Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“That is one fancy engagement ring!” Saori exclaimed, staring at the ring on Nao’s finger.

The other woman smirked, clearly quite aware of the fact. It was not the simple sort of engagement ring, that was more common in Japan, but actually a fancy ring with a diamond in the middle. “Good things come for those who wait.”

Saori chuckled over this, before she picked up her pitcher of beer. “Indeed they do. And you picked him up on an arranged date?”

“What can I say?” Nao said, clearly blushing. “He is a bit awkward. I mean, who can blame him. He did grow up in Europe, right?”

“Yeah, I assume that would make it a lot harder to fall into everything.” Saori thought about it for a moment. “Even though I hear those Europeans are a lot more direct in terms of dating.”

Nao shrugged. “Other Europeans maybe, but Asahi…” She stopped, looking over to Megumi. “Oh, come on now, Gumi, you’ll find the right man for yourself as well.”

Megumi gave a long sigh. She was looking at her own beer, not quite in the mood to celebrate. She did not want to rain on Nao’s parade, but at the same time… It was hard. She was twenty-eight by now, and somehow… Her issue was not finding men that were interested in her. No, her issue was keeping with the man. Somehow her relationships never lasted long, and ended up with her wanting to give up.

“Really, Megumi…” Saori elbowed her now. “If you really are so desperate, just get an arranged marriage.”

“I told you before,” Megumi muttered. “I do not want an arranged marriage. I want it to be natural. I want to fall in love. I want awkward confessions. And a first kiss in the moonlight. And…” She was very well aware how her friends looked at her.

“Aren’t you too old for all of that?”

Megumi grimaced, before pouring the beer down her throat. “So what? Is a woman not allowed to dream? Is romance really dead?”

“Well, statistically speaking…” Saori shrugged, but shot her a gaze that was saying more than a thousand words.

Megumi sighed, before looking over to Nao. “Look, I am happy for you. I just… I want something else for myself. And not… You know.” She frowned, before getting up. “I’ll get another beer.” With that she got up from the low table they were sitting at, to go over to the bar and get herself something new to drink.

It was early autumn, and like they tried to do once a month, Megumi was meeting up with her friends from university.

Ah, she missed her university days. Things had been easier then. A bit more hopeful, that was for certain. She had gotten her degree with good grades and had instantly gone into a position with the government. Her plan had been to get to know some nice guy at work, and then be married by twenty-six at the latest. But somehow, well… Somehow this had never played out that way.

As the young gal behind the bar gave her a new pincher with beer, Megumi sighed.

“Don’t be this depressed,” she muttered to herself. “Men do not deserve this kind of attention. Right. You are a beautiful, and successful woman, who has at least once helped save the world. You should not be depressed over the lack of a husband.” She drew in a deep breath, before steeling herself. “And now you gotta be happy for Nao-chan, hear me?”

No matter how well her intentions were, she was still somewhat relieved Nao excused herself less than an hour later, as her new fiancé wrote her a short message.

It was not even quite ten in the evening, but maybe it was better that way – and be it just because Megumi was already quite tipsy.

Saori eyed her, as Megumi quickly ordered some teriyaki in the hope to counter at least some of the alcohol. “You know that it usually just works if you eat before drinking, right?”

“I know,” Megumi muttered, as she pulled some of the grilled meat of the wooden stick. “But… Well…”

She looked over to the alley against which this tiny pub was located. This was Golden Gai after all, a labyrinth of tiny pubs and bars within tiny alleys, just in the north of Shinjuku. In the evening this part of town really came to life, when everyone and their boss was going here to get drunk. Especially the salariman.

However, it was just as she was looking into the alley, that she saw a familiar figure walk by – and one that might be able to get her out of another round of questioning and well-meaning advice. “Katou-chan!” she yelled.

The girl, who had to be fifteen or sixteen by now, turned around, her eyes looking for Megumi. She smiled, raising her hand. “Onodera-san.”

“Come over here!” Megumi quickly beckoned, making the girl hesitate for a moment. She was carrying a bag that clearly was filled with something heavy. But then she turned to enter the bar.

“I don’t wanna say anything, Gumi, but I do not think she is old enough to be here,” Saori muttered.

“Ah, come on,” Megumi said. “This girl knows her way around bars, right?” She smirked.

Katou smiled and bowed in front of Saori. “My name is Katou Juri. My father has a pub not to far from here.”

“What are you doing here?” Megumi asked.

“Just… My father told me to fetch a few things,” Katou replied. “I was on my way back.”

“Ah, I see.”

Saori looked from one to the other, her eyebrows raised. “Okay, Gumi, why do you know this kid?”

“Ah, you know. Remember the entire… You know… The incident five years ago?” Megumi asked.

It took Saori, who clearly was also somewhat tipsy as well, a long moment, before she understood what Megumi was talking about. “Oh. Yes, I see.” She eyed Katou up and down. “So she is one of those kids?”

“Well…” Katou did not quite look at Saori. “I was… I guess.”

Saori was still looking at her carefully, before shaking her head. “All of that is like from one of those really silly serials. Like, Super Sentai level of shit, right?” She sighed, and then chuckled a little to herself. “Man, I loved watching that show back then with my brother.”

Katou looked at her. “Okay, you now know who I am, but who are you?”

“Me? Oh, sorry. I am Hanegawa Saori. Me and this useless woman were in university together.” Once again Saori elbowed Megumi.

Katou gave a proper smile, before bowing once again. “It is good to meet you, Hanegawa-san.”

Saori paused for a moment, before bowing as well. “The pleasure is mine, Katou-san.”

A short, but awkward silence fell between them, before Katou turned to Megumi. “Is there anything that I can do for you?”

Megumi shrugged. “Not quite, no. But it is good to see you again. How is school?”

The girl clearly understood that Megumi did not want her to go, but did not seem to quite grasp why. “Well, it is good.” She smiled somewhat awkwardly. “I mean, I am not the best in class. But I am not doing bad either. We have a dance club this year, and I am enjoying it.”

“How old are you?” Saori asked.

“Fifteen,” Katou replied. “My birthday is in November, though.”

Saori gave a long, and rather dramatic sigh. “Ah, to be so young again. I sure miss highschool.”

“I guess it is a nice time, once you have the chance to look back at it,” Katou said, and smiled. “Though I am guaranteeing you, while you are in Highschool, it is a lot of stress. My father keeps saying I should take care of my grades, even though I will probably take over the pub either way.”

“So, your parents have really a pub?”

“Yes. Not quite in Golden Gai, though. A very traditional pub.”

Saori smirked at this. “Well, then. As the daughter of the owner you should absolutely invite me for some sake tasting.”

Katou gave a rather professional sounding chuckle at this. “Maybe I am going to at some point. I am afraid though that I can do no such thing without asking my father first.” She bowed again.

Saori was laughing now. “You have good manners at the very least.” She sighed. “You know what, Gumi? I am getting myself a sake here and some gyoza, and then we make our way to the subway, what do you say?”

“Yeah.” Megumi looked at Katou. “Though I guess I need to be the responsible adult and accompany Katou-chan home.”

“You and responsible?” Saori grinned, before she got up to fetch herself the items she had been talking about.

Megumi looked at the teenage girl. “Sorry for pulling you into this.”

“No problem,” Katou replied. “Even though I have no idea what ‘this’ exactly is.”

“Mostly just a meeting with old friends,” Megumi replied. She looked over to Saori. “Making me once more realize how much I…” She broke off. That was nothing that she should put onto the girl, who was just a teenager after all. “How are the other kids doing?”

“I am still in class with Takato,” Juri said. “Everyone else… Well, you know. Kenta, Ruki-chan und Jian are going to different Highschools, Hirokazu dropped out of school, and I assume you see more of Ryou than I do.”

Megumi almost laughed at that one. “Yes, I assume I do.” After all, Akiyama had started to work with Hypnos last year. Frankly, she was herself not quite certain how all of that had come to be. In the end it just boiled down to the fact that Akiyama had been to the digital world for so very long. Because of it, he had pretty much failed in school, but at the same time was invaluable to them in their research.

He and Mitsuo did not get along very well, though. Mostly because Akiyama was one of those kids, who never took anything too serious, it seemed. His lax attitude had driven Mitsuo mad more than once during the last few months.

“So, do you really plan on taking over the pub?” Megumi finally brought herself to ask.

“I mean, yeah… I don’t think Masahiko really has any interest of taking over, and I… I am good at it, you know?”

Megumi eyed the girl, wondering if that was any good reason. But in the end she smiled. “I guess.”

In the end it was another half hour, until the three of them left the tiny pub, stepping out into the street.

Saori shivered. “It is getting pretty chilly already.”

“It could be worse,” Katou said, though she had it easy, given she was wearing a padded beige jacket over her normal clothes. “It is not that far to the subway station, Hanegawa-san.” She shot Saori a friendly smile.

“Yeah,” Saori muttered. “Though I gotta walk half a kilometer home.”

“Where do you live?” Katou asked.

“Eastern Ikebukuro.” Saori sighed. “And my husband is already waiting.” She got out her phone to read through a message. “Men…” She wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Wearing only a light woolen jacket, she was not that well protected from the chilly night air, as they made their way along the alleyway.

It was not even that late, though one always had to be careful in this part of town.

Frankly, if Megumi had a daughter, she would have not sent her here on errands this time of night. After all, Golden Gai was located on the outskirts of Kabiku-chou, where one could come across some rather shifty folks. Sure, Megumi knew that most Yakuza would not really do anything to normal folks, but one could never be too careful. And she herself had been asked at least a couple of times to “model”, especially when she had been younger. Though she had been wise enough to know that it was often just a trick to get young girls into a porn movie.

She shook her head, thinking about it. Maybe she should feel insulted that those creepy were not asking her that often any longer. But what was she kidding herself? She was gonna be thirty years old soon. Pretty much ancient.

She really had imagined her life to go differently.

She swayed a little. Maybe she had had a couple of beer too many. She was not entirely certain. For a Japanese woman, she always had been pretty able to hold her liquor, but she had not eaten that much today, and maybe…

She stumbled, and might have ended up her knees, if Katou had not been there to hold her.

“Careful, Onodera-san,” she said. “Did you drink too much?”

“I… I don’t know,” Megumi muttered. She tried to stand up, only to sway once more, realizing what had made her stumble in the first place. “You gotta be kidding me!” She slipped out of her left shoe, where the heel had broken. “Stupid cheap shoes.”

“Oh.” Saori looked at her. “You really have the worst luck.”

“You tell me.” Megumi let off a deep sigh, before she slipped out of the other shoe as well. “You know, I have imagined these things to go differently.”

“Can I help you somehow?” Katou asked. “You know, you do not need to accompany me home.”

Megumi looked at her, unable to hold back one more sigh. “Don’t worry about me. I am… Fine. I am going to be fine. Just…”

“Really, I have been doing those errands since I was twelve. I know how to take care of myself.”

“But I am the responsible adult,” Megumi said. “No. Don’t worry. I… I will get you home. And be it barefoot.” She looked down to her feet covered only by thin nylon, that would undoubtedly fall to the wear and tear of contact against the asphalt soon. “Let’s just go.” She took her shoes in one hand, staring off down the alley once more.

It was not that far to the station. They would take two stops to drop of Katou, and from there it was one more stop to where Megumi was currently living.

Yeah. She would manage this. It was a Friday evening after all.

They turned the next corner. While the night air in Golden Gai was always filled with the smoke of countless cigarettes, and the voices of so many people, it got a bit quieter as they went into the next alley.

Strange. It was not even that late. Megumi would have though that at this time more people would still be out.

With one hand she pulled her flip-phone out of her purse. No, it was just half-past ten. On a Friday evening. Strange.

“Sao…” She turned to her friend. “Is this just me, or has it gotten strange quiet?”

“Maybe some of the shops are closed for…” Saori stopped looking around. She was frowning. “You know what? This is strange.”

Strange was most certainly a way to describe this feeling. Megumi could not help but shiver, as she was standing in this alley. She continued to walk, this time accelerating her steps. An uneasy feeling  had taken her over, filling up her stomach with a sort of unpleasant tingling.

Maybe it was just the alcohol. Or the fact that her feet were rather icy. She might have wanted to dress a bit better for the early autumn weather as well.

It was however only when they met with the next actual street, that something seemed to be really off. Because there were no cars – or people – to be seen anywhere. Even though they were basically at Kabuki-chou in a Friday night.

“Onodera-san?” Katou whispered, and for a moment Megumi did not quite get why the girl’s voice was so strangely tense.

Then however she looked down to the ground, and found thin glowing lines surrounding all three of them.

“Gumi?” Saori asked. “What the f…” She did not get to finish the question, before the lines started to shine, and the three of them fell.

Chapter Text

When Megumi’s senses returned to her, she found herself in almost complete darkness. She was cold. Icy in fact. And her back was hurting quite a lot. Was this what it felt like to turn old?

She groaned, trying her best to sit up.

“Gumi?” A voice came out of the darkness.

“Saori?” she replied, groaning once more. As soon as she was sitting, she became quite aware of how much her head was hurting as well. Darn. This was not what she had assumed her night to go like. Though she was not entirely sure what was even happening.

“Oh thank the gods,” Saori’s voice answered. “I almost thought you were dead.”

“Well, I am not dead yet. Where are we?”

A tiny, pale light started to shine in the darkness. The light of Saori’s phone screen, Megumi realized after a moment. It did not do a whole lot against the darkness, but it revealed that they were surrounded by several rectangular objects.

Megumi did not quite dare to stand up, so she crawled over to one of the objects, only to find it was a paper box. A moving box.

She frowned, trying to make sense of it. “I think this is some sort of storage unit…” That would make the most sense to her.

Only then she realized something else. “Wait. Where is Katou?”

“The girl?”

“Yes, the girl,” Megumi whispered. She crawled towards the light, being just barely able to make out Saori’s face in the dark.

“I don’t know. She is not with us.” Saori’s eyes were wide. “What did happen to us?”

“I am not completely sure.” Megumi paused. “But I think it was a Digimon.”

“A Digimon?”

“Yeah.” It was the only thing making sense to Megumi right now. From all she could recall, some circles had shown up around the three of them, and probably had teleported them away from where they had been before. And given that teleportation was not a thing humans were capable off as far as she was aware, the logical explanation remained, that it had been a Digimon.

She felt in the darkness for her purse. It had to be here somewhere, right? She had to crawl around for a bit, but finally her hand found leather, and after feeling it a bit more, she could confirm that it was her purse.

She opened it and got her phone out. Well, whoever had kidnapped them had not been doing a good job so far.

She opened her flip-phone, only to groan. “You have to be kidding me.”

“What is it?”

“I have no connection.” Of course. It would have been too easy. She needed to reach someone at Hypnos.

Given there had been no mist, a Digimon must have realized before anyone had noticed it. It happened from time to time without them being able to do something about it. Given that Wild One had attacked the three of them, some of those kids had to take care of it, undoubtedly. But for that she needed someone to send in one of the Tamers.

She crawled over to one of the boxes, using it to help herself stand up. She held her phone into the air, hoping that this way she would get a connection. Given this was some sort of storage unit, they were probably underground.

Maybe they were close to one of the subway lines. If they were close to the subway lines, they might be able to get a connection to the underground phone network installed down there. If not… Well, shit.

“Gumi?” Saori asked after a short silence.

“Yeah?” Megumi was still trying to catch even one bar of connection. She just needed one bar. Nothing more. Just a little connection to call in the cavalry as they said.

“If… If this is one of those monsters… What is gonna happen to us?”

Megumi turned around to look at her friend – or rather the shadowy outline that she could make out in the darkness. “Probably nothing.”

“Nothing?”

Megumi sighed. She had never talked a lot about her work, or the things that had happened with the Digimon now five years ago. In the end, for most of the people in Tokyo it had been quite unreal. Megumi could not put it past them. Had she not been as involved as she had been, she would have thought it was some strange episode of some Super Sentai show as well. Monsters showing up in real life and destroying part of the city?

Back in the day she had not been allowed to talk much about it, and once everything had been over, most of the people in her normal life had been quite willing to just move on. As such most of her friends knew, that she had been somehow involved, but had never asked about it.

“Look, those monsters…” How was she to best phrase it? “Digimon are intelligent. And they are not really evil. It is just that their world works very differently than ours. In their world it is all about fighting and surviving. So they fight a lot. But usually they are not really interested in attacking humans.”

“It looked quite different back in the day,” Saori muttered.

“Yes, I know. And…” Megumi bit her lip. She could not say anything about Yuggoth and the issues that Hypnos had created. “Back in the day a creature from their world had gotten to our world, and some Digimon had been drawn to it. But now it is… It is less complicated.”

“Then why did whatever kidnapped us kidnap us?”

“I don’t know.” Megumi looked at her phone and sighed. Still no connection. Darn it. One should believe that in one of the biggest metropoles in the world it should be possible to get some connection, right?

She paused, looking around. What to do? She had to do something. Katou might be in danger, and as long as the two of them sat in here, they could do little to help.

No. Megumi might be failing all her other aspirations. But at the very least she was going to be a responsible adult. And that meant she had to do something.  Anything. Most of all she had to get out of this stupid unit.

With careful steps she made her way past Saori, feeling for the door. A moment later the sheet metal of the garage like gate gave a rather loud grumbling, as Megumi stumbled against it.

“What are you doing?” Saori asked, her voice tense.

Megumi felt along the edges of the door. “I am not quite sure myself, but… We have to find a way out.”

Juri was standing on the flat roof of one of the smaller buildings in Tokyo. She could not count from up here, but it was probably not more than five stories. In front of her was a nice table with a tablecloth hanging over it. There was a bowl of cookies in the middle of it, as well as a pot filled with tea by the looks of it.

It was bizarre, though Juri had seen more bizarre things in her life so far. The only thing that made her worry was, that she had no idea how she had gotten here. Nor did she know where Onodera and Hanegawa had disappeared to.

She looked around, trying to make sense of where she had ended up. There had to be a way off this roof. Where? Where?

Her gaze drifted from one side of the roof to the other. There! There was a door. She would get to leave and then… Well, it was probably most sensible to call in some help. Because something told her that whatever had been happening, was not quite safe.

She wanted to hurry over to the door, as a voice spoke to her.

“Please, wait!”

She swirled around, to find a man standing by the table now. He had not been there a moment before.

The man had ashen hair, and was wearing the outfit of a butler. He was wearing a mask, too, that covered most of his face. He looked human, though Juri knew that that was the kind of impression that could easily be misleading. Several Digimon looked human on the first impression, though if this was a Digimon, she did not know it.

“Who are you?” she asked, trying to give her voice a firm tone.

The man looked at her with eyes that were barely visible in the dark of the night, and yet she could feel their gaze on her. “A friend. I swear.” He put his hand on his chest. “A friend. Please. I do not mean you any harm.”

She paused. “Did you get me here? Did you… What? Teleport me?”

“I invited you here,” the man said. “Just a friendly invitation. But I am glad that you came.” The mask did not cover his mouth, allowing him to smile. Was it her imagination or did he have rather sharp teeth? “Please, my lady, have at least a tea with me. I put in so much effort to prepare this.”

She looked at him. “I was with two women before you…” She hesitated, but then used the same words he had been using before. “Before you invited me here. Where are they?”

“Safe,” he said and bowed. “I promise you that much.”

“Safe?”

“Yes, they are safe. No harm has come to them, nor will come to them in any time near to this moment. At least not…” He let his voice trail off.

“At least not?”

“Well, that is up to you.” He smiled, once more gesturing to the table. “Please, have some tea with me.”

She paused. For a moment she considered her options. If she ran now, would she be able to reach Takato in time for him to come in and do something? She was not certain who this man was. Was he a Digimon? Or maybe a Tamer? Could he be a Tamer? Either way. It had to have something to do with Digimon, because otherwise…  She would not be here, would she? Only a Digimon could have teleported her here. So it had to have been a Digimon.

In the end, she sighed. Maybe Onodera-san was able of calling in help. She could phone Hypnos after all. Probably. Hopefully. And once Hypnos was informed either Takato, Ruki or Ryou would undoubtedly come in to safe her. So maybe it was easier for her to play on time.

Darn it. What would she have given to have a Digimon partner still? Then she would not feel quite that vulnerable right now.

She forced a smile onto her lips, before going over to the table. “Of course. A tea sounds lovely.”

“I thought so,” the man said. With a fluid motion he sat down opposite her, before taking the tea pot to artfully pour some of the tea into a cup. “There you go.” He was smiling still.

His eyes… Yeah, his eyes were not fully human. He was a Digimon, wasn’t he?

She smelled the tea. It had a floral scent, though she could not quite name it exactly. Rose tea, maybe? After a moment of hesitation, she took a sip from the tea, keeping her smile up. “Lovely.”

“I know, right?” The man poured himself a cup and eyed her, tilting his head just a little.

Juri looked at the cookies instead. She did not like meeting his gaze. “There has to be a reason for this, though.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, I doubt you would invite me here if there was nothing that you’d want from me, right?”

He chuckled just a little, and something about his chuckle made her shiver. “You are a clever girl, aren’t you?”

“I am, yes,” she said, knowing better than to show her fear.

He leaned back on his chair in a way that she associated more with teenage delinquents than with a butler. “Well, truth to be told, I am looking for a special kind of connection, do you see?”

She sipped on her tea. Hopefully it wasn’t poisoned. “A connection?”

“Yes, my dear girl. Oh, I must have started this all wrong, didn’t I?”

She was not sure she was following him right. “How so?”

“I should have started by introducing myself,” he said. “And asking you, my lovely lady, for your name. I am so sorry about that.”

Actually, she was somehow impressed by herself in how she managed to keep her smile up. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell me your name, would you?”

“Of course.” He got up from his chair, before bowing in a rather formal way. Not the Japanese way, no, rather the way Juri had seen knights bow in some European and American movies. “You can call me the Joker.”

She frowned, as all the name would conjure up in her mind was the villain from this one superhero series. And that was not exactly a pleasant association was it. “The Joker?”

“Yes, my lady,” he replied. “Now, tell me your name.”

“Right.” After some hesitation, she got up, bowing in the Japanese way. “My name is Katou Juri. It is a pleasure to meet you, Joker.”

“Katou Juri…” The man looked at her with those strange, strange eyes. “I think I have been looking for someone like you for a long while.”

“For someone like me?”

“Yes,” he said. “Someone, who wants to be connected.” He took her hand into his own – and his hand was so strangely cold. “But cannot be.”

She frowned. “I am not sure I follow.”

“There is something about you…” He pulled her closer, making her tense up. She did not like where this was going – even though she was not sure she understood it exactly.

He looked at her in this way, that might have been more fitting for some sort of TV drama, yet made her skin crawl. His gloved hand felt for the pocket of her jacket, only to produce something out of it a moment later. “I knew it…”

Her eyes widened, as she realized what he was holding there.

Her Digivice! Sure, it was a useless memorabilia, but she rarely ever left her home without it. She reached for it. “Please, give it back.”

He looked at her, his eyes widening. “I did not mean to take it from you, Katou Juri-san.” He let go of her, before kneeling. “Please, you can have it back.” He offered it to her. “But only if…”

She put her hand onto the Digivice, whose screen had been fuzzy ever since the day that Leomon had died. “If?”

“If you become my Tamer.”

She took a step back. “What?”

“Please, Katou Juri-san. I need you to become my Tamer!”

Anoter step backwards, as she tried to make sense of the situation. “So you are a Digimon.”

“I am.” He pushed the Digivice forward. “But I do not mean to harm you. I just need your strength, Katou Juri-san. Please.”

“My strength?” She stared at the man, unsure what to make of him. A Digimon. What kind of Digimon? She was not like Takato or Ryou, who could name all the Digimon without even thinking about it. A Digimon.

“You see, I have this rival, and if I do not gain more strength, I will undoubtedly loose, and then…” He paused, turning his head. “Darn it.”

Juri’s head was spinning. She was not sure if any of this was making sense. It probably wasn’t. She looked at her Digivice in his hand, unsure whether she could just take it back. Her Digivice. Her connection to Leomon – even if Leomon had long died. “Show me your true form,” she whispered.

He turned his head. “I am afraid, there is no time for that.” He pushed the Digivice into her hand. “Just wait a short moment for me, Katou Juri. I will be back with you in just a moment’s time.” And with that, he disappeared, teleporting away no doubt.

She stood there on that roof, trembling just a bit. She looked at the Digivice in her hand, feeling that familiar ache in her heart once more.

Oh, Leomon. If only Leomon was here.

But he wasn’t. And he never would be again.

She had learned to deal with it, but… At moments like this she really could not help but wish for it. Leomon. Her beloved Leomon.

It didn’t matter. She needed to either get help or find Onodera and Hanegawa. One or the other would do. She sprinted over to that door once again, only to almost collide with the person who appeared right in front of her a moment later.

“What…” She managed, as she stumbled backwards. She would have ended up on her ass, if the person in front of her had not roughly grabbed her wrist, pulling her upward again.

Icy blue eyes looked at her. This one looked like a human, too, but less so. His proportions were off, were uncanny. And the red hair on his head was standing up. “Oh, what has that idiot caught himself today?” The man – or rather Digimon – muttered. “A little girl?”

Juri tried to pull herself lose. “Let go of me!”

“A little girl with spunk,” the Digimon muttered.

She recognized this one now. Piemon. She had seen it in the anime before, and she had once owned the card. “Let go of me!” she repeated, and somehow managed to pull her hand free.

Piemon. It was one of the Ultimate level Digimon. One of the strongest kinds of Digimon. And she was just a teenage girl. This wasn’t good. Even she could say that much.

She took several steps back.

“What did that idiot want from you, girl?” Piemon asked now.

“Nothing,” she whispered. “Nothing at all.”

“Come on. Don’t lie if you do not put in an effort.” Piemon looked her up and down, before his eyes found her Digivice. “Ah, I see. A Tamer without a partner? Huh.”

She took another step back, then another. But she knew she would be out of roof rather soon. “What do you want from me now?”

“That is a good question,” Piemon said. “I think I understand though. Jokermon… He wanted you to be his partner?”

Juri stared at Piemon, stumbling backwards, until she was at the edge of the roof.

“I wonder if it would be that easy,” Piemon muttered. “A Tamer without a Digimon partner.” Then he smirked. “Oh well, better not to take unnecessary risks.” With those words, he pulled out a sword, as Juri found stop in her steps.

Chapter Text

“Gumi…” Saori was sitting against one of the boxes now.

Megumi looked over her shoulder. “What?”

Her friend sighed, watching Megumi, who was sitting at the bottom of the gate, trying to push a piece of wire along the floor beneath.

“I don’t think this will work…”

“We will see about that,” Megumi replied. She was not yet willing to give up. If they were lucky this was just a twist and turn lock outside, then maybe she could get out of here if she just caught the handle of it. Sure, if it was an actual lock, she would not be able to do anything. She was not a professional lockpick, was she now?

But this… Well, it was better than just sitting around doing nothing.

Megumi had never been good at sitting around doing nothing. While she was still not fully sure what was happening here and why, she was certainly not gonna just wait and hope for the best. Especially not with Katou out there. As far as Megumi was concerned, the girl was her responsibility right now. She had to make sure the girl was safe.

And more importantly: She had to get someone in to help them. If there were Digimon on the loose, they needed to do something about it.

She rotated the wire once more, gasping with excitement, when it almost caught something on the other side of the gate. However, the wire slipped past it, making her try again. And then again. And again.

Saori had by now drawn her legs up to her body. “How long do you think it will take until someone is calling us in as missing?”

“Depends,” Megumi muttered, while trying again. “I won’t be missed before my shift the day after tomorrow. I guess your husband will miss you earlier, though, right?”

Saori just sighed.

“And Katou-san will probably be missed in a few hours. Ha!” Megumi almost jubilated as the wire finally caught something on the other side of the gate. She pulled on it – quite carefully at first, before she leaned back and put her back into it.

She could feel that something was moving now. Yes. This was actually working. Something on the other side was moving, though the creaking going along with it was ear-shattering in the dark silence of the storage unit.

But then… It seemed that whatever had been there, had moved enough. The wire came loose, making her almost fall backwards.

“Now what?” Saori muttered.

Megumi took a deep breath. “Well… We’ll see.” She crawled forward again, pushing her fingers underneath the rattling gate. “One. Two. Three…” She pushed upwards, and indeed, it moved. It moved! “Ha! Who is amazing?” She managed to push the gate fully up, where it cranked against the end-piece in the ceiling above.

“Well, if some monster has kidnapped us, that monster will know now…” Saori muttered, though she got up.

“Then let’s be quick.” Given that the light of her phone screen was not reaching very far into the darkness, Megumi felt more along the walls. Well, walls. It was not walls. It was just one gate after another. They were in some sort of storage facility after all. She moved along the wall, until she finally found something. It felt like a light switch.

Hopefully she was lucky once more.

She pressed it, holding her breath. And then… flickering neon lights came to live above her.

In the first moment, she had to cover her eyes. After at least twenty or thirty minutes in the near total darkness, the light was simply too bright. Still, she could not help but be a bit proud if herself. She was not completely useless, was she? Breaking herself out. Finding the light switch. Now all she needed to do was to find a staircase up, call Hypnos, and then…

“I cannot believe you two just broke out,” a voice muttered.

It was a male voice, at least from the sound of it. But was cold, too.

Megumi whipped around, still squinting her eyes because of the blinding light. She was standing in the middle of a hallway wide enough that at least a K-car would probably be able to drive through it. It was a long hallway, too, and maybe ten meters or so from her, there was a man standing. A man, whose face was half covered by some sort of Venezian mask.

Only… Megumi had a good guess that this was not a man at all. Instead, this was a Digimon, wasn’t it?

“Gumi?” Saori asked, her voice pressed now. “Who…”

Megumi drew a deep breath. “Look, I know you are a Digimon. I have no idea what you might want from us, but… I swear to you, if you do not let us go, you will get yourself in even deeper trouble.”

“Says you?” the man – or Digimon – asked.

“Says I,” Megumi replied.

“A human?”

“Yes,” Megumi said. “Says I, a human.” She looked at her phone, finding that she still had not connection to the network. Darn it!

The Digimon sighed. “Look, I do not want to harm you. But I do need you for now. I do need some collateral.”

“Then find someone else,” Megumi said. She grabbed Saori’s hand, before she started to run.

Half, she looked over her shoulder, and saw what she had already feared to see. The man’s eyes were glowing blue now, as his form drifted away in the form of data particles, revealing a still humanoid shape – just not quite.

A scythe appeared in his hand, as he grunted.

“What the hell?” Saori panted. “You just said…”

“Look, it does not matter,” Megumi replied. “We need to find the stairs, okay?”

“Stairs?”

“We have to be underground. I am pretty sure of that. So, somewhere around here are stairs leading up.” She looked around. Because somewhere had to be signs for the emergency exit.

There! Ha. She finally saw one.

Just maybe a moment too late, as just around now the Digimon used its scythe to slash through the entire hallway. It was more of an instinct that saved Megumi – and Saori – as Megumi jumped forward and pulled Saori with herself.

“What…” Saori had tears in her eyes now, but Megumi had no time for this.

She knew quite well, that they did not stand a chance if the Digimon actually hit them.

Now, other than those kids, Megumi had no encyclopedic knowledge of all those Digimon. So she could not name what kind of Digimon this was. But generally speaking she had learned one thing: If a Digimon had the general build of a human adult, it was quite likely, that it was at least Perfect level, and with that powerful enough to blow an entire block to smithereens. So, no, she was not gonna try and find out what would happen if either she or Saori made contact with that scythe.

She pushed herself up, and pulled Saori with herself as well. “Just run!” she barked, before sprinting ahead. There was a corner. Great.

She felt how the Digimon was preparing another attack, but she would not stay still. Instead she jumped behind that corner, looking out for the emergency exit signs.

By all ten-thousand gods! Who had the idea to turn those storage facilities into a bloody maze? This was Japan, the country hit by hundreds of earthquakes a year. Who had thought this was a good idea?

She kept running, hearing the rumble and hissing, as the scythe cut through the air and the wall just behind them. Where was this staircase? Just where?

“Gumi…” Saori was panting. “Just…”

“No talk. Just run!” Megumi knew that standing still would be their doom. So she was not going to try it either way.

This kind of “side alley”, so to speak, was shorter. And it ended up in one of those wide hallways once more. In fact, if she was not mistaken, this one had not another line of storage units to both sides. Just to one. And… Yes! At the other side, there was simply a wall. Just a wall. And in the wall, maybe twenty meter away, there was a door with a green glowing emergency exit sign above.

She grabbed Saori’s wrist once more, pulling her along.

“Don’t you dare!” the Digimon yelled.

Megumi did not realized quickly enough what was happening. She was stupid. Oh, she was so stupid. Because in the end she should know better. This was a high level Digimon. It was faster than a human. And still, she almost ran into it, as it simply appeared in front of her – cutting of her way to the exit.

“I need you to stay here, silly little human.” Now that the scythe was pressing against Megumi’s neck, she had a moment to actually look at the Digimon. It had the form of a very slender human man with sickly pale skin. The kind of dress he wore was that of a clown of some sort. There was one of those hats on his head with two pommels on it. What was it called again? Well, it did not really matter, did it?

She swallowed, looking at the Digimon. “What do you want from us?” For a moment her eyes flicked at her phone.

There was a single bar of connection. Huh.

Without taking her eyes from the Digimon, she moved through her contacts, calling the number of her office.

“I do not want anything from you, but I…” The Digimon’s eyes narrowed. “I need the help of your little friend, and I…”

“What do you want from Katou-san?” Megumi asked.

“Nothing to harm her,” the Digimon insisted. “Just to…”

There was some sound. Even Megumi could hear it. It came from whatever was behind the emergency exit. And it sounded suspiously like an explosion.

“What the…” Saori stumbled backwards now.

“Heaven and Hell!” the Digimon was cussing now. “That asshole…”

“What?” Saori muttered.

But the Digimon did not pay her any attention. “Darn it all!” It slashed its scythe at the door, opening it in this rather unseemly manner, before disappearing through it.

“Hello?” A muffled voice sounded from the phone. “Hello? Anyone?”

Megumi’s heart was racing, but slowly she calmed down. She raised the phone to her ear. “Onodera Megumi here. I need reinforcements.”

Juri did not know, how she managed to evade the attack. She jumped to the side, and the sword missed her by a hair’s width. She did however not hesitate. While her mind was only slowly realizing how desperate her situation was, her body seemed to know. She ran, sprinting towards the door. Almost she expected the Digimon to overtake her – it was an Ultimate level Digimon after all – but somehow she managed to get her hand onto the doorknob.

Again a sword hissed through the air, hitting the door and slightly cutting her leg. She hissed in pain, but then managed to swing the door open.

Run.

That was all she could do.

Run!

She jumped through the door, ignoring the sword sticking in the metal, and found herself in some sort of staircase.

Well, it did not matter where exactly she was. All that mattered was, that she would have to get away from here. Away from Piemon. And then… Oh, she did not know.

Leomon. What would she not give to have Leomon here?! But Leomon was dead. He was dead. All that remained of him was the data that Impmon had absorbed after killing him. It was not right. And it was not fair. But it was what it was.

Leomon would not come to safe her. Never again.

She jumped several stairs, hoping to find other people or anything. If there was only someone she could call upon. Someone who could so something.

An Ultimate Digimon. It was too strong for some of the others to deal with. Takato, Jianliang and Ruki would be able to, but the others? No. They would not manage it. Probably not. Or Ryou, she guessed.

“Don’t run away, human girl!” Piemon’s voice echoed through the staircase from above.

She ignored it.

She had managed to run down one floor, but ran another, before trying the door from the staircase. It opened up, allowing her to burst through it.

“Help!” she yelled, only to be met by a mostly dark corridor ahead.

There were some lights here. Just enough to make her realize after a moment, that she had to be in some sort of mall or market house. Yes, these were shops, that had closed up for the night.

Darn it!

She already wanted to turn around, when she saw the yellow shoes of the Digimon float down the stairs.

She would not be able to run forever. But either there was another staircase here, or maybe an elevator, or at least a place where she could hide.

Something.

Maybe Megumi had already managed to call Hypnos and they would be able to contact one of the others. Yes. That would be the best. If one of the others came and fought this crazy Digimon, it would be over rather soon. She only needed to survive for so long.

She ran down the corridor between those closed down shops. Some of them were selling merchandise for animes and games, others were selling clothes. She could see some displays still blinking in the twilight of the corridor. The displays were reflecting in the glass to the sides of some of the shops, giving this entire corridor an eerie atmosphere.

The corridor was not quite that long, allowing her to turn the corner fairly quickly.

She pressed herself against a piece of solid wall, allowing herself to breathe.

“Oh, come on little girl,” the jester’s voice sounded through the floor. “I did not want to play hide and seek.”

Juri hesitated for a moment. The Digimon did not seem to be able to tell where she was for the moment, so maybe instead of running she should sneak for now.

She turned, keeping close to the wall. Slowly she moved alone the corridor, looking out for signs for an emergency exit. There! She could see the familiar green outline not too far away. Yes. That was, where she should head, and then…

She did not know. She would see.

Slowly she moved in the direction of the door that would hopefully get her to somewhat safety.

She did not know in which mall she was, but there was a good likelihood that at least on the groundfloor there might be an open restaurant or pub.

But would the Digimon follow her there? Would it attack her there?

After all, this was not like the villain in a slasher movie, was it? Those were humans, who did not want to get caught. But this was a Digimon. A Digimon might attack other humans as well, and… If someone else got hurt, it would be her fault! Just like back then… If she had not been like that, Leomon might have lived… She still did not know.

She moved slowly ahead, trying to make as little noise as possible. While this was not a forest or a similar area, where twigs and leaves might make sounds under her feet, she was afraid that her sport shoes might make squeaking sounds on the laminated floor. Carefully she put one foot before the next. Another step. Another.

And yet, it was for nothing.

“There you are,” the Digimon grunted, making her swirl around with a gasp.

Piemon was at the end of the path she was on, grinning and showing his rather sharp teeth.

Run! It was the one thought in her mind. Run!

She ran, sprinting towards the exit door.

“Not so fast!” Piemon yelled. “Clown Trick!”

And in front of her eyes the corridor suddenly stretched out, becoming near endless. It was as if the exit door was suddenly a kilometer away at the very least. She still ran, because what else was she supposed to do?

She ran past the same repeating displays blinking in the windows. The same flickering neon lights advertising some new card game. The same old TV with its red standby light reflecting in the window. Over and over again.

“Trump Sword!” Again there was a sword in the air. Juri did not turn around to see it, but she almost felt it.

Like a panicked hare she jumped to the side, somehow managing to evade the attack.

The exit was not coming closer! Darn it! What was she supposed to do now?

She kept running.

“Just let yourself get killed, girl!” Piemon yelled. “Trump Sword!”

“I am not gonna die!” She could feel tears in her eyes. How was she going to get out of here? How was she going to survive this?

“You will, and you know it! Humans are quite easily killed, I have heard!” Piemon floated over the ground like a ghost. He followed her so easily. “Trump Sword!”

She again jumped to the side, but this time the sword cut her shoulder deep enough for her to stumble and fall. She yelled, feeling hot tears running down her cheeks.

She could not die.

She could just not die. If she died, what would Leomon have died for? What would everyone have risked their lives for those four and a half years ago? She just could not die.

“Silly girl. I am getting annoyed!”

Juri wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and just as she did so, she noticed something. For a moment… Yes, for a moment the exit seemed to be much closer.

Could it be?

She remembered the digital world. In the digital world things had not always been quite the way they had appeared. But at times their minds had still made them that way, because it had warped their perception. Yes. Maybe something like that was happening here?

Darn it all. She had to try it.

She closed her eyes and continued running, half expecting to collide with something. She ran, and ran, almost stumbling.

“Trump Sword!”

She just pushed to the side, and then… She suddenly did collide with something. Something surprisingly solid.

She dared to squint. It was the door! She had reached the exit!

She pulled it open, sprinting into the staircase behind it. But Piemon was so close on her heels. She could hear it. There was a creak, and then a bang, when the Digimon just pulled the door out of its hinges.

“My dear human child,” he pressed out through gritted teeth. “You are starting to annoy me.”

She jumped down almost half a flight of stairs. Truthfully it was a miracle that she did not fall. Then she turned to the next flight leading to the next floor. The third floor, by the markings at the side of the staircase.

“That’s it…” Piemon hissed, appearing in the flight just behind her. “Ending Snipe!” He made a gesture with his hand, and then there was an energy wave.

For a moment Juri thought it would hit her, but somehow it missed.

She stared at the Digimon, who was grinning. But only when the explosion happened behind her, did she understand what had happened.

She lost her balance, being pushed forward – into Piemon.

Chapter Text

Juri whimpered, when Piemon gripped her arm, pulling her up on it. Her shoulder was hurting, and she was well aware that this was probably the least of her problems. The Digimon was Ultimate level, it would easily be able to kill her.

She saw those glowing orange eyes, staring at her now. There was a wide grin on the face of the clown. “Oh, for a human kid you were actually quite impressive,” the Digimon said now. “I am sorry for this.” He took out one of his knives. “It is nothing personal.”

Her heart felt as if it was going to tear apart, it was beating so fast now. She was not going to die. She was not going to die! She couldn’t. If she died, then what would it all have been for? What would Leomon have died for in the end? What would everyone else have fought for?

The grip of the Digimon around her wrist was like a steel shackle. She could not escape. But then the worst burst out of her: “What if I became your partner?”

Piemon paused. Dangerous eyes were looking at her with some confusion. “What?”

“I… I have a Digivice. I am a Digimon Tamer. What if I became your partner? Because… Because my last partner died, so… So you could become my partner.” It was why Jokermon had kidnapped her, right? And she remembered rather well that quite a lot of Digimon were looking for human partners, as the legend had spread far and wide in the digital world, that a human Tamer would make any Digimon a lot stronger.

It seemed to tempt Piemon at the very least. He hesitated. “Why?”

Juri had to fight down her fear. She forced herself to smile, something she was rather good at. She had forced herself to smile so often. “Because you seem to be a really strong Digimon. And if I have a new partner, I would want one, who will not die again. Doesn’t that make sense?”

Another long pause, that felt as if it was stretching out for an eternity. Then Piemon let her down. “Indeed.” He was smirking. “That does make a lot of sense. However…”

He did not get to finish that sentence, as a shadow materialized behind him. “You will not get in the way of this!” Jokermon hissed. It got out its scythe, bringing it down on Piemon.

Piemon pushed Juri to the side, sending her flying down the stairs.

She grunted, as she ended on the landing between the stories, hitting her shoulders and elbows pretty hard. However, she knew that she could not lie down and wait for things to happen. No. If she wanted to survive this, she had to get out of here.

For a moment she looked at the Digimon, saw how the scythe met with the swords, before Piemon pushed Jokermon into one of the walls.

It did not matter now. They should fight.  She was going to do the sensible thing and run.

Even though her body was protesting against it, she pushed herself up, and made her way to the next stair downwards. She was stumbling at first, but then slowly regained steadiness on her feet, starting to run now. Down. Down. Down.

There had to be an exit somewhere. A way out.

Or would it be better to hide somewhere? She was not certain. Because she was not exactly certain where she was. It had to be one of the shopping centers. A mall or something like that.

She was not certain if Hypnos knew about the Digimon appearing here. She was not certain if someone would come to save her. In fact, she hated that once again she would need to be saved, because she did not have Digimon partner any longer. She hated to be forced to rely on everyone else. Not because she did not trust them, but because she hated feeling so weak.

Somewhere further up in the staircase she could hear the Digimon fight. She could hear stone breaking.

Darn. If she was unlucky they would bring down the entire building.

“Trump Sword!” Piemon’s voice echoed.

“Lunatic Slash!” Jokermon answered.

Something that sounded suspiciously like an explosion was echoing through the entire place, making the stairs vibrate.

Somewhere underneath someone screamed. Only to be answered by someone else: “Be quiet!”

Juri recognized that voice: “Megumi?” she yelled, and hastened her steps even more. She was certain it had been Megumi. Somewhere below.

At least it seemed that the older woman heard her voice even over the echoing fight of the Digimon. “Juri?”

“I am here!” Juri ran down the stairs, jumping even several steps, though she regretted it as her knees clearly screamed over it, when she landed.

She groaned, but made her way further down, until she ran into Megumi and the friend Megumi had been with before. “Gods, you are here!”

“Yes, and we were worried about you,” Megumi said. She looked at Juri for a long moment, before drawing in a deep breath. She seemed to want to say something, but her friend spoke up before she could.

“Shouldn’t we try to get out of here?”

Megumi and Juri stared at each other, but then nodded. “Yes.”

“What about Hypnos?” Juri asked, as she tried to orient herself in the staircase.

There were the numbers. They were on the second floor. So they needed to go one down.

“I called them. Someone should come to get us soon.” Megumi followed after her – and her friend was following just behind.

At least something. Someone would come. Even if they did not know who it would be. But some of the other Tamers would get here. Someone, ideally, who had a Digimon that could fight the two clown Digimon in their level.

They did not talk about this, just ran down the other flight of stairs, and then out of the door opening up to another corridor in the building. They clearly were in the area selling the food. While most of the small restaurants and pubs seemed to have closed down by now, it was clear to see from the fronts of the shops.

“You know where we are?” Juri asked.

“Not fully,” Megumi replied. She looked around breathlessly, before it was her other human friend, who pointed.

“There!” She was pointing at an emergency exit sign.

No need to talk about it further.

They could still hear the Digimon fight somewhere above, but they would not need to deal with it hopefully. They followed the emergency exit signs, and indeed they found the door. The emergency exit. Quickly they ran at it only to collide with it.

“It’s locked!” Megumi said, trying to push open the door.

“Probably because it is night,” her friend replied. “So that nobody breaks in and squats or something.”

“No,” Juri said. “This is an emergency exit. Those are supposed to be at least…” Her eyed glid along the door. She knew emergency exits had to be easily opened from the inside. She knew it, because even their little pub had been forced to have something like that.

And there. At the hinges, there was a slider. She pulled it down and tried to open the door once more. This time it worked.

“How did you know that?” Megumi’s friend asked.

“I just pay attention,” Juri said with a smile, and then ran outside onto the street.

Once in the cold air, she allowed herself to breathe for a moment. Thank the gods, they had managed to get out of there.

What were they supposed to do now? Should they flee or should they just stay and wait for whoever was going to rescue them to arrive? Who would come? Takato, Jianliang, or Juri? Maybe Ryou. He had moved here not too long ago, right?

Megumi grabbed Juri by the shoulder. “We should probably find a place to hide for now.”

Juri turned to her, and nodded slowly. Hiding sounded as if it might indeed be a good idea. She turned, looking down the side street. There were more than enough alleys in which they should be able to hide. The confusing layout of Tokyo streets should be good for something, right?

She made the first step – just in the same moment that a loud bang sounded from just above them.

She looked up instinctively, to see the wall of the building seemingly explode. A moment later a body flew through the cloud of debris and dust, landing on the ground. It looked human at first, but after a moment Juri realized that it was not. It was Jokermon, its body now flickering like TV with bad reception.

Juri had seen this kind of flickering before, of course. A Digimon, that was close to dying. A Digimon, whose data was threatening to burst apart.

She looked at the joker Digimon, as it tried to push itself up. “Fuck,” it panted. “Fuck it all!” Somehow it managed to get itself into an upright position again, just in time to watch Piemon float through the dust cloud.

Even now the body of Jokermon was flickering, as he reached out to summon his scythe once more.  “I am not going to go down that easily!”

Piemon was chuckling. “Actually, you are going down fairly easily,” he mocked his opponent. Again he got out two of his swords from the sheaths on his back. “I always knew you were a weakling, though. So do not take it too heart.”

Juri felt herself trembling as she watched it happen. Some part of her – some tiny part – felt actually guilty. Because in the end… She did not want to replace Leomon. She did not want that. But she guessed she understood Jokermon. He did not want to die. Of course not. Most people – human or Digimon – did not want to die after all.

She wished she could do anything. But what was she to do? She was a human. A weak little human, who was powerless in comparison to the two Digimon.

For a moment, Jokermon looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and their gazes met. It was just a moment though, as in the next Piemon threw his swords.

“Trump Sword!”

Both swords pierced Jokermon’s chest, making his form flicker even more.

He grunted, as he went to his knees. “You stupid…” He tried to breathe, even though it seemed so off for a Digimon to do. He spat out. No blood, but data particles. His hand tensed around the handle of his scythe.

Then he looked at Juri. “I… I am sorry, Juri-chan…” That was the last thing he said, before his body burst into data particles – blue, at first, but quickly turning red as they were absorbed by Piemon.

“Ah, finally.” Piemon was still floating in the air, his arms outstretched. “I have waited for this for so long.” The last of the data was absorbed into his body, when his eyes glid over to Juri, Megumi and Megumi’s friend.

Juri could feel tears burning in her eyes, even though she did not want to cry. She felt sorry for Jokermon, even though it was too late for it now.

A part of her wanted to chastise Piemon. She wanted to scream at him. But at the same time she knew it would not make her situation any better.

“So, Juri-chan…” Piemon spoke her name so mockingly. “How about the thing we have been talking about, hmm?” He floated down to her, those yellow shoes harshly landing on the ground. Then he came over to her, reaching out, as she instinctively took several steps back.

Piemon looked at her, and sighed. “So it was a lie, wasn’t it?”

“Why… Why would it matter?” she asked, her voice now hoarse. “You won. You defeated your rival. Is that not enough?”

“Katou-san…” Megumi whispered, while Juri once more felt her heart almost burst through her chest.

“Please,” she whispered. “Please just leave us alone.”

Piemon scoffed at her. “I am not quite sure it is that easy,” he said. He made a movement with his hand, several playing cards appearing in front of him. “Pick one card, Juri-chan.”

She looked at the Digimon’s face, then at the card, then back at the Digimon’s face. “W-what if I don’t?”

“Do you really want to find out?” the Digimon asked.

She was not sure what to do. She was not sure how she had even gotten into this situation.

“Leave her alone!” Megumi yelled. “She is only a kid.”

“Silence!” The Digimon made a movement with its hand, and one of the cards shot towards Megumi, turning into a sticky black thing, that wrapped itself around her mouth.

Megumi stumbled backwards, landing on the ground, while she tried to pull the weirdly living thing off her face. She tried to scream, but her mouth was fully covered. Her eyes were wide now, seemingly almost jumping in her skull.

“Megumi!” her friend shouted, trying to help her, trying to pull the black mass off Megumi’s face.

“So, Juri-chan,” Piemon said. “What is it going to be?”

There were sirens somewhere in the far distance, echoing through the streets of Tokyo, while Juri stared at the Digimon. What should she do? What could she do?

“One card, Juri-chan,” Piemon mocked her. “Just one.”

She looked at the cards hovering in the air in front of him. If she picked wrong, would she die? Would the Digimon simply kill her?

She just didn’t know. All she knew was, that she did not want to die. “I…” Her voice was so close to breaking, as she just stood there, frozen in fear. “I…” She had to say something. Do something. Had to make a move. Not just to save herself, but Megumi as well.

Her breath caught in her throat. Something! Anything!

“Tick-tock, Juri-chan. Your time is running out.”

“I…” Her knees felt soft now. She was about to pass out, wasn’t she?

Then, two loud voices from above:

“Chaos Flare!”

“Final Elysium!”

“What…?” Piemon whipped around, jumping out of the way in the last second, before the two attacks could hit him.

Juri stared at the place in the street where the attacks had hit, breaking up the concrete.

Then her gaze glid up to the sky, where Beelzebumon and Dukemon were hovering.

“Are you alright, Juri?” She could hear Takato’s voice, making her swallow hard.

“I…” Her voice was still not quite cooperating. Yet, she forced herself to answer. “I am fine! But Megumi isn’t! Hurry! You need to defeat Piemon!”

Dukemon nodded. It looked at Piemon now. “A Digimon like you does not belong into this world!”

“Ah, and a Digimon like you does?” Piemon answered. It laughed. “We will see about that. Ending Snipe!”

“Double Impact!” Piemon had not paid enough attention to Beelzebumon, who was also there. The devil Digimon’s bullets hit Piemon’s shoulder, pushing him backwards, while his own attack just ended up hitting Dukemon’s shield.

“You little punk,” Beelzebumon growled. “You made enough problems for us.” Again did he raise his weapon – making it fuse with his hand once more. “Chaos Flare!”

Piemon clearly realized how desperate his situation was, as Beelzebumon painted the pentagram into the air. “I see how this is going.” He pulled a white blanket out of seemingly nowhere, trying to hide beneath it. “Clown Trick!”

“Not so fast!” Dukemon’s lance caught the blanket in the air. “Royal Saber!” The white fabric burst into data – just in the moment that Beelzebumon was done with the preparation of his attack.

“That’s not fiar…” Piemon whispered – and one moment later, the energy blast from the attack enveloped it.

For a moment the sky was alight with the purple energy, but then it started to fade.

Data particles were swirling in the air, blue for now.

“Beelzebumon!” Juri shouted, driven by a sudden compassion. “Please. Please don’t absorb him. He just absorbed another Digimon, and…” She swallowed hard. “I think it would be better if the data returned to the Digital World.”

Beelzebumon looked at her for a long moment, but then his body relaxed. He drew a deep breath. “Juri…” He looked at the data particles float up to the sky. “Of course…”