Author's Notes
Ready to go back to Neverworld? Although you'll see plenty of the existing cast and catch up with everybody, this time the focus will favor the characters from Appmon, Hunters, and tri., particularly the three new goggleheads. If you're unfamiliar, we'll try to get you caught up as much as feasible. Still, to stay consistent with last season, this story uses dub names, terminology, and characterization where available. If Appmon gets a dub, expect a massive find/replace job later to honor this.
A new chapter will go up every two weeks for 3-4 episode runs. This will prevent too many extensive delays. This is looking like another 26-episode series, so buckle up!
This story includes mild violence, mild language, sexual situations I hope remain mild, and all the suggestive dialogue. All characters save two are older than they were in their shows, but thanks to what happened last season I can't generalize by how much. There are about three "traditional" pairings featured across this whole shebang (and one of them is now poly), so don't get your hopes up.
Transformative Works Statement
Any transformative works, be it art, music, or spinoff stories, may be done without my permission so long as I am made aware of it by private message or email. I am open to podfic, but please seek permission first.
Nexusworld
I'm gonna fight my way to happy ever after.
Win my chance to start another chapter.
Can't stop now: I don't even care if it hurts.
I'm diving in head first.
- The Royal, "Headfirst"
Episode 1
Takuya Kanbara struggled to keep his mind on the mission. He had too much to think about, too many considerations with his other priorities to devote too much brainpower to an operation. He even worried about the way he rationalized his distracted state. The Deramon village offered no strategic value other than being the closest settlement to Parrotmon's base. Parrotmon's preferred strategy would have been to strengthen his army before sending it to attack a village he assumed would be defenseless. His troops were not at full strength and the village was well protected: this was going to be a rout. But rather than focus on protecting innocent Digimon and stopping a potential threat before he became truly dangerous, Takuya could only dwell on all the better things he could be doing with his time. This wasn't his nature, and it frightened him.
His radio crackled to life: "Nearing range." The wind distorted Keenan Crier's voice, an obvious sign he was on the move. Takuya still got the message. Keenan had stumbled upon Parrotmon's base of operations a week ago, even infiltrating enough to observe the few Champion level Digimon he had in his team and hear his rants about "the human invaders" used to corral them to his cause. Nobody on the team batted an eye at this sort of propaganda anymore; every year some zealot or manipulative would-be villain would spread such sentiments trying to either purge the Digital World of its humanity or restore it to the horrific barbarism that existed before the deity Rhythm summoned them all here. Even Keenan, raised on this drivel and more aware of its dangers than anybody, kept his composure and reported back dutifully.
This mission was the result of Keenan's intelligence. Peckmon and a couple Digimon on loan from patrol led them to think their compound was under heavy attack, prompting them to flee and attempt to seize the Deramon village. Takuya had to admit he was impressed by the officers' ability to take all the information, predict Parrotmon's movements, and devise a plan of action around them. But it also took all the suspense out of what was to come, leaving him with little to be excited about.
Two Saberdramon led the charge out of the canyon, flying straight for the village as anticipated. They only made it halfway before the ambush began.
"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon swooped in from the right, a gust from her wings disrupting her dark counterparts as she flew past them. Scorched but unbeaten, they chased. Her passenger, Sora Takenouchi, looked back to ensure they were following the script and steer her partner around the counterattacks. Despite clinging to her swerving partner's left foot, Sora showed no sign of fear. In theory, one Saberdramon should have been an even match against one Birdramon. With Sora piloting, Takuya knew they could handle two.
Besides, they wouldn't be unassisted for long. Once in position, Sora raised a hand. Aquilamon's Blast Rings attack came right on schedule and vaporized one of the Saberdramon. As he flew by, Yolei Inoue shouted commands atop him. Birdramon ascended, almost fully vertical before banking left and seizing the offensive against the remaining enemy. With Aquilamon's support, Takuya didn't have to watch the rest. To think Yolei was so skittish about killing Digimon when Takuya first met her all those years ago. She still didn't like it—few of them did—but she kept her reservations off the battlefield.
Takuya snapped himself away from watching the ladies dominate the sky to focus on what passed for a ground assault. A few Akatorimon and, for variety, one Kokatorimon ran out of the canyon, scampering through the clearing towards the village. He spirit evolved to Agunimon, dodging two overly telegraphed attacks before firing his Pyro Darts to keep them in check.
Before he could stun them enough to deliver a finisher, Kyubimon charged in. "Dragon Wheel!" Her spinning generated an aura of blue flame that slashed through the mob, incinerating several with ease. Her tamer, Rika Nonaka, was the newest fixture on the response team, but both her demeanor and skill revealed an experienced veteran. She took the job seriously, scanning the field for any potential surprises that could endanger her partner, but made no secret she considered this position less demanding than her old patrol duties and took it to relieve some stress. During battles this one-sided, Takuya knew what she meant.
They had taken out most of the supporting army by the time Rika pointed out Parrotmon diving in from the top of the canyon. Once he reached top speed, one flap of his wings both slowed his descent and launched a shockwave attack. Agunimon instinctively stepped in front of Rika to absorb the blow, prompting her to roll her eyes and mutter, "Seriously?"
Not that there wasn't an attack to block, but that job fell to Gallantmon, bounding in and absorbing it with his shield before taking a leaping charge at Parrotmon. The avian saw it in time and rose just enough to avoid his lance, then quickly surveyed the field. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, all of his rage against humans couldn't overcome his survival instinct and he flew away, avoiding the canyon, the village, as well as both Birdramon and Aquilamon.
"Not so fast… slide evolution!" Agunimon became BurningGreymon and flew after him. Parrotmon still had a speed advantage, so BurningGreymon didn't waste any time readying his arm cannons. Once the target steadied his flight, the beast spirit locked onto his target, pulled up, and fired: "Pyro Barrage!"
The laser fire ripped through the sky, but Parrotmon caught an air stream taking it just off course. The attack missed two feet to the right. Parrotmon was too fast to allow a second try. BurningGreymon hovered in the air as Aquilamon caught up and Yolei called him back.
As the victorious unit gathered back at the village, Gallantmon splitting back into Takato Matsuki and Guilmon, two more Digimon ran out of the canyon. Peckmon carried Keenan, already smiling as he saw the fight had ended. The scout's job of sneaking into dangerous locations and identifying potential threats had paid off. Mikey Kudo was aboard Dorulumon, among the newest arrivals at only twenty months. He had been on the patrol team for the last year or so, but the first volunteer to cross over and lend assistance to missions such as these.
Keenan and Mikey met the assembled team, hopped off their steeds, and joined in the round of high-fives that had started. Originally from six different teams across five different dimensions, they united as an organized, efficient unit as if they'd done it every day. Sometimes it felt like they did.
One of the Deramon greeted them. "Well thanks much! We were scared to hear he was targeting us. It's a load off our minds!"
"No prob-" Takuya and Takato caught each other replying in unison. Takuya smiled and deferred to the tamer. "Just happy to help!" said Takato. "A few more weeks unchecked and he could have been a real handful."
Deramon held a wing out towards the largest hut in the village. "Pop inside! We'll treat you to some milk and cookies before you go."
With a scoff, Rika said, "Milk and cookies? Do we look like we're ten?"
Ruffling his feathers, Deramon looked stunned. "Don't tell me you've never had milk here! We make our own lovely microbrew with a hint of maple. You'll love it!"
"That's right!" Takato grinned. "I forgot how milk works here! Yeah, I could go for a round. How about you guys?"
Yolei tilted her head, cracking a sly smile. "It would be rude to say no. How strong is this stuff?"
"Not strong at all! Nothing to worry about," Deramon replied.
"Shame. What about the cookies? What's in those?"
"Nothing. But who doesn't like cookies?"
Sora scratched her shoulder. "This all sounds nice, but we're really busy back home. We only have so much time to finish getting ready." She eyed Takuya for backup.
"She's right…" Takuya said. Before he could elaborate, he saw the annoyed look on Yolei's face. Even Rika seemed receptive to the idea. Takato raised his eyebrows at Takuya and gave him a tiny nod. That did it. "But hey, we've got time for a drink or two. It's a big win! We should celebrate!"
Takato, Yolei, Keenan, and most of the Digimon cheered as they followed Deramon into the hut. Only Sora and Mikey lingered behind with Takuya.
"You know, this is your big plan we're breaking our backs for," she said, folding her arms. "And you're farther behind than we are."
"Only two weeks until the big day!" Mikey said with a big smile.
Takuya threw his hands on their shoulders. "All the more reason to take a break before crunch time!" He practically shoved them toward the hut.
Sora didn't resist, but still huffed, "You've spent the last year trying to move half the castle hundreds of miles away. We're two weeks out, you're not even close to ready… and your solution to this is to get drunk?"
With a grin, Takuya answered, "Sounds like a good reason to get drunk to me!" Sora just sighed.
Kari Kamiya listened to the update from the field with a calm smile, jotting notes and nodding along. She added a chuckle when Yolei concluded with the part about "going out for drinks." Kari flashed a thumb's up to Thomas, prompting a satisfied sigh as he leaned away from her desk.
"Okay, one second," she said over her headset before turning to Thomas. "Mission was a success. Flushed them to the engagement point and took them out with no victims. Parrotmon escaped but his army's gone."
Thomas nodded repeatedly. "Excellent. Have someone camp there for a day or two. We should keep tabs on Parrotmon as well."
Kari returned to Yolei. "Thomas says someone should stick around for a day in case he comes back." She listened to Yolei's reply, smiled, then said, "All right! Have fun and tell everyone great job!"
As she disconnected and pulled off her headset, Henry repeated, "Have fun?" While his position supervised internal logistics and he had no involvement with the mission, he still had ears.
With a wider smile, Kari explained, "The Deramon are treating them to a round of drinks."
Thomas chuckled. "Fair enough. They've certainly earned it. I could fix one myself later."
"You seemed worried," said TK, leaning back in his chair next to Kari's, a well used notepad in his lap.
"Any mission relying on predicting an enemy's behavior carries some risk. Thankfully, Parrotmon wasn't stupid enough to foil it."
A ding signaled the elevator's arrival. "Looks like my lunch date's here," said Kari as Gatomon stepped out.
"Mine too!" said TK with a fixed grin and closed eyes.
The other occupant, Angie, rolled hers in response. "Yeah yeah," she muttered.
While still trained on her monitor, Kari's eyes veered toward TK. Her smile stayed intact. "You only have to deal with him for two more weeks."
"I'd take him over all the boys headed to Isthmian." TK's eyebrows rose. Hers fell.
"Ready Kari?" asked Gatomon.
"Yep, just need to put a tracker on Parrotmon," Kari replied.
"Hey, why don't you let me handle it?" Angie suggested. "I could use the practice."
"And I could use lunch!" added Gatomon.
Agreeing, Kari relinquished her chair as her partner Digimon re-summoned the elevator. With the operation concluded, it was back to another pleasant day at the top of the castle. It usually had been in the seventeen months since Takuya's disastrous effort to lead a splinter group to distant Isthmian Castle. For now, everybody was back together, and other than the odd wannabe insurgent or corrupted Digimon, it had been peaceful enough.
Even when something did arise, one of the active teams dealt with it with little worry. Tai wasn't even in the command room when the decisive update came in, and he was in charge of everything. But he trusted Thomas to supervise, Kari to communicate with the teams, and Takuya and the others to execute the plan. Nobody let him down.
Despite the relative lack of drama, there was plenty of excitement. Teams were pulled into this Digital World approximately six years after their "point zero," the moment they conclusively saved their world from whatever threatened its destruction or conquest. In a week, the sixth anniversary of Quartzmon's defeat theoretically signaled the arrival of the hunters from Mikey's world. The peculiarities of that situation made it impossible to know just who would arrive, but they resolved to be prepared no matter what. With their primary castle nearing comfortable capacity, they developed a more cohesive strategy to utilize Isthmian. What this second outpost would be capable of depended on who arrived, but this time the motivation to settle there was expansion rather than rebellion. It turned what was once a mark against their fraternity into a hopeful investment for the future.
Gatomon stepped on the elevator and turned around, waiting for Kari to push the button. But Kari hadn't moved, standing straight and still behind her chair. Gatomon leaped off when she saw the blank expression on her partner's face. Her eyes glazed over, becoming glassy, multicolored irises with no pupils.
"Kari?!" Her cry drew everyone's attention in time to see Kari turn around and take slow, purposeful steps to her brother's desk. TK jumped out of his chair, his notepad falling to the floor.
Thomas peered in. Despite his years of education and experience, he could only manage to say, "Kari… you don't look well."
"How? This shouldn't be possible."
"You know what's happening?" Thomas forced his eyes away just long enough to glance at the feline.
TK clenched his teeth. "It's like something's possessed her again…"
"Again?!" Angie cried. "This happened before?!"
"Couple times. When we were kids."
"Couple more since then, TK," said Gatomon. "It's an entity from the Digital World. I forgot its name."
"Homeostasis," answered Henry, drawing looks from everybody. He turned away, clearing his throat. "I, uh… I read the novels."
Kari faced them. In a dull monotone, she said, "I am the master of creation and destruction... of heaven and earth... of life and death... of light and darkness."
"Guess we should hear what she has to say," TK said, eyes fixed on his longtime friend. Gatomon returned a silent nod.
Angie turned to them and shouted, "Why are you normalizing this?!"
With no change in expression, Kari's voice rose in pitch and suddenly became giddy: "Oh good, I can do this!"
"Who are you?" asked Thomas.
"Oh, this is Rhythm! I'm really glad this worked."
Henry narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you the one who brought us all in here?"
"Yes, and I need to talk to you about that."
"If it's about the arrival next week, we're already planning for it," said Thomas, cracking a smug grin.
"You worked that out? Impressive!" Her bright, excited tone betrayed the dead look in Kari's eyes and the lack of any smile. Kari's head turned steadily across the room. "Where's Tai?"
"He's at lunch," answered Henry. "Suppose we better get him."
Angie held out a hand. "Wait, hold on, is Tai going to freak out seeing Kari like this?"
"Absolutely," TK replied, containing the urge to freak out himself.
She picked up his notepad, shaking her head. "Skip it then. I'll take a message."
"All right," said Rhythm.
"It's fortuitous you dropped in," Thomas said, pulling notes up on his computer. "While we have the estimated date worked out, the information Mikey gave us raised questions about how many arrivals we'll receive."
"Right… about that… there was a little… hiccup in that world." TK and Henry stared slackjawed at how Kari's face remained expressionless despite all the inflections Rhythm put into her voice. "Did Mikey tell you about Quartzmon?"
"He told us what he knew, but we still have questions."
"So everybody who came in from all those worlds and all those different times sort of messed up my process."
"Hmm, we hadn't considered that. We were more concerned about whether digiquartz was close enough to the Digital World for you to acquire the hunters' data."
"Wow, you guys are so smart! I was worried about that too! Oh, but not because of the data. Anyone with a digivice generates enough data for me to get them. It's just easier if they've been in the Digital World. Plus if I don't have constraints like that, hundreds of kids and their Digimon could end up here."
"Okay, okay!" Angie's notepad was still blank. "What are we supposed to tell Tai?"
"Oh… that hundreds of kids and their Digimon are going to end up here."
TK and Henry shot out of their chairs and shouted, "What?"
Thomas didn't move, but his eyes lifted as he said, "Excuse me?"
Angie wrote down the information.
"Yeah, uh…" Now Rhythm sounded hesitant. "It's complicated but I wasn't able to put in those constraints and, uh…" She rushed the rest of the sentence: "…and all that mess from the Quartzmon thing is sorta pulling in everyone from your worlds I originally left out."
"From our worlds?" asked TK, calming down enough to find his seat. "You mean all the digidestined around the world?"
They waited for a response from Rhythm for several seconds. Then she asked, "Is she nodding? I'm trying to make her nod." They shook their heads. "Oh. So yes, and that's most of them. Thankfully I already cut your world off so it should stop with everybody who helped out against MaloMyotismon."
Thomas looked down, scratching his chin. "MaloMyotismon? So everybody with a digivice during a world's point zero…"
"You gave it a term? Love how you're on top of things!"
"Tell me, how old will they be? If, as an example, Commander Sampson is pulled in, will he be the age he is now or the age he was six years after we beat King Drasil?"
Kari shuddered for a moment, a small tic creeping into her eye. "Oh… that felt weird," said Rhythm. "Wonder what that was. Anyway, it will be six years after their… point zero." She paused, enjoying the chance to use the new jargon. "The distortions in that world are so severe they reach through time. Maybe even into the future. I suspect even the world we visited fighting Algomon could be hit."
"But… hundreds of kids?" Henry repeated slowly. "We were expecting a couple dozen at most. Even if we cram both castles, we only have enough bed space for about 90. Where do we put them? How do we feed them? If they're international, there's a language barrier. Do you have any idea how much we have to work out?!"
"And that's why I did this. I came to give you advance warning. I should be able to do something about the language, but I'm sure you'll find a solution to everything else. You've done such wonderful work so far."
"Do you have an actual number?"
Rhythm paused for a moment, freezing Kari in place. "216," she answered. Henry closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
"I have a favor to ask that will assist you," she continued. "I understand Ceresmon has been supplying you with everything you need here. I need you to take this girl-"
"Kari," Gatomon shot back. "If you're going to take over her body, at least learn her name."
Flustered for a moment, Rhythm restarted: "I need you to take Kari to see Ceresmon so I may speak with her and prepare for the new arrivals. You'll need to find space for everybody, but at least I can make sure you'll have resources."
TK's voice raised. "You mean you're going to take control of Kari again?!"
"I don't have form on the surface, so it's the easiest way to contact you. It doesn't harm her."
"Why haven't you tried to reach us before? We have so many questions," said Thomas.
"You're doing a pretty good job on your own! But perhaps I'll drop in again sometime."
As TK cringed and held out a hand, Gatomon said, "Maybe hold off on that until we talk to Kari about it. You can't just use her like this."
"Very well. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself." Rhythm paused. "I'm sorry for putting this on you, but I know you can handle it. Thanks to you, this world is getting closer and closer to the one I dream about. I'm so proud of you all." Her words, when delivered by such a blank face, offered little reassurance.
Kari's eyes blinked and returned to normal, but looked just as lifeless. The moment she started to sway, Henry leaped out of his seat, catching her as she fell.
"Nice catch," said Angie. She only made it out two feet out of her chair. "Is she okay?"
Henry checked her face and held up an arm only to watch it drop. "She's out cold."
"She'll be all right, but we should take her to medical," said Gatomon. She and TK helped Henry get her into the chair at Davis's desk. TK wheeled it to the elevator, Gatomon jumping on Kari's lap. The two shared worried glances as they boarded.
"And if you see Tai, tell him to get his butt up here," Angie said as the doors closed.
Thomas sighed. "If they see Tai, he's following them to medical."
Henry fell into his own chair and clutched his forehead. With both Kari and the spirit possessing her gone, the surreal atmosphere shattered and left them back in cold reality. "216? How are we supposed to do this?"
"We'll work out a plan once everybody's back. Don't try to take it all on yourself. I'm confident we'll come up with a solution."
After waiting for a response that never came, Thomas swiveled back to his desk and resumed his work. Henry stared at his monitor in silence. Angie checked the massive burden written in her notes. In the weeks since she started training upstairs to become Isthmian's communications officer, she had a good feel for how things ran here. They were some of the most amazing, courageous, brilliant heroes she'd ever met. Surely they'd figure this out.
Matt Ishida tried to pay attention to the mechanics of how the kitchen was organized. He once had doubts that Mimi's system was anything resembling structural or logical, but, much like her recipes, years of impulsive experiments and countless errors had refined it into a functional layout more than adequate for herself and Tommy. Although Ewan would be donning the white hat at Isthmian, Matt knew he needed to know this stuff as both their head of operations and primary backup. Other than Mimi's frequent detours into stories about some mishap leading her to do something a certain way, the biggest distraction was Tai sitting on a countertop, watching the training with a hoagie sandwich and a giant smirk on his face.
In the middle of explaining why certain trays were stored where they were, Matt finally snapped: "Why do we need to know this? You've never been over there. We'll have to come up with our own process."
While Mimi glared back, Ewan said, "Yes, but it'll be smoother if we see how it's done here and understand Mimi's logic."
Mimi's… logic? Tai must have noticed Matt's face contort. Barely able to hold back a laugh, he roared, "Say it Matt! You know you want to!"
Instead, Matt's head snapped back to Tai. "Why are you in here anyway?"
Humming in agreement, Mimi added, "Not that I mind the company but Sora said there was a big mission today."
Tai's grin didn't budge. "Hey, they've got it figured out! I'd just be looking over everyone's shoulders and psyching them out. Thomas came up with this one anyway. Deals with the problem before it puts anyone in danger."
"You should be up there anyway," Matt said, arms folded, eyes away. "Still involves our friends fighting."
Tai narrowed his eyes at Matt. "C'mon, Sora will be fine. When I'm up there and I have to pay attention and wait for updates, that's when I get worried. Easier being down here."
Mimi coughed. "Much as I'm dying to figure out if you two are still into her, may I continue?"
"Why would you think-" Matt stopped, realizing his protest was too loud. Too late: Mimi and Ewan both raised their eyebrows. He shook his head and muttered, "Keep going."
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Now, lunch isn't bad because everyone eats at different times, but the dishes pile up fast after dinner. Palmon's a great help here, but since you can't have her you'll want to find someone else. You should grab one of the new kids!"
Ewan snickered. "You don't know these new kids. Don't know if I'd trust some of them around our food."
"You told me about that one girl who's so obsessed with you. What about her?"
In an instant, Ewan's face flushed with anger, teeth bared. He leaned forward, hand balling into a fist. "Airu? Are you nuts?!" Mimi jumped back. "I don't want to be anywhere near her! She's selfish, conniving…" He exhaled before turning to Tai. "Is there a way you can keep us in separate castles?"
Both Tai and Matt were too busy staring at Ewan's sudden and uncharacteristic mood shift to respond. "If Airu's going to Isthmian, I want to stay here. Matt can cook."
That at least snapped Matt back into reality: "Not a chance."
Tai just shook his head, trying to conceal a smile. "Wow, she's really made an impression. Maybe you'll get lucky and she'll fall for Matt instead."
Matt turned to him, teeth clenched. "Why me?!"
Smile exposed, Tai answered, "Gotta admit you do attract some crazies."
Ewan furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, my sister… kinda proves your point I guess. But Airu's on another level!"
"How bad? Can't be worse than Davis's sister."
"Do you like horror movies?"
His question froze all three digidestined and probably drove the point home. But Matt, after darting his eyes between Tai and Mimi, blurted, "I try to watch movies that are actually good."
Tai and Mimi stared at each other, both side-eying Matt once before smirking. "What Matt's trying to say is he's the biggest wuss in the world when it comes to scary movies," said Tai.
"Go back upstairs!"
Sandwich finished, Tai surrendered and jumped off the counter. "All right, all right." He watched Matt for a moment, still with a smile full of youth and mischief. "You know you're gonna miss us once you're up there."
Even after the door closed behind Tai, Matt stared at it. The second crack at settling Isthmian sounded great on paper: a major position, an opportunity to extend their reach in the world, the chance to befriend and guide the new arrivals, and a clean break from everyone who hurt him in the past.
He must have stared too long, because Mimi said, "He's right, isn't he?" Her words didn't come from mockery or amusement. If anything, they were sympathetic. She knew the answer. So did Matt.
Not that he would ever respond that way: "Well, keep going. I don't want to be here all afternoon."
Sora Takenouchi stared at her half-consumed glass of milk with nervous suspicion. Her first exposure to milk in the Digital World had been when she was 14 visiting a saloon with Davis, Yolei, and Cody. The buzz was weak but tangible, and she had been leery of it ever since. Initially, nobody challenged her effort to keep it out of the castle without proper filtering; most didn't know it was a thing. Once word spread, her temperance movement became harder to justify. Now that they were growing older, a growing consensus said they should have the right to enjoy the benefits of adulthood, so long as they did so responsibly. It wasn't that Sora resented those who pushed for this change or even disagreed all that strongly with the eventual policies enacted. But it was a change, and one she resisted and wound up losing.
For all the jokes everyone made about her being the mom of the group, she embraced the role for all of the loving imagery attached to it. But she knew full well how controlling and uptight mothers could be, and how there would inevitably come a time to let go and let their children fly on their own. With half the castle's residents moving out in two weeks, with its own less-maternal types in charge of hospitality, was this really what she wanted to be known as for the rest of her life? Mind lost in these thoughts, she took a long drink.
"There you go! Chug it!" Takuya laughed as he scooted next to her, his back testing the straw wall's stability. The Deramon didn't have tables in the hut, but it didn't prevent the team from segregating into their usual groups. Takato and Mikey were nearest to them with Guilmon and Shoutmon, while Rika and Yolei joined the team's transport specialists Davis and Ken (Veemon and Wormmon, more accurately). Keenan, Falcomon, and Hawkmon hung out with the Deramon serving the milk. With all these options, Sora didn't understand why Takuya would join her and Biyomon, and didn't respond to his prodding.
Takuya persisted. "What's wrong? You really worrying about the move? 'Cause you can leave that to me."
His confident smile only annoyed her more. "I'm worried about you not being worried. You've got so much left to do and you're going to fall even more behind if we keep getting sent out like this." She squinted at him. "You're not even upset about missing that last shot. That's not like you."
In looking away from her, Takuya's eyes found Takato's. Takato perked up and gave a slight nod. Takuya returned it and stood straight, eyes scanning the room before he coughed to signal everyone's attention. It took a few tries before Yolei shut up.
Loud enough to reach the whole room, Takuya said, "Hey, so great job everyone. We really crushed it today. Um… so I was going to do this back at the castle but since we're all out here anyway, and with drinks, figure it would be a good time."
Sora turned away from him to see if anyone else knew what he was going on about. Takato had an expectant grin while Davis nodded along. Everyone else was as confused as she was.
"So obviously we all know what's happening in a couple weeks and how much work we have to put into it, so I was talking it over with the guys upstairs and uh…" Takuya took a deep breath. "This was my last job for the response team."
While Sora gasped, other than a few raised eyebrows nobody else had much of a response. Takuya continued, "Yeah, it's nothing but the move from here on out for me. I, uh…" He scratched his head, struggling to come up with the words. "It's weird leaving this, you know? Last time it was so spur of the moment I didn't really think about it but now… how long have we been doing this? Like right after Davis's guys got here I think. What's that, nine years? To help make it happen and be with it almost this whole time and now…" Takuya blinked several times, his lip quivering.
With a quick break, he managed to recover: "But yeah, you think about all those fights and missions. With Takato… Yolei…" He raised his glass at each of them. "Wish Koji and Cody were here." He snickered. "Or God, those early days with Kazu." Yolei tried, and failed, to hold in laughter. Takuya joined her. "We were kind of a mess." He sighed as the laughs subsided. "But hey, we figured it out. We ended up making a hell of a team. And we saved a lot of lives."
Sora thought she saw a tear in his eye, but he turned to Takato before she could be sure. "Takato, you're going to be an awesome captain. And you're totally due, buddy."
Takato nodded at the scattered applause, then raised his drink and said, "To the response team."
Everybody clinked glasses, including Takuya and Sora. She watched him carefully as they sipped their milk. There was definitely wetness in those eyes. No wonder he insisted on post-mission drinks. And to think she had fought him on it.
"That was…" She fished for a way to express her surprise without being rude.
"That was a mess," he said with a snicker. "I'm pretty bad at sentimental."
"It was nice." Sora stared into her drink. "I don't see that side of you very often."
"What, nice?" Her face flushed, darting up to see how offended he was, only to find him chuckling.
"I mean you're… admitting it's hard to let go of some of this. You're not racing out the door without thinking."
"You mean like last time?" Sora turned away; she didn't mean to be so blunt. He sighed. "That's the thing about actually having to plan this. I have to think about all the stuff I'm used to here. Even if we can get it over there, I still have to set it up and make sure it works."
She nodded along. "Jeri and Henry do a lot to keep everything running."
"Yeah, or why the officers are organized the way they are. Man, I wish I'd paid attention back when we were setting all that up."
"But you are now. And you know, that's not a bad thing." Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe you'll appreciate what Tai goes through."
"Yeah, but that's not who I am. I'd rather be out here doing this kind of stuff." He frowned, looking across the hut at the others still in oblivious celebration. "I was kinda dreading this. I knew it would be my last run. I know how much I have left to do before we go. It's going to suck."
"Maybe, but maybe you need to branch out like this. Get uncomfortable. Grow a bit. We're getting older now. Some of us have to be adults. Especially with these new kids showing up."
With another sigh, Takuya turned back to Sora. The sternness in her eyes was hard to break away from. He rarely got lectures from Sora, certainly less often than he deserved. They just weren't close enough, and she had bigger things to concern herself with than another idiot leader. So unless it involved him endangering somebody she cared about, she never confronted him. Whether or not he'd get anything out of her unsolicited life advice, he at least appreciated that she would offer it to him.
"Yeah, I guess," he said, non-committal. "But you're right though… last mission for a team I've spent years on…" He shook his head and smiled at her. "How the hell could I miss that last shot?"
Izzy Izumi remained parked in front of his laptop, scrutinizing the lines of code with a mix of obsessive interest and mild frustration. The contents came from a server hidden beneath a metal plate embedded into the floor of a giant printing house. He could tell the code was for a website, but the actual text identifying what kind came from a different file he hadn't found yet. Browsing the file directory didn't help and the easiest solution was stubbornly out of reach for the most irritating of reasons.
"What's the verdict?" Cody asked, standing nearby, voice slightly raised.
"I can't view this page unless I update my browser." Izzy tried to point out the problem as objectively as he could, but his annoyance still crept in. Without web access, he couldn't update his browser. Without the update, it would take him forever to decipher the contents of this server.
He didn't have forever. "So do we take it or not? Make a call already!" Sparrowmon maintained cover fire over the four Sagittarimon trying to drive the trespassers out of their giant printing house, pinning them in a corner of the shop floor.
"And how do we get out if we do take it?" Tentomon added. The only free exit was not large enough to fit a Digimon capable of hauling the giant black tablet and there were already enough ethical questions about searching the habitats of innocent Digimon to get too violent.
Kazemon rushed through the door of that exit and slammed it behind her, turning back into Zoe as she braced it shut. "Whelp… we're surrounded." An explosion on the other side of the wall shook the whole building. "Tankmon, really?"
"It must be important if it's so well guarded," Izzy mused, not taking his eyes off the screen in spite of the commotion.
Nene patted his shoulder, lightly jerking him away. "Get Kabuterimon to help out while I have a look." Her gentle, yet forceful, voice startled Izzy enough to pull him into action. She crouched down in front of the computer as Tentomon digivolved behind her.
By the time Izzy returned, he saw Nene's fingers fly across the touchpad, opening assorted folders. "Do you know what you're doing?" he asked, uneasy about her touching his computer.
"This script is after your time, isn't it?" Nene entered a few keystrokes and her search filled with files. She instructed the operating system to open the top file with a word processor.
An entirely different unease swept over him. "Nene… you can read code?"
She turned to him with a practiced smile, ignoring the deep red in his cheeks. "One of those things you learn as an idol."
"That makes no sense," Cody muttered.
Nene returned her eyes to the monitor. "It does when your manager's too cheap to hire someone to run your website." The file opened, revealing mostly clean text with only a few formatting tags. "Anyway…"
She turned back to Izzy. He was still staring at her. She patted his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm not stealing your job. You can do the honors."
Izzy stammered at first until Zoe shouted, "Quit gawking, Izzy! Presto!" Another blast against the wall punctuated her command.
This snapped him out of it enough to read the screen: "Let's see… 'The Nikkei index continued its two-week slide Tuesday with an eight percent drop…'"
"A stock report?" Nene asked while keeping an eye on Sparrowmon's gunfire.
Still scanning the article, Izzy shook his head. "It's a news story." He minimized the window and looked over the files Nene retrieved. "It's a lot of news stories."
"From the real world?" Nene held a finger up. "Human world?" she corrected without pausing.
"Apparently…"
"Which one?" Cody asked.
Another blast buckled the hinges on Zoe's door. "Seriously guys!" she shouted.
Izzy modified the search to add the word "monster." Fifty files remained: news stories from a real world including the word "monster." Some of them were bound to be irrelevant, but Izzy knew he needed to check them all.
Later, of course. "Taking it!" he ordered.
Cody and Nene sprung into action, digivolving Armadillomon to Ankylomon and reloading Mervamon and Beelzemon. After Izzy disconnected his laptop and returned it to his backpack, Nene's Digimon hoisted the heavy server tablet onto Cody's partner's back.
"Still one problem," Nene said, darting her head between the weakening door Zoe had now backed away from and the shop floor where Sagittarimon were ready to pounce with the slightest break in cover. "Well, two problems. Which way do we leave?"
As Izzy and the Digimon finished loading, Zoe ran across to Sparrowmon and surveyed the situation.
"Careful, Zoe," Cody urged as Ankylomon took two slow steps towards them.
"Sorry- Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" Zoe became Zephyrmon and flew over the adjacent printing press. She had to dodge a few enemy arrows, but she dove after the massive roll of newsprint near them. "Plasma Paws!" After slicing through the supports, an additional nudge sent the roll rolling toward the Sagittarimon. The momentum knocked them over and pinned them to the opposite wall.
"Go!" Sparrowmon shouted. The entire party scrambled past them through the shop, Beelzemon and Mervamon flanking Ankylomon and the tablet as the Sagittarimon struggled to move the giant roll of paper. Far behind them, the Tankmon finally blew the door off its hinges.
By the time the Sagittarimon freed themselves, Izzy had already jammed the button opening the large warehouse door on the other end, relieved nobody was on the other side.
"Look out!" Zephyrmon shouted, her aerial vantage point allowing her to see Tankmon launch his attack. Everybody heeded, ducking or covering as necessary, but the missile collided with the newsprint just pushed away. The entire roll burst into flame, distracting the Sagittarimon enough for the team to escape into the surrounding meadow.
They ran fifty yards past the building, stopping only when a pair of thick trees offered them some cover. Kabuterimon and Zephyrmon returned to their smaller forms while everyone caught their breath. "That was fun," Nene said, a coy smile emerging between huffs.
Zoe looked back at the factory. Black smoke streamed out the open door. "I thought the plan was for us not to see a ton of action."
"For this, it might be worth it," said Izzy, fighting the urge to plug his laptop back into the stolen tablet. "If this place does have a parallel human world, this could really help us find out about it." This was the main objective of the re-formed investigation team: discovering everything they could about the nature of this world and its connections to others. It wasn't their fault this exploration often led them into hostile territory.
"Well if we keep ending up in fights like this, can we convince one of the new kids to join us?" Zoe asked. Nene nodded in agreement.
"It's worth discussing. But that was a very clever move to get us out of there, Zoe," Izzy said, flashing a smile.
Now her face flushed and it was her turn to stammer. Nene piled on, adding, "Zoe's become quite adept at combat situations, hasn't she?" Izzy nodded, his smile widening as her blush grew.
As they fought off laughter, Tankmon wheeled out the door. "Think we ought to keep moving," Cody said with urgency.
Nene saw the Tankmon and casually replied, "Yes, probably a good idea."
Angie Hinomoto cursed herself for losing track of time the one day she couldn't afford to. She also cursed Jeremy and Kenta and their mind-numbingly geeky argument about which installment of Age of Conquerors had the better combat system. She hadn't heard of the game, but both cited so many details about probability, mechanics, and historical accuracy with such fervor the conversation transfixed her. So much she forgot she needed to be upstairs for her first solo shift at Kari's station.
When Angie took the job helping Kenta maintain the habitat where the Digimon spent most of their time, her concern had been finding herself a role in a community of world savers, all of whom had done more to save their worlds than her. She was happy for anything. Twenty months and several learning experiences later, she realized a bond with a Digimon partner wasn't the only way to be a prominent part of the castle. Jeri Katou lost hers years before arriving and was secretly one of its cornerstones. Angie was an afterthought of a general/hunter/digidestined, but she had plenty of other skills. Considering the rest of the castle, she liked her chances of using them to ascend the ladder.
The first attempt to settle Isthmian had been organized by a bunch of numbskulls and it showed. This second attempt had more time and more intelligent people insisting on being part of the process and thus had real potential. At the same time, once they cast off it would be mostly the same numbskulls running the show. After Jeremy told her Zoe had no interest running communications for them, she used every connection she had to get trained for the job. After months of putting up with Kari holding her hand through every step and TK's snark, their visit to Ceresmon opened the door for her to run the show alone for the first time.
Yet here she was, racing through the library, praying Kari and TK hadn't already left. Right before she veered around the stage, she made the mistake of looking down the main hall, stopping in her tracks at the lone figure seated alone at the far end. The tower of brown hair was undoubtedly Tai's, as was his pensive stare upwards. After witnessing what happened to his sister the day before, and how they were throwing her into a situation knowing it would happen again, she understood.
Despite her tardiness, she now had to contend with her conscience, a nagging voice on her shoulder poking at her with repeated chants of "I can't turn my back on him!" Angie could distance herself from Mikey. She could never escape his mantra. Grumbling to herself the whole way, she approached him.
"Jeez, don't freak out," she said, dropping into the chair next to him. "TK and Davis are with her. You know they're not gonna let anything happen." She realized she probably shouldn't be so harsh. This was his family.
He blinked twice before turning to her, pausing for a moment before snickering. "No… I hate having to think about it but that's something we've dealt with before. I'm more worried about what she had to say."
"Oh, all those new kids?" she said with a hint of disgust. This wasn't the conversation she'd signed up for. This one was complicated, and destined to make her even more late. "Yeah, that's going to be rough."
Tai leaned back slightly, adding a tiny cock of the eyebrow. Then he forced a chuckle. "But hey, we'll figure it out, right? I mean, we did fine when you guys showed up, didn't we?"
"Well, I mean… you did show up on a giant scary dragon we didn't know was friendly, separated our leader from us, made us follow total strangers who barely answered any questions, threw us in other people's clothes and stuck us on couches and sleeping bags for the first couple nights…" Angie didn't realize the extent of her rambling until noticing the horrified look on Tai's face. She threw up her hands. "But sure, it was fine!"
After an eternal pause, he slowly nodded. "Yeah… we just need to extend that same kind of welcome hospitality to all these new kids."
"Yeah!" She joined in the nod, adding "All 216 of them!" amid nervous laughter that he shared.
They indulged for a while before letting it subside naturally. Then Angie dropped it: "You have no idea what to do, do you?"
"No, we'll…" Staring into her eyes made it hard for Tai to perpetuate his fake confidence, but he sure tried: "We'll figure something out. We go two to a room here and we can fit almost fifty. And Isthmian holds almost that many. So that's a bunch right there. So then we just uh… yeah."
She nodded along, but said, "You're gonna have to do better than 'yeah.'"
He broke his stare, eying the stage and the door. "Did you, uh, need me for something?"
Angie frowned. She didn't appreciate such obvious deflection, but pushing the commander any further wasn't likely to help her prospects. "No. Just, uh-"
"I should get back upst-"
"Upstairs!" she blurted, popping out of her chair. "I'm super late now! Guh, Thomas and Henry are going to kill me!"
She dashed for a few steps before Tai called back, "Hey, I'll cover for you." He joined her, walking with her toward the elevator at an appropriate pace. "Like I said, I need to get back too."
"Thanks," she said after a relieved sigh. "First time by myself on the radar. Can't believe I'm late."
"Don't worry about it." The elevator doors opened and they boarded. As Tai pushed the button for the top floor, he added, "You had something more important to do."
Davis Motomiya was more excited to see Ceresmon's massive body up close than anything else on the trip. Her size put even Imperialdramon to shame, enough that if not for the trees covering her back it would have been able to land comfortably. Instead, it had to find enough of a clearing for Kari, TK, Davis, Ken, Gatomon, and Patamon to hop off, then to revert back to Veemon and Wormmon close enough for them to land safely.
"This would have been a lot easier with Yolei and Aquilamon," Davis moaned. In fact, both Yolei and Keenan would have been more practical choices to accompany Kari/Rhythm on her audience with Ceresmon, but they were still stationed at the Deramon village and this felt urgent. Even in the middle of the day, the canopy from the forest cast Ceresmon's surface in darkness. The ground soaked everyone's feet, enough that Wormmon insisted on riding Ken's shoulder.
Patting his partner's head, Ken asked, "So how are we supposed to find her medium?"
No one noticed Kari stop until they were several steps past her. When they looked back, Rhythm had taken over. "Follow me," she said, veering them to the right. TK hesitated, staring at her for a long time before Patamon urged him forward.
Ceresmon's Medium form appeared precisely where Rhythm had led them. The three boys were taken aback by what appeared to be a beautiful woman covered only in roots, vines, and flowers. "What brings you here?"
Staring at Ceresmon with her glassy eyes, Rhythm said, "I am the master of creation and destruction, of heaven and earth, of life and death, and of light and darkness."
The provider fell to a knee. "Your Worship."
Rhythm turned to TK, voice suddenly filling with glee. "I can get used to this!" TK saw into Kari's eyes and looked away.
She returned to Ceresmon, pausing for a moment, likely failing to produce another gesture. "My deepest thanks for providing for these humans all these years. However, I'm here to ask even more of you. So much that I felt it appropriate to borrow Kari here in order to make the request personally."
With a scoff, TK turned away, returning to the edge of the forest. Davis took a few steps after him. "What's the matter, TK?" asked Patamon.
"Is this a joke to her?" TK spat. "She's taking control of Kari and we're just supposed to be okay with it? I can't watch this."
Even if his words were for Patamon, it was answer enough for Davis and he shrugged it off. It was an odd sight, and of course the natural worry for Kari's safety was present. But while Rhythm's cheerful informality bothered TK, Davis found it fascinating. This was the same strange girl he and the other leaders had met, and everything in her word choice and tone were clearly her despite coming out of Kari. It felt unreal. It felt dangerous. It felt like something Davis couldn't possibly turn away from.
The only thing he didn't fixate on was Rhythm's actual message to Ceresmon and the reply. It was a professional conversation despite Rhythm's occasional cheery asides. Maybe that was why Davis was surprised when it suddenly ended, as Ceresmon bended her knee once again before vanishing. Rhythm made a rather mechanical turn towards Davis and Ken.
"Did you get all that?" asked Rhythm.
Davis rubbed his neck. "Uh, actually I kinda tuned out there."
With a quick chortle, she said, "Right?! Spend most of my life in solitude and suddenly I have to be this serious negotiator?"
Shaking his head and turning away, Davis could only smile. "Man, this is nuts!"
Ken cleared his throat, still staring at Kari. His expression would have been far better suited to play serious negotiator. "I understood it as our open order for Isthmian supplies will delay the provisions we need for the additional arrivals. We'll get the order Jeri placed on schedule, but the rest won't get here until much later."
"That about covers it. Did the best I could but we're cutting it close."
"Well great then!" Davis said, still grinning. "Back to Kari?"
Rhythm hesitated, finally replying with less cheer. "I guess. Thank you for your assistance."
"Hey, pop in anytime!"
Ken raised a hand. "Um, actually…" He stopped once Rhythm relinquished control, leaving Kari to fall forward into his and Davis's arms. They looked at each other, Davis answering Ken's worried stare with a smile and a nod where TK waited. It took them a couple tries to find the best way to carry her there.
Aboard Imperialdramon, she regained consciousness long enough for Gatomon to tell her to rest, which she was happy to do. TK continued to keep his distance, stroking Patamon with his back to her. Davis joined him while Ken and Gatomon watched over Kari. He needed to crane his neck to catch TK's dour expression as he stared at the plains below them.
"Kari's a tough girl," Davis said. "This is nothing for her."
TK's head gave a slight shake. "We just threw her to the wolves." Louder, he gestured towards her, adding, "And how do you know this is nothing? This can't be good for her. Why are we allowing it?"
"C'mon, it's Rhythm. She wouldn't hurt us."
"If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be here in the first place!"
"So?" Davis shrugged. "I like it here. I got nothing to complain about."
TK raised his eyebrows. "You weren't trapped in a tube for eight years."
"Right there, better than back home!" Davis's smile faded. "Look, Rhythm seemed like a sweet girl. And she really likes us! Hey, I care about Kari too, but… we can trust her. We gotta, right? Isn't she like a god or something?"
Turning away, TK glared skyward. "We've done her enough favors. We don't owe her anything." He inhaled deeply. "Especially Kari."
Jeri Katou wasn't used to an entourage during river order pickups. Sometimes she even had trouble rounding up enough help for one order. That had been the case for the shipment a couple days earlier when all the additional furniture and equipment to be taken to Isthmian arrived. She only had Takuya and Sora on board for that one, and getting everything on board the Trailmon took forever. That wasn't going to be a problem here, as Tai, Henry, Matt, Takato, Suzie and all of their partners were ready to assist with the arrival of Rhythm's supplemental order for all of the new arrivals.
Nobody knew quite what would be on the barge, or even how many barges would float down. Somehow it was supposed to be enough to feed, cloth, and shelter the hundreds of unexpected new kids. Suzie cracked a joke about whether the river would be wide enough or if there was even room on the train. Nobody laughed.
At least the new spur line between the castle's existing platform to the edge of the river was in place. Instead of having to haul everything back to the castle—torture with large orders—they only had to pull the shipment to the Trailmon waiting twenty yards away. Given how vital it seemed now, Jeri still found it surprising how contentious the construction of this track, and another branch to the grove where new teams arrived, became. Segments ran through thick woods and trees needed to come down, which meant disrupting established Digimon communities, even more than the long connection to Isthmian. The ethical debate divided both the officers and the six leaders, ending in a narrow but rare and surprising loss for Tai's position and a shiny new set of Trailmon tracks.
Multiple Trailmon waited for the shipment to arrive while Ikkakumon floated in the river to guide the barges to port. Matt checked his digivice. "Well come on," he said impatiently. "These kids will be here any day now and we have to sort through everything."
Gabumon pointed. "Here they come." The humans didn't notice the first barge until a minute later. Its contents were the smallest, containing small crates of various sizes. As much as Jeri wanted to catalog everything, the second barge right behind carried eight full-size shipping containers. A third followed holding the same.
Jeri and Takato tied the first to the dock and Ikkakumon kept the second and third in place. "I'm going to see what's in these!" Henry shouted. He undid the security latches and pulled the handle, his face lighting up when he saw the markings on the sixteen boxes inside. "Emergency shelters," he called back. "They're like a private living space." He closed the door and hopped off the barge. "If that's what's in all of these, there's enough for everybody."
Tai repositioned the box in his hands and smiled back. "Well that's helpful. No idea where we can put them, but those'll go a long way."
Takato snickered. "Hey Tai, now we need Koichi to go really big on this year's Ceresmon festival."
"For sure!"
Jeri couldn't fend off a grin, but otherwise kept her composure to say, "Okay, let's get these smaller boxes on board before we worry about those."
Between six humans and five Digimon, they unloaded the first barge quickly. Matt, Jeri, and Gabumon picked up the last crate as Henry and Terriermon placed another on the train for Suzie and Lopmon to check in and pack. Tai surveyed the massive containers next to Greymon. "Hey Takato? Might need Growlmon for these."
Takato squinted at the flat boat. "That won't sink it?"
As they puzzled it over, a shadow fell over Matt and Jeri. It wasn't a cloud, however. It was a Digimon, flapping its wings over them, staring straight down at her. Its flaps slowed and a sharp pulsing white light appeared past its forehead. Jeri froze, but only for a moment, before mumbling, "We need to get off this boat." Matt glanced up for just a moment before his fear lent him the strength to pull the crate to shore.
They dropped it on the dock, ran an additional ten feet and dove to the ground as Ikkakumon saw the same thing and dove underwater. "Incoming!" Matt shouted.
The beam struck a fuel canister on the barge and seemed to work in slow motion, piercing the deck for a full two seconds before it ignited in a white flame that engulfed the entire ship in seconds. As Matt and Jeri slowly rose to their feet, the others approached them with caution.
"Oh no!" Jeri shouted as the flames drifted closer to the crate they had just unloaded. She ran up to it and dragged it away, barely able to budge it. Gabumon offered help once he was up.
Henry froze as his eyes drifted skyward and saw the Digimon swooping down. "No! Get back!" he cried. Suzie had gotten ahead of him. He ran up and dragged her to the ground, covering her head as the massive bird collided with the barge, shooting white-hot scraps of metal in every direction. Matt ran up to Gabumon at the moment of impact. Tai and Takato's instincts kicked in and they dove in for the rescue. Everyone suffered only minor cuts, with Henry atop Suzie, Takato atop Jeri, and Tai atop Matt.
Rolling off his sister, Henry pulled out his D-Power and a card. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!"
Suzie crawled over him and grabbed the card, swiping it through her own. "What he said!" Their partners evolved to Ultimate on cue.
"Bunny Blades!" Antylamon wasted no time launching her attack at the enemy, which dodged it and dove straight at the charging Rapidmon, knocking him into the river. Before anyone else could respond, it charged up another beam attack. This one targeted the second barge.
"Stop him!" yelled Tai, but it ignored the paltry attacks from the two remaining Rookies and even Greymon's Nova Blast. Everyone helplessly watched the beam warp the containers before striking a fuel line and sending the whole ship up in a blinding explosion.
Since it had to hover long enough to get its shot off, Matt got a better look at the attacker. Its gold armor covered most of its body, even the large wings protruding from its back, the only contrast came from its silver helmet and oversized talons on its arms and legs. Matt also saw it sizing up the third ship.
"Gabumon, we have to stop it!"
"Whatever you need, Matt!" Gabumon replied. What Matt needed was a Warp Digivolution. He got it.
"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon launched his attack from the ground as the enemy flew into range to target the remaining boat. The blast of ice only connected with its legs and hindquarters, which for a moment knocked it out of the sky. As it flapped its wings to regain some uneven control, MetalGarurumon made his move and launched after it, getting into position and firing his full missile payload at his wobbly foe.
The enemy didn't shake off its freezing limbs as much as it accounted for them, and the new rival in the skies. Instead of charging up its beam, it dove straight at the barge. Some of the missiles followed it.
"Wait! No!" Tai shouted. He had worked Greymon to WarGreymon to intercept, but the munitions tailing the enemy made it too dangerous to intervene, and his partner's range attack was too massive and took too long to charge for it to be of use. He had to watch as the golden bird cut off his diving attack, pulling up at the last second as the missiles obliterated the third boat. The attacker stopped for a moment to make sure the job had been done, then dashed.
"Let's get him!" WarGreymon shouted, but heard no response. "Tai?" Tai could only stare at the smoldering barge, numb to his partner's pleas. MetalGarurumon pursued once he could get through the smoke, but he would never catch up.
Takato ran to Tai, pausing for another explosion from the third boat. By now, black smoke had filled the sky, raining down enough ash to prompt him to pull his goggles over his eyes. He looked back to make sure Jeri was safe and keeping up, then reached Tai and asked, "Who was that?" Tai only shook his head, squinting at the wreckage as the debris in the air made his eyes water.
"Eaglemon," said Jeri, holding up a display on her D-Power. "Mega level. Digivolves from Parrotmon."
"Parrotmon?" Takato looked back at her, concern on his face. "You mean-"
"Guys?" Henry called out, running up to them, escorting a coughing Suzie on his right, Lopmon using her ears to shield her from ash. To his left, Terriermon, water-logged and barely conscious, rode atop Guilmon. "We need to get out of here."
"But-"
"I called for support. They're sending whoever they can to help control the fires. But it's not safe here."
Suzie coughed again. Tai nodded. "Agreed." He turned to the four tamers. "We don't want to risk what we did get on board." He found Matt at the edge of the inferno, shielding his eyes and trying to pick out his partner in the thick black sky. "Hey Matt!"
"I'm staying here," he replied, not looking back. "Gotta wait for MetalGarurumon."
Tai heaved a sigh, but didn't feel like picking a fight. "Okay, fine, you and Gomamon wait for the support to get here." He glanced at Takato and added, "But here…" When Matt turned, Tai whipped off his goggles and tossed them to his teammate. "Keep yourself safe." Matt caught them, eyes widening at Tai. By then, he and the tamers had already turned for the train.
On board, everyone stared at the blaze as the Trailmon stuttered into motion. After a long silence, Henry pounded the plexiglass window in anger. "How did that happen?" he spat.
"Henry…" Suzie leaned in and set a hand on his shoulder.
"Was that really Parrotmon from before?" asked Takato. "Wouldn't we keep track of someone like that?"
Tai nodded. "Should, yeah," he said absent-mindedly.
Shaking his head, a snarl on his lips, Henry muttered, "Well, why didn't Kari let us know-"
"Hey!" Now Tai's head and voice snapped at Henry. "Don't blame this on-"
"Okay, hey, guys!" Takato jumped between them, raising his arms. "Not a good time to start pointing fingers. Can't it wait?"
Both men nodded and took a breath to calm down. Henry's next words were still biting. "But look, this is really bad."
"Yeah…" said Tai. The particles in his eyes kept his lids half-shut, with frequent blinks. "No place to put them. No shelter for them. We don't even know if we got enough food and clothes on board."
"When are they getting here?" asked Jeri.
"Any day now."
"Takato." Guilmon's call was short, clipped, and higher in pitch. Everyone turned to find all four Digimon pressed against the window, their pupils constricted. The humans ran to them, trying to see what they were responding to. They stared at a fixed point in the southern sky. It took a moment for their eyes to focus, made harder by the train's motion, but they could make out the tiniest swirling of digital data high in the air.
"W-what is that?" Lopmon asked. "And why can I not look away?"
"It's the start of the distortion stream," said Tai, voice hushed. "They're not here any day." He gulped. "They're here any hour."
Next Time on Nexusworld- Episode 2: "Paradise"
Daigo is surprised to find his team reunited six years later, now surrounded by two hundred others. Haru takes in all the new faces and developments while worrying about the fate of his work to revive Yuujin. Unsettled by how little information they're getting, Ren and Ryouma take matters into their own hands.
"There's too much out there trying to play God for us to join in."
Author's Notes
In the world, the events of Neverworld would have started in July 2016 (based on the timing of Marine Day in Japan, per Xros Wars). The story ends in early November, with the epilogue a few weeks later. This story begins in March 2018, six years after the date Hunters finished airing in Japan.
Because of this time jump, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect everybody to stay put in their jobs, especially with the way certain plots played out. The big changes are Rika leaving patrol for the response team, Ryo and Mikey replacing her on patrol (the latter temporarily), and Izzy re-forming the investigation team. There will be more shifting later, so none of that's too important.
Rhythm, revealed as one of the world's creators in episode 25 last season, will be featured more as a character this time around. The nature of Ceresmon was discussed in episode 17.
Cutting off the introduction of new digidestined after MaloMyotismon's defeat is something Rhythm likely did after the Zero Two kids arrived out of concern for how many eligible arrivals there could be in the future. Anybody arriving next chapter will have been digidestined during Zero Two. This spares us the need to worry about whether stuff like Jun as a digidestined should be taken as canon or not, and allows us to safely ignore the upcoming Adventure project for purposes of this story. I pulled it off last time with tri. and Appmon; I'm not pushing my luck again!
Last season's epilogue confirmed that Lopmon was reborn.
I can't recall any specific place Eaglemon was featured in the anime (which means it was probably part of a supporting army in Fusion), but that's the dub name for Crossmon.
And finally, throwing this reminder out since it'll be even more important this season, but the Adventure eight were pulled in here right after he reboot while the Zero Two kids a few years later. Yes, the implications are staggering.