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Chapter Text

He should have known it couldn't last forever.

The funny thing was that Tai hadn't actually believed he had made it home in the first place. Based on his experiences with the Digital World up to this point, the idea that some evil Digimon had created a version of Odaiba to trap him in seemed like the more believable situation. After all, he and his friends' most recent misadventure had ended with an Elvis-impersonating monkey busting his way out of an upside-down pyramid to fight a cyborg dinosaur.

Still, Tai's suspicions turned out to be completely unfounded. He had in fact been transported back to the actual Odaiba, a couple of blocks away from his own apartment no less. Granted, Tai had apparently missed the window for being reunited with his parents, but Kari had been there to greet him in their place. The fact that his little sister seemed to recognize Koromon did throw him for a loop, but he was able to push that to the back of his mind as he enjoyed a boring day at home.

Then he turned on the TV.

Digimon were invading the Real World. They were invading and no one except for him and Kari seemed to notice. Whether they had followed him from the Digital World or had been on their way anyway, he couldn't tell, and he wouldn't get a chance to think on it either.

His shock was by Izzy, somehow sending him a message from the Digital World to the Kamiya's home computer. The message was garbled, but three words came through loud and clear:

"Don't come back."

That could have been the end of the whole thing. Izzy wasn't one for reverse psychology. If he had meant anything except for his exact words, he would have come out and said it. Tai kept telling himself this as he and Koromon ran out of the apartment to confront the newest Digimon to appear.

Ultimately, however, it was Ogremon who made his decision for him. He had stood there, waiting amongst an unknowing crowd for a chance to strike. Tai had had to move fast to save Kari, who had followed against his wishes.

Koromon sprung into action soon after, leading Ogremon away. With a portal opening above Odaiba, the little guy took his shot. Digivolving back into Agumon, a well placed "Pepper Breath" blasted Ogremon upward and back into the vortex.

Unfortunately, Tai knew that it couldn't end there. Even with Agumon's assurance that he could return to the Digital World on his own, Tai had already made up his mind.

He hesitated one final time when Kari asked him to stay. As he pointed his Digivice skyward, in the hope that the little gizmo would show him how to get back to his friends, Kari latched onto his free hand. He tried his best to reassure her that he would be back before letting go, knowing it was what he had to do.

Looking down at Odaiba as he floated upward, Tai thought of Agumon, who he knew would rush headfirst into danger with or without him. The two of them were a team, and Tai knew he could never let his partner fight alone.

He thought of TK, who despite being the youngest of them, still seemed like he had been put through the most. Even with his older brother there to protect him, Tai felt like it was his job to look after the youngest Digidestined.

He thought of Joe, who had made it his responsibility to take care of everyone else. With that responsibility, however, came overthinking and anxiety, and the need for someone who could watch his back once and a while.

He thought of Mimi, who had come to represent the team's spirit. She had had the toughest time adjusting to life in the Digital World but kept on going anyway, and Tai knew he couldn't do any less than that.

He thought of Izzy, whose insight and curiosity had basically been carrying them throughout their battles. Tai knew Izzy could hold his own in a fight, but given how they would likely need his brains going forward, Tai knew he needed to fill their ranks while Izzy problem-solved.

He thought of Matt, who he had had the most disagreements with since landing on File Island. Tai knew Matt only did what he thought was best for the group, however, and the two of them were at their best when they worked together.

He thought of Sora, his oldest friend who always put everyone else before her. They had almost lost her thanks to Tai's mistake, and while he had helped save her, he knew things wouldn't truly be put right until he saw her again and actually apologized.

Lastly, he thought of Kari, who had just been attacked by an evil Digimon. If going back to the Digital World accomplished nothing else, it would be to protect her and his family.

Tai should have known that this moment of peace couldn't last forever, but it wasn't supposed to. It was a motivator, to remind him what he was fighting for, and this was a fight that Tai refused to lose.

Chapter Text

Takato jogged through Shinjuku Park, which was mostly deserted during these nighttime hours. He considered this a small win, given how he had previously had to sneak around his own home to gather up the belongings he was currently lugging around and then leave without his parents noticing. The trade-off for getting in and out as intended was, of course, him taking a bit longer than he originally thought he would.

Eventually, Takato stepped off the park's intended path and exited into a sizable clearing not far from the utility shed Guilmon used as an improvised home. There, hunched as low as he could given his size, was WarGrowlmon, who had clearly not been able to de-digivolve since Takato had stepped away.

WarGrowlmon turning to acknowledge his partner caused all other eyes to shift in Takato's direction. Henry and Rika both seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing Takato approach, likely still a bit on edge after the battle with Mihiramon. Despite this, though, they hadn't hesitated to volunteer to watch over WarGrowlmon while Takato made preparations for what was potentially going to be a long night.

"Sorry I'm late," Takato said, scratching the back of his head and trying to put on a friendly smile. "Got a little held up."

"Did you pack your entire bedroom?" Rika asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm?" Takato's mind went blank for half a second before his eyes dropped to the bag at his side, which he had not quite been able to close correctly given its contents. "Oh! Nope, just the essentials."

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay?" Henry asked before Rika could respond, concern in both his voice and eyes.

"Who's gonna mess with a mecha kaiju?" Terriermon commented from Henry's shoulder, his injuries from the fight clearly still weighing him down a bit.

"One Ultimate level Digimon has already tried," Renamon interjected, herself in about the same state as Terriermon.

"Yeah, and SuperMetalGrowlmon showed him what's what."

"Thanks, Henry, but I think we'll be okay," Takato cut in to make sure the original question was answered. "You guys should head home and get some rest."

"Suit yourself, Gogglehead," Rika replied instantly before stuffing her hands in her pockets and walking off.

Renamon followed her partner into the brush, though Henry hesitated for a split second. He looked like he wanted to argue before glancing at Terriermon, after which he simply gave Takato a nod and disappeared into the night.

Takato immediately plopped himself on the ground, relief and exhaustion being at the forefront of his feelings at the moment. Still, the night wasn't over and he had to stay focused. Takato fished out a pad and a couple pencils from his bag, his intent to keep himself busy for the time being.

Instead, however, he froze. His arm shook, the memory of the pain he had experienced during the battle still fresh in his mind. While the pain was gone and he couldn't find any signs of actual injury, he couldn't help but dwell on how close they had come to losing that battle. Not wanting to keep dwelling, Takato tried to find something else to focus on.

"You doing okay, WarGrowlmon?" he asked as he turned his head upwards.

"I'm okay," WarGrowlmon answered, his voice much deeper than usual yet still recognizable as his partner's. "Just a little hungry."

"Of course..." Takato laughed under his breath. He brought food for his partner, though was holding out in the hopes that his Ultimate form burned more energy and not eating would cause him to de-digivolve faster. Of course, if the last couple months had proven anything, it was how little any of them actually knew about Digimon.

"Still, that Mihiramon was something else," Takato continued, finding himself unable to completely change his line of thought. "If the Blue Card didn't appear, I don't know what we'd have done."

"I'm sure we would've thought of something," WarGrowlmon replied. If he had any uncertainty, he didn't show it.

"I guess so..." Takato recalled the fight, along with the images of Kyubimon and Gargomon each falling from Metropolitan Government Building. "The problem is that we each tried to fight him on our own."

"You think we should've attacked together?"

"As a start, yeah..." Takato tried to imagine the scenario of the three of them combining forces to fight Mihiramon. "Of course, teamwork isn't exactly our strong suit."

They still had a lot to sort through before they could function as a team. While Rika seemed to be coming around to the idea, she still kept her distance, leaving Takato to worry if she could truly trust the rest of them to fight alongside her. Then their was Henry, who had a tendency to take on too much responsibility. Takato was convinced that he would fight wild Digimon without Terriermon if he thought he could.

"We should practice," WarGrowlmon suggested.

"Not a bad idea, boy."

At the end of the day, it wasn't the Tamers' capability of working together that Takato doubted, but more their willingness. He just couldn't figure out what the right motivation was.

Or inspiration!

An idea pushed itself to the front of Takato's mind. They needed a symbol or icon of some kind, one that stood for them and what they were fighting for. Every team had an insignia, and he just needed to figure out what theirs was.

Takato quickly began to draw up sketches and concepts, trying to sort what was the right fit. He briefly considered waiting until the following day to run the idea by the others to see what they thought, but decided to keep going. He knew Henry and Terriermon would be on board for the idea, and Renamon probably wouldn't care either way. The only real question mark was Rika.

Who am I kidding? Takato smiled as he kept drawing. She'll love it once she sees it.

"What are you working on?"

Takato turned to answer, only to yelp and jump backwards when he saw Guilmon's snout only a couple of centimeters from his face. Apparently, he had de-digivolved while Takato was working and had managed to sneak up on him.

"You startled me, Guilmon," Takato stated as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry..." Guilmon dropped his head apologetically.

"No worries..." Takato stood up and dusted himself off. "Anyway, what I'm working on is... a surprise!"

Guilmon perked up. "A surprise?"

"Yep! Something to help us work as a team."

"Okay..." Guilmon's nose suddenly found its way to Takato's bag. "Can I eat now?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Takato smiled and shook his head, not surprised in the slightest. He reached into his bag and fished out the day-old bread from the Matsuki bakery. "You good to make it back to the shed on your own?"

"You betcha!" Guilmon said as he swallowed an entire roll in one bite.

Takato began gathering up his belongings. "Cool, then I'm gonna head home to work on our surprise."

"Okey dokey then." Guilmon gave his equivalent of a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow, Takatomon."

"Just stay out of trouble," Takato replied as they headed off in different directions.

Wild Digimon attacks had been escalating lately, so Takato knew that Mihiramon would be far from the last Ultimate they fought. Still, with his friends by his side, he knew they would be able to defeat those Digimon. Things were about to change, and though they had had their rough patches, the Tamers would be ready for what came next.

Chapter Text

With expert levels of dexterity, Terriermon lept upwards and landed on the back of Henry's chair. Balancing himself, he peered over his partner's shoulder, getting an eagle eye view of the obsession of the week.

"I just don't get it," Henry groaned as his eyes bounced back and forth between his computer screen and his D-Arc.

Or D-Power. Or whatever the Tamers were currently calling their DigiVices. Whichever name was the right one, a couple wires connected the device in question to the desktop while Henry poked at its buttons.

"Did you drop it in the toilet or something?" Terriermon asked.

"It's working fine." Henry leaned back in his chair, forcing Terriermon to reorient himself. "I just don't understand how."

Terriermon managed to keep himself from toppling over. "I'm guessing calling it invisible magic isn't enough for you."

Henry glanced at the DigiVice. "I've never had to change or charge the battery, assuming it even has one. I'd say they don't give off any detectable signal or anything, but that's not true. They can detect each other."

"Why don't you ask your dad or Shibumi about this stuff?" Terriermon questioned, now even finding himself a bit curious. "Didn't they make them?"

"The Monster Makers designed them, but it was the DigiGnomes that produced them." Henry paused for a second to scratch his neck. "At least I think..."

"What's the difference?"

"They were meant to store data, but their current function is to connect us to you guys." Henry disconnected the wiring and picked up the DigiVice. "Then there's this."

Henry reached across the desk, picking up a Digimon modify card from the stack he kept for when they got into a fight. Before Terriermon could figure out which card had been chosen, Henry stood up and swiped it through the DigiVice's scanner.

Almost instantly after, a set of small wings sprouted from Terriermon's back. He jumped off the chair and, without having to think about it, began flying around the room.

"Somehow it scans the card and transmits its data to you," Henry summarized during Terriermon's second back flip through the air.

"Maybe I'm WiFi enabled."

"For everyone's sake, let's hope not."

"I think you're missing the most important question, Henry," Terriermon sang as he stopped so that the two of them were at eye-level.

Henry crossed his arms. "And what would that be?"

Terriermon smiled widened just before he flew forward and snatched the DigiVice from Henry's hand.

"What happens if I swipe a card through it?" Terriermon stopped himself just out of Henry's reach. "Would I still get the power up or would you?"

"Terriermon..." Hints of nervousness were in his voice and the expression on his face.

With now unfiltered enthusiasm, Terriermon flew back down to the desk and grabbed a modify card from the pile at random. He felt a spike of joy upon realizing that he recognized this particular card.

"How about this one?" Terriermon flashed the card to Henry real quick. "You used it when we fought IceDevimon way back when, right?"

Henry inched forward. "Be careful with-"

Despite being enamored with the mental image of Henry expanding like a distorted balloon, Terriermon was able effortlessly dodge one more time. Immediately after, the wings he had been taking full advantage of disappeared, though Terriermon was able to use his ears to help him glide towards Henry's bed.

"Alright, here we go!" Terriermon struck a pose in the same way Henry and the others liked to in a fight. "Digi-modify!"

Terriermon brought the card down for a clean slash through the DigiVice's scanner. He and Henry both remained perfectly still and waited for... nothing.

"Huh," Henry said as he inspected his person.

"Invisible magic it is." Terriermon tossed the DigiVice back to his partner.

"I guess so..." Henry paused to look around the room until he settled on his bedroom door. "I gotta get out of this room. You wanna take a walk?"

Terriermon lept onto his shoulder. "Only if you're the one doing the walking."

Henry shook his head and gave a slight grin as he exited the room. Not that anything else actually needed to be said. Their bond was more than just a magical piece of plastic.

Chapter Text

Gatomon's whole body went rigid as she woke from her nightmare. She allowed herself a couple seconds of heavy breathing before sitting up and looking around the room to ground herself back in reality.

Not more than a foot away, Kari still slept, not having been stirred awake by Gatomon's movement. Other than the girl's steady breathing and some snoring from the bunk above, the room was still and silent, and free of the chaos that had been overwhelming Gatomon's mind before she regained consciousness.

Gatomon shook her head, internally chastising herself for her brain's continued fixation on the same dream. This had been a regular occurrence over the last few weeks, having basically started immediately after the defeat of Ordinemon. Now restless and agitated, Gatomon stood up and began to quietly make her way out of the bedroom.

Select images from the nightmare appeared in the front of Gatomon's mind, hindering her walking speed somewhat. None of these images, however, actually pertained to her time as part of Ordinemon. For whatever reason, her conscience was able to separate her own involvement in the monster's creation from Meicoomon's persistent infection.

Instead, her conscience was more preoccupied with the moments before she and Meicoomon became one.

Gatomon's mind took a brief break as she reached the screen door that led to the Kamiya's balcony. After leaping upwards to undo the lock, she used her paw to pry open the door just enough so that she could slip outside. With the same movement, she jumped up and sat on the balcony's ledge, where she let all of her senses take in the clear summer night.

It took only a couple seconds for her thoughts to return to Ophanimon. More specifically, her Mega form's "Falldown Mode", which she had assumed briefly when Kari had believed her brother had died in one of their many battles in recent weeks. A Digimon paradoxically born out of dark thoughts in order to destroy evil, Gatomon had lost all sense of herself while in this form. All that had remained was a desire to seek and destroy.

Dark DigiVolution was not a new concept to the Digidestined. Being that it was Kari's despair that had called Ophanimon, Gatomon should have been able to once again separate herself from the event. In this instance, however, she couldn't.

Gatomon glanced down at the golden ring on the end of her tail, meant to protect her from evil and darkness. She had no inclination as to whether or not that included the powers that turned her into Ophanimon.

And what about the darkness that's already inside me?

A troubled past separated her from the rest of the Chosen Digimon. She had spent a significant amount of time in the servitude of Myotismon, carrying out a number of deeds she still regretted. Those times served as a reminder of all the things she knew herself to be capable of.

Gatomon turned her attention to her paw, where a scar from one of Myotismon's many "lessons" was once present. While the rebooting of the Digital World resulted in its removal, her memories of these times were restored shortly afterwards. She wondered if the scar no longer being visible meant that it was no longer there.

The screen door sliding open snapped Gatomon back to the present. She slowly turned her head, not necessarily needing eyeline to know who was approaching her.

"Everything okay?" Kari asked, with a weak smile and concern in her eyes.

"Just wanted to step outside," Gatomon answered. "Between Agumon and your brother, the air's kinda stale in there."

Kari's smile widened before disappearing entirely. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I do."

Gatomon still was kept her feelings inside, not quite ready to share what was on her mind. In regards to her past, it was nothing Kari didn't already know about. Worse, none of the other Digimon showed any sign that they carried around the same baggage she did. It felt unfair to repeatedly burden Kari with the same stories over and over again.

When it came to Ophanimon, on the other hand, it was made plainly clear by the way Kari had been carrying herself around lately that their thoughts on the incident were the same. They each blamed themselves for what happened, and any conversation on the matter would likely devolve into a tug-of-war match over the guilt. Gatomon was determined to find another way to be there for her best friend.

Kari gestured back into the apartment. "Since neither of us is sleeping, you wanna go see what's hiding in the kitchen?"

Gatomon raised an eyebrow. "Got any catnip?"

"No promises. You might have to settle for a can of tuna instead."

Gatomon shrugged and got down from the ledge. "That'll have to do, I suppose."

The two of them stepped inside and Kari closed the door behind them. Gatomon still wasn't sure how they would get past this or how long it would take. She just knew that she was going to do right by Kari, and do everything in her power to make sure she never left her like that again.

Chapter Text

Davis set the soccer ball down on the empty field, just a few meters away from the equally empty net. With the sun setting and the school grounds mostly empty, save for DemiVeemon watching him from the bleachers, Davis felt like this was as good a place as any to deal with all the thoughts and doubts whirling around in his head. He imagined all said thoughts and doubts transferring into the ball in front of him before kicking it forward as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, the shot went wide, bouncing off the net's frame. The only thing keeping it from flying out of bounds was a figure in a green blazer catching it just before it went over his head.

"Power's good to have," Tai said as he lowered the ball and spun it between his fingers. "Aiming helps some, though."

"Hey..." was the only reply Davis could come up with, not really having it in him to get excited about Tai's presence.

Tai tucked the soccer ball under his right arm and raised an eyebrow. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Davis spat back nervously.

"Something's obviously wrong."

"How could you know that?"

Tai finally approached him. "Well, you're not shouting, bouncing off the walls, telling me to check out this 'sick' trickshot you came up with, or asking what my sister's favorite type of flower is, so yeah, something's wrong."

Davis was about to protest, but felt his whole body deflate instead. He figured there really wasn't any point in pretending to hide it any longer.

"Yeah, I just kinda got some stuff on my mind."

"Is it about all that Ken stuff?" Tai asked calmly.

Tai, of course, was referring to the very recent revelation that the Digimon Emperor they had spent the last few weeks fighting was actually child prodigy Ken Ichijoji. A lot of mixed emotions on the matter had been affecting the group as whole. Davis worried as to whether or not he was strong or smart enough to defeat Ken, though that wasn't the whole truth to what was weighing him down.

"Not really..." Davis scratched his head trying to figure out the right words. "I mean, yeah, that's what got me thinking, but it's not what's bothering me."

Tai tilted his head. "So what is it then?"

"It's..." Davis began, stopping when a voice in his head told him that he shouldn't need to bother the older Digidestined with this stuff. "...not that big a deal."

"Obviously it is."

"Don't worry about it."

Tai dropped the soccer ball and frowned. "Too late for that."

"No, I just- ah!"

Davis' line of thought was completely blindsided by Tai grabbing hold of him and pulling him into a headlock.

"You wanna rephrase that?" Tai began to scrape his knuckles on the top of Davis' head.

"Tai, stop!" Davis cried out as tried in wriggle free.

"You gonna start talking?"

"Fine, just let go!"

Tai did just that, with Davis almost toppling over as he pulled away. After taking a second to balance himself, he took a deep breath.

"Did you..." Again, Davis tried to figure out the right words. "Back in the day, did you ever think you weren't cut out for the whole 'saving the world' thing?"

"Absolutely never," Tai answered aloofly.

Davis crossed his arms and looked away. "You're being really helpful already."

Tai grinned. "Okay, why don't you think you're cut out for this?"

Davis' shoulders sank as he turned back to Tai. "I'm scared I'm gonna screw something up."

"Davis, all of us feel that way." Tai placed a hand on Davis' shoulder. "If anything, that's what makes you right for the job. It means you care and you're taking this seriously."

"Yeah, I know, but like..." Davis paused again, trying to come up with the plainest way of saying what he was thinking. "I'm scared."

Tai retracted his hand and crossed his arms. "You're losing me."

"When this all started, I picked up the Digi-Egg of Courage."

"Yep, I was there."

"So if I get scared, doesn't that mean I can't use the egg and Veemon can't digivolve?"

They both went quiet for a few seconds as Tai looked Davis up and down. Then his eyes got a bit wider, realization or something similar finally hitting him.

"Okay, I see..." Tai said, a lighter tone returning to his voice. "Sometimes I forget you guys didn't have to do the same soul searching we did to figure out what each Crest means."

"What does our Crest mean?" Davis asked slowly.

"It means you'll be alright."

"Really?"

"I got scared plenty of times when I first got my Crest." Tai stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked upwards. "Listen, the Crest of Courage isn't about being brave all the time, or at least I don't think it is. It's more about having the willpower to face the thing you're afraid of."

Davis looked down at the ground. "But what if I can't do that?"

"I have a feeling that won't be an issue." Tai paused for half a second. "Just as long as you don't forget you've got people around to support you when you do have doubts. Remember, courage also means not being afraid to ask for help."

Silence fell between them one more time, just long enough for Davis to lift his head up again. For whatever reason, he felt a bit more confident than he had a few minutes ago.

"Thanks, Tai."

"No sweat." Tai used his foot to nudge the soccer ball into position. "Now let's see if we can't improve that aim of yours."

Davis moved over to line up his next shot, feeling a bit lighter as he did. He couldn't say he was less afraid, but he knew he wasn't going to let that fear stop him.

Chapter Text

Mimi scanned the hallway as she stepped off the elevator, not at all surprised to find the floor was empty. After all, the workday had ended a decent while ago, and she wasn't about to shame anyone for not burning themselves out with the extra hours. If anything, she had arrived to confront someone who was doing the exact opposite.

Before Mimi could take a step forward, a familiar buzzing sound piped up, followed up by a nervous Tentomon flying around a corner. He landed himself right in front of her, though hesitated before giving any kind of verbal greeting, something Mimi could not remember him ever failing to do.

"Fancy meeting you here," Palmon called out as she stepped forward from behind Mimi.

"Indeed..." Tentomon replied halfheartedly, rubbing his arms together, almost like he was was wrestling with saying something else.

"Where is he?" Mimi asked.

Tentomon cleared his throat. "Izzy has requested that I inform any visitors of his busy schedule and that he promises to reach out to them as soon as he is available."

"Should we go?" Palmon looked up at Mimi.

Tentomon averted his gaze from both of them, a clear indication to Mimi as to what she needed to do.

Izzy had essentially locked himself in his office after Eosmon was defeated, which wasn't the main issue on its own. The battle and the many revelations that came out of it hadn't been easy on any of them, and they each were coping in their own way. The problem was that Izzy had had next to no communication with any of their friends, and history was proof of what happened when he was left to his own devices for too long.

With all this in mind, Mimi marched forward, not slowing down until she reached the door to Izzy's office.

The boy in question turned his head at the sound of the door opening. He was more disheveled than Mimi had ever seen him, with a wrinkled shirt and crooked tie complimented by dark circles under his eyes. It was a couple seconds before he broke the silence between them.

"Hey, Mimi," Izzy said, trying to put on a personable face. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm in the middle of something."

"What exactly?" Mimi asked, herself trying to keep any accusation or judgment from sneaking into her voice.

"Well, I've been going over what Menoa told us, plus everything Tai was able to gleam from Gennai," Izzy explained confidently.

"And...?" Mimi felt her heart sink. She had a guess as to where this was going.

"Neither of them said anything about our partners being gone. Just that our partnership would end. There's no reason that I can think of that confirms Agumon, Gabumon, and Biyomon aren't still out there somewhere."

"Izzy, how long have you been at this?"

Izzy gestured to his computer monitor, almost as though he missed the question. "So what I've been doing is running a series of tests and scans across the Digital World."

"Did you find anything?" Palmon asked eagerly, earning her a sideways glance from Mimi.

Not that Mimi could blame her partner for her interest in the topic. None of them were ready to accept the ticking clock they were each carrying, and all of them were willing to jump at any shred of hope given to them.

"Not yet," Izzy answered, his eyes momentarily drifting from his screen. "But there's still ways I can adjust the search parameters, and that's not even accounting for the Dark Ocean and other dimensions we've encountered."

"Do you think you could use a break?" Mimi suggested. She wanted to say more, and every fiber of her wanted to outright tell him to step away from the computer. Fear kept her quiet. She didn't want to be the one to discourage him if he was right, as he so often was, but she couldn't tell if his conviction was just the form his denial was taking.

Izzy's eye twitched as he looked at her. "I appreciate the thought, Mimi, but I still have a lot to get through."

Mimi felt heat start to build up in the corners of her eyes. "Look, I know you're hurt. We all are, but-"

"You think I'm being emotional and irrational, but that's not it," Izzy shot back, no longer hiding his frustration and impatience. "On the contrary, I'm just working through the facts."

Bits of anger started to mix with Mimi's sadness. Izzy seemed to have a unique talent for doing this to her, in some ways not having changed at all since they were children. His unique brand of of stubbornness sometimes made her simultaneously want to plant her feet and scream at him and storm off and leave him alone with his computer.

"It's just..." Izzy continued, though his conviction seemed to be dropping off. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

Mimi's anger withdrew as Izzy turned away from her. Looking into his eyes, she knew yelling or running away wasn't what either of them needed. Understanding and communication were, as cliché as it felt for her to even think it.

Having made her decision, Mimi marched forward again. With no hesitation, she leaned forward and gently wrapped her arms around around Izzy's neck.

"I'm not fine," Mimi said softly as a couple tears finally left her eyes.

She felt Izzy begin to heat and stiffen briefly before relaxing. He brought one of his hands up to hold onto her arm.

"As far as tactics to win an argument go, that's a little unfair," Izzy said calmly.

Mimi held onto him a bit tighter. "None of this is fair."

"Mimi..." Palmon breathed, her and Tentomon standing side by side, watching them.

"All I can think about is how I'm going to wake up one day and Palmon's not going to be there. How a part of me is going to disappear. Just imagining it tears me up inside."

"I'm sorry," Izzy said after a brief pause.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Mimi tried taking a deep breath, to keep herself from breaking down completely. "Just stop pretending you don't feel the same way."

Izzy shivered briefly but noticeably. "I don't want them to go."

"I know."

"There has to be some way to stop this."

"Maybe, or maybe not." Mimi relaxed her grip so they could face each other. "If anyone can figure this out, though, it's you."

Izzy stood up. "I think I could use a break after all."

"Perfect!" Mimi quickly wiped the tears from her face. "I know just the place!"

She grabbed hold of Izzy's hand, interlacing their fingers together, and pulled him out of the office. Palmon and Tentomon followed close behind, questions and comments about their destination going back and forth between them. They were all far from being done grieving, but maybe they could be done with doing so alone.

Chapter Text

Someone was missing. Even amid the sea of emotions the Tamers being reunited with their partners had created, Rika could feel something was off. She scanned the immediate area, knowing full well that they had all been present not more than a few moments ago, until a sudden lack of irritation in the back of her mind clued her into who she was looking for.

Pulling herself away from Renamon, Rika walked up the stairs to the utility shed, and towards the portal that had just facilitated their reunion. She quietly pushed the gate open, not surprised to find Ryo and his own partner, hunched over a hole in the ground that led to the portal to the Digital World.

"Abandoning ship again?" Rika asked, loudly enough that Ryo stood right up as he turned around to face her.

"Kind of a blunt way of phrasing that, Wild Cat," Ryo replied, with an uneasy grin on his face, one that seemed to be trying and failing to maintain his usual cockiness.

Rika crossed her arms. "How would you phrase it then?"

For what might have been the first time since they met, Ryo had no comeback for her. Instead, his expression sank, his eyes looking blankly down at the ground between them.

"I don't want to go," Ryo answered. "Thing is, I can't stay.

"Uh-huh." Rika rolled her eyes.

Ryo raised an eyebrow. "It's true."

"You seem convinced, at least."

"Because it is! Look, with the way Cyberdramon gets-"

Ryo cut himself off as he gestured down at Monodramon, who stared back up at him with a blank look on his face. In this form, Ryo's partner was no more dangerous than any of the other Digimon. While difficult and even a bit volatile at times, he wasn't an uncontrollable monster, something that seemed to be sinking in for Ryo at that moment.

"That's what I thought," Rika declared.

Again, she couldn't bring herself to be surprised, or at least a voice in her head told her she shouldn't be. The voice insisted Ryo's previous championing of teamwork had all been empty words. Just like another person from her past, he made promises, but walked away the second that keeping them became difficult.

"It's what I know, Rika," Ryo finally said after a pause.

Rika wasn't sure if it was how lost he seemed or just the simple fact that he used her actual name, but she found herself giving Ryo a second thought. The truth was that the rest of them only had vague ideas as to how much longer he had been a Tamer than the rest of them, and how long he had spent wandering the Digital World by extension. There were a number of specifics that Rika wasn't aware of, and if her own past was proof of anything, it was the consequences of jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

"You know..." Ryo said suddenly, just before she could give him the benefit of the doubt. "You could come with me."

"And why would I do that?" Rika could feel her anger almost instinctively trying to push its way out.

Ryo shrugged. "Because it would be fun. The King and Queen of the Digital World, heroes of the battle with the D-Reaper, wandering the digital landscape and fighting evil wherever we might find it."

Rika simmered. "And just walk out on everyone and everything I care about? Just use whatever excuse I can so I never have to look back? Is that it?"

Any enthusiasm Ryo was showing dissipated. "It's what you did both times we met in the Digital World."

Rika paused, both events he was referring to sticking in her mind. The facts were that she hadn't been much better on those occasions, though another voice in her head argued that that wasn't the point.

"Yeah, well, that was then," Rika explained. "I'm trying to be better than that."

Rika took a second to look Ryo up and down one more time, not feeling like she was getting much of anything from him. He tended to be difficult to read when he wasn't being uncharacteristically quiet.

"And I thought you were better than that too," she added.

The shed went quiet for a moment, followed by Ryo's eyes starting to wander between his partner and the portal. Finally, they settled on Rika as his usual cocky grin appeared on his face.

"You're really gonna miss me."

"Oh, as if!" Rika snapped, her reflexive anger bubbling back up.

Ryo crossed his arms. "Uh-huh."

Rika turned to leave the shed, knowing that Ryo was already committed to his journey to the Digital World, as well as questioning why she was even trying to stop him in the first place. She stopped midstep, however, and took a deep breath. They all still had a lot of growing to do, so she knew she couldn't hold that against him.

"Just..." Rika turned her head just enough so she could see Ryo in the corner of her eye. "...be careful out there. I'd hate for something to happen to you before we've had our rematch."

Ryo gave a thumbs up. "It's a date then."

Rika felt her eye twitch as she looked forward again. "You can ruin anything!"

"Time will tell, I guess."

Rika spun right back around, ready to fire back. By this point, however, both Ryo and Monodramon had vanished.

A smirk found its way to her face. For whatever reason, she was okay with him having the final word, at least for the time being. Knowing her luck, he would turn up again eventually.

Chapter Text

Sunset had come and gone, with the most of the of the gang having left the Nonaka household. Only Takato and Guilmon had stayed behind, helping to clean up whatever mess remained from Rika's thirteenth birthday party.

Takato wandered back into the house after taking out what he was pretty sure was the last bag of garbage. He passed by Renamon, who was making it her mission to sweep up every last piece of confetti she came across, though his attention focused on the kitchen as he passed by. He had trouble not smirking as he watched Rumiko hand off clean dishes to Guilmon one by one so the Digimon could dry them.

"You'd think he'd have more trouble doing that with his claws."

Takato turned at the comment, finding Rika standing about an arm's length away from him, arms crossed as she leaned against one of the house's columns. It had been a bit since he had seen her, as she had mostly kept to herself in the later parts of the party.

"He's had plenty of practice back home," Takato replied as he finished orienting himself so he could face her directly.

The day hadn't exactly started off as planned. A seemingly random bio-emergence had turned out to be laying the groundwork for an invasion by an army of Parasimon. One of them had latched itself onto Rika during the fight and attempted to brainwash her, and she had spent the rest of the day trying convince everyone that the whole thing hadn't bothered her.

Takato scratched the back of his head. "So, uh-"

"Don't," Rika ordered.

"Don't what?" Takato felt himself shrinking a bit as she stared him down.

"Oh, please..." Rika rolled her eyes. "One of two things was about to come out of your mouth right now. Either you're gonna ask if I'm okay, and I don't want to talk about what happened with Parasimon, or you're gonna try and apologize for the party again, which you don't have to be sorry for."

"I..." Takato paused as he replayed the second half of her statement in his head. "Wait, I don't?"

Rika looked away from him, the confidence in her voice shaking just a bit. "No, it was nice of you guys to go through the trouble."

Takato smiled and shrugged. "Eh, don't mention it."

"Yeah, well..." Rika glared in his direction. "I don't want another party next year, so if you mention what I just said to anyone, I'm gonna track down that wrench I had on the train earlier."

"Right..." The image of a Parasimon-possessed Rika coming at him with said wrench flashed in Takato's mind. He had a feeling that a Rika with all her faculties about her wouldn't miss.

Rika looked down at the floor, almost as though something were physically weighing her down. The Parasimon had shown her something, something that she was still keeping close to chest. Takato knew there was no forcing her to speak about her feelings, but he also didn't want her to just get lost in her own head. His compromise was a calculated gamble.

"H-Hey, tell you what," Takato began, his nerves somehow managing to not get the better of him. "I'll promise to keep this secret if you promise that if you ever do want to talk about what happened with Parasimon, you'll remember that I'm here to listen if you need me to. How does that sound?"

Takato braced himself immediately after finishing his speech, knowing full well how presumptuous everything he had just said was. He expected an earful at the very least, though it would have been worth just to know that he reached her.

"Deal," Rika answered calmly, causing him to do a double-take.

Looking at her, though, Takato could tell she wasn't quite finished yet. She seemed lighter, but something in her eyes told him she had something else to get off her mind.

"And thanks..." Rika continued, her own nerves seeming to be bubbling up. "...for saving me back on the train."

"Hey, no sweat," Takato replied, this time with an image of a skewered Parasimon on the end of Gallantmon's lance flashing in his head. "Wasn't about to let Parasimon eat you or whatever the heck it was trying to do."

"No, I mean before that, when I almost fell off the train." Rika paused for a split second. "When I almost gave up."

One more image made its way to the front of Takato's mind, this one of him barely holding onto Rika as they hung off the side of the train. Her voice echoed in his head, telling him to let her go. Thankfully, he had been able to talk her back to her senses, though he knew that particular moment in time would be lodged in his mind for the foreseeable future.

"Rika..." Takato wasn't sure how to respond. Despite how they first met, Rika was one of his best friends now, so he hadn't had to think twice about the decision. The words needed to communicate that were what was escaping him.

Rika stuffed her hands under her armpits. "I almost got you killed."

"But you didn't," Takato stated instantly. "And I'd do it again in a second, so there's no point in arguing."

They both were quiet for a few seconds, with Rika staring right at him, like she was looking for something. Takato did his best not squirm or lose eye-contact.

Finally, Rika smiled. "Yeah, I figured."

She closed the distance between them, loosely and awkwardly wrapping her arms around his elbows.

"What's this?" Takato asked.

"It's a hug, doofus."

"Is it, though?" Takato tried to return the gesture, but couldn't given how both their arms were positioned.

"You know what?" Rika snapped. "Come here!"

"Ow!" Before Takato knew it, she had pulled his head down to her side, with one hand grabbing a handful of his hair and the other one of his ears.

"This is just so typical of you! I try to be nice and you make it..." Rika voice trailed off as though she were distracted by something. "...weird."

Takato looked up at her and followed her eyeline, finding three sets of eyes waiting for him. Renamon looked at them with a raised eyebrow, while Rumiko was clearly hiding a smile behind one of her hands. Guilmon, probably not sure what was going on, turned from person to person with a blank stare.

"Hey, guys," Takato said through a strained laugh.

Rika didn't waste another second before releasing him, letting him drop to the floor next to her.

"So, cleanup looks done," Takato pointed out as he picked himself up. "I guess Guilmon and I should scadaddle." He began to push the aforementioned Digimon to the front gate.

"Yuh-huh!" Rika called after him. "And don't you breathe a word of this or I'll-!"

"Yeah, yeah... My dream girl will send me to dreamland."

Takato froze in his tracks, a chill running down his spine as his brain caught up with his mouth. He risked looking back in the direction he came.

Rumiko had turned around, apparently to hide the fact she was holding in laughter, while Renamon pinched the bridge of her nose. Rika, her face now a deep shade of red, had almost certainly decided on her course of action.

"You better start running, you Gogglehead!"

Takato gave Guilmon one more shove as they sprinted forward. Oddly, though, Takato thought of Rika chasing him as reassuring in its own way. One way or another, he knew she had his back.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Fighting had never been of any interest to Calumon, so his fixation on the battle going on just below him was a surprise to him most of all. The whole thing had caught him off guard, as a digital field had appeared around the streetlight he was perched on top of. Soon enough after that, his friends had started showing up, and things had gotten pretty loud and crazy after that.

The Digimon that had appeared, a WereGarurumon, jumped around the digital field like it was in one of those bouncy castles that Calumon sometimes saw children play in. Renamon was doing her best to keep up, but it looked like her refusal to play tag with the rest of them was catching up to her.

"PYRO SPHERE!"

Calumon turned his head just in time to see Guilmon shoot a fireball out of his mouth. WereGarurumon had turned around too, jumping one more time to get out of the way, and letting Renamon take Guilmon's attack. Renamon flew backwards and smashed into a nearby wall.

"Watch where you aim that thing!" Rika yelled, definitely earning her reputation as Calumon's angriest friend.

"Sorry..." Takato replied nervously. He never seemed to like fighting, which was probably why Calumon liked him so much.

"Don't be sorry!" Rika jabbed a finger in Takato's face. "Just stay out of my way!"

Meanwhile, WereGarurumon had turned his attention to Guilmon. Probably because he wasn't as fast as Renamon, Guilmon chose to meet the attack head on.

"What's our play, Henry?" Terriermon asked. Up to this point, he was waiting to the side of the fight and didn't seem to be enjoying a single second of it.

"I'm thinking," Henry answered as he looked through a handful of the trading cards the Tamers liked to use in a fight. Henry tended to do a lot of thinking, too much of it for Calumon's taste.

WereGarurumon threw a fist forward, clocking Guilmon right in the nose and knocking him to the ground. As he moved to attack Guilmon again, Terriermon seemed to get tired of waiting.

"BUNNY BLAST!"

Little green bolts of energy shot out of Terriermon's mouth and hit WereGarurumon in the shoulder. The Ultimate turned right around and ran right towards his newest attacker. Calumon could have sworn he heard Terriermon yelp as he leaped into the air to dodge.

"They need help," Calumon said softly and without thinking.

"Yeah, well I say serves them right," a new voice said suddenly. "Show them how far being the humans' digipets gets them."

Calumon looked to his left, not sure when Impmon had joined him on his streetlight, or why he was saying these things about their friends. Whereas Rika seemed to get angry a lot, Impmon tended to just be flat-out mean. Calumon could never figure out why Impmon tried so hard to be such a bully all the time, but also didn't spend much time thinking about it, as Impmon wasn't nearly as tough or scary as he wanted people to think he was.

"Are you just gonna stare at your cards all day or actually contribute?" Rika was now being angry at Henry.

"I'm trying to come up with a strategy!" Henry shot back. "We can't beat an Ultimate without a plan of attack!"

Takato tried to get between them. "Guys, maybe we should-"

"What good is a plan if we lose the fight before you come up with one?" Rika continued.

Henry took another step forward. "We're only losing because you keep charging in on your own!"

As they argued, WereGarurumon had managed to grab a hold of Terriermon's head. Renamon latched herself onto the arm in question, desperately trying to pry WereGarurumon's fingers open so Terriermon could get free. WereGarurumon responded by shaking his arm a bunch, eventually sending both Rookies flying in different directions.

WereGarurumon growled deeply and angrily, looking back and forth before locking his eyes on Renamon. He jumped forward, his foot flying straight towards Renamon.

"Guilmon!" Takato called out at the same time.

In response, Guilmon sprinted forward and shoved Renamon out of the way just as WereGarurumon's kick smashed through the concrete.

"Guys, focus," Takato said as he planted himself firmly between Rika and Henry. "We need to figure out how to work together, or we're goners here."

The three went quiet at first, glancing at each other before nodding one at a time. Henry took a deep breath before finally picking a card from his hand.

"Digi-Modify!" Henry swiped the card cleanly through his DigiVice. "Training Grips activate!"

Metal braces appeared on Terriermon's ears before being flung forward and wrapping themselves around WereGarurmon. Terriermon followed up by throwing himself towards his target.

"TERRIER TORNADO!"

Terriermon began spinning rapidly before slamming into WereGarurmon and sending him flying.

Rika and Takato quickly followed Henry's lead, each swiping a card through their DigiVices.

"Strength Boost activate!"

"Hyper Wing activate!"

Renamon dashed forward first, intercepting WereGarurumon as he flew through the air.

"POWER PAW!"

A swift uppercut sent her target flying into the air, where Guilmon's new wings had allowed him to get into position for a follow-up attack.

"ROCK BREAKER!"

Guilmon swung his claw hard, slamming into WereGarurumon's chest and sending him crashing into the street below.

"Eh, he wasn't so tough," Terriermon commented as the smoke began to clear.

Just as Calumon was about to stop holding his breath, a loud howl shook what was left of the digital field. WereGarurumon emerged from the crater, wildly swinging his claws as they crackled with energy, the single wave produced connecting with all three targets and sending them flying.

"Any second now..." Impmon muttered as he clenched his fists together.

Calumon watched his three friends all try and fail to stand back, not only feeling scared, but also guilty. No, he never wanted to be involved in any fighting, but that didn't mean he didn't wish he could help. As he sat there trying to figure out how he could help, a warm feeling began to build in his forehead, as well as a sense of conviction. Not wanting to waste this feeling, he directed it forward.

The three Rookies stood up and began to glow. Calumon didn't question what was happening, as it seemed to be working.

"Terriermon digivolve to..."

"Renamon digivolve to..."

"Guilmon digivolve to..."

Data stripped itself off of them, before recompiling and reshaping them. The whole process looked painful, but the results spoke for themselves.

"...Gargomon!"

"...Kyubimon!"

"...Growlmon!"

Faced with three new Digimon, WereGarurumon seemed to hesitate for half a second before lunging forward.

"Sit!" Gargomon commanded as he darted forward to match. "BUNNY PUMMEL!"

The gun barrel that made up Gargomon's right arm collided with WereGarurumon's face, sending him rolling backwards. As the Ultimate tried to recover and try again, Kyubimon stepped up.

"Stay!" she added as flames began to form around her. "DRAGON WHEEL!"

Kyubimon flew towards her target, her flames wrapping round and immobilizing him. As WereGarurumon howled one more time, Growlmon slammed his foot down.

"Bad doggy!" he yelled. "PYRO BLASTER!"

Flames erupted from Growlmon's throat, disintegrating WereGarurumon and finally ending the fight.

"Phew!" Calumon let himself sit down as the digital field disappeared. He chanced a glance at Impmon, who shook and sputtered as he glared down at the three Champion level Digimon.

"It's all dumb luck!" Impmon whined as leaped off the streetlight and disappeared into the night.

Below, the Tamers had run up to rejoin their partners. Just as Calumon had suspected, they seemed a lot happier now that they weren't stuck in some lousy fight.

"Way to go, team!" Takato cheered. Henry gave a sideways grin, while Rika frowned and crossed her arms.

Calumon considered going down to join them, but changed his mind at the last second. He'd seen this play out before, and everyone was usually too tired after one these battles to be interested in playing any games. Instead, Calumon set off, knowing that the night was still young and there were plenty of adventures still to be had.

Chapter Text

Tai had barely been back in his apartment for ten minutes before someone knocked on his door. Having not been expecting anyone, he tried to list off names of who his visitor could be as walked to the door. Of course, the small size of the space meant he didn't get far on his list.

"Yo!" Davis cheered once the door was open.

"Hey..." Tai's confusion kept his response from having the same energy as Davis. "Everything okay?"

Tai stepped aside to let Davis pass through the doorway. Looking him over, Davis seemed his usual self, not particularly distressed in any way Tai could see. The oddest thing he could pinpoint at the moment was that Davis was holding his goggles rather than wearing them.

"Oh yeah! Everything's great! I just, uh..." Davis hesitated for a moment before presenting the goggles to Tai. "...needed to bring you these."

Tai paused, just long enough to figure out what was happening. "Those are yours, Davis."

"And they were yours first!" Davis beamed before adopting a more neutral expression. "Look, when you passed these on to me, you said the leader of the Digidestined wouldn't look right without them."

"I remember." Tai scratched the back of his head, not sure how to get across that he couldn't accept the goggles back. "So?"

Davis shrugged. "The thing is, I'm not the leader anymore."

"Neither am I."

"Yeah, I guess not." Davis briefly looked away and contemplatively placed a hand on his chin. "There's so many of us these days, I guess no one really can be."

"So keep 'em." Tai wasn't entirely sure why they were having this conversation. He had never once regretted giving Davis the goggles, so he wasn't about to just let him give them away out of some misplaced sense of self doubt. That said, unless he was being completely oblivious at the moment, Tai wasn't sensing any conflict coming off of Davis.

"But it doesn't feel right," Davis argued with a confident smile on his face, basically confirming that he had made up his mind. Davis seemed resolved and at peace with this decision. He wasn't giving up the goggles because he thought he wasn't good enough, but choosing to let them go.

"Why not?" Tai took a step forward and gestured to the goggles. "When I gave you these, the idea was that you'd eventually pass them on to the right person later on down the line."

Davis tilted his head and glanced upward, almost making a show of considering what was being said to him. "But how do I know who the right person is?"

"Trust your gut."

"My gut says you."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Not for nothing, Davis, but this kinda feels like you're trying to get me to do your homework for you."

Davis shook his head. "Tai, every time I've ever been backed into a corner, I've asked myself what you would do, and that's never let me down. A lot of other people look up to you too, and we're all only here because you led the way for us."

Tai's first instinct was to argue, tell Davis how he had proven himself over and over again, and shouldn't settle for placing himself in Tai's shadow. That was, until Davis presented the goggles one more time, and Tai realized what this argument was actually about.

It wasn't about Davis' doubts, or the goggles as a symbol to passed between generations of Digidestined. It was about what the goggles had represented to Tai, and his own fears and doubts that bubbled up whenever he looked at them. With that in mind, he realized what he had to do.

"Fine," Tai conceded. "I'll hold on to them, but only for now to make sure you don't lose them."

Even before saying it, Tai knew neither of them was buying this reasoning. Looking at the goggles, it was plainly obvious how much Davis had cared for them over the years, and Kari had once described Tai's ability to lose things as legendary.

"Alright!" Davis place the goggles in Tai's hands. "Now I gotta head out before I'm late for work."

Tai gave a wave as Davis took off down the hallway without another word. After closing the door behind him, Tai dropped his attention back to the goggles in his hands.

A lot had changed in the years since he had given these to Davis, a lot that had made him question his place in the world. The distortions leading to the rebooting of the Digital World came with Tai being unsure of himself in ways he never had before. Even years after the conflict had resolved, the decisions made still lingered in his mind from time to time. Just as often as telling himself that destroying Meicoomon was the only way to save both worlds, Tai told himself that there had to have been another option.

The goggles seemed to be amplifying these voices, leading to Tai resolving to stop dwelling on them for the time being. After all, they weren't serving any practical purpose at the moment, as Izzy had designed no less than three iterations of goggles that specialized in scanning for digital anomalies.

Tai walked across the room and placed them in the same drawer he kept his DigiVice, that way he would know exactly where they were if he ever needed them.

Chapter Text

It wasn't all that often that a fight left Agumon more confused than anything else. Fighting was pure instinct, something that thinking didn't play a part in. Some fights were tougher than others, naturally, and sometimes involved coming up with a strategy, but there wasn't much thought involved beyond that.

Watching the fight going on in front of him, however, Agumon was left with a mess of questions circling around in his brain. The day had started off simple enough, with him and Marcus catching a rumor of a lone Digimon who was making it his mission to become the next king of the Digital World. This wasn't anything new in the aftermath of King Drasil's fall, but was worth the two of them looking into at the very least.

After some searching, they found the subject of these rumors: a red Rookie that called himself Shoutmon. At first glance, Shoutmon didn't seem like much of a threat, other than being a bit rowdy. He was disturbing the local Digimon, however, so Marcus hadn't hesitated to step in and straighten things out. The only issue was that negotiating wasn't one of Marcus' strengths, so it was only a matter of time before fists were flying.

The latest in a series of punches pushed Marcus backward. He stayed on his feet, but paused to catch his breath.

"Are you sure you don't want me to tag in, Boss?" Agumon asked. His claws got itchy when they idled for too long.

"I got this," Marcus answered, much to Agumon's disappointment.

Shoutmon shot forward with his fist out, but Marcus didn't even try to move out of the way. When the punch connected, this time hitting his forehead, Marcus didn't so much as flinch. After pausing for a split second so the moment would sink in for Shoutmon, Marcus counterattacked, landing an uppercut that sent his opponent flying backwards.

Again, Agumon could not figure out what was going on here. Shoutmon clearly didn't pose a threat to the rebuilding of the Digital World, but had somehow managed to gain himself a reputation. Not only that, but Marcus seemed invested in this fight for whatever reason.

"That the best you got?" Shoutmon growled as he picked himself back up.

"Not even close." Marcus stood up straight and crossed his arms. "I've met In-Training level Digimon that hit harder than you."

Shoutmon somehow managed to get even redder as he stomped his foot on the ground. He ran towards Marcus and attacked again and again, though Marcus was able to block and deflect most of the strikes.

"Listen closely." Marcus caught one of Shoutmon's fists and held him in place. "You're not the first Digimon to try and take advantage of the power vacuum, and I'm not about to let you be the first to succeed."

"I'm not trying to take advantage!" Shoutmon yelled back. "I'm just trying to make my home a better place!"

Everyone went quiet for a few seconds, with Marcus locking eyes with his opponent. Best Agumon could tell, they were studying each other, sizing one another up to prepare for the next round.

"Oh yeah..." Marcus began slowly, a neutral expression on his face. "And what if I was trying to take advantage. What if I decided that, right now, I was going to take over the Digital World and make everyone in it my slaves? What would you do then?"

Shoutmon only grunted and shook at first, anger so plainly visible that there was no way for Agumon to miss it. After simmering for a few more seconds, Shoutmon ripped his arm away and jumped upwards so that he was eye-level with Marcus.

"Then I'd stop you!"

Shoutmon's fist connected Marcus' face, sending him crashing to the ground. The only thing that kept Agumon from jumping right in was getting a look at his partner's face.

As Marcus stood back up, he didn't even try to hide the grin on his face.

Marcus' commitment started to make more sense to Agumon. He couldn't be sure until he asked about it later, but Marcus seemed like he was taking a liking to Shoutmon. While chances were that Marcus wasn't about endorse him for the Digital World's next king, he was at least impressed by the Rookie's fighting spirit.

Marcus didn't say any of this, of course, instead just planting his feet and adopting a fighting stance that would let his fists do the talking.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Trying to dive for cover, Jou found himself face-planting for what was, sadly, not the first time that day. While he had never made any claims of being a graceful person, Jou couldn't help but feel that moments like this one had increased exponentially since coming to Digital World. It was almost like some cosmic joke that he still hadn't been clued in on.

Lifting his head to reorient himself, Jou reacquainted himself with the Digimon that had ruined what had started off as a peaceful day at the beach. MetalSeadramon gathered energy at the large cannon he used for a nose, and then proceeded to unleash the attack.

Luckily, the attack was intercepted at the last minute by WarGreymon, using his back-shield to absorb the blast. Without hesitating, WarGreymon sheathed his shield and flew forward, crashing into MetalSeadramon sending them both crashing to the ground. Of course, the impact turned the whole shoreline into a splash zone.

Now soaking wet on top of everything else, Jou couldn't help but curse the luck he and his friends had been having. With the defeat of Millenniummon almost immediately came the quest to unlock the power of the Crests. They had been making decent progress, though a moment of rest could have done them all some good. MetalSeadramon seemed to have other ideas in that regard.

WarGreymon continued to thrash with the serpent, though seemed to be at a disadvantage given their current battleground. After WarGreymon missed his counterattack, MetalSeadramon maneuvered into his blindspot and fired his cannon again.

At the last second, however, a giant hammer flew forward, connecting with the side of MetalSeadramon's head and causing the attack to fire off into the sky. The hammer then boomeranged back to Zudomon, who assumed a fighting position in preparation for whatever came next.

As MetalSeadramon threw himself at his partner, Jou finally stood up. Maybe some higher being in this world was using him as a punchline, but that wasn't going to keep him from fighting back. Searching deep within himself, he dug up the feelings that he believed had been responsible for unlocking his Crest.

Zudomon began to glow, his shape changing until Vikemon stood in his place. Vikemon grabbed MetalSeadramon out of midair, stunning him and knocking down. MetalSeadramon tried to collect himself, but a large gust of snow and ice gathered around him courtesy of Vikemon, literally freezing him in place.

Again not hesitating, WarGreymon clasped his claws together, beginning to spin and fly towards the frozen MetalSeadramon, allowing the attack to hit dead-on and reduce him to shards of data.

Celebrations began almost immediately, with the most of the group gathering around Taichi with excited cheers. Even Yamato, who did not cheer himself, stood nearby with an aloof grin on his face.

Jou was the only one to hang back, needing a moment to himself. The truth was the whole encounter with MetalSeadramon had stressed him out. What had been intended as a chance for them relax and recharge had almost instantly turned into a life threatening situation.

As he had many times previous, Jou considered walking away right then and there. He had exams to study for, after all, and his studies had never put him in danger the way traveling the Digital World did. In that moment, he couldn't make sense of what kept convincing him to put his life in danger time and time again.

His answer came twofold. First was Gomamon jumping on to his back, cheering him on and encouraging him to join the others. Jou had never met anyone as loyal as Gomamon, and Jou could do nothing less than return the favor. As long as his partner was willing to fight to save the Digital World, Jou would do the same.

Second was Taichi breaking away from the others and approaching him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder and thanking him for the assist in the fight. His friends still needed him, and Jou knew that he that it was his duty to look after them and see this adventure through.

So Jou resolved he would continue on their quest. While he knew this would likely mean falling on his face several more times in the days or even weeks to come, he accepted that as a price to pay for keeping the others safe. That said, he wondered if taking a moment to enjoy the beach was still an option.

Chapter Text

Leaning with his back against the gate to the school, Henry stared down at the DigiVice in his hand, pressing the buttons one at a time in the hopes of getting some kind of reaction. While the device technically still functioned, it seemed to barely respond to any input. As disappointed as Henry was, he couldn't say that he was surprised. With Terriermon gone, his DigiVice didn't really serve a purpose anymore. He only really persisted in poking at it in the hopes that his assertion would be proven wrong.

"Henry!"

Turning at the sound of his name being called, Henry scanned the school grounds just in time to see Jeri jog past a group of classmates. He quickly stuffed his DigiVice in his pocket, deciding he could fixate on it in his own time.

Hey, Jeri," Henry responded when she finally made it to the gate. He quickly peered around her to look for the rest of their group. "Where's everyone else?"

Jeri's whole body seemed to sigh. "Detention."

"Do I want to know?" Again, Henry wasn't all that surprised, as they were all dealing with the aftermath of the D-Reaper's defeat in their own way.

"Takato wasn't paying attention again."

"And how did Kazu and Kenta factor into this?"

"They didn't." Jeri wasn't trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. "They made their own trouble instead."

"Naturally," Henry replied, though trying his best to not be as hard on the two of them as she was. He decided to wait to here the actual story before passing an judgment.

"Yeah..." Jeri started smiling again. "Anyway, they said we shouldn't wait around for them."

"Right..." Henry sidestepped to give her room to step forward before they both started making their way home.

They walked side by side and in silence at first, though not by Henry's intention. On top of the brain fog that had become the norm since his separation from Terriermon, he also wasn't entirely sure how to start a conversation with Jeri. While he definitely considered her a friend, they rarely if ever spent any time together without someone else around to act as buffer. The end result was Henry not being sure if they had anything in common aside from mutual friends and their time as Tamers.

"Everything okay, Henry?" Jeri asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess..." Henry answered, not able to keep the confusion out of his voice.

Jeri raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

Henry mirrored the gesture. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of how you were staring at your DigiVice before."

Henry hesitated, mostly because he hadn't expected Jeri to be so direct, but also just due to surprise. He had just assumed it was the awkward silence bothering her the way it had been him, not concern for him specifically. He had also thought she hadn't noticed the DigiVice, though if this line of conversation seemed ready to prove anything, it was how observant Jeri was.

"Not that that's anything to be ashamed about," Jeri added quickly, pausing briefly as a somber expression took over her face. "I do the same thing."

Suddenly being hit with a wave of guilt, Henry instinctively looked away from Jeri. Terriermon had been forced back to Digital World, but was at the very least still alive. Leomon was just gone, and while everyone else still clung to the possibility of their Digimon returning, no such hope existed when it came to Jeri's partner. If anything, Henry should have been the one asking Jeri if she was alright.

"I'm sorry," Henry finally said, almost without thinking.

"Sorry for what?" A smile came to Jeri's mouth, but not her eyes.

"For not doing more." Henry wasn't entirely sure anymore what the exact topic of their conversation was, though his conscience insisted his words were appropriate.

"You did everything you could." Jeri paused again, taking a second to scratch at the corner of her eye. "Anywho, you're still kinda dodging my first question."

"I just..." Henry clutched the DigiVice in his pocket as he tried to put together a more concise answer. "I wish it didn't feel like there were walls being put up in our way."

"How do you mean?" Jeri asked, curiosity seeming to take over her somberness.

"No one's building a new arc," Henry explained, deciding that hiding his frustration wasn't benefitting either of them. "They're not even trying to make contact with the Digital World. Dad says there's too much red tape, even for Yamaki."

"You're talking to your dad again?" Jeri questioned, once again managing to surprise him with her questions.

It was no secret that Henry and his father hadn't been on good terms immediately following the D-Reaper's defeat. All of the Tamers had been present for the revelation that the Monster Makers had known how Juggernaut would affect the Digimon, and were therefore present for Henry's reaction. Looking back, he may have been the most angry of all of them.

"Yeah, more or less," Henry summarized.

Jeri tilted her head slightly. "What's the less part?"

Henry's eyes fell to the sidewalk in front of him. "We still haven't really spoken about his part in what happened with Juggernaut."

"Why not?"

Henry shook his head. "He made a tough call. I don't want to bother him by bringing it up."

"But it bothers you."

With that, they arrived at the corner where they would have to part ways. Jeri stopped and turned to face him, however, almost planting her feet on the pavement.

"Don't bury this stuff, Henry," Jeri said with a kind smile and a gentle voice. "Take it from someone with experience; putting on a brave face for your dad now is just building up a bigger problem for later."

"I'll think on that," Henry replied, not ready to make any promises yet.

"You'd better," Jeri said playfully.

"Either way, thanks for listening, Jeri. If you ever need someone to do the same for you..."

"I'll let you know the next time the other boys get themselves stuck in detention." She gave a quick salute. "Seriously, though, I meant it when I say you better think about what I said. I beat up the last person who didn't take my advice."

Henry couldn't help but smile. "You take up martial arts or something?"

"Nope, but I fight dirty." Jeri winked at him before turning around heading homeward.

Henry took a deep breath before doing the same. A lot was still uncertain for him, but at least he knew he had people going through the same struggles by his side. Things would improve as long as they supported each other.

Chapter Text

Holding an icepack up to the left side of his face, one thought repeated itself in Kenta's head over and over again. At first he tried telling himself it would pass, but the longer he sat in detention, the more he felt compelled to get his feelings off his chest. He slowly turned to face the occupied desk to his left.

"This is all your fault."

Kazu raised an eyebrow. "My fault that you don't know how to duck?"

Kenta almost jumped to his feet. "I wouldn't have needed to duck if you hadn't started that fight!"

"Masaru started it!" Kazu snapped as he spun around to face Kenta directly.

It was clear that Kazu believed his version of events, though Kenta had been present for what had actually happened. The upperclassmen in question had been discussing the D-Reaper's occupation of Shinjuku with a friend, and had made the observation that "weirder and weirder stuff has been happening ever since the Digimon started appearing." Not an inaccurate statement on its own, though Kazu had immediately interpreted it as blaming the Digimon for the recent destruction.

Kazu had thrown himself in Masaru's face and demanded that he take back what he had said. Things escalated pretty quickly from there. Kazu threw the first punch, and had sidestepped when Masaru retaliated. Kenta had been unfortunate enough to be standing next to Kazu, and received the blow instead. Luckily, the fight had been broken up almost immediately after that.

All associated parties were given detention in their respective classrooms, with Kenta basically being deemed guilty by association. Having been sitting in said classroom for a little bit now, a second though recurred in Kenta's head, though not as frequently as the first.

"You're not even sorry, are you?" Kenta asked, disappointment forcing its way into his words.

Kazu crossed his arms and looked away. "The only thing I'm sorry about is that Ms. Asaji showed up before I could teach that jerk a lesson."

"You realize she basically saved you, right?" Masaru was not only older than Kazu, but bigger as well, leaving Kenta to wonder how his friend had imagined that fight going.

"Agree to disagree."

"On reality?"

"I so would have won that fight." Kazu turned his attention to the one other occupied desk in the room, just a couple away from theirs. "Right, Chumley?"

"Huh?" Takato looked up his desk, clearly having not been mentally present for the rest of the conversation. "Yeah, sure thing..."

"See?" Kazu beamed as he looked back towards Kenta. "Told you!"

Kenta sighed and slumped in his chair, deciding that this argument wasn't going anywhere and the whole encounter had been symptomatic of Digimon being forced to return to the Digital World. They each had their own coping mechanisms, and dragging his friends into fights he couldn't win was clearly Kazu's.

Kenta briefly entertained the thought that this was just who Kazu was regardless of circumstance, a thought which he did not allow to stick around. In that case, Kenta would have to seriously reevaluate his criteria for making friends.

Chapter Text

Rika had always hated going to the mall with her mother. These trips had almost exclusively involved being dragged to the girliest stores imaginable, being forced to try on clothing she would never choose to wear of her own free will, and then having to wait on line to purchase said clothing. On this day in particular, none of these had occurred so far, yet it was already shaping up to be the worst day at the mall Rika had ever experienced.

The sentiment came about thanks to a decent amount of the other mall goers. Being stared at or even approached by complete strangers was not a new experience to Rika, due to a combination of her mom's celebrity status and her own holding of the title of Digimon Queen. She was used to having eyes on her, though it was the owners of these eyes that were setting this afternoon apart from all the others that had come before.

"I know a few designers who would love to pick your brain," Rumiko commented as she scanned the crowd.

"That's not funny," Rika grunted, knowing full well that her mother was getting at least some enjoyment out of this.

"I'm being completely serious." Rumiko wasn't laughing, though she wasn't able to hide her smile.

Rika glanced outward again, finding the source of her current irritation scattered throughout the mall. A number of girls of about her age moved about around her, all wearing a very distinct article of clothing: a white and turquoise t-shirt with a dark blue heart on the front. Some of these girls took things a step further, throwing slightly faded jeans and wrist bands into the mix, and a couple had even attempted to replicate the ponytail Rika wore every day.

Unfortunately, scenes like this one were not uncommon following the defeat of the D-Reaper. The exact number of "fans" would vary depending on the day, though their behavior stayed consistent. They all stared, whispering and smiling and giggling at Rika's presence. A few were even forward enough to approach her in the hopes of getting an autograph.

Rumiko shrugged. "I'm not sure if I should be proud or jealous."

Rika growled before marching away, heading for the back of the next store she saw.

"What is going on here?" she asked as she hid behind a clothing rack.

"You seem to be trending," Renamon answered as she appeared at Rika's side, having chosen a spot where a mannequin obscured her from any onlookers. "At least I think that's the appropriate term."

Rika peered out from her hiding place. "Why can't they fixate on one of the others?"

"I imagine these girls would have a more difficult time identifying with Takato or Henry."

"I hate this," Rika said as she ducked back into cover.

"Why?" Renamon asked, her voice a mix of empathy and curiosity.

Caught off guard, Rika hesitated briefly. "What kind of question is that?"

Renamon tilted her head slightly. "The kind you seem to be having trouble answering."

"I don't like being gawked at." Rika turned away for half a second before instantly reaffixing her gaze on her partner. "I've told you this before."

"My mistake, I suppose." Renamon shrugged, not unlike how Rumiko had previous. "I was distracted by seeing how much you inspire them."

Rika shook her head at the idea, unable to wrap her thoughts around the idea of her being a role model for anyone. She had intended on saying just that to Renamon before being interrupted by someone poking at her side.

"Can I please have your autograph?"

Rika spun around with intent of denying the request, though was derailed upon realizing her eyeline was a bit lower than expected. Now standing right in front of her, dressed just like all the others and with a small notebook in outstretched arms, stood a girl who was no more than six years old.

"I've always wanted to meet a real life superhero," the girl added, bright and infectious smile across her face.

Struggling to find the words, Rika glanced at Renamon, whose only response was a subtle smile as she gestured back towards the child.

Rika sighed. "Alright, what's your name, shorty?"

Chapter Text

JP had assumed that the first time reuniting with his friends since their journeys in the Digital World would be an effortless afternoon. With barely two weeks having passed since they had defeated Lucemon, he expected reminiscing and laughter in equal parts, as well as a sense of relief that came from no longer dealing with life and death scenarios. He did not expect to be put under a microscope.

It started as he approached the group of Takuya, Tommy, Koji, and Koichi, who seemed to exchange comments as he approached their corner of the park and continued to give him funny looks after initial greetings. A few seconds was enough for JP to finally crack under the pressure.

"Why are you guys staring?" he asked calmly.

Glances were exchanged and no answers were given. Koichi turned to his twin, who himself turned away from all of them in typical Koji fashion. Tommy looked around innocently, seemingly ready to answer, only he never got the chance.

"It's..." Takuya began slowly, pausing to scratch the back of his head. "...nothing. Let's forget it."

JP crossed his arms. "No, it's obviously something. I wanna hear it."

"I mean..." Takuya was hesitating, something he had only ever done on rare occasions. "It's just..."

"They were wondering why you were dressed like that," Tommy explained, keeping the straightest face of the lot of them.

"Like what?" JP looked down at his lucky jumpsuit, the one that had gotten him through their battles in the Digital World.

"In a onesie," Takuya blurted out, almost like he couldn't hold it in any longer.

JP's eye twitched. "It's comfortable, it's secure, and I like it."

"Yeah, obviously..."

JP shook his head, almost unable to find words. "We spent all that time in the Digital World and none of you seemed to have a problem then."

Takuya shrugged. "Honestly, I assumed it was your laundry day."

"Do you all feel this way?" JP turned his attention to the twins, who hadn't moved much since the conversation began.

"No, of course not," Koichi answered, being a surprisingly bad liar for someone who was formerly the Legendary Warrior of Darkness.

"So you would wear one?"

"It's a brave choice." Koichi put on a reassuring smile. "Especially with those colors."

"It's blue and yellow." JP's voice rose slightly, though he did his best to stay in control. "Koji wears those colors."

Koji glanced at him before turning away again. "I'm not part of this conversation."

JP jabbed a finger in his direction. "You are more than you think!"

Feelings of betrayal began to overtake JP. After everything they had been through together, he had assumed he had finally found a group of friends he could trust with his life. If this impromptu intervention was any indication, that was not the case, and there was nothing and no one who could make things right.

"What's up, guys?"

All heads turned, just as Zoe approached and completed the reunion of the Legendary Warriors. Wide, curious eyes were a sign that she hadn't heard anything up to this point.

"They don't like my jumpsuit!" JP shouted, deciding that he wanted everyone to know just how upset he was.

"It is a little loud." Zoe placed a hand on her chin and looked him up and down. "Give me thirty minutes at the nearest shopping mall, and I bet I could find you something else that you would like and look good on you."

Two thoughts sprouted up in JP's head almost instantly. First was the simple notion of getting to spend the afternoon as the focus of Zoe's attention, but second and more prominent, was the perfect way to get back at his friends.

"That's a great idea, Z!" JP cheered. "I'm ready when you are!"

"Okay, andiamo ragazzi!" Zoe waved at the rest of the group to follow.

JP got a lot of joy out of the stunned look on Koichi's face, as well as the simultaneous groans that came from Takuya, Koji, and Tommy. They knew full well what they were being dragged into, and how Zoe would make sure they stayed involved one way or another. JP felt it was an appropriate punishment for insulting his lucky jumpsuit.

Chapter Text

He had no idea how it had happened. Being completely honest, he couldn't actually remember it happening, likely due to a combination of stress and disbelief caused by watching WarGreymon be overwhelmed by an army of Diaboromon as a nuclear missile was flying towards Odaiba.

Regardless, whether it was because of his DigiVice, his Crest, or random divine intervention, Tai had been pulled into the digital battleground. He slowly floated downwards to the fallen WarGreymon, unable to believe what he was looking at. Even against the Dark Masters, the Mega level Digimon had never been this wounded before.

Tai briefly choked on his words as he grabbed hold of his partner. "WarGreymon... I'm here..."

"MetalGarurmon," Matt's voice echoed to Tai's right as he appeared next to his own partner. Maybe it the same shock Tai was feeling, but his voice seemed tired, almost drained of the energy required to convey his emotions. "Wake up, don't quit now. Why won't he answer me, Tai?"

"Keep trying, Matt."

Tai turned back to WarGreymon, who wasn't even breathing as far as he could tell. With time running out as the missile got closer, he didn't have any ideas left. He knew that WarGreymon drew his strength from their connection, but Tai had no idea how to actively use that connection to help his partner. The best he could do was dig deeper, and hope that something shook loose to help them stand back up.

"Listen..." Tai began, slowly and as confidently as he could. "I don't have a whistle to wake you, but I want you to know you're not alone."

WarGreymon remained quiet and still. Fear and doubt clawed at the back of Tai's mind, telling him it was already too late, that he failed his partner and the entire world. He pushed the feeling back down, however, knowing both Digimon too well to believe they didn't have any fight left in them.

"Okay, and the mail keeps coming. It won't stop." Tai held tighter and spoke louder, not really caring if it helped or not. "Kids from all over the world are writing to you. They need your help. You're the only one who can do it. Feel their hope. Feel their strength!"

WarGreymon shuddered and coughed, his eyes lighting up leaving Tai with a sense of relief like which he had never felt before.

"I... feel... them..."

Instantly after, almost as though WarGreymon had called them up himself, the individual emails that had been flooding Izzy's computer appeared all around them, creating a wall between them and the legion of Diaboromon.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon both growled and suddenly started to grow. From their necks down, their bodies lit up and became data, reforming and rebuilding themselves into... arms?

The emails around them began to glow as well, the light pouring out of each individual message and towards the two Mega Digimon, connecting them and starting to take shape. The excess light or data or whatever it was formed a cocoon around them, leaving Tai momentarily blinded.

The cocoon then gradually began to dissipate, just as the emails closed themselves one by one. The only windows left open were Izzy and TK's webcam feeds, both of them staring in awe.

"Part WarGreymon..."

"Part MetalGarurumon..."

"They digivolved together to become-"

On cue, the new Digimon brought his arms down, allowing it to finally register to Tai that he was standing on the left shoulder of a white knight with a billowing cape.

"Omnimon!"

The Diaboromon didn't waste any time, having had their eyes glued to the light show the entire time. They opened fire, raining down red energy blasts all concentrated on a single point.

Omnimon didn't try to dodge, however, instead extending his left arm.

"TRANSCENDED SWORD!"

A sword marked with ancient digicode projected itself out of WarGreymon's head. Almost effortlessly, Omnimon swept the sword across the oncoming barrage, reflecting the blasts and sending them back where they came. When the smoke cleared, a huge chunk of the Diaboromon had been erased.

As the remaining Diaboromon began to shift and growl in fear, Tai chanced a glance at Matt. A grin and nod were exchanged between them, both of them knowing it was time to go to work.

From the mouth of the MetalGarurumon head on Omnimon's right arm emerged a cannon, which the knight wasted no in aiming.

"SUPREME CANNON!"

A shot rang out, one that the Diaboromon tried and failed to jump out of the way of. The blast connected, prompting Omnimon to rinse and repeat, firing multiple shots in different directions. Tai had never enjoyed deleting Digimon, even the evil ones, but their was something cathartic about watching the Diaboromon disintegrate before his eyes.

Eventually, the dust settled, revealing that the the army of Diaboromon clones had been destroyed and that their work was almost done.

"Tai, there's the original!" Izzy called out. "Get him, we're running out of time!"

The last remaining Diaboromon looked back, his face not really showing any emotion that Tai recognized. Whatever he was thinking, though, too many lives hung in the balance for it to matter.

"Omnimon, quick, attack!" Tai ordered, to which the knight instantly complied. Diaboromon seemed to have other ideas, however, leaping out of the line of sight when Omnimon tried to bring his cannon around. "Where is he?"

Omnimon quickly compensated, but no sooner had he taken aim that Diaboromon jumped out of the way again. At this point, the game was clear: Diaboromon knew that he no chance of defeating Omnimon, so his plan was to simply run out the clock so the nuclear warhead would defeat his enemies for him.

It was a dirty play, one that frustrated Tai even more when the countdown timer made its way into his eyeline.

"One minute to go!" Tai pointed out. He looked to Matt again, who seemed to be wrestling with his own thoughts, likely trying to come up with some kind of plan of attack. "He keeps moving! Every time we get him in our sights, he jumps somewhere else! He's too fast for us!"

Omnimon settled some, lowering his weapons, though his eyes continued to trace Diaboromon's movements. There was no pattern to how Diaboromon dodged around, at least as far as Tai could see. There was always the option of taking a chance attack, but they all knew that one mistake could cost them a chance at a follow up strike.

"Thirty seconds left!" TK yelled, a reminder that they were about to run out of time one way or another.

Diaboromon started laughing, knowing that he had somehow managed to cling to the upper hand despite the power gap. They were out of options, with the only way to win being another miracle or-

"You've got mail!" Izzy's voice rang out around them, the one liner confusing Tai more than anything at first.

Diaboromon took no notice at first, continuing to jump around erratically. As moved to make one final leap, however, an hourglass icon began to hover above him, almost as though it were holding him in place. His eyes widened as he growled and croaked, a very clear indicator of fear this time around.

"Ten seconds left!" Tai shouted and Omnimon brought himself around to face his target. "Nine... eight..."

Omnimon flew forward, not needing an explanation as to exactly what was happening to know what to do next.

"...seven... six..."

Beneath whatever Izzy had done to him, Diaboromon struggled to orient himself, eventually managing to face his attacker.

"...five... four..."

Energy began to build in his chest, likely one last gambit on his part. Omnimon didn't have the time to dodge and deliver the final blow.

"...three... two..."

Omnimon drew back his sword, refusing to be intimidated. It was now or never.

"...one!"

Tai crossed his finger as Omnimon thrust his sword forward, just as Diaboromon's signature attack was ready to fire. Cleanly and precisely, the sword made contact, skewering Diaboromon's head.

Everything went silent, it taking a second for Tai to realize the countdown had stopped. He looked to Matt, whose whole body seemed to exhale. Relating to the sentiment, Tai leaned against his partner's shoulder pad.

"Connection..." Omnimon's dual voice boomed triumphantly. "...terminated."

Chapter Text

"GRISLY WING!"

Through all the chaos of the escalating battle on the roof of the broadcast building, Gatomon didn't second guess where she needed to be in that moment. Despite the Digidestined having regrouped, Myotismon showed no signs of relenting, putting Kari in his sights in one last attempt to stop her the Eighth Child from ever being a threat to him. With his attack imminent, Gatomon placed herself directly between her former master and her human partner.

"Kari!" Tai called out as the cloud of bats flew in their direction. All he and the others could do was watch powerlessly at this point.

In that moment, Gatomon had made peace with her decision. She knew she wasn't strong enough to survive the attack, but she knew she could take the full hit to save Kari's life. She just had to plant her feet and wait for her fate.

Except it soon became clear that fate had other ideas in that moment, or more accurately, Wizardmon did. Closer to Kari and Gatomon than any of the other Digimon, he threw himself in front of them. Realizing what was happening, Gatomon tried to come up with a way to stop it, desperately analyzing the scenario in front of her for a way to save her friend.

In the end, however, she wasn't quick enough. Myotismon's attack connected, hitting Wizardmon dead on. Gatomon was forced to watch helplessly as Wizardmon collapsed onto the ground.

"Next time..." Myotismon growled, unable to hide his anger at being thwarted. "Don't get in my way!"

"Wizardmon!" Kari cried as approached him, shaking him in an attempt to get him to stand back up. "You're gonna be alright. Please don't leave. Wizardmon!"

Gatomon stepped closer as well, barely able to form coherent thoughts, let alone speak. As Wizardmon laid there, clinging to life, she knew there was nothing she could do.

"Are you alright, Gatomon?" Wizardmon asked weakly as he turned to face her.

"You saved me," Gatomon replied, just as she felt her eyes fill with tears. "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Sorry I got you involved in this."

"Don't be sorry. I don't have any regrets." Wizardmon didn't waiver, maintaining his conviction despite everything. "If I hadn't met you, my life would have had no meaning. I'm glad that you and I were friends."

"That's forever."

"Thank you for everything, Gatomon," Wizardmon said softly before he finally stopped moving.

"Wizardmon, are you okay? Please answer." Kari continued holding onto him, either not understanding what was happening or unwilling to accept it.

Not far away, perhaps even in response to Kari's emotions, her DigiVice lit up. DemiDevimon, who had gotten hold of it over the course of the battle, began to shake and flail as he attempted to control the device.

"Look, it's Kari's DigiVice," Tai pointed out.

"I can't hold on!" DemiDevimon finally let go, allowing the device to fall into Tai's hand.

"Kari, here!" Tai threw the DigiVice, reuniting it with its rightful owner.

"Not her, no!" Myotismon cried out in vein, likely not used to the feeling of fear.

Gatomon took a single step forward, just as the light of Kari's DigiVice wrapped itself around her. DigiVolving was a process of growth and change, and not just in terms of power and physical appearance. Digimon became different versions of themselves, a moment of uncertainty as to who they were going to be giving way to a new sense of identity and purpose. This moment came and went for Gatomon, leaving her with a single name that told her exactly who she was meant to be:

Angewomon.

"Gatomon is an... angel?" Kari asked as she looked up at Angewomon with awe. She likely didn't realize how much she was involved in this form's manifestation. This wasn't the time to address that, however, as they had other matters to resolve first.

"Myotismon," Angewomon said as she looked down at the monster who had murdered her oldest friend. "You've tried to destroy the Digidestined and attempted to conquer Earth. In doing so, you have ruined the lives of Digimon and humans alike. How can you justify yourself?"

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you," Myotismon spat back, arrogance and ignorance coloring his words. "It is my destiny to plunge this world into darkness and become king of the Digital World, and no angel or Digimon has the power to stop me!"

Angewomon said nothing in return, not surprised in the slightest by his response. She knew that Myotismon would never change, and if anything, she pitied him.

"Myotismon, don't you have any regrets for the things you have done?" Angemon questioned further. He meant well, but he didn't know his enemy well enough to understand that his words of compassion were wasted.

"Heh," Myotismon sneered, predictably crossing his arms to prepare for another attack. "NIGHTMARE-"

"HEAVEN'S CHARM!"

Angewomon beat him to the draw, sending her energy upwards and dispersing it over the entire rooftop. The effects of the technique coated Myotismon, leaving him frozen in place and helpless, much like the countless victims he had left in his wake.

"My power is growing!" MetalGreymon exclaimed, and all the others seemed to agree. As much as Angewomon's technique was detrimental to Virus type Digimon like Myotismon, it had the opposite effect on Vaccine types.

"Everyone, give your power to Angewomon!" Garudamon instructed.

The seven of them rallied, each firing their attacks upwards to source of the energy field. Without a second wasted, Angewomon gathered up the collected power, bending and molding into an arrow which she aimed at Myotismon.

"CELESTIAL ARROW!"

Angewomon loosed the arrow, allowing to cleanly and easily pierce Myotismon's chest. He writhed and screamed in pain for a brief moment, but was ultimately consumed by its energy. The Digidestined cheered, though Angewomon couldn't bring herself to join them.

She glanced over her shoulder, watching as Wizardmon dissolved into bits of data. Knowing that dying in the Human World meant he would not be reincarnated at the Primary Village, she took a moment to give a silent goodbye. Wizardmon had sacrificed himself so that she could start a new life, and Gatomon promised him that she wasn't going to waste it.

Chapter Text

"The darkness has not been conquered, and it will continue to fight against the light forever, but as long as people remember to follow their dreams, evil will be kept at bay.

"And on days like today, it's hard to see any darkness anywhere. Now it's up to our children, and to children everywhere, to follow their dreams. Who knows where they'll end up, but the only way to find out is to take that first step into adventure."

"So, what do you think?"

TK didn't have the words to respond, at first only being able stare back across the cafeteria table. On the other side, Davis eagerly waited to hear how his "pitch" had been received. Eventually, it became clear that the silence between them had gone on for a bit too long.

"Davis..." TK began delicately. "I have no idea what you just described to me."

"It's the happy ending your story needs!" Davis punctuated his declaration by slamming his fist down on the table.

The previous day, casual conversation had led to TK mentioning the idea of writing a novelization of the various adventures of the Digidestined. Having wrongly assumed that Davis hadn't been paying attention, the last thing TK had been expecting was to have an epilogue for their adventures described to him. In retrospect, though, Davis never did anything halfway.

"Yes, I got that." TK paused for half a second to let his eyes fall down to his lunch before looking upwards again. "I'm just a little confused about the particulars."

Davis tilted his head. "Which particulars?"

TK paused again, needing to decide where to begin. "For starters, you sent my brother to Mars."

"What's wrong with that?"

TK took a deep breath, calming himself. "He's never once shown any interest in being an astronaut."

Davis crossed his arms and kept a straight and confident face. "Look, I know a lot of these choices might seem weird on the surface, but I actually put a lot of thought into them."

"Does that include making Yolei a housewife?"

Davis' eye twitched. "Being a mom is an incredibly important and rewarding job. I'm sure Yolei would agree."

Sensing his friend's hesitation, TK pulled out his D-Terminal. "Let's text her and ask if she agrees."

Davis instantly stretched across the table and snatched the device from TK's fingers. "Or maybe some of my ideas could use a second pass!"

They both went quiet for a couple seconds after that, with TK taking a second to look Davis over. His previous conviction seemed to have dissipated, and not just because he was afraid of Yolei. Getting older came with a lot of uncertainty, and even Davis' confidence wasn't immune to worrying about the future. They all felt this way at one point or another, and because of this, TK was willing to give one conceit.

"Okay, Davis," TK said calmly. "If the day does ever come that I write about our adventures, as long as you promise to never bring this up again, I will give your character a noodle cart."

Davis' whole face lit up. "Okay, Deal!"

"Great!" TK refocused on his lunch. "Since that's settled-"

"Actually," Davis interrupted as he pulled out a notebook. "I had another idea to run by you. This one involves a ramen shop owner during the zombie apocalypse..."

TK sighed. Among his regrets in life, his biggest in this moment was telling Davis Motomiya about his dream of becoming a novelist.

Chapter Text

The current quiet should have been to Jeri's benefit. Left alone to complete the work she had missed during her short hiatus from school following the fall of the D-Reaper, the empty classroom felt like it was starting to close in on her. Telling herself it was all in her head didn't help much either. After all, held hostage by the D-Reaper for as long as she was, the torture had technically all been in her head then as well.

Making the whole experience worse was Jeri's mind trying to fill the space and silence on its own. Shadowy figures surrounded her, right up until they were basically on top of her, all while an unsettlingly familiar voice spoke at her with a sense of cold sadism. Jeri tried to cover her ears, but the voice got through just the same.

"Running away from Destiny?"

Jeri jumped out of her seat, freezing in place once she was able to convince herself the room was actually empty. By that point, though, her heart was racing and leaving her almost unable to catch her breath. She tried to force herself back into her seat, but her legs felt like they had locked themselves to the floor.

The door opening at the front of the classroom jolted Jeri from her trance, though perhaps just a second too late. As Ms. Asaji stepped through the doorway, cup of coffee in one hand while her other massaged her temple, she paused for a moment to glance at Jeri before sitting behind her desk.

Not wanting to spend another second under a microscope, Jeri quickly cleaned up her own desk. Putting on as neutral a face as she could Jeri, she jogged over to her teacher.

"I think I'm all set," Jeri declared as she presented her classwork.

Ms. Asaji hesitated briefly before accepting. "Do you have any questions?"

"None that I can think of." Jeri tried to speak confidently, hoping to avoid dragging out the school day any longer than she already had.

Another pause between them followed, with it seeming like Ms. Asaji was looking back a bit more closely. While she didn't seem frustrated, she did seem uncertain, almost like she wanted to say more but couldn't decide on the right words.

"You know, Jeri," Ms. Asaji said delicately. "If you need some more time, this work can wait."

"I'm fine." Jeri instantly realized she had spoken a little too quickly. "I'm ready to get back to normal."

Of course, Jeri wasn't exactly sure what normal meant in this instance, but she was intent on finding it. She wasn't so naive as to expect that an easy fix would be just presented to her, though she worried that if she kept putting off getting back to her life she would run the risk of missing something important and getting stuck in place.

"Can you at least tell me what happened?" Ms. Asaji asked, causing Jeri to hesitate herself.

The whole world had seen the D-Reaper invasion, from the expanding red biomass that consumed everything in its path to the army of agents spawned to do its bidding. While some information on it still wasn't public knowledge, Jeri wasn't sure there was much she could really say to add any context. Best she could interpret, the D-Reaper had decided for itself that humanity needed to be deleted, and would have destroyed the world had her friends not stopped it.

"We won," Jeri summarized. "It just cost more than we thought it would."

Ms. Asaji raised an eyebrow. "What did it cost you?"

Jeri's eyes drifted around the room, unable to face her teacher. "Do you know what it's like to have someone take your deepest and darkest thoughts, twist them even further, and then spit them back at you in your own voice?"

"No, I don't."

"And I hope you never do." It took a moment for Jeri to realize she was involuntarily smiling. "Funny thing is, for a monster that claimed it didn't understand human emotion, the D-Reaper was pretty good at manipulating it."

"Look..." Ms. Asaji pinched the bridge of her nose, though she spoke with a softness Jeri had never heard her use with any of the other students. "I'm not good at this, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I can put you in touch with someone a little better equipped for this."

Jeri refocused on her teacher, now actively trying to follow her words and mannerisms. It was a subject of debate around school how much Ms. Asaji actually cared about her students, as she never seemed to particularly enjoy being a teacher. One thing Jeri had learned from watching her father after her mother's death, however, was that apathy and sadness were more closely linked than was plainly obvious. Some people weren't as good with outward emotion as others, but that didn't mean they felt any less.

"I'll let you know," Jeri answered, holding just long enough to figure out what else to say. "Thanks, Ms. Asaji. You might not think you're cut out for this, but you care enough to try, which helps more than you know."

"You're... welcome?" Ms. Asaji didn't try to hide her confusion, simply waving as Jeri finally stepped out of the classroom.

Despite its destruction, the D-Reaper had left its mark on all of them. Still, Jeri knew it wasn't her destiny to let it win, and like last time, she knew she didn't need to defeat it alone.

Chapter Text

Devimon just barely managed to evade the swarm of bats sent in his direction, flying around the attack before returning to solid ground. It was a hollow accomplishment, as his attacker seemed to be drawing their battle out. Still, to expand his territory and gain strength meant taking on challenges that were not always easily won, and an opponent who didn't seize victory at first opportunity opened themselves up to having their weaknesses exploited later.

"Come now, Devimon," Myotismon taunted as he landed a few meters away, the sadism in his voice and grin on full display. "Is that truly the best you can do?"

"I'll show you!" Devimon sprang forward, believing he had spotted the weak point he had been waiting for. Drawing back his claw, he prepared to deliver what had been the killing strike to many adversaries in the past.

Myotismon stood his ground, however, simply flexing his hand instead of attempting to dodge. From this hand extended a lasso of red energy, which he swiftly lashed forward and wrapped around Devimon's neck. With the same motion, he swung the whip over his shoulder and slammed Devimon to the ground.

"I'm waiting." Myotismon moved to stand over Devimon's prone form. "Or is this what you meant?"

"You'll pay for this," Devimon grunted as he struggled to stand.

"I highly doubt that." Myotismon tightened the noose around Devimon's throat. "At this rate, you aren't even a match for Etemon's machinations in the desert."

Devimon was unable to respond, his words becoming gasps for air. The energy whip burned his hands as he attempted to pry it off, and in that moment, he wondered if he had truly met his end.

The sound of clapping distracted him from his imminent demise. Myotismon's grip seemed to loosen in response, giving Devimon enough freedom of movement to turn his head to identify the source of the noise.

"Well, don't stop the show on my account!" the Digimon in question cheered. Despite appearing as some kind of clown, there was something deeply off-putting about his demeanor.

"Piedmon..." Myotismon's sadism and confidence were gone, replaced with obvious fear. "This isn't your territory."

Piedmon drew one of the swords off his back and began to casually twirl it around. "Not at the moment, no, but I never know when I might be in the mood for a change of scenery. Especially with how the weaker Lords of Darkness seem to be dropping like flies."

With a maniacal smile on his face, Piedmon zeroed his eyes on Myotismon, some message being passed between them. Myotismon promptly dismissed his whip, allowing Devimon to finally return to his feet.

Devimon took a moment to make eye-contact with Piedmon, whose expression barely changed. With his thoughts returning, the name finally jogged Devimon's memory. What one of the infamous Dark Masters was doing saving his life was beyond him to guess.

Piedmon suddenly shrugged before turning on his heel. Thankfully, he seemed to have no expectations of gratitude. In all likelihood, keeping Devimon alive was an investment, meant to keep Myotismon distracted as each of them rose in power. Even if Myotismon was no threat to the Dark Masters now, Piedmon may have believed he had the potential to become one.

"Always a pleasure, gentlemen!" Piedmon called out as he skipped away.

Myotismon immediately turned and glared in Devimon's direction. "Get out of my sight."

Devimon chose not to argue, instead spreading his wings and flying away. He needed to gather power if he were to ever have a chance at challenging the two Digimon he had faced today. The question was as to where he would be able to do so.

Pausing midair, Devimon summoned forth a map of the Digital World. He scanned over a number of unsuitable locations until a small body of land off the continent of Server caught his eye.

File Island was home to the Primary Village and little else of note, but it was out of the way and not known to be occupied by Digimon powerful enough to be concerned about. It would be the perfect spot for Devimon to mass his forces and plot his inevitable revenge.

Chapter Text

Wizardmon wasn't particularly fond of being one of Myotismon's lackeys. On days like this one, he outright hated it. On other days, he was able to write it off as a necessary evil, a sacrifice he had to make to further his own goal, but that was made more difficult when his task involved threatening a village of harmless Tokomon.

"I won't ask again," Gatomon hissed as she held one of the Tokomon by the ear. "Tell be where your food stores are."

Wizardmon sighed, forcing himself to not look away. With Myotismon making progress in so-called "master plan", he had instructed all of his underlings to collect supplies and resources, food included. In typical fashion, stealing from the weak was often the most efficient way to accomplish this.

"I-I can't," the Tokomon replied, almost shaking in fear. "Our village will starve if I tell you."

Gatomon held a claw to his face. "Is that worse than what will happen if you don't?"

She spoke with conviction, but her words were slow, like something was weighing them down. As much as Gatomon tried to pretend otherwise, this wasn't who she was. She took no pleasure in carrying out Myotismon's secondhand cruelties, but would do so anyway because it was what she had been conditioned to do.

Glancing at the rest of the Tokomon, all huddled together and watching the interrogation, Wizardmon realized he would have step in, both for the sake of these Tokomon and for Gatomon.

"P-Please..." Tokomon begged.

"So be it." Gatomon drew her claw back, ready to strike.

"How about a compromise?" Wizardmon announced. A brief pause followed as all eyes turned in his direction.

"What?" Tokomon finally asked, confusion mixing with the fear in his eyes.

"Wizardmon..." Gatomon growled under her breath as he approached.

Wizardmon knelt down to address Tokomon directly. "If you cooperate, we'll only take half of your rations."

"Half?" Tokomon's eyes darted back and forth between his friends and Wizardmon. "I'm not sure how long we could live off that."

"It's more than you'll have if you don't tell us." Wizardmon spoke with sincerity and optimism, hoping it make the village more receptive to the idea. "Even if my friend spares you, do you really want to make an enemy out of Myotismon?"

Another pause followed as Tokomon's eyes dropped to the ground, clearly considering the choices he had. After looking back at the others one last time, Tokomon looked back up at Wizardmon.

"We hid our food in a cave in that direction."

"You've made the right decision," Wizardmon reassured him as he started walking. "Come, Gatomon."

Gatomon hesitated for a brief moment before releasing Tokomon from her grasp. Not more than a second later, she was walking at his side.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said, annoyance but no disappointment in her voice.

Wizardmon shrugged. "I don't see why not. Myotismon won't know the difference between half their food and all of it."

"And what if he does?"

Wizardmon stopped walking, turning to face Gatomon. "Did you want to kill those Tokomon?"

Gatomon averted her gaze from him. "What I want doesn't matter."

"I think it does." Wizardmon tilted his head as she looked back up at him. "You're not a killer, Gatomon."

"I've killed before," Gatomon said, ever so somberly, as she crossed her arms.

"All the more reason stop. Compassion is only a weakness when we have none left to give."

Gatomon gave no immediate reply, though the conflict in her eyes said she was at least considering his words. Eventually, she looked forward again.

"Let's just finish what we came here to do," Gatomon said as she started walking again, to which Wizardmon promptly followed.

Wizardmon often hated being one of Myotismon's lackeys, but it was a sacrifice he made, because one day, he would save his friend's soul.

Chapter Text

It had almost seemed too convenient. A data stream leading directly to Takato and Henry. In any other scenario, Rika probably would have questioned it more, but her group had been wandering the desert for what felt like days and Growlmon was positive it wasn't a trick.

So they had held their ground in the path of the oncoming data stream, let it grab them up and transport them across the Digital World. Sure enough, waiting for them upon their arrival, were Takato and Henry. Unfortunately, any relief that came from seeing their lost friends didn't last.

Rapidmon was already down, having tried to fight the Mega-leveled Beelzemon on his own. The rest of them immediately charged into the fight, but the ensuing chaos made it plainly clear how out of their depth they all were, even when fighting together.

Kyubimon had dashed forward, meeting Beelzemon head-on and knocking him off his motorcycle. Now they were both on the ground, though Beelzemon seemed barely fazed and was easily getting to his feet. Rika tried to come up with a plan or any kind of response but was having trouble concentrating due to the constant crying of Henry's sister, who had somehow magically appeared in the Digital World.

"Kyubimon, you have to get up!" Rika hesitated, trying to focus on her DigiVice and modify cards in the hopes of calling up the Blue Card needed to help her partner reach the Ultimate level. "To digivolve!"

"I'm... trying..." Kyubimon grunted, barely managing to to stand.

Blue flames suddenly surrounded Kyubimon, an indicator of her signature "Dragon Wheel" attack. She charged again, wrapping her attack around Beelzemon's arms and setting his gauntlets on fire. Kyubimon collapsed as soon as the attack subsided, almost as though it had hurt her more than her opponent.

"Kyubimon!" Rika called out, powerless to do anything else.

"Nice try there, Fox Face," Beelzemon taunted as he dropped his ruined gauntlets and positioned himself for another attack.

"Don't you touch her!" Growlmon rushed forward, protective instincts and desperation overriding everything else.

"Alright, that's it! Get him, Growlmon!" Takato ordered as he stepped forward, with a tone and demeanor that Rika didn't recognize. "I don't care who he used to be, he's nothing but a monster now. Take him down!"

The effort was ultimately in vain, with Beelzemon leaping upward and laying Growlmon out with a single punch. Again, Rika tried to think of a backup plan, but it felt like fear was blocking her brain from forming any other thoughts.

"So much for friendship, huh Pineapplehead?" Beelzemon asked softly and casually, as he moved away from Growlmon and returned his focus to Kyubimon. "Don't worry, I'll deal with you later, right after I wipe out your uppity friend. Alright, Chatty, any last words?"

"Impmon, please..." Kyubimon pleaded, still unable to fight back.

"Be quiet!" Beelzemon's anger spiked, as though the very mention of his former self had done more damage than any attack they had managed to land.

"Oh no, Kyubimon, please get up, you have to get away!" Rika looked through her best modify card, but they might as well have been blank pieces of paper. "Stupid cards are useless, I can't do anything!"

She had failed. Earlier, Kyubimon had said she had chosen Rika as her Tamer because she wanted the best. Except that Rika wasn't the best. The best Tamer would have been able to save their partner, to fight back and win. The Tamer that Kyubimon truly deserved wouldn't be watching her get deleted and loaded. All Rika could do was watch as Beelzemon reeled his claw back and brought it back down to deliver the killing blow.

Leomon knew that he was no stronger than any of his comrades. Faced with an enemy like Beelzemon, he might as well have been a small bird trying to chip away at a mountain. He would fall, having hardly made a difference in this fight.

Leomon marched forward regardless, knowing full well what his duties were. He couldn't win, no, but he would fight to his last breath, because his partner and her friends needed his protection and he would die a thousand deaths before letting anything harm them.

As Beelzemon forced his claw downwards towards Kyubimon, Leomon caught his arm and held it in place, preventing his attack from making contact.

"I don't know who you are, but I do know you are being used." Leomon spoke with all his conviction, in the chance that reason and honor would prevail where strength could not. "This power you have been given, is it worth hurting these children to keep it?"

"You don't know anything!" Beelzemon snapped, only to be interrupted by Leomon smashing a fist into the side of his head.

"To have power is not to be strong. I know that better than anyone."

Leomon instinctively looked to Jeri, who stared back at him with wide, unblinking eyes. On the day they had met, he had hurt her, made her cry because he had refused to be her partner. He had promised he would never hurt her in that way again.

"Leomon..." Jeri said, so softly that it was unlikely that anyone but him heard her.

Unfortunately, Leomon knew that the only way to keep Jeri safe was to break his promise.

Leomon turned forward again. "Do what you must, Beelzemon, but I will not let you hurt these children!"

Beelzemon's only response was a scream as drove his claw forward. Leomon cried out in pain as the claw ran through his stomach, before collapsing onto his back.

Is it my fault?

Jeri repeated the question to herself over and over again, drowning out the voices of everyone around her. She felt hollow on the inside, like something indescribable had been ripped away from her.

First it had been her mother, taken away by illness while Jeri was barely old enough to comprehend concepts like life and death. She had been in so much pain then, and her father had simply distanced himself from her and left her alone with her sadness. So Jeri buried these feelings, understanding that everyone else simply wanted her to be okay again and it was best to just put on a smile every day and give them exactly what they wanted.

Of course, that meant her pain and sadness were never really gone, and watching Leomon dissolve into data in front of her gave them renewed strength. In a way, they were worse than ever. Before, Jeri had been able to look back at her mother's death as an outlier. It still hurt, but losing a loved one was a pain experienced by many. Now, with Leomon, it felt like more poignant. Jeri couldn't help but question if she invited this death, if her presence somehow caused it.

"Be brave, Jeri," Leomon's voice echoed in her head. Whether this was through her DigiVice or simply her imagination, Jeri couldn't be certain. "Part of me will always be with you. Remember, you have a lion's heart."

Then, Leomon was gone, his body nothing but flakes of data and his voice replaced by white noise.

Unable to hold in her tears any longer, Jeri screamed, letting her dormant pain and sadness be seen and heard.

Growlmon couldn't move, his legs feeling like sausages as he watched Beelzemon absorb Leomon's data.

"To have power is to be strong," Beelzemon declared. "I'll keep loading data til no one can stop me. No one!"

Impmon had been Growlmon's friend. Sure, not his nicest friend, but they had eaten and played together, like friends did. Friends didn't try to hurt each other.

But Leomon had also been Growlmon's friend. He had been brave and strong, and while he didn't play with the rest of them, he was calm and patient and answered Growlmon's questions about partnerships and destiny. Now he was gone, killed by someone who was supposed to be their friend, and Growlmon couldn't describe how he felt in that moment.

Growlmon's head was a mess of thoughts. "He was just trying to help us and you..."

Growlmon's eyes locked on Beelzemon, and he saw nothing but red.

"How could you?" Takato asked, not expecting an answer from Beelzemon. Even if he had one, Takato was past listening to him. "How could you do this horrible thing? I'll make you hurt. I'll make you pay!"

Without needing to be told, WarGrowlmon marched forward. Takato hadn't swiped a card or even so much as made a conscious effort to help his partner digivolve to Ultimate, but those details felt unimportant. The pair of them had a new mission, one they were both set on completing.

"Don't touch me!" Jeri shouted suddenly, momentarily breaking Takato's focus. Apparently, Kazu was trying to lead her off the battlefield. "Everyone just leave me alone!"

Jeri was hurting, and it was Beelzemon's fault. For Jeri's sake, he needed to be destroyed, and Takato refused to stop until he fulfilled that promise.

"Nice outfit, but you're still no match for me you big lug," Beelzemon said as he readied himself to fight WarGrowlmon. "Just so you know, Metalmouth, when I'm done with you, I'm gonna finish your friends off one by one."

"You're wrong," Takato countered, anger only increasing as his friends were threatened. "You're the one who's finished."

Takato let out a battle cry, and WarGrowlmon responded in kind. They wouldn't let this fight go beyond them. The turbines on WarGrowlmon's back ignited, propelling him forward, prompting Beelzemon to jump upwards to dodge.

"Take this, you big dump truck!" Beelzemon unholstered his shotguns and fired downwards.

The shots ripped into WarGrowlmon's armor, but didn't slow him down. WarGrowlmon flew upwards, catching Beelzemon in his jaws and biting down hard.

"Finish him, do it, tear him apart!" Takato commanded. They needed to end this. None of his friends would be safe as long as Beelzemon was still alive.

Beelzemon slashed his claws across WarGrowlmon's face, freeing himself and forcing the Ultimate backwards. Even now, the power gap between them was evident.

Takato knew they only had one chance. WarGrowlmon had to reach the Mega level. It was a long shot, and Takato wasn't entirely sure how to accomplish it, but they had been backed into corners before and found reserves of strength to win. This fight would be no different.

"You cannot lose, I won't allow it. I..." Takato hesitated briefly, clutching his DigiVice and digging deep within himself for the power they needed. "...order you to digivolve. Digivolve now!"

There was a quick lull as WarGrowlmon set himself back on the ground, followed by the symbol on his chest to repeatedly blink in a bright red.

"The mark on his chest is glowing," Henry pointed out, concern front and center in his voice. "What's happening to him?"

Lightning crackled in the sky above, followed by flames pouring downward, engulfing WarGrowlmon.

"Do it, that's it," Takato yelled upwards, so certain this was the power they needed to win. "Digivolve... I order you to digivolve to Mega!"

The flames dispersed, revealing a massive, serpentine dragon with jagged claws and a sizable wingspan. The dragon drooled and snarled, roaring as it set it sights on Beelzemon.

Looking at this dragon, Takato saw power. He saw the rage and killer instinct needed to finally destroy Beelzemon. He didn't see his partner at all.

"Guilmon, what have I done to you, boy?" Takato felt his anger dissipate, replaced by cold realization. "I'm sorry..."

He hadn't meant for any of this to happen, but between Leomon and Jeri, Takato had just wanted to protect everyone. Instead, he had made things worse, betraying his best friend for the sake of more power, and putting them all in more danger in the process.

Takato released his DigiVice from his grasp, letting it fall to the ground and shatter to pieces. He couldn't bring himself to mourn the object's loss. After all, he was the real monster in this battle, one who had never deserved the device in the first place.

Chapter Text

There was something reassuring about the scene playing out in the once-busy intersection. Where a wild Digimon had previously appeared and started wreaking havoc, Paildramon now stood, watching Davis and Yolei argue at his feet. Yolei insisted that Davis had rushed in and caused unnecessary collateral damage, while Davis disagreed on the grounds that he couldn't allow Yolei to be right about anything.

They weren't alone, of course. Ken was there, trying his best to play mediator between the two. He seemed surprisingly comfortable, caught in the crossfire between his best friend and his girlfriend, even if it didn't always help much. Cody stood nearby, having long ago claimed that he knew Yolei and Davis well enough to know when they were arguing just to argue and when not to get involved.

Despite the scenario's familiarity, however, Kari knew that a piece was missing. Looking off to the side, towards the nearest bench that had survived the battle, she found the person she was looking for. There, TK sat, staring down at his D3 with Patamon perched on his shoulder. Knowing where she needed to be, Kari didn't waste another second before approaching.

"The countdown hasn't started yet," Patamon pointed out, his voice firm despite the worry in his eyes.

"I know..." TK didn't look up from the device.

"Staring won't help."

"I know..."

Kari knew not to ask what was bothering him. They had already had that conversation, about the day Menoa warned them would inevitably arrive. TK was trying to stay positive, not wanting to repeat his mistakes with the infection and eventual reboot from five years. Neither of them wanted to dwell on something that could still be a few years off, though Kari didn't believe that trusting TK's judgment and being there for him were mutually exclusive.

"So..." Kari said as she sat down next to him. "Yolei's been back for five minutes and her and Davis are already fighting."

TK smirked and finally looked up. "Who started it?"

"Depends how you look at it." Kari smiled back, relieved that she didn't have to actively try to do so. "Yolei would definitely put this on Davis being, and I quote, 'a block-headed neanderthal', but she did start yelling first."

TK raised a playful eyebrow. "We'll call it a draw then?"

"Are we bad people for making these bets behind their backs?"

"Absolutely, but it's fun, so I think we can let it slide."

Silence followed, a jolt of reality coming up in the back of Kari's mind, reminding her what was to come. She wished every moment could be like this one, even though she knew better. TK knew as well, the melancholy in his eyes making it clear.

"It's gonna be okay," Kari said as she reached over and linked her pinky finger with his. She wasn't sure if the words were for him or for herself.

"I know," TK replied with a confident nod and conviction in his voice he hadn't had a minute ago.

In moments like these, it easier for Kari to see the boy she had met on her first trip to the Digital World all those years ago. They boy who swore to watch over her when fell ill in Machinedramon's city, and refused to give up when they were alone and being pursued by Piedmon. As much as TK changed, she knew the most important parts of him would remain.

"Come on," TK continued as he stood up. "I think Ken needs reinforcments."

He led the way back to the group, taking his place in the familiar patterns, making sure they stayed hopeful for the future.

Chapter Text

"It's just..." Mie paused and shook her head, like having to answer Takato's questions made her sad. "The answer is no, Takato."

"But, Mom-"

"No, but nothing," Mie said quickly, trying to sound less sad. "We can't have pets here."

Guilmon kept quiet, even though he knew it was him they were talking about. Takato had said he would do all the talking, however, and Guilmon trusted his partner to find him a new place to live. Still, it seemed more and more like this was easier said than done, and while he was happy to be back from the Digital World, he worried that he was causing Takato the same problems he had when he first hatched from his digiegg.

Takato shrugged and gave half a smile. "Well, that's perfect, because Guilmon's not a pet."

"We know that, Son," Takehiro said calmly. "But other people might think a little differently."

"Please..." Takato begged, sounding a little scared. "Hypnos has been all over the shed since we told them about the portal. He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

Guilmon wished he could be small like Terriermon or really quiet like Renamon. That way, him staying would be less trouble. Neither seemed like they were going to happen, however, so Guilmon let himself wander out from behind the counter where Takato was talking to his parents and into the main bakery.

The smell of the bakery and all the different kind of breads it had made him feel a little better, though not completely. Looking around, Guilmon found himself drawn to the one customer inside, who was looking at a display for the bakery's newest invention.

"Guilmon Bread?" the lady read off the sign nearby.

"Do you want some?" Guilmon asked, not sure what else could be bothering her.

"Uh... ah!" The customer jumped when she turned around, seeming a little surprised to see him. After a moment, though, she stood up straight and looked back at the bread. "Maybe? I'm not entirely sure what it is."

"It's really good!" Guilmon explained, suddenly feeling excited. "Takato's mom and dad make the best bread in the whole world."

The customer placed a hand on her chin. "I guess I could try one."

"Just one?" Guilmon tilted his head, not being able to imagine eating only one.

"Well, I don't want to get too much." The customer turned back to Guilmon. "I don't know how fresh it'll stay til tomorrow."

"It will. If anything, it tastes even better the second day!"

"Alright," the customer replied before looking towards the register where Takato and his parents were watching them. "I'll take three." Not more than a couple minutes after that, she had given Mie her money and was out the door with her fresh Guilmon Bread.

Guilmon looked up at Mie, who just stared back without saying anything. Guilmon wasn't entirely sure if she was upset or not, as he still had trouble connecting some human expressions with emotions. Either way, she didn't seem happy.

"I'm really sorry," Guilmon said, letting his head droop down. "You guys seemed really busy and I didn't want that that lady to leave without getting her bread."

After another pause, Mie sighed and turned back to Takato. "Fine, he can stay, but you're sharing your bedroom." She didn't wait for anyone to answer her before heading towards the bakery's oven.

Takehiro glanced at Guilmon and then in Takato's direction. "Did you teach him that?"

Takato shook his head. "Nope, that's all him."

"Natural charisma, hm?" Takehiro paused and looked back at Guilmon. "Nice."

"Did I do something wrong?" Guilmon asked. He wasn't sure what charisma was, so he wasn't sure if it was a bad thing.

"Nothing at all." Takehiro reached out and scratched Guilmon behind the ear. "Don't worry about Mie. In fact, I think you're already growing on her."

Guilmon couldn't quite explain it, but he suddenly felt a lot better. He wasn't sure what he had done to change their minds, but it almost didn't matter. He was just happy to be home.

Chapter Text

Tai dropped himself into his seat, basically slamming his lunch tray onto the cafeteria table. Normally, he tried to avoid being so dramatic, but he was annoyed on this particular occasion. Regardless, his display caught Sora and Izzy's attention, prompting a pair of raised eyebrows in his direction.

"I think the new teacher hates me," Tai declared, deciding to seize his moment.

Sora sighed. "You mean Mr. Nishijima?"

"Who else?" Tai answered their raised eyebrows with his own.

"What did you do to upset him?" Izzy asked as he tried to return to his lunch.

"Why do you just automatically assume it was my fault?" Tai asked back, instinctively slamming a fist on the table.

Izzy shrugged. "Law of averages."

Tai sat back and crossed his arms. "Well, I didn't do anything!"

"I've heard that before." Izzy glanced in Sora's direction.

"To his credit, he hasn't done anything directly to Mr. Nishijima," she clarified.

"Thank you, Sora," Tai replied, relieved someone could see reason.

Sora placed a single finger on her chin. "Indirectly, on the other hand-"

"Oh, come on!"

"-it could be any number of things."

"Like what?" Tai shot back, sitting up straight again.

"You're not exactly the most attentive student, for starters." Sora pointed disapprovingly in his direction.

Tai grumbled under his breath. She was clearly referring to her claims that he didn't pay attention and occasionally fell asleep in class. Tai couldn't recall any of these instances, however, so he still wasn't convinced she wasn't making them up.

"Let's rewind," Izzy interjected. "What makes you think he hates you?"

"He keeps getting my name wrong?" Tai answered. "For some reason, he thinks my last name is 'Yagami'."

Izzy shrugged again. "Could be an honest mistake."

"Yeah..." Tai paused to consider and then shook his head. "I'm not buying that."

"What do you buy then?"

"That Nishijima is a jerk!" Tai shouted, again his annoyance was overriding any desire to not make a scene.

"He's seems really nice to me," Sora claimed, her tone somewhere between mocking him and being completely genuine.

"Then he just flat out doesn't know how to read!"

Tai paused, waiting for some kind of remark from either of his friends. Instead, though, they simply looked back at him with weird looks on their faces. Not scared or even nervous, but more cautious than anything else. Eventually, he double checked their eyelines, realizing that they weren't looking at him, but past him instead.

"What's..." Tai spun around to see what they were staring at. "...wrong?"

There, standing right over Tai's shoulder with a lunch tray in hand and a slight smirk on his face, was none other than Mr. Nishijima.

"I heard my name and the word 'jerk' in the same sentence," he said calmly and casually.

"D-Did you?" Tai felt his eyebrow twitch.

"Yep, kinda reminded me of my college years." Mr. Nishijima then focused entirely in Tai's direction. "So, what's up Yagami?"

"My last name is Kamiya, sir," Tai answered through his teeth.

"Is it?" Nishijima asked with a mostly innocent look on his face.

"Uh-huh..." Tai was not enjoying being mocked. "Has been since the first day of class."

"Do me a favor." With one hand, Nishijima reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pen and a hand-sized notepad. He flipped it open to a blank page and gently set it down on the table. "Write your name down for me."

"Okay..." Tai was confused, but did as instructed.

Once done, Nishijima spun the notepad around for Sora and Izzy to see. "Now what do you kids see?"

They both stared at the pad for a couple seconds before both their expressions sank in unison. Izzy pinched the bridge of his nose while Sora just flat out covered her face with her hand.

"What?" Tai asked, completely lost as to what was going on.

"Every time you put your name on an assignment, you basically write your kanji on top of each other," Nishijima explained. "I can barely decipher it on some days."

"Your handwriting has always sucked," Sora quickly pointed out.

"It's not that bad!" Tai felt his face start to heat up.

"Yeah, sure, for a six year old." Nishijima ruffled Tai's hair with the palm of his hand. "Keep at it though, Tai. You'll write like a big kid one day."

With that, Mr. Nishijima took his leave of them before anyone could respond. Tai spun back around to face Sora and Izzy, finding both of them looking like they had comments to make.

"Not a word," Tai ordered, glaring at them to get his point across. "Either of you."

They finally stopped holding in their laughter, to which Tai responded by sinking into his seat. Turned out that Mr. Nishijima wasn't the only jerk he knew.

Chapter Text

"My mom and grandma... must be pitching a fit."

Renamon refocused upon hearing Rika's voice, in the chance that was where her attention needed to be. Up to this point, Renamon had been directing all her senses forward, in the direction of their inevitable confrontation with the Sovereign. She had mostly been tuning out the conversation going on around her, in favor being alert for anything that might try to stop their transportation bubble from reaching its destination, though her partner's distress quickly became her priority.

"I bet they're doing just fine," Takato said confidently, before Renamon could even start to formulate a response. "I mean, I did send them that email letting them know you're okay."

"What?" Rika looked towards him, more confused by his words than anything else. "Sent them an email? When did this happen?"

"Oh!" Takato chirped absentmindedly. "Well, it happened a while back, when we got separated from you guys. We got emailed from the Real World, so I kinda..." He hesitated, almost as though his confidence was wavering. "Well, I guess you could say... that I-"

"Uh oh," Guilmon squeaked with a nervous anticipation.

"Pretended to be me and sent an email to my mom and grandma," Rika concluded, irritation leaking into her voice. "That sum it up?"

"Whoa, hold on there, calm down," Takato replied nervously, holding his hands up defensively. "I only did it because if I said you weren't with us, your mom and grandma would have gotten worried, so..." He paused again, letting his head sink. "Okay, go ahead and hit me."

"Why?" Rika asked softly, her earlier irritation seeming to have dissipated, replaced with what Renamon could only describe as humility. "Thanks for doing that."

Takato perked up, not hiding the surprise on his face. Renamon felt much the same, though more towards him than towards her own partner. She already knew Rika to be more than tough persona she put up, whereas Takato seemed to have a talent for surpassing expectations. When they had first met, Renamon would never labeled Takato as a person who could get past Rika's emotional defenses, yet here he was, doing so accidentally simply by being his honest, caring self. Between that and his other accomplishments, Renamon often wondered what else he was capable of.

"Wait!" Rika said suddenly, bordering on urgently. "You didn't put a girly heart or something after it, did you?"

"Y-uh..." Takato's expression went blank, not as though he didn't remember, but almost like he didn't want to remember.

"Did you?" Rika repeated, though the annoyed expression on her face seemed to indicate she was drawing her own conclusions.

"What?" Takato averted his eyes from everyone. "I-I don't even know what a heart looks like."

"Uh oh," Guilmon said again, though his nervousness seemed a bit more warranted on this occasion.

"Hey!" Rika's patience evaporated as she set Takato in her crosshairs. "You did, didn't you? Oh man, when I get through with you, the Devas will seem like cuddly little kitty cats!"

Renamon turned her focus forward again, deciding she didn't need to watch what would come next. Again, Takato managed to exceed expectations, in this instance this talent seemingly extending to his displays of how dense he could be. That said, Renamon was positive Rika wouldn't actually hurt him.

"A heart!" Rika continued, almost distraught. "Even a smiley face would have been better."

"Uhm, yeah," Takato replied desperately. "That's-That's what I put! A smiley face!"

"You used a smiley face? Are you kidding me?"

Almost positive, anyway, Renamon thought to herself as her partner continued shouting.

Chapter Text

"You guys really don't think it's weird?" Takato didn't try to hide the concern in his voice. Even if he wanted to, there really wasn't much point, given he had called an impromptu meeting of his friends at Guilmon's old utility shed on a school morning. Given the dream he had had and how much it bothered him, Takato felt more compelled to be open and honest with them.

"I think everything that comes out of your mouth is weird," Rika answered, not moving from her spot where she leaned against the shed's gate.

"I'm being serious," Takato replied, looking around the shed for a more serious response. "This dream was so vivid and... weird."

"Maybe not as weird as you think," Henry offered, doing a decent job of sounding reassuring. "Not being able to bring the Digimon back from the Digital World is a nightmare I'm pretty sure we've all had."

It was, particularly in the days following finding the portal that was now buried beneath their feet. There had been a lot pushback about using it then, and the decision to allow its use just the one time had apparently come down to the wire. Even two years later, it sometimes felt like a miracle that Guilmon, Terriermon, and Renamon were standing before them in that moment.

"Yeah, but that wasn't the weird part." Takato wished that had been all his dream was about, as he wouldn't have had to call this meeting.

"Right..." Henry raised an eyebrow, though was clearly doing his best to remain open-minded. "You... time traveled."

"No, it wasn't time travel," Takato corrected. "Yamaki said they made some kind of digital clone of me."

"I'm confused," Guilmon said as he spun his head around the shed, likely waiting for someone to explain the parts of the story he didn't understand.

"Apparently the real me had gone missing while looking for a way into the Digital World or something like that."

Henry rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "And they needed you to fight... malware?"

"That sounds really lame," Terriermon whined.

"Terriermon..."

"I'm just saying, I expect better from Takato's imagination."

"Perhaps we should take this more seriously," Renamon commented, her voice somewhere between genuine and sarcastic. "After all, Takato's dreams have held meaning in the past."

Rika snorted and rolled her eyes. "Right, and I'll go look up all our horoscopes to be thorough."

"Hold on, we're missing the big question here," Terriermon claimed as his eyes lit up. "What did Rika sing about in this dream?"

"Rabbit stew, I bet," Rika growled in his direction.

Terriermon crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You realize I'm not a rabbit, right?"

"Guys, we need to focus," Takato said firmly, earning a brief pause from all of them.

"What exactly is your concern?" Renamon asked, this time with clearer concern and empathy in her voice.

"I guess..." Takato took a deep breath. As much as he could drag out this conversation with the oddball details of the dream, he knew exactly which part of it bothered him the most. "In the dream, we hadn't spoken in a while. Life got in the way and we dropped out of each other's lives."

"But that's not what happened in real life," Henry pointed out.

"I know, but it could still happen with how busy we get sometimes." Takato's eyes sunk to the ground as he kicked at the dirt. "You guys are my best friends, and I don't want to let that go."

"We might not have a choice in the matter," Rika said somberly, looking downward herself as she spoke.

"You're helpful, Sunshine," Terriermon chimed in, though reactions in the group were muted.

"I'm not saying we give up and let it happen." Rika turned to stare out the shed entrance and into the park beyond. "It's just that people leave sometimes, and you can't force them to stay."

"Well, I promise I'm not going anywhere," Guilmon declared as he marched forward and planted himself right in front of Takato. With a warm smile and confident eyes, it was clear that he meant every word.

Takato glanced around the shed one more time, waiting for anyone else to speak. No verbal responses came, though an air of affirmation seemed to be passing between them. Even Rika returned her attention to the group and gave a quick nod.

"Same here, boy," Takato said, resting a hand on Guilmon's shoulder before looking outward again.

Henry checked his watch. "I think that's a good note to end on, considering we're all about to be late for school.

"Story of my life." Takato sighed before leading them back outside. "I didn't even get to tell you guys about the second part of my dream, when things got really weird."

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Gogglehead," Rika said quickly. "I'm already at my quota for tales from dreamland."

Takato shrugged. "Yeah, on second thought, might be better to just forget the whole thing."

There was no sure way of knowing what their future held, but Takato wasn't about to let fear keep him from moving forward. Nothing was set in stone, and he was ready to work and fight for tomorrow.