribbons. He never got close, as she spread her wings and countered with her own call. "Saffron Wing!" A massive burst of jagged electrical bolts stormed out from her wings, pummeling Belphemon hard and blasting him into the wall. He managed to stagger forward once the attack let up, only to find himself facing down a swarm of electrical projectiles.

"You've put us through more than enough. Now it's our turn! Generator Missiles!"

The projectiles rushed Belphemon, moving far too quickly for him to avoid. Each one that struck him drove him back another step, back into the wall where he could only take the full force of each one. This time, once it was over, he fell forward onto one knee, panting heavily. "No...this can't be...how can I be...losing?"

This time the avian said nothing. Instead, she raised her arm, and with an electrical burst, a trident appeared in her hand. The tip glowed with electricity, which she directed in a beam right over Belphemon. It gathered up above the demon, growing larger and brighter, crackling louder and louder as it coalesced. Noticing the danger he was in, he tried to move, but found himself paralyzed. "Wh-no! NO!"

"Ion Sledge!" The orb of electricity crashed down onto Belphemon, exploding through him and tearing him apart. His pained howl was all that was left of him, his data disappearing into the dark air of the castle.

"Belphemon? What...what is this? This is impossible!" Galfmon gasped as another sword speared into his chest; the dark wolf was keeping him well under siege with a flurry of black swords swirling around him, stabbing into him at random intervals. "Damn you! You...why won't you fall to us? Everything was in place...it was supposed to be simple...how could you have overcome our power?"

"You don't deserve those answers, Galfmon!" snarled the wolf. "The only thing I have to say to you is that your time is at an end!" A powerful dark aura blasted out from him, enveloping Galfmon in pure darkness and rendering him completely immobile. The wolf called the swords to merge in his hand, forming a gleaming black blade that practically oozed dark power.

"Dark Force Reaper!"

He took one quick backwards hop, then flashed forward, invisibly fast. In less time than an eye blink, he had sliced through every vital point in Galfmon's body, landing behind the demon with one final slash. Galfmon let out a pitiful roar as he disappeared, the aura receding as his body was split into nothing.

The wolf stood upright, taking a deep breath inwards. He tossed the sword away, and it disappeared in a puff of darkness before ever hitting the ground. He turned to his companion, who was approaching from behind. "I suppose that's the end of them."

"And good riddance," she replied evenly. "I don't know what they did to us, but it certainly didn't sound like it had the effect they were going for."

"Unless they were bluffing and trying to draw out our true power before taking us...but that wouldn't make much sense." He shook his head. "Whatever it was, I'm glad it happened...and if it happened to us, I have to expect that the others probably experienced the same. They were trying to control us, and that ended up being their undoing."

"That's an ending I'm perfectly happy with. We should go find the others...and what should I call you now?"

"Nyctogaroumon. And you?"

"Sandabadomon. Well then, Nyctogaroumon, shall we?"

Nyctogaroumon smiled. "Absolutely."

(==========)

(==========)

I do actually have some kind of explanation for what happened, more so than what was mentioned here. But that will come at the start of the next chapter. Speaking of which, I'd best start working on that now so that it doesn't take so long (though the fact that it should be shorter might help...but no promises).

Despite the fact that it was a monster to write, I do like this chapter purely for introducing the last forms! No, I wasn't trying to rush it - I've had this in mind for a long time, and planned on introducing them in the same chapter for quite some time. Since the method was going to be the same, I figured it made more sense to do it this way rather than try to break it up. Yeah, it does turn into kind of a curbstomping, but I justify that by it being the catalyst for the change hyper-energizing them right off the bat. The battles won't always go that smoothly.

Thanks for reading! I hope I haven't annoyed too many people with the poor updating, I seriously will try to do better but, well, life likes to be irritating.


	56. Chapter 55: Transition

Finally finished with this chapter! It's a pain when you know exactly how things are supposed to go, but can't figure out how to write the details in. On the other hand, my schedule should be a bit more open with classes getting out of the way soon, so maybe it'll be a little easier to come up with the time to write and I'll be able to focus better on getting in those details.

As usual, enjoy!

(==========)

(==========)

**Chapter 55: Transition**

Though sources of light were quite few and far between as the hallways converged towards the center of the castle, the fiery reptilian warrior faced no difficulty seeing; the heat from his body gave off more than enough light to allow him to see everything around him. Though he had no map or means of finding his way around, he felt something drawing him in a certain direction, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

Soon he came to a large, open room with a massive set of doors at the far end, not dissimilar to the doors leading into the castle itself. The room was empty save for one figure standing in front of the doors - a large metallic beast that he had never seen before but instantly knew nonetheless. And he was apparently in conversation with someone unseen.

"No, don't bother attacking. A dispersion shield just wards off energy, you could attack all day and not do a thing against it. Just trail it and stay nearby - we can't track it, but we can track you. Keep an eye on them, let us know if they're going to do anything unexpected. If they try to attack, hang back and stay out of range...well, you can't tell if they have weapons hidden away somewhere, so keep an eye out anyway. Got it...yeah, we'll be ready to take them on soon. Weaponrexmon out."

"Weaponrexmon, is it? Better than bloody chunks, I suppose."

The cyborg was completely unfazed by that odd and morbid greeting. "You know my name now, so it's only polite to return the favor."

The reptile smirked. "Flarekomodomon. You knew I was here before I did, didn't you? And here I thought those sensors of yours were jammed."

"Cyberrexmon's were. What I have right now are powerful enough to cut through all the chaff." Weaponrexmon turned and looked Flarekomodomon up and down. "You...have a fantastically strong energy coming from you. Stronger than anything I've yet seen."

"'Zat so? Probably has to do with whatever Diablomon did to me. Talk about good fortune, huh?"

"I daresay the demons would disagree with you on that."

"Yeah, well, they can suck it."

"Whocansuckwhatnow?" A blue blur shot out of the hallway, coming to a dead stop just a couple feet from the other pair. "Whoo, man, your voices sound hilarious when I'm going that fast!"

Weaponrexmon gave an invisible eye roll. "Yes, moving at such high speeds does tend to cause perception of sound to decrease in octave-"

"I know _why_ it happens, Watson! I was just making an observation, you'd kill to hear it!"

"I could simulate it if I felt such a thing was necessary. We don't even know what you call yourself, by the way."

"Oh, hey, that's right! I'm Tornadramon! Superpowered wind dragon extraordinaire!"

"Good lord, you're amped up," Flarekomodomon hissed with a prickle of irritation. "What'd you take?"

"Nothing! Just took out a damned demon king who -"

"Okay, okay, forget I friggin' asked! And here I'd hoped that you wouldn't be frickin' indecipherable anymore."

"Whaddayamean?"

"That's one of the advantages of mechanical sensory enhancement," Weaponrexmon said with a note of amusement. "I was able to catch every bit of that."

"Well, isn't that lovely for you. Does jack-all for me."

"Hey, hope we're not late to the party." They all turned to see Sandabadomon and Nyctogaroumon enter from another hallway. "Looks like the gang's all here. And in a brand new wardrobe, too."

Flarekomodomon's eyes widened at the sight of Sandabadomon. "Whoa. You are smokin'."

"Watch it, hothead," growled Nyctogaroumon.

"Easy there, Cujo. Just a statement of fact."

"I'll back him up on that!" Tornadramon chimed in eagerly.

Sandabadomon rolled her eyes. "Let's focus here, boys. I don't even know what you call yourselves yet."

A quick round of reintroductions later, Weaponrexmon briefed them on his transmission. "That airship Emperius escaped in has been located, but they can't attack it. They've got it equipped with a dispersion barrier, it'll take a special weapon to break that down. They're tracking it now, so we'll be able to see everything they do, but it's hard to know what their plans are at this point...they don't seem to be heading anywhere in particular."

"So we've got the edge there," said Flarekomodomon. "Now we just need the time to take care of it. So what's left to take care of here?"

"I believe only one more thing." Weaponrexmon motioned to the massive doors on the wall. "Beyond there lies the last and leader of the demon kings, Ogudomon. Doubtless he knows of our victories and is ready and waiting to take us on himself. We won't have the same element of surprise we had against the others with our evolutions."

"I don't know that we were any less surprised than they were, so not much element there," Sandabadomon remarked. "Good timing, huh?"

"Timing has very little to do with it, actually. It has more to do with the chaos we absorbed from when the demons tried to take us over. Since they all happened to be using the same technique, it's only natural that-"

"Wait, chaos we absorbed?" Nyctocgaroumon interjected. "Hang on a sec, I thought chaos was supposed to be dangerous to almost anything except very specific types of digimon. And I've never heard of it triggering an evolution."

"Perhaps, but…" Weaponrexmon paused uncertainly. "We're not exactly specific types of anything."

"Yeah, we're a mix of human and digimon," Flarekomodomon said. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's not even that simple. At the most basic level, we're not even a clear hybrid of the two...after all such a union in itself would be quite unusual, given that they're two different types of matter and have no actual way of combining."

"But they have to have combined...what else could there be?" asked Tornadramon, confused.

Weaponrexmon sighed. "Despite what it might seem, our bodies...aren't really even static constructs. Our composition is in a state of dynamic fluctuation...never fully one form or another, never the same from one moment to the next, impossible to easily define. Qualities that chaos, by nature, is intrinsically drawn to...only once that's become clear does it make sense that chaos would affect us positively rather than negatively."

"The demons can't have known that when they lead us here."

"Not a chance. Had they known, they would never have tried to bring us into a place where chaos was so pervasive, or used it to try to bend us to their will. They would have gone about it a far different way, one that wouldn't have threatened their odds of success. But why would they know? There has never been a being like us in the history of either world...I only know myself because of reaching this form, and gaining access to knowledge, analysis, and understanding beyond anything I could have previously imagined. Even now, it's still somewhat intimidating to me...and it's really hit me just how close we came to actually losing it. That should have been our downfall...but it backfired on them because none of us knew how that would affect us."

"I can only imagine what this is going to mean for our separate bodies," Thundergarudamon said tightly. "Is this going to harm them, or have they gone through the same change?"

"I haven't been able to analyze, but I can guess what the answer is going to be. They had to have started that process long ago. As humans, we developed abilities beyond that of any ordinary human, abilities not even sustainable by ordinary human bodies. This has to be the underlying mechanism for that. The response to the catalysts...objectively, it wouldn't even make sense that they would work on the humans, and it certainly shouldn't have been the case that the digimon responded like it was their very first experience with them. The way our knowledges, our strengths, our personalities came to converge...the links between us, the telepathy, the energy transfers, the life-force bonding…to hazard a guess, I would predict that not only are our bodies in that same flux when we're separated, but they're in synchronous flux for each partner. On the macro level, they retain their normal shape and general characteristics, but on a basal level, they may very well be indistinguishable. About the only thing I can't determine out of all this is how this is even possible in the first place..."

"...Origin Resonance Theory." All eyes turned to Flarekomodomon. "Disparate matter linked on a fundamental level...separated by vast stretches of existence, yet completely attuned to each other. United for the first time since the origins of their level of existence, their synchronous resonance amplified by their proximity in space and time...not two becoming one, but one becoming one, on a level we can only begin to comprehend...our power rising from our equivalence made right."

"...Not like you to get all philosophical on us," Tornadramon said.

"Well, this is a special issue to me."

"In any event, it's difficult if not impossible to prove...but it's as sound an explanation as any I can come up with," Weaponrexmon finished. "It makes me wonder if there might be more coming in the future...but I guess that's not something I can say for certain, either."

"This is rather deeper than I can wrap my head around right now," Nyctogaroumon said suddenly. "I need a palate cleanser, and I can think of nothing better than wiping out the last of these damn demons. Heh, Ogudomon must think us dreadfully rude for keeping him waiting for so long."

"As if etiquette matters one whit to him," Sandabadomon said, sounding amused. "But you're right, it's time to take this guy out!"

"Right, no sense in putting it off," Flarekomodomon said, suddenly harsh and steely again. "The questions and answers aren't going anywhere, they'll still be around when the bad guys are gone!"

"Yeah! I can't wait to blast that big brute back to ancient times!" Tornadramon declared.

Weaponrexmon nodded. "I'll make that unanimous. Let's go."

(==========)

The inner sanctum was far more massive than any of them had expected even given the size of the doors. Much of it was taken up by the monstrous demon within; Ogudomon was a gigantic misshapen demon digimon, baring seven legs and seven eyes around its body, with an eighth eye on his head. His body was a sinister mix of black and purple and green and red, with red claws tipping each foot, and seven bright swords jabbed out the top of his body above each leg.

"Man, that is one ugly brute," Flarekomodomon remarked offhandedly. "We'll be doing the world a favor getting rid of him."

"I can hear every word your foul mouth speaks," the demon hissed menacingly.

"And here I haven't a damn to give. You won't be alive long enough to hold the grudge."

"You think so much of yourself, a quality which many live to regret. Still, I am impressed...defeating the other kings, dispelling their efforts at controlling you...you were quite unlike anything we ever expected. You would have made such excellent weapons if you had just submitted...it's a shame that now I have to destroy you."

"Well, there is a way for us to avoid that," Sandabadomon said coyly.

"Yeah, and it involves kicking your ass!" Tornadramon shouted eagerly.

"You believe you can overcome my power? Do not fool yourselves. You may have overcome the others, but they are but a pale shadow of myself, and what I am capable of is far above what they were. I am superior in every way-"

"Okay, enough. You know what, I'm getting a little bit tired of hearing the same thing over and over again," growled Weaponrexmon. "Seems like every time it's the same old refrain - you're the best there is, the most powerful, we don't stand a chance. You'd think someone would catch on to the pattern by now."

Now Ogudomon was showing signs of losing his cool. "You are a bunch of insolent little bastards, aren't you? You'll make my victory all the sweeter by finally shutting you up!"

Flarekomodomon smirked, enjoying Ogudomon's irritation. "Careful, many people 'live to regret thinking so much of themselves.' Wouldn't want to fall victim to that, would we?"

Ogudomon's response was non-verbal: he opened his mouth and launched a massive shockwave at the group. They scattered and went on the offensive, Tornadramon easily getting the first attack with his blinding speed. "Cyclone Beam!" He fired a whirling wind beam straight at the bulk of Ogudomon's body, the attack hammering hard against the surface; however, Ogudomon didn't even seem to take notice, and simply launched another shockwave at the dragon, forcing him to swoop away. "Oh, come on!"

"That wasn't a promising start," Nyctogaroumon huffed as he skidded just short of one of Ogudomon's legs. "Nightwolf Blade!" He slashed wildly with swords in both hands, sending slices of darkness hurtling towards the leg; they impacted with considerable speed, but once again the effect was null, and an instant later the leg kicked out and tried to stomp and slash Nyctogaroumon with those wicked claws. He jumped away and tried to repeat the attack, with no more success. Again the leg tried to come at him, but it was stopped when Flarekomodomon leapt onto it and bit down hard, clawing and scratching before a powerful kick flung him all the way up to the ceiling of the inner sanctum.

"Generator Missiles!" A swarm of electrical blasts fired out from Sandabadomon and impacted Ogudomon's head, and to her frustration it was no more effective than the earlier attacks. She once again had to swoop away as another shockwave was released into the air. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. There's no way this guy is invulnerable."

"Well, he's clearly not going to make this easy for us," Tornadramon growled. "Guess he's as strong as he says, but I'm sure there's a way to get him! We just need to figure out how!"

"We've got someone who can do that...I'll bet that's why Weaponrexmon's hung back. Come on, let's make sure Ogudomon doesn't catch on to him!" They both swooped forward again, splitting up as Ogudomon's shockwave blast tried to nail both of them. Tornadramon had the opening first and fired a Cyclone Beam at the top of his body, again having no apparent effect until a blazing fireball crashed down onto the demon, Flarekomodomon hammering away until a shockwave blasted him back to the ground. It had been enough for Tornadramon to take notice, as Ogudomon had finally responded to one of their blows. _Hm...I wonder..._

He backed off momentarily, watching his comrades as they tried to get an opening. When Nyctogaroumon launched an Ebony Eruption at the creature's flailing leg, he targeted his wing-mounted guns and attacked at the same time. "Twister Cannons!" While the initial hit with the dark attack didn't elicit a response, the combination of the attacks did, and Ogudomon moved his leg out of the way of the barrage, trying to kick at them with another one and forcing them to cut it off. "Hah! I think we're getting somewhere!"

"You may be right!"

"What did you two do?" Sandabadomon asked as she and Flarekomodomon raced up.

"He seems to not like it when two of us hit him at the same time! Whoa!" The three scattered as one of the large clawed feet attempted to stomp him. "I'm not sure why it worked, but it's the first progress we've made! We'd best try to replicate it!"

"Sounds like a plan I can get behind. Follow me up!" Flarekomodomon charged at Ogudomon, letting loose a Plasma Crash aimed for Ogudomon's head. Sandabadomon followed up with a Saffron Wing aimed at the leg nearest to Flarekomodomon, trying to keep it away from him. The electric attack impacted the leg, and sent Ogudmon twisting around to get away. She quickly tried to change legs in order to prevent him from going after Flarekomodomon with that one, but a shockwave her direction forced her to break the attack, and soon after Flarekomodmon was forced to do the same.

A voice cut into their heads as they regrouped. "I've figured out what trick Ogudomon's using to keep himself protected. He's got an elemental barrier over his body, and changes it in response to your attacks."

"How the bloody hell are you doing that?" shouted Nyctogaroumon.

"I hacked your brains. Now shut up and listen. If one of you attacks him, he'll change the alignment of his barrier to block it. But he can only block a single element at a time, so two of you attacking at once, or more than two of you if you can manage it, will make life difficult for him."

"All right, so we just have to keep up the team attacks! Let's go!"

They all converged, Weaponrexmon finally getting in on the action, and began taking advantage of the new knowledge they had of Ogudomon's defenses. But despite adapting to his protection, Ogudomon was effectively keeping them at bay, redoubling his efforts to prevent them from attacking in tandem. It seemed that whenever one of them found an opening, the others would be lashed out at, leaving Ogudomon unharmed and with time to stop the oncoming attack before the next one got through. The frustration was mounting for the symbiotes as they pushed the envelope more and more, risking taking major blows in order to attack the demon king and getting little to show for it.

"Dammit, this should have been finished already!" Nyctogaroumon snarled after a sixth failed attack. "This is crazy! How can he be keeping us back so easily?"

"We need to adjust differently. He's got eight eyes, and they can look in all directions at once," Weaponrexmon said through the same mind-message as before. "Unless we can blind him somehow, we're all going to be visible to him. We're better off not taking such severe risks. Maybe we can try to attack from farther away, or coordinate better."

"Wait, I've got it!" Tornadramon yelped suddenly, before quickly swooping over the Sandabadomon. "Sandabadomon, do you remember fighting Aquilamon? We had a lot of -"

"Stop stop stop stop STOP!"

"What? I was just-"

"Too fast! But I think I know where you were going from the part I caught...if we can do that, it might be enough to really take this guy down!"

"Right! Let's try it!" The two focused, and each one became surrounded by a soft glow, Sandabadomon's yellow and Tornadramon's blue. The auras swirled around them and then extended between them, merging together and sharing their respective energies. As one, they raised their powers, and formed a massive whirlwind with blazing electricity raging with. Ogudomon was caught within the storm and buffeted, roaring in pain and anger as he was unable to block the attack. Once again he let loose his Catedral, forcing the two to split up; however, the merged energy remained between them, and they separately renewed the assault as Ogudomon desperately tried to quell it.

"Hey, that's pretty awesome," Nyctogaroumon remarked. "Flarekomodomon, let's give that a shot!"

"I'm game." Flarekomodomon's red aura merged with Nyctogaroumon's black, and intrinsically they knew what their combination would create. Splitting apart, they flanked Ogudomon and let loose, the ground beneath two of Ogudomon's feet turning a dark red and then unleashing an infernal hellflame from below, scorching them and forcing him to dance away.

"Hey, that had an effect!"

"No kidding. This might be our ticket. Try another combo, I'll keep him distracted." He ran off and charged Ogudomon again, and as before was quickly driven back by the shockwaves and stomping from the demon. Nyctogaroumon waved to Tornadramon, who needed no further explanation. The two combined their energies and unleashed around Ogudomon a black tornado that whipped right through the demon's protective barrier, causing him to stumble and rage blindly, trying to attack the source of the damage but unable to see it clearly.

Seeing that, Weaponrexmon and Sandabadomon took the opportunity to get in another blow. Sandabadomon sent the charge to the cyborg, who felt it surge through him, quickly overflowing and driving him almost to unconscious action. He brought his hands forward, and almost instantly a streamlined, sustained burst of electricity fired out from them, shooting directly through the dusky cyclone and striking one of Ogudomon's legs. He trailed upwards, trying to hit the body, when another jolt burst into him, this one decidedly different; again, he acted on impulse, adding the new energy to the attack, which turned the bolts an angry red. The attack hammered Ogudomon's body all over as Weaponrexmon moved it around, trying to hit as much over the body as he could, hoping to deal more damage. As he started up towards the head, another shockwave was launched their direction, forcing him to cut off the attack and take evasive action. As soon as he was out of the range of attack, he shot a dirty look towards Flarekomodomon. "Hey, mind warning me next time that you're gonna pull a stunt like that?"

"I said something, you probably just didn't hear me. That last one did a number of him, nice job...but it's still not dealing him damage quickly enough. We need to really get through and nail him even harder."

"Yeah, and I think I know what we should do," Sandabadomon said. "Our combined attacks got even stronger with three rather than two. If all of our power got in on one blow, we might be able to do enough to wipe him out, or at least severely weaken him to the point where we can team up for a last blow!"

"I like that idea," Flarekomodomon said with a nod. "Getting close enough to deal that blow won't be easy, though; he's going to know we're up to something, and he's going to target whoever is trying to take him down."

"Yeah. Taking him from afar may be the best option."

"But he's done everything possible to avoid physical blows," Weaponrexmon cut in. "I think he's doing that because he doesn't have as much physical resistance. A solid strike of that nature could do much more damage, it might take him down right out rather than just weakening him."

Sandabadomon looked over at Flarekomodomon. "Well, you're the one who likes getting up close and personal...Do you think you can manage it?"

"Hm...it could prove tough...he can see me from a ways away, and he'll know I'm coming...it'll give him a lot of time to prepare. He's got all those arms, that shockwave attack, he can hit from almost anywhere...except..." Flarekomodomon went silent as his eyes trailed upwards above the demon. _Ogudomon has a wide reach on the ground, but his legs can only go up to about lateral with his body...its joint locked up when trying to go higher to hit Tornadramon earlier. They can get higher only if his body bends upwards, but he has to be on at least four legs or else his body won't be able to support his weight, so he probably can't get more than a little bit above lateral even then...if he falls over, he's a sitting duck, so he won't dare try it. And his head and neck are structured for lateral movement, so his head can't go much above parallel with the ground, either...if I can get above his head, I might be able to get through for a blow..._

"Weaponrexmon...tell me. You ever heard of a 'Fastball Special?'"

It took a moment for the recognition to click in Weaponrexmon's head; when it did, he broke into a hidden grin. "I read ya loud and clear."

"Good. So, I need everyone's power, but we can't all just come in at once, otherwise we're a prime target for Ogudomon. Let's bring them in one at a time, while the others play distraction."

Sandabadomon nodded. "Right. I'll start." She sent a beam of her energy towards Flarekomodomon, who absorbed it and focused on keeping it active. "All right, good luck!"

She quickly returned to the fray, and Weaponrexmon called to both Tornadramon and Nyctogaroumon to come in and add their own contributions to the energy pool. They each came on their own, the others attacking Ogudomon relentlessly. The demon king definitely had an eye on the reptile, but everything was ready too quickly for him to do much about it.

Once Weaponrexmon had added the final element, Flarekomodomon was breathing heavily as the energy radiated throughout him. "Hoo, man...this is something. Wish we'd thought of this before, it mighta helped us against some tougher enemies."

"You all set?" Weaponrexmon asked. "How do you wanna do this?"

"Your call. Whatever'll give you the best trajectory and speed."

"All right...here goes!" Weaponrexmon suddenly reached out and grabbed Flarekomodomon's tail, pulling him by the appendage up onto a platform of debris nearby. He started swinging at high speed, keeping the reptile out of danger of being slammed into the platform by hanging just on the end. His brain was working at top speed, calculating the necessary moment of release to get the best speed and angle at Ogudomon.

Tornadramon saw Ogudomon eyeing the launch, clearly aware that something was up, and his mind began to race. _If Flarekomodomon's in his field of vision, he could time the shockwave to knock him away...I won't let that happen!_ "Nyctogaroumon! Quick, your energy!"

The canid wasted no time, sending a jet of blackness towards the dragon; Tornadramon took it in and felt the charge running through him, amping him up even more than usual. Raising a hand, he aimed a cyclone up at the top of Ogudomon's body, right around his head as Weaponrexmon let go of Flarekomodomon. Suddenly blinded, the demon was lost in confusion, unable to watch the flame lizard's flight as he rocketed up into the air.

Flarekomodomon, now at the mercy of momentum, put all his concentration on getting as much out of his attack as possible. Every muscle was tensed up as the downward part of his arc began, readying to unleash the energy gathered up within him. He was only dimly aware of Tornadramon's assistance, his focus entirely limited to the top of Ogudomon's large body and not at his head. Just a few seconds from impact, he sprang, spinning in midair and slamming his fist down with all the downward force he could possibly muster.

His hand smashed into the top of Ogudomon's body, and immediately a bubble of raw bright energy expanded out from the impact site, expanding and surging around and through Ogudomon. The force of the energy was intense, threatening to drive Flarekomodomon apart from the demon; it took all he had to sustain the attack and not be thrown away. After nearly half a minute of the treatment, the bubble fully consumed Ogudomon, and the demon's shocked and pained roar of death finally rang out as his body was erased by the sheer power.

Released from the blow, Flarekomodomon started to fall to the ground; despite the long drop, he landed on his feet without any trouble. "Phew...Man, that was intense. Sandabadomon, that was a great idea," he panted as the avian swooped down to check on him.

"And you were amazing! You really took it to him!"

"Heh, wouldn't have happened without everyone else. Speaking of which, guys, you don't have to rush, I'm fine," he said as the rest of the group clamored around him.

"It worked! Hot damn!" cried out Tornadramon. "I am awesome!"

"You?" Wepaonrexmon grunted. "Flarekomodomon and I did all the work!"

"Hey, I helped make sure it worked! He mighta been blasted outta the air if I hadn't-"

"Don't you two start fighting again now," snapped Flarekomodomon, and instantly both of them stopped talking. "I don't see any more reason to stick around here, so let's beat it. We've still got a bunch of nutcases to take on."

"If we can handle Ogudomon, we probably will have a lot easier time against the rest of those Emperius idiots," Nyctogaroudmon said. "I'm ready to go after them right now!"

"Sounds good to me...uh-oh," Weaponrexmon said. "We may want to make it a quick exit...I'm getting the feeling that something's not right in here."

"Nothing's ever that easy, huh? C'mon, guys, let's split."

(==========)

By the time they emerged from the castle, it was quite clear from the loud rumblings and shakings that something big was starting to go down. The clouds of gray swirling around the castle were no longer even and clean, instead having become a chaotic twister with some jets moving faster and some slower. The five symbiotes took this as a clear sign not to waste any time getting away. Flarekomodomon and Nyctogaroumon took their places on Tornadramon and Sandabadomon practically mid-stride, while Weaponrexmon used the four massive cannons on his back to create a makeshift jetpack to slow his descent as he leapt off of the edge of the landmass.

As they soared out to a safe distance away from the unstable construct, they found a small welcoming committee, including Reaverdramon and Gallantmon, waiting at the cliff where they'd first observed the castle. "Goodness! You've changed!" was Gallantmon's first observation when they landed.

"Yeah, and it couldn't have come at a better time to take down those lunatics," Flarekomodomon responded. "But now it's going nuts out there, what's the deal?"

"If I had to guess, defeating the demons has left the castle's chaotic energy without any regulation," Reaverdramon said hurriedly. "It's likely to explode at some point, but it's hard to know when, or how powerful it's going to be. Chaotic energy is hard to predict…"

"Should we consider evacuating everyone from the nearby areas?"

"Unless the energy can be neutralized. But that would probably mean destroying the entire castle and landmass, so there's nothing that can feed the reaction. That would take a hell of a blast..."

"I think I could pull it off." All eyes turned towards Tornadramon. "There won't be any danger in taking it down, right? No one's gonna miss the castle or land or anything?"

"No...do you really think you can do that?" asked Reaverdramon, sounding unconvinced.

"Hah, leave it to me!" He turned towards the castle and closed his eyes, focusing intensely as he began to glow brightly. "All right...time to put the final word into this! Sundering Sky!"

A bright blue beam fired up form his body towards the sky, and he fell to a knee, panting heavily. Gallantmon started over to check on him, but was staved off with a wave of the dragon's hand. After a few moments, the sky suddenly darkened around them, and the air took on a noticeable intensity that sent a thrill through everyone on the cliff. Tornadramon finally stood and raised an arm, and as he did, from way up in the sky, a massive ray of wind energy burst forth and rocketed down, slamming into the top of the demonic castle. Another beam raged from the heavens at an angle, intersecting again at the castle...then another, from a different angle, and another, finally growing to seven different beams. Finally, with a wave of his arms downward, the full force of the beams ripped from the sky and blasted the castle, tearing it apart and sending shrapnel all over the ground below. As the sky brightened, the chaotic clouds that once surrounded the castle began to dissipate harmlessly into the air.

Tornadramon turned to the others, panting hard but with a wide grin on his face. "Whoo...that's how ya do it!"

"Holy...that was..." Gallantmon was nearly struck dumb by the sight. "I've...I've never seen such an attack in my life...this is the power of the symbiosis? I sure am glad you're on our side..."

"That was absolutely amazing!" Sandabadomon exclaimed. "Something that powerful might be enough to get through that dispersion shield Emperius has around its ship!"

"Might be kinda difficult if it's moving around a lot, though," Weaponrexmon pointed out. "Still, we could knock out its engines. Finishing them all off in one blow would be a great way to end this quickly."

"Yeah, don't go popping the champagne yet, guys," Tornadramon cut in. "There's no way I'm gonna be able to pull that off again without some time to recharge. That takes a LOT of juice to pull off."

"Heh, sounds like someone needs to build up his stamina," Nyctogaroumon chuckled.

"Yeah, well, at least I leave 'em breathless."

Sandabadomon shook her head. "We're back to cheap jokes, I think that means it's time to head back and figure out our next course of action. Hopefully we won't have to do too much more of this before we've finished this thing."

"It can't come soon enough," Flarekomodomon agreed. "Let's get going. Reaverdramon, thank you for everything. I hope this has been of some help."

Reaverdramon nodded. "No question. Without the demon kings around, the demons have lost one of their sources of power, and one of their means of keeping dissidents under their control. It'll make life easier for those like myself, and may give us an opportunity to break away from the evil ones. I'm going to relay the news to some of us that are in hiding. Good luck, all of you, may you have success in overcoming Emperius."

"Thanks! Best of luck to you, too!" Nyctogaroumon replied. Reaverdramon gave them a lost nod, turned, and leapt off of the cliff, swooping down into the valley below.

"His battle seems to be just beginning...I hope we can do something to help him in the future," Gallantmon said.

"Well, one thing at a time, right?" Sandabadomon replied. "We've still got to finish off Emperius, and as much as we would hope not, I doubt they'll make it easy for us."

"When have they ever?" Tornadramon complained. "Why can't they be agreeable for once and let us kill them dead? At least we got stronger in that castle, we should be able to take any of them on without much trouble!"

"You shouldn't get overconfident, that's how accidents happen."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but I'm allowed to be regular confident, aren't I?"

"Quiet, quiet, quiet!" Weaponrexmon ordered suddenly. He turned away and started shouting at what appeared to be no one in particular. "Say that again...you're sure? How soon will they be through? Damn, too fast! All right, we're gonna take action! Don't try to follow them, just head back!" He turned back around, speaking in a voice flooded with urgency. "I just got a report from the scouts monitoring the Dreadnaught! There's a huge distortion forming near them! They're going to turn over to our world!"

"Those rat bastards!" snarled Flarekomodomon. "Well, fine! If they want to have another go at our side we'll finish them off over there! We need to get back to headquarters and transfer immediately!"

"There's no time to waste! Tornadramon, if you had my line from my hookshot, do you think you could handle my extra weight?"

Tornadramon nodded eagerly. "Piece of cake! Just make sure whatever you're using is strong enough to handle me!"

"Good! Everyone else get going, we'll catch up no problem!"

(==========)

The newly-rescued forces of Libertius were almost having flashbacks from their takeover when the symbiotes and their commander cascaded through the hallways with abandon, no explanation offered for their sudden frenzy. For their part, they were far too absorbed in their emergency to take much notice of the sudden stares of confusion and fright. They charged as fast as they could reasonably move within the hallways, not letting up for a moment until they stood in front of the door holding access to the Transworld Transfer Matrix. Flarekomodomon slammed the door open, and then immediately let out an angered roar. "What the HELL is this?"

"Oh no! What happened in here?" Gallantmon cried out as he saw the chaos. Pieces and parts were strewn about everywhere, and the machine itself was scarcely recognizable for the damage it had sustained. "The Matrix...who could have done this?"

"I fear the responsibility is mine." All six turned to see Glademon approaching cautiously. "When we came to take your forces long ago...Emperius believed you were assisting the humans actively and commanded us to ensure that could no longer happen. I had told one of my men where your matrix was…"

"And he took care of it," Nyctogaroumon finished darkly, pounding a fist on Weaponrexmon's back. "Damnation! It'll take ages to get it working again!"

"You haven't got time for that. There's another possibility. Gargantua Weapon had several of the improved machines on board ready for use. At least one of them had to have been spared from the explosion that took it down. If power could be provided to it, it should get you where you need to go."

"I can try to work with that, but what if they were all damaged?" asked Sandabadomon.

"If they were, leave them to me, I'll fix them up in a hurry," Weaponrexmon said.

(==========)

The massive husk of the former fortress still stood out in the barren wasteland, though it was far from dead around it. Hordes of digimon were scurrying around, engrossed in the onerous task of breaking down the structure. "Dang, they have to take this all apart piece by piece?" remarked Tornadramon. "That's gonna take ages!"

"I dunno, there's a lot of digimon working here, it could go faster than you think," Weaponrexmon replied.

"Still, why not just get some big dude to blast it apart?"

"Mainly because we want whatever we find to be in good condition, not a smoldering wreck." The reply came from an Andromon who walked up to them and gave them a bow. "I've already gotten the rundown from Libertius headquarters. We know of at least two transfer machines that are in working condition, and only lack a power source. I've got some digimon working on setting that up right now."

"Do they need any help?" Sandabadomon asked.

"I'm sure they'd be grateful, but best that you don't get involved if you're going through. I don't know a ton about these things, but anything that moves living creatures around shouldn't be powered by a creature that's moving it, there's too much risk of an interruption."

"Fair enough," Flarekomodomon said. "Let's see it."

With a nod of assent, Andromon guided them through the corridors, moving surprisingly quickly for someone of his size and shape. As they pursued him, they passed by quite a few digimon of many shapes and sizes, most carrying scraps from the body of the weapon or supplies from the rooms within. "I guess I can see why they didn't want to blow it up right off," Tornadramon admitted as he watched a Gotsumon carry by a large box filled with food. "There's a lot of stuff inside that could be really useful."

"A mobile fortress that had to carry thousands of digimon, they must have had supplies to last a long time," Nyctogarouomon mused. "They didn't even get a chance to use most of it, so there's probably a lot that can be salvaged. I can only imagine how much good it can be put to."

"No kidding. You could probably build an army of robots with all the metal and electronics and everything in here…"

"Don't give Weaponrexmon any ideas."

"He didn't have to give them to me," the cyborg cut in amusedly. "Fortunately, we don't have time for that."

It wasn't much longer before they arrived at a large room with a machine embedded in the floor on the front end. It looked quite a bit different from the TTM in the Libertius compound before it had been trashed; it was smaller, sleeker, and looked more modern and more functional. "Huh...they did a remarkably good job improving on the original design," commented Weaponrexmon. "Wonder what else it can do?"

"Well, we know it lets them also go back," Flarekomodomon said. "Right now, I'm not concerned with anything more. As long as it gets us over there, that's what matters. And right now it doesn't seem to be doing that."

"Well, it needs energy for that."

"And how long will that take?" The impatience in the fire lizard's voice was almost tangible, and made everyone in the room the slightest bit uneasy.

"It shouldn't be long now," Andromon assured them. "They're just working on getting the power source hooked up. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

"Well, tell them to speed it up. We're talking about basically a large-scale invasion of the human world here, they're not going to waste time and they don't have enough defenses to hold them off for long."

"And if they do it wrong, we're looking at an even longer setback, if not serious injury or catastrophe," Sandabadomon said. "Cool your jets for a moment and let them do their job right the first time."

"Rgh...yeah, yeah…" Flarekomodomon conceded, but didn't wait very peacefully, spending most of the time grumbling under his breath and pacing around. As the minutes ticked away, his agitation was clearly growing, but fortunately for everyone, before he hit the boiling point, Andromon gave them the thumbs-up.

"They're flipping the switch in just a few seconds. Next question, do any of you know how to work this thing? Because I sure don't."

"Give me a little bit with it and we'll be golden," Weaponrexmon said, walking over to the machine. Almost as he arrived at the console, the machine began to emit a gradually-crescendoing whir, signaling that the power hook-up had succeeded. The console flickered to life, but Weaponrexmon paid it no mind, instead sending out a cable from his arm that connected to a port on the machine. The others waited anxiously, the potential for another unforeseen complication weighing on their minds. But it went as smoothly as anything, and within just a minute, a wide, almost invisible beam fired from the front of the machine, stopping at a point in space on the other side of the room and expanding into a spherical void.

"Looks like we're good to go, as long as the energy keeps up," Weaponrexmon said. "I guess we'd better make haste then."

"Yeah...we're probably gonna be in the middle of a firefight right when we get over there," Flarekomodomon said. "So everyone, you know the drill: come out swinging and don't stop until we've brought an end to this once and for all!"

"Right!" came the simultaneous reply.

"Then let's go!" Without further hesitation, Flarekomodmon raced towards the rift in space, closely followed by the rest of the symbiotes, as they crossed through once more, ready to return to where the battle had begun and to see to it that that would be where it ended.

(==========)

(==========)

So glad to have finally gotten past that! It's taken longer than I had hoped, but I'm finally getting back to Braun, and finally getting to the last stage of this story! Right now I've got it in my head that there will be six more chapters, not counting the epilogue which will probably go up at the same time as the last chapter. The first one will probably be the toughest due to me still trying to figure out exactly what it's going to include, but the others I've got a pretty solid outline for already and even some content within them.

I know I kind of left the combining powers out until right near the end, but I really just could not figure out a good way to introduce them as a common mechanic. Part of the problem is that I simply don't have a lot of team battles here, owing to my finding them more difficult to write, so opportunities are a little scarce. I almost didn't even put it in here, but I decided that I wanted there to be something more to this battle, because after the other demon kings it didn't feel like it made sense for them to struggle with a five-on-one situation. So it becomes basically a brief sidebar that will get a little mention but probably not much through the rest of the story. Not the ideal situation, but hopefully not too much of an issue.

Anyway, I think that's about enough yakking from me. See you when I get done with the next chapter!


End file.

Digimon, Adventure