Disclaimers:

I do not own Digimon, nor any characters beyond the collection of four human characters listed here. Any custom Digimon that may be included later are free to be used by other fanfiction writers if credited.

Music will be referred to during certain scenes beginning with chapter 2 via title references and in Ao3 there will be html links in the text for viewers to follow at their own discretion.

Occasional use of Japanese will be present due to drawing more inspiration from the original dub than the foreign edits. That, and I'm a blatant weeb.

A pink hue hovers over the eastern horizon of a nearly silent forest. Not the chirp of any bird nor the chattering of a mouse or squirrel could be heard, only the faint, omni-present echo of static and white noise. This noise would be the first thing a young man would come to recognize as he wakes on the dirt floor of a small clearing amongst these woodlands, opening weary blue eyes beneath thin-rimmed glasses and overgrown chocolate brown locks. Waking into a stupor of blurred senses, he rolls to his right and props himself up, slowly climbing to his feet. Taking a moment to collect himself, he wipes the dirt from his black, loose-fit cargo shorts and crimson button-up, covering the majority of a white tee. As the static finally registers, he peers around to find himself in a dirt-floored forest, surrounded by towering trees with trunks seeming to range from thin enough to get his arms around to so thick it would take the will of a god to make them budge.

But from here is when he began to grow concerned. The trees themselves looked unnatural, the pink hues of the rising sunlight reflecting off shimmering surfaces of petrified jade wood, barkless and untouched. Yet, the wood seemed to grow around the most unnatural detail yet, glass screens flickering combinations of static and randomized video clips lying hidden beneath gaps in the wood, producing a constant ambience of white noise. The young man's unkempt eyebrows curl as he steps up for a closer look, feeling over the tree's surface as he struggles to accept what he's seeing. As he'd feared, he meets the sensation of smoothed, glass-like stone as he drags his fingertips across the petrified surface, then finding a faint vibration against his skin as he brings them across the flickering screen.

Confusion and wonder are quickly overshadowed as his eyes widen and he steps back in a rush and turns his eyes to the sky, up past the metallic leaves above, to what little of the sky could be found. High above, he is greeted with this sight of two moons of sandy red and golden yellow upon a backdrop of a violet sky tainted by patches of green pixilation. His jaw slowly drops as he takes in the morning sky, the pixelated segments growing dimmer and less recognizable as the sun peeks over the horizon, bringing a faint tinge of orange with it. As all the signs slowly sink in, a plethora of questions explode within his mind, but only a small expletive escapes his lips.

"Son of a bi-"

DIGIMON/ShinXros

Chapter One: Rude Awakening

"Yo! Is somebody over there?!" He turns abruptly and stares as a young woman steps through the bushes to his left. Her auburn locks hang down to just beneath her shoulder blades, some draped over her shoulders and down the front of a black hoodie. It's left open with a violet blouse beneath, just above a pair of slightly baggy denim jeans and a pair of sandals. "Well, finally I find signs of life. Questions is, is it intelligent?"

The young man in red gives her a faint glare and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Charming… so I'm guessing you've got no clue how ya got here either, right?"

The unnamed girl cocks an eyebrow, but as the question registers, she groans and slumps over. "So you're telling me you don't know? Damnit, the last thing I remembered was walkin down to my fridge for a late-night snack and some crazy light goes off, then I wake up in this stupid forest!"

"Hey, you're not the only one. I just can't remember what I was last doing before I got here…" He scratches at his head as he turns to peek around, taking in the landscape. "If anything, you and I should get moving, try to find civilization. I'm pretty sure I hear a river or stream down that way. If we follow that downstream, it might lead to a road or a town."

"Oh, so the runt's a boy scout?"

He groans and runs his fingers through his hair. "Oy, I'm no runt. And it's just common sense, you're clearly lacking it…" He turns back and marches through the brush, headed downhill beneath a thick canopy of crystallized branches and metallic leaves.

A few moments of silence pass until he feels a gentle impact to his left arm, peeking to his left to see the young woman had caught up. "Gotta say, I like ya so far… Name's Atsuko Haruka."

Taking a moment to peek back to her before turning his gaze forward once more, he finally finds the will to be civil. "Hibiki… Hibiki Ayumu."

"Hibiki? Well shit, what's a dumbass like you doin here?" Freezing up and looking to his right, Hibiki sees two more new and far less welcome arrivals. The first, and the speaker, is a young man in well-kept and proper clothing, looking like a private school uniform complete with navy blazer, white button-up, and black pants with a clean crease along the front. His jet black hair is just a tad long and hanging over his brow. The only odd part of his visage was what appeared to be a badly damaged police badge pinned under his blazer, though mostly hidden. Hibiki knew him well already, an old classmate from a few years back named Katsurou Ken'ichi.

The last of them was unknown to him, though. She was a young woman whose choice of attire was almost blinding. A nearly neon green bandana tied her blonde hair into place, matching a long green skirt reaching halfway down her shins with a layered split down on her right. Her formerly stark white sneakers had clearly seen better days, a deep contrast to her spotless dandelion blouse. Just as Katsurou finished speaking, she huffs and casts a glare at him. "Hey, don't talk to him that way! W-Whoever he is…"

"Chouko!" Atsuko rushes over and pulls her into a hug. "Thank god you're ok! I-It's too bad you're here, wherever this is, but…"

"I-It's ok, Atsuko! I'm glad to see you too. But… seriously where are we?" She turns to Hibiki, who just shrugs, turns, and keeps walking. ".. He's… not too sociable, is he?" Atsuko sighs and shakes her head, slowly letting go and following him downhill. "No, but he seems to know what he's doing. There's running water down this way, we're gonna follow it till we find some help. Come on, the sooner we're back home, the better."

"I don't think we'll be getting home any time soon, guys." All heads turn to Hibiki, who by then had stopped at the edge of the trees, looking out and up.

"And why the hell would that be-…?" Katsurou steps through the treeline and into the light just in time to see the two moons high above and the last few patches of pixilation fading out of view, Atsuko and Chouko right behind him. To top off this bizarre view, the river directly ahead through a small clearing was clearly flowing uphill. "What… the shit is this?"

"This is either an impossibly elaborate prank, a shared hallucination if such a thing is even possible… or we're on another planet, possibly another universe." Hibiki steps into the field and peeks around, all discernable expression driven from his face, as the three at his back stumble out, stammering almost inaudibly.

"There's no way in hell this is real…" Atsuko mumbles, stepping up to check the river more closely. But, halfway there, her thoughts and those of everyone else are cut short by a deep chuckling from behind the tree line. Chouko nearly jumps ten feet into the air and away from the forest, while the rest stick to just turning, though pretty quickly. Stepping out from behind the tree line is a five foot tall and eight foot long red-furred canine with a thin two foot snout housing an array of razor blade fangs, limbs and torso wrapped in a collection of belts and leather straps.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise. My boss puts out the orders to find you brats no more than ten minutes ago, and I've already found you…" He slowly begins to circle the group, driving them into a smaller area as they back away.

"And why exactly is your boss looking for us? A-And… w-what the fuck are you?" Katsurou clenches his fists, staring them down, but visibly trembling as he backs up towards Chouko and Atsuko. Hibiki though, remains where he is, his former stoicism mostly unaltered, only developing a slight glare.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The wolf chuckles to himself once more. "I am Ricardo. My species is known as Fangmon, one of the innumerable species of Digimon that inhabit this universe as the dominant and technically only beings, save for you now and that foolish old man Gennai… As for what my boss wants…" His circling stops abruptly as he turns to look them all right in the eyes. "Your heads on a platter. You have five seconds… make this fun for me."

Needing no further cue, the four children turn and sprint in the opposite direction. Hibiki is clearly just a bit slower than the rest, falling behind by a good fifteen feet by the end of those five seconds and leaving him as the weak link and Ricardo's obvious target. Within a second, he could feel the air rushing around the Fangmon's claws baring down on his neck. He slowly turns to face this impending doom with surprisingly cold and calm eyes, seeing sword-like claws mere inches from him-

Only for a golden brown blur to burst from the trees and tackle Ricardo towards the river. Hearing Ricardo's yelp as his ribs receive a clawing, the faster three look back and skid to a stop. Between a collapsed Hibiki and the infuriated Fangmon was a lion cub creature with a tuft of red fur atop his head and a silver, studded ring around his neck with a ruby pendant. "Back off, Ricardo!" Raising his head and puffing out his chest, a holographic image projects from his pendant of a badge of some sort. "As a Virus Buster of Datapool, it's my duty to inform you that you've been charged with the consumption of a cluster of fertilized resurrection eggs, the attempted murder of the new Chosen, and several unpaid bar tabs! Your sentence is death, and it's my duty to carry out that sentence!"

Ricardo falls still and silent for several moments… before laughing his ass off and nearly rolling onto his side. "What the shit Gurren, did you take half the night reciting that to get it down?"

Said cub's ears droop as his brow furls. "Hey, bein a Virus Buster requires a lot of discipline, not like you'd get what that means…" His ears lift once more as he digs his claws into the dirt, shifting into a sprinting stance. "Now, are you gonna sit still and die quietly?"

"Are you kiddin, runt?" Richard snorts to himself as he slowly stalks round towards the forest, Gurren's eyes following him with every step. "What the hell's a JUNIOR officer gonna do to me? Try evolving before you bother to take on someone my level."

"Oh, I know I can't take you alone." At this, Ricardo stops in his tracks and raises an eyebrow with his back to the woods. "THEMIS, NOW!"

On his cue, a violet blur leaps out from the branches and over the Fangmon's head, multiple bursts of fire erupting across his back and shoulders. As it lands on his other side, skidding back to halfway between the river and the tree line, this blur is revealed to be a short humanoid creature with a stark white face and violet silky fur, a faint hourglass figure, bent and pointed ears, black gloves and boots, topped off with the alchemical symbol for sulfur inverted and wrapped in a heart printed on her chest. "Nice speech, kitten, but you really need to cut it down a bit." Just as Ricardo leaps in to claw her in half, she cartwheels off to her left and away from Gurren, surrounding him.

"I knew I had to give you time to get into position." With Ricardo distracted by the Impmon's grand motions, Gurren rushes in and swipes at his legs, claws digging in and tearing at ligaments. Despite one of his legs being weakened, Ricardo swings around and claws at Gurren in return, nearly cleaving him in half, only to leave a decent gash on his left flank. Skidding to a stop, the lion cub groans and leaps away from a second attack, towards the woods and away from Themis. With his attention averted once more, Themis pelts him with a small collection of bright blue magical bullets, which explode into patches of ice in his fur. As this dance of misdirection continues, Hibiki remains on the ground and watching in awe, propping himself up with his elbows.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" Ricardo whirls around and bolts for Themis, right paw raised. "I'm taking your life first! SNIPE STEAL!" His claw bolts out nearly as fast as Themis' bullets, only to meet a very powerful fire bullet just as it leaves the barrel. The resulting explosion leaves the Fangmon's paw burnt, but Themis is sent flying backwards and nearly over the banks and into the river, skidding to a stop just before the slope. Taking advantage of her downed state, he inhales deeply and forms a thick black mist in the back of his throat. "BLAST COFFIN!" Just as he exhales, Gurren leaps in the way and body checks his muzzle, averting his aim to his right and causing the initial blast to miss drastically, landing in the river with explosive force. But, he was far from done, pushing Gurren over towards Themis and unleashing a howl with the force of an industrial fan, threatening to push them back into the river.

Hibiki watches his would-be saviors failing with his mouth agape and ignorant to his own trembling. Almost instinctively, he pushes himself up onto foot and knee, clenching his fists. For just a moment, a crimson aura forms around his right hand, and in turn, around Gurren as he digs his claws into the dirt and stands his ground. Step by step, he pushes forward through the gale, until his eyes light up with righteous fury. "HISATSUGA!" (CERTAIN KILL FANG) Leaping in as though the gale around him were a gentle breeze, he digs his fangs deep into Ricardo's throat and halts his attack instantly. With a quick wrenching of his entire body, Gurren is left with his back to the Fangmon and an orb of blackened data between his fangs. Just as Ricardo peeks down to Gurren from the corner of his eyes, exhaling his last breath, the Liollmon crushes his foe's core between his fangs, causing Ricardo to explode as a cloud of loose pixels.

As the battle concludes, Hibiki slowly and carefully pushes himself to his feet, swaying for just a moment. "Whoa… What the hell are you guys?..." He stumbles back and collapses, only to be caught by Atsuko and ushered back to his feet.

Gurren turns to them with a raised eyebrow. "You really aren't paying too much attention, are yo-" He's cut off by a cough and a hack, spitting up a few stray black pixels. "Ugh... that's why I hate using Hisatsuga so damn much." He shakes himself out of it and spits out the last few bits of Ricardo. "That blood-furred bastard already said what we all are. Every life form in this world is a digimon, but we come in so many shapes and sizes we come classified as our own separate species as well."

"Wow, did you absorb some RAM from him with that bite?" The approaching Impmon snorts and waves her pistols around. She ignores Gurren's glare while continuing his explanation. "This entire universe is made of data instead of matter like yours. Just really advanced, dense data that kinda mimics matter." She shrugs. "Welcome to the Digital World, runts. I'm Themis, and this talking furball's Gurren."

"Ok, wait just a second…" All eyes turn towards Katsurou. "How the hell is any of this real? How did we get here?" He crosses his arms and glares down at the two of them.

All he receives is a shrug and unified "Dunno". They turn and start walking along the river, headed downstream and uphill, with Gurren in the lead. He's noticeably limping and bleeding from the wound Ricardo left on his left from ribs to hip. "Neither of us is smart enough to figure that one out. Only a handful of people in this entire universe are, and I doubt they'd explain it. Best we can tell you is someone wanted you here for a big reason and now your best option is to follow us back to Datapool to meet Gennai and figure out what that reason is. Otherwise, you guys are stuck out here in a wilds fending off more pricks like Ricardo."

They all look amongst each other for a moment before Chouko races after them, followed by Hibiki. Katsurou takes his time with it, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. Atsuko stumbles up beside Themis and looks her over more closely. "So… how did you guys know we were gonna be here?"

Themis grumbles as she tosses her guns, causing them to disappear in flashes of black magic. "The founder of the Virus Busters, our world's global police, has been studying how the god computer Yggdrasil has been acting. He caught a blip on his radar for a series of portals being opened around here and sent all nearby officers on a hunt for you."

Atsuko raise a brow and leans in closer. "God computer?"

Hibiki snorts a bit as he catches up. "They did say this was a digital universe. Something has to be processing all this." The others fall into silence as that sets in.

"So then we got here through the internet or something?" Katsurou scratches his head. "How the hell does that work?"

Gurren shrugs. "Could have been the internet, but any digital technology can act as a gateway really. What matters for now though isn't how you got here."

"Right…" Katsurou growls to himself. "It's how we're getting out."

"Yeeeaaah, um…" Themis crosses her arms behind her head and looks to the sky. "That might take a while. If Yggdrasil wants ya here, they've got a reason, and they won't let you out so easily."

"What?!" Chouko stumbles into their path and cuts them off. "You mean we're stuck here?!"

"For the time being, yes." Gurren sighs and walks around her. "Just follow us back to Datapool, and you'll be safe. Our boss, Gennai, can fill you in on everything. Old man's gonna be your best resource right now if you guys wanna get out of here quickly and safely. As impossible as that sounds, knowing the history of humans here…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gurren looks up to Hibiki on his left, seeing him with his hands deep into his pockets with tired eyes cast down at the feline's. "We're not stuck in some kind of prophetic crap, are we?"

".. Um…" Gurren chuckles nervously. "No so much prophetic as… history repeating itself."

Hibiki groans and drags his hands across his face. "Aonuma's green-clad ghost… We're in for hell."

Atsuko pauses for a moment. "… Wait, was that seriously a Zelda reference?"

"Great, we've got two nerds here." Chouko quickly sucker punches Katsurou in the kidneys.

"So, how far to Datapool then? What should we expect there?" Hibiki peeks back down to their escorts.

"Well, I'd say about fifteen minutes before it's in sight around the bend, half an hour to reach its limits, and another ten to get deeper into town and find Gennai. As for what to expect... Little lakeside town, nothing special but comfortable, very close-knit, and Gennai himself is a wrinkled old midget who looks like a human but nobody has any clue what he is. Apparently a couple hundred thousand years old, too."

"An immortal?" Atsuko muses to herself. "No wonder they're running the show here. Well, lead the way, kitten." Gurren grumbles to himself, but Themis can't help but laugh. As they walk, Themis cauterizes Gurren's wound to keep him from bleeding out on the way home.

As they wander along the stream, the woods become less metallic and more organic, the aluminum leaves swapped for lush greenery. It blinds them to their left and leaves only the river on the right before another wall of green up until a tight bend. The moment they turned through it, Datapool was in sight, and Gurren was clearly underselling. The river lead them to a crystalline lake with a single island. Three bridges spread out from it, one of which leads to a small, but decorative suburban town on the shore. The remaining two are suspended high above their heads, each headed north and south. They hear a heavy rattling as a train passes overhead on the southern bridge. Far ahead, on the shores, they can see a large temple built of solid, smooth stone of a deep, bluish gray. From this distance it appears to be covered in a series of latticed black markings. Gurren sighs and takes a deep breath. "Welcome to Datapool, kids."

They nearly stumble beneath the bridge as they approach the farmlands on the outskirts of the town. A short distance into it, an old railcar stops for them to board, yet there seems to be nobody driving it. Despite wariness, they all climb aboard and watch as it carries them. Up at the front of the car, Chouko takes note of a series of nine symbols carved into the dashboard. "What's that graffiti over there supposed to be? Should someone have replaced that part by now?"

They hear a huff from the driver's seat. "Graffiti? You humans really are clueless!" A set of five hovering gears float over the edge of the seat to stare them all down. A pair of beady red and green eyes peers out from the middle gear as they wave a drill-faced gear at them. "Those are the symbols of some of the most important beings in our world, and one of the analog worlds!"

Gurren groans as he curls up on his seat. "Don't you have anywhere better to be, Bernhaldt?"

The Hagurumon attempts to scald Gurren, but he's stopped as Katsurou speaks up. "What's so important about them, then? Sorry for being a bit slow, but we're new here and don't know your world's religions yet."

"Hmmm…" Bernhald's gears turn and tilt. "I suppose you're more civilized than I thought. These symbols are not religious, though. They are fact. The Crests represent cardinal virtues that were once used to empower some of the greatest, most powerful heroes any digital world has ever known. The Crestbearers saved us from a catastrophe that could have deleted the entire universe." His right drill gear floats out and gently traces the Knowledge symbol. "These heroes once rode on this very railcar, out of this world and back to their own when their duties here were done. It returned to us later with no passengers. Eight humans returned to their world for a well-earned rest." He chuckle softly. "Of course, they returned a few years later. Those kids in particular had a lot on their plates compared to most Chosen Children."

"So that's what we're here for then…" Hibiki sighs and leans forward, resting his head on the back of the seat in front of him. "So we're stuck here on some hero's journey that none of us signed up for."

"Um…" Themis scratches her head. "Yeah, pretty much." She forces a laugh through her teeth as Hibiki gives that notion an exasperated groan.

"Oh my god, they're so cute!" Chouko's squealing grabs their attentions and turns their gazes out the windows. On both sides they find a series of bouncing baby digimon struggling to keep up to the railcar, cheering for the humans aboard it. Chouko attempts to reach out and pick one up, but almost falls out of the car. Katsurou just barely manages to grab her by her skirt and pull her back in.

"Alright Bernie, this is our stop." Gurren stretches as he stands, looking all too much like a house cat in the process. Bernhald nods and jams his right drill into a port on the dashboard and spins it, slowing the car to a stop. Gurren leads them all off and up to a small spruce-paneled house in the business district. Stepping through the glass front door, Gurren takes a moment to peek around an empty lobby before slamming his left hip on the doorway. It instantly starts to bleed once more, almost squirting from his wound. "Hey Alex! Ya got a leaker to patch up!"

A shrill feminine voice sounds from the back rooms. "Gurren, I swear to the Knights if you stain my carpets again I'll have you neutered!" Gurren pales instantly and peeks to Themis with begging eyes. She rolls her own before dragging a smoking gun across his wound, cauterizing it shut and leaving the only blood stains in his fur. Moments later, a bipedal plant with violet flowers for hands and rose-like violet petals forming a mask wanders out from around the corner.

"So, what do you have for me today, kit- Oh!" She stumbles to a stop at the sight of the four new Chosen Children, curtseying for them, despite her lack of any suiting attire. "It's an honor to meet you all! Oh dear, I knew the Busters were searching for you, but I never expected to meet you!" She laughs nervously, growing vines that twine together into fingers from her flowered wrists. "I'm Alexandra. Datapool's top doctor."

Chouko curtseys in return, then kneels down for a closer look. "It's a pleasure to meet you dear. Oh, your petals are beautiful… you must take great care of them."

"O-Oh, um... t-thank you!" Alex smiles widely with a faint blush. "I-It's a bit… difficult in this line of work, b-but I manage. S-So, Gurren!" She steps around Chouko and takes a look at his wound. "Mmm… Well, this is a bit worse than usual. What was it this time?"

"Ricardo." He chuckles and grins wildly. "I got 'im back, though. Anubimon is probably having a hay day with him right now."

Alex freezes up for a moment before staring Gurren down. "You killed Ricardo? How the hell did you manage that?"

"I'll tell ya later. For now, patch me up so I can get these runts to Gennai." He cringes a bit as she sticks a thorn into his hip.

"Hmm... Well, no infection, no toxins, no viruses… Surprising, figured Ricardo would have left something in you. Well, this will be quick then." She pulls the thorn free and starts to secrete a thick nectar from her other hand, rubbing it over his wounds, They seal shut upon application, slowly drying on and visibly healing his wounds shut. "Ok, that should do the trick."

Chouko kneels down for a closer look. "Oooh. You'll have to show me how that works later. I've been studying the curative properties of plants lately, and this is the best I've ever seen!"

"W-Well, um…" She giggles nervously. "It took a lot of practice, a-and I doubt it can be replicated in your world anyway…"

"ALEX! What's goin' on out there?!" Everyone peeks up to the sound of a gruff, slightly hissing voice around the corner in one of the examination rooms.

"Settle down, Guillo! Don't exasperate your wounds!" Alex groans as she returns to Gurren. "Fool never listens anyway… Three… two…"

"Gurren?" A bipedal lizard with a helmet and military vest stumbles out from the back with his left side of his face bandaged and left arm in a sling. Unlike most Commandramon, he's discarded much of his cybernetics and maintains a pair of flesh and blood legs with metal-plated boots and spiked knee pads. The usual black mask over their faces is discarded as well, making him remarkably similar to a skinnier agumon with a blue camouflage scale pattern. "You found the humans? Of course it'd be you, ya lucky jackass." He laughs off his limp and smacks Gurren across his back. "Gennai's favorite, right? You get the best of everything around here."

He raises an eyebrow above a deadpan stare. "I just had to fight Ricardo to the death and barely got out of there alive."

"See? You get all the best shit!" He stumbles back and summons his assault rifle into his right hand, waving it around. "I wanted to put a few bullets through that bastard's head!"

As most of those present stumble away from the gun-toting lizard, Katsurou steps up and pries it from his hand. He turns it over in his hands a few times, looking over the details. "Basic M16. Effective, efficient…" He glares down at the dumbfounded Commandramon. "But not meant for the hands of someone so irresponsible." He flips the safety on and sets it aside, only for the gun to disappear in a mass of fading pixels. "Learn to handle it properly before you go swinging that thing around. No wonder you got your ass beaten so badly." He scoffs. "An undisciplined brat like you can't possibly handle themselves in a fight."

Silence falls for a moment as they all stare between Katsurou and the lizard that can clearly arm himself again at any moment. Guillo slowly straightens himself out, locking eyes with the condescending young human. "… Teach me then." Jaws drop as he remains entirely serious. "I've always wanted to join the Xros Heart military in the mainland. If I'm gonna head over there, I'll need all the training I can get. So please… teach me."

Katsurou's eyes narrow, crossing his arms as he thinks it over. "… If I have the time among whatever I'm here for, maybe." He turns and heads for the door. "For now, we need to meet this Gennai guy and figure out what exactly we've been pulled here for."

Atsuko leans over to Hibiki and whispers. "Ten bucks when we get back home says this old man Gennai's a short Mr. Miyagi type that barely takes anything seriously."

Hibiki snorts as he follows the crowd out. "I'd be broke and dead if I were that gullible."

"Well…" Gurren stretches as his wound finishes closing, cracking his neck for good measure. "If we're lookin for Gennai at this hour, I know just where to go. Come on, guys." He turns and leads the way out to the street. "Thanks for the patch, Alex! Put it on the Busters' tab, as usual."

Ales sighs and rubs at her brow. "Right. The tab. Remind Gennai to stop in and pay it for once."

Back on the streets, Hibiki takes a moment to look around and take in all the digimon species. Some are made of natural elements, a few are clearly facsimiles of animals from his own world, and others are basically inanimate objects incarnate. He can barely fathom how a world with such a complexity of species can function when his own is plagued constant hate. His answer is found in a few flyers he finds sitting about. A symbol that appears to be a stylized but smoothed out bat, the corners of it filed down to curves, then inverted, is plastered about in conjunction with propaganda of what's called the "Antivirus Movement". He makes a mental note to ask about that in more detail later, if necessary. A glance at Atsuko confirms for him that she'd taken note of it too, though Chouko is completely occupied with giggling over the attentions of the baby digimon hopping along and Katsurou is keeping his gaze ahead and wrapped up in his own thoughts.

The second thing Hibiki notices that he's uncertain if anyone else catches is the vast range of expressions they receive from the locals. Most of the young ones are curious and cheerful, bouncing along and asking a million questions a minute. Others are more reserved and welcoming, just waving the humans by and returning to their work. What worried him though is the expressions of the oldest of the populous, and occasionally very young appearing ones with the eyes of elders. Their gazes are not of those welcoming the supposed heroes they are meant to be, but passively addressing ill omens, steeling and resigning themselves to a dreadful fate.

Drawing his mind away from such grim ideas, he finds that Gurren has lead them to a small food stand tucked into the corner of an intersection. Gurren leaps up into a seat next to someone reading a newspaper, tapping on the counter. "Oy, Tekkai! Shrimp ramen! And a handful of new customers here for ya, too!"

Behind the counter stands a peculiar digimon that despite being about their own height, has a build that could intimidate any of them. He's a blue bipedal canine, so any local could identify him as a Gaomon, but he's a rather different one. He's tall, stocky, built with thick, hulking arms and feral legs. He's barrel-chested, but it's poorly paired with a bit of a beer gut. His headband remains tied in place, but his gloves are currently off, leaving his padded MMA gloves hanging from a hook on the wall behind him, alongside a series of trophies and photos identifying him as File Island's Child Level MMA Champion. As he turns towards the counter, he can't help but grin wildly and bow. "Welcome, Chosen. Gotta say, it's an honor to have you dining here. So, what'll ya have?" He gestures to the shockingly large menu up on the back wall. Eventually, everyone settles into options from various cultures, ranging from cheesesteak sandwiches to curry. Tekkai takes a moment to set himself down across from Themis once he's handed out their meals. "So, Them… you looking forward to tonight?"

"Oh, am I…" She lets off a sensual growl, leaning across the table to give him a kiss. As they lean into each other, Hibiki catches sight of them having matching shoulder tattoos that happen to be the symbol on all the Antivirus posters.

"Um… sorry to intrude, but… what's with the tattoos from all the flyers?" They both look to him for a moment, biting their lips as they struggle to decide how to explain it.

"I'll tag in now, you two can relax." The elderly and gruff-voiced customer on the end of the bar puts his newspaper down, revealing a very short man with a sagging face, several liver spots, a sparse white ponytail, and a matching Fu Manchu moustache. His black and red robe hangs around him as stiff as a padded vest, with some compact metal encased contraption across his back that at his apparent age was likely some kind of life support. "Afternoon, children. I'm Gennai. Immortal, inventor, observer, chief of the Virus Busters, and aide to the Chosen. His smile widens as he takes in their bewildered stares. "Pleasure to meet you all. I do hope you won't disappoint."

Katsurou swivels his chair to face the old man. "So you're the one we're supposed to be answering to?"

"Oh, child, you've got this all wrong." He laughs heartily. "No, no, you have no one to answer to. No, I'm simply the one to provide the gear you'll need for the trials ahead and your most valuable source of information." He leans aside and peers around Katsurou to Hibiki. "So, you asked about the Antivirus symbol? Well, to understand that, you must have a grasp on how this world came to be and how it works." He adjusts himself in his seat and takes hold of the staff leaning against the bar beside him. The seemingly impossible tesseract of cogs in the headpiece begins to shift to release hovering cogs that expand into screens, projecting images to aide his explanation. "You see, there are countless digital worlds. Yggdrasil, the god computer that hosts them all, counts each world as a separate server. But, like with any computer, there are occasional errors."

"Some time ago, around three and a half thousand years I believe, something caused some of those servers to replicate and collapse into one another. It may have been another of Yggdrasil's cross-wired schemes to experiment again, but nevertheless, some significant servers ended up merging into the one you're in now. When it first happened, the heroes of each world began to attack each other, fearful of the 'invaders'. Eventually, they began to recognize each other from another multiversal event sometime prior and with my guidance, they calmed down and started forming a new series of governments. But, while they organize, the populous of each world began to share the stories of the trials and Chosen of their own worlds. It wasn't long before they all came to the consensus that a majority of their greatest threats happened to be what are currently labeled Virus type digimon. This of course spawned fear and bigotry, creating an imbalance in the treatment of the types. Many Virus digimon of course cannot stand for it, and have been rallying for many years now to undo their oppression."

Tekkai sighs and rubs at his tattoo, coloring some of his shoulder fur jet black. "I may not be a virus myself, but I'm closely related to a lot of them, and fell for one. I used to be a lot more involved in the protests, until…"

Themis clenches her fists. "Fools started getting too violent... Completely undoing all our hard work."

Gennai sighs deeply. "And there-in lies the problem. Their attacks have been getting more violent, and a lot of evidence that's surfaced recently suggests that a majority of those who were part of the movement have abandoned it, yet the attacks are unending and seems to have started at the same time as the sealing of the Crest Temples." All digimon present fall still and silent as the gravity of it all sinks in. "… It would appear our foes have already infiltrated some significant positions, and if we do not track them down and smoke them out soon, our chances of surviving whatever is planned are slim to say the least. Acting too quickly would be hazardous. Acting too late would be damning." He closes his eyes. "With our world's greatest heroes spread thin and running damage control and eight of them locked away, we'll need all the help we can get."

Atsuko slowly peeks up to him, keeping her arms wrapped around herself. ".. So… we're that backup then? But… Why? How?.."

"Ah, well, a wonderful question." The images projected for them change, showing several other groups of human children drawn to the digital worlds. "Here, data is power. But, what was quickly discovered was that the emotions of beings from analog worlds contained such a vast amount of data that if it were to be utilized, weaponized, it would be devastatingly efficient. Devices were developed for the sake of collecting and channeling that power, turning kind-hearted children into the saviors of those worlds as their emotions and wills fueled their digimon partners and helped them rise to greatness. You are here to repeat that pattern, but with a few… extra tricks." He chuckles softly and grins, pulling a case from his coat. Upon opening it, it appears to contain four transparent rubber orbs. "They don't look like much now, but given a little time to calibrate in your presences, these new digivice prototypes will take on personalized forms and become your greatest tools. Hold onto them at all times. Grow accustomed to them. In about twelve hours or so, they'll calibrate and become functional."

Hibiki is the first to reach out and take hold of his own, watching as it begins to softly glow in his hand, a dull red that barely tints the rubber. Atsuko, Katsurou, and Chouko follow suit, resulting in violet, blue, and green. Hibiki squeezes it tightly, letting everything sink in. "… What do we do until they calibrate, then?"

"For now…" Gennai pushes himself to his feet, arching his back and producing a long and loud series of pops and cracks. "Rest… I've reserved a four bed suite in our hotel for you. One of our more discreet agents is waiting there to guard you as well. Gurren, you too are assigned to stay with them tonight. And Themis…" He turns to her, just as she was in the process of nearly climbing over the bar to kiss Tekkai. "… After your date, you're to report to the hotel as well." She groans, but nods and gives him a half-hearted salute. He turn his back and begins to walk off. "Sleep well, children. Tomorrow, the greatest events of your lives begin."

Silence falls among the soon to be heroes as Gennai wanders away. Eventually, Katsurou sighs and pushes himself from his seat as well. "We should get going, then. I need some sleep already…"

Everyone nods in silence, following suit as Gurren leads them up the street to the hotel. Hibiki remains at the back of the line, falling a bit further behind before he pushes his thoughts aside to catch up. At the fourth floor of the hotel, they find a bird digimon with bright red feathers and diamond patterned headband. She waves to them all as they approach. "Gurren. Took you long enough."

"Ah shut it, 'mona. I got enough shit trying to deal with Ricardo earlier. I'm gonna savor the memory of killing him for a while at least." He swats the Hawkmon with his tail on the way past.

"Ah, whatever…" She pauses at the sight of Chouko, looking over her outfit. "Huh… gonna have to chat with you later. I know a good tailor in town you should meet."

"O-Oh, t-thank you!" Chouko giggles nervously. "I-I'd love to meet them. Being a tailor in a world like this must be pretty hard… So many body types to work with!"

"There's a good reason there's only a few dozen or so known professional tailors in this world." She shrugs and steps aside for everyone. "Get some rest kids, you're gonna need it tomorrow."

Passing through the front door, they find the suite so be small, but comfortable. Plush cream carpets and finely softened leather furniture are right up front, accompanied by a 72 inch TV. A small kitchen sits off to the side, though none of them feel like using it at the moment. Two bathrooms can be found with large jacuzzi tubs, one on each side of the suite, accompanied each by two bedrooms with queen sized beds. It only takes a few moments for everyone to collapse into their furniture of choice, with Atsuko sprawled out across the couch, Chouko taking the floor beside it so the two of them can chat away, and Katsurou collapsing into a recliner off to the side. Although another recliner is available, Hibiki takes a moment to look them all over before retreating to one of the bedrooms and shutting himself in.

The remainder of the night is simple and peaceful, but little comfort is found. Far too many questions and doubts plague their minds, keeping them staring into empty space as they struggle to grasp the severity of their new lives. Eventually, sleep does take hold, carrying them off to sweeter dreams.

Those dreams and the town's misty night are shattered by screams and a shrill draconic roar echoing from the lake.