The night chirped quietly with the song of crickets and owls, the sky passed silently over a peaceful suburban neighborhood. The rows of identical homes were asleep, windows dark with no signs of life inside, the exception a corner house with a strange flicker of energy pulsating inside. The lights blinked on and off while the electronics beeped and crackled with static energy. The family's only child stirred, body hidden beneath piles of pastel blankets and over-fluffed pillows. The phone plugged in on his bedside table glowed with still, blue light. The screen flickered occasionally, almost in time with the sleeping teen's haphazard tossing.

In the fog of his subconscious, Kit Bradley found himself in the bedroom of a proper, astute young blonde. She was concentrated on a laptop at her antique desk as he looked around the room, observing the white and wooden décor that screamed of a high-walled world lived in ignorant bliss. He couldn't help wonder why he would be spending his REM cycle in this bedroom… A glimpse over her shoulder revealed a truer image of the person Kit was observing. Her eyes were focused on a charity foundation's crowd-funding campaign. As if she knew he wanted to see what else she was looking at, she clicked over to a video with millions of views, likes and shares. The video frame was paused on an image of her standing at a podium with her fist raised before a sea of people. She looked back over at the crowd-funding page and he realized she was watching the meter measuring the donations, the goal still unmet. She pushed up from the desk and turned her back to the glaring screen, pacing as she tried to calm herself. Kit took her place in the chair, willing the small space of empty still lingering in the meter to fill. He jumped back up at the sound of digitized fanfare. She pushed the chair aside and gripped the edge of her desk, eyes welling with tears as she saw the goal accomplished. He clutched his chest, empathizing with the swelling pride that rolled off of her. He had the intense urge to high five her but remembered she couldn't see him, his hand stopping mid-rise. She pulled out her phone to spread word, her fingers flying in excitement as Kit watched her words form from over her shoulder. Their attention was pulled back to the laptop as it let off a high-pitched, shrill alarm. Kit and dream girl approached the screen side by side, eyes fixated on the sight of the screen swirling with bright, golden light. The energy began to pour from the laptop, heat emanating from it and warming the two teens. Kit backed away, hesitant as the girl leaned in to inspect it. She jumped slightly as a distorted, booming voice spoke from somewhere inside the energy mass. The energy had begun enveloping her as it spoke, but she didn't struggle or make any attempt to flee. Kit tried to hear the words being spoken to her only to realize when she responded that it wasn't the voice he couldn't understand but the audio of the dream itself that was wrong. He fidgeted with his ears in an attempt to catch some information and in the instant he looked down and back up the girl was gone, no trace that she or the golden goo had ever been there at all.

A pixelated wall erased the scene around Kit and built a new one as it returned to wherever it came from. He now faced a staircase lined with photos of a troupe of goofy redheads posing together in various locations, sometimes with other families or friends, clearly doing some sort of relief or missionary work. He turned to find a modest yet comfortable living room, empty aside for one of the brothers from the photo wall sitting on the couch in the glow of a television. The blonde from Kit's last dream scene was displayed in a still on TV, the star of the evening news. An anchor was relaying the progress of the crowdfunding campaign and attributing the sudden interest in the cause to the girls rallying. Kit watched the captions under the screen, still unable to make out any spoken words. The newscaster was counting down the remaining time for donations to be submitted. Kit's stomach tightened as he felt a wave of impatience for the results. He looked over at the lanky, freckled young man to see his knee bouncing while he glanced at a wristwatch. He shook his head as the last few seconds were announced and powered off the television. He chuckled to himself as he leaned back into the couch cushions. Kit's stomach unclenched, and he realized the teen before him just wanted to hear confirmation that the cause he believed in was a success. Kit knew already of course and wanted to tell him, but he could feel a sense of ease and assuredness settling in now that the sensationalized coverage was off. Kit wasn't the only one who knew the results, even if he was the only one who'd seen them. The redhead sat in silence, breathing and humming and glancing once more at his watch. Kit's mind wandered as he waited to see what would happen, wondering if this guy and the girl had ever met, or if there was any link between them besides this cause. He wondered what his involvement was with these two strangers, and why he was witnessing their lives in his sleep. Dream boy got up from the couch and moved to the television, turning it back on with a smile just as the newscaster announced that the numbers had come in. He didn't need to watch to know his support had been well-placed and he had helped further something he believed in but he definitely wanted to see the proof on screen. Kit's eyes welled up, the feeling of validation and pride in his chest mirrored from whoever-he-was. He flipped the TV off again and turned away, cleaning up the area he'd settled into for the coverage. Kit looked around, searching for any sign that pointed to why he was there. The powered down television suddenly came to life with the same shrill, high pitched alarm that had announced the golden energy of the last dream. Kit and the other teen jerked around to see a silver light radiating from the screen. They walked forward together as the screen melted into a molten mass of silver, swirling energy. Redhead knelt closer, confusion and intrigue heavy on his brow as he reached out a hand. The light was warm again, and this time Kit could make out the word 'destiny' in the garbled audio. Kit tried to touch the energy himself this time, but as the guy in front of him was absorbed, Kit was repelled and left to wait for the pixelated wall to update his scene.

Kit scanned the odd trees surrounding him, the strange colored leaves and too-perfect trunks causing him to panic slightly. Nothing familiar marked the terrain and he felt out of place in the alien land. The two from his dreams stumbled from behind a wall of foliage, dressed in all white uniforms. The blonde girl had a skirted bottom and golden accents while her counterpart wore pants and silver accents, otherwise they matched perfectly. They seemed to be just as unfamiliar with the area as Kit, looking in all directions without any clear path.

"Roy, we walked in a circle," the girl stated bluntly, stopping to cross her arms.

He skidded to a halt and turned, huffing. "How could you possibly know that, Cassi? Everything looks the exact same out here."

"Wait, look!" She grabbed his arm and pulled her in the direction of her pointed index finger. Kit followed her gesture to a hidden gate between a cluster of hedges. He followed Cassi and Roy as they opened it and stepped through into a small, peaceful village. He walked through their suddenly frozen figures, looking back at them in confusion and then down in the direction of their gazes.

Two small, strange creatures blinked expectantly up at the humans. Hanging from a branch just in front of Roy was a bug-like green animal wearing a spiked, brown shell over its lower body. The other, a tiger-striped fuzzball with pointed ears and mischievous eyes batted its feather duster tail while it stared at Cassi.

"Sophia! Seki! Get back here!" The small animals looked back at a purple loin-clothed angel hidden under white exoskin hovering with his crescent-tipped staff poised to attack.

Roy and Cassi simultaneously stepped over their admirers and instinctively braced themselves. Orbs of light expanded in the air before them, the silver at Roy's chest and the gold at Cassi's. Inside the bubbles of light hovered what looked to be ordinary cell phones.

The angelic man relaxed when he saw them, a smile breaking his warrior façade. "Ah, it's you."

Kit watched in excitement, his dream somehow developing into a movie in his mind. He almost wished he had popcorn.

The scene changed again around him.

Roy and Cassi stood back to back in a distorted, dark version of the forest they'd arrived in. Seki, the green insectoid creature, floated before Roy while Sophia, the fuzzy cat head, hissed from Cassi's arms. They were surrounded by a group of oversized larva and frighteningly large arachnids. As the menacing pests let off streams of electrified webbing white light jumped from the devices they'd received to the creatures that now defended them.

"Minomon Digivolve to…" Seki shed his shell, revealing a long, segmented caterpillar body. His short legs ended in talons and the tip of his tail sprouted menacing pincers and a single black band appeared around the tip. "Wormmon!"

"NyaCoomon Digivolve to…" A small, rotund torso grew from Sophia's fuzzy head and four wobbly legs and oversized paws extended from there. Her face developed slight canine features, her snout extending and pointed ears folding into lopped tips. "SalaMeimon!"

"Woah!" Cassi's arms flew open as Sophia broke free and let off a ball of air that deflected webbing away from her partner.

"What was that?!" Roy leaned in to inspect Seki's new form as the larva creature used its tail pincers to launch a blade of energy at the threads.

Seki landed facing his partner. "That is what we call 'Digivolution.'"

"And we couldn't have done it without you and your Digivices!" Sophia added, winking at Cassi.

The humans looked from the phone-like devices in their palms to their newly changed partners.

Kit bounced with glee, unable to contain himself as the four returned their attention to the bugs to take them on together. Just as they moved to strike, Kit was moved to another forested area. The bugs were now countless and in the company of other strange beings. Giant, walking mushrooms and reptilian flowers and thug-dressed cockroaches stood alongside more of the larva and spider beasts. Strange, sentient plant bulbs with prehensile vines lined the risen ridges bordering the sunken in clearing where Cassi, Sophia, Roy and Seki stood. Above them hovered giant, bright red beetles with deadly sharp pincers and horns and claws. Kit swallowed, nervous despite being untouchable in his dream state.

Sophia howled a gust of wind strong enough to knock over the frontlines while Seki spit sticky webbing at their foes to keep them stuck in place. Roy and Cassi looked to each other and nodded, wearing confident smirks as they raised their Digivices. A golden, metallic whip unfurled from Cassi's with a crack. A thin, silver rapier extended from Roy's. They turned to fight off enemies at their rear, surprising Kit by moving with deadly and precise movements. The beetles descended to make their move.

Roy and Seki stood in a cavern, flecks of green energy rising from the small, fallen ogres lining the floor around them. Cassi lay crumpled in a cage built into the rock wall, Sophia hanging in a separate cage on the other side of the bars. Roy huffed, stumbling forward onto one knee while his upper body stayed supported by his rapier. An ogre much larger than those disintegrating on the cave floor sauntered forward, staying close to Cassi's cage to keep her out of Roy's reach. A brown twin ogre and a short, round, humanoid with tattoos and body hair flanked the first. He raised his large bone club and his lackeys rushed at Roy and Seki. Roy bowed his head, as if waiting for the outcome. His Digivice glowed with bright, silver light and he touched the tip of his rapier to Seki's tail pincers.

"Wormmon Digivolve to…" The glow from the rapier overcame his body, and the expanded outward to form a swirling sphere of silver energy. It dispersed, and an insecto-humanoid towered over Roy in Wormmon's place. "Stingmon!" Kit shielded his eyes as the sleek new Seki thrust a crackling blade of energy toward his enemies.

His hand moved to reveal Cassi and Sophia facing off against two monstrous chickens on, the field around them singed by previous attacks. Cassi had one with flaming feathers tethered with her whip while Sophia yapped balls of air at its flameless counterpart. The SalaMeimon was plucked from the air and tossed aside as her enemy advanced on Cassi. She looked back and used the flaming farm bird to dodge a blast of green fire from its friend. Her whip loosened on the fire chicken and it used the extra length to toss her out from under it. SalaMeimon scrambled up, snarling as she rushed at them. Cassi's eyes clung shut, gripping her whip and hanging from one beak while another pecked at her. A flash of golden light burst from Cassi's whip and flew for Sophia.

"SalaMeimon Digivolve to…" She was swallowed by the gold light and then returned, her canine features replaced by that of a feline. The orange-colored, long-furred cat with appendages sprouting from under its cowl continued its trajectory toward the enemy foul. "Meicoomon!" Her crackling claws drew an X as they lashed out, releasing a wave of electrical energy that slammed into her original adversary. She pounced from the first fallen body to the other chicken, still swinging Cassi around from its beak.

Kit turned to look for Roy and Seki, only to be swept to watch the four he'd been following face off against a black cat-like creature. Almost immediately he was replaced again to observe a battle with an icy demon, followed by a tentacled underwater beast and then a ferocious, bladed wolf. Kit's dream slowed enough for him to watch Seki become a jewel-armored insect warrior, and Roy's rapier evolved from the battle with the wolf into a battle with a floating, cloaked figure wielding a scythe. Kit felt himself grow dizzy as the scene rapid-changed again through Sophia's next evolution into a feline humanoid, Cassi's whip developing into a more powerful version and a battle with a large-brained, extraterrestrial creature.

He was ejected from the scenes whirling around him onto a grassy field. He collapsed, trying to breath. While his dream morphed around him to create the Cassi and Roy montage, he had experienced more than the visual and audio of their adventures. Kit could feel the fear, anger, sadness, worry, victory, joy, love, the pure emotion of a war he still couldn't understand overwhelming his mind while his body ached from exertion and abuse he hadn't endured. He had somehow slipped into their very beings in his subconscious. As his breath evened out and the spinning feeling left his mind he pushed up from the ground.

A glance to his left revealed Roy and Cassi at the forefront of a small battalion, Seki and Sophia at their sides while the angelic man from earlier and an array of creatures flanked them. Across the field on Kit's right was an approaching army of demons, beasts and other evil beings led by a vibrantly cloaked humanoid with blades peeking out from every inch left exposed. The opposing forces paused with Kit positioned dead center between them.

Kit blinked and was suddenly standing just behind Cassi and Roy.

"Roy, I'm not sure I'm ready," she looked up at him, shaking with worry.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a confident smile. "We wouldn't be here if you weren't ready." He extended his hand away from his body and his Digivice produced a thin, metallic red rapier with a pronged, jeweled silver hilt and a green shield decorated with one large gem matching those on the blade. He raised his sword and looked ahead at their enemies. "Today we defeat the Foot Soldiers of the Dark Area and reclaim Eden in the name of God!" The allies behind them cheered in response to his cry, running forward into battle.

Cassi, Roy, Sophia, Seki and Kit stood as their legion met the enemy at center of the field with a flurry of energy and claws and weapons. The head of the enemy army also remained still in the sea of his soldiers, watching his targets as they watched him. Roy finally broke his stance and used his shield to barrel through the throngs of battling monsters.

"Roy! No!" Cassi screamed out, golden chains unraveling from her Digivice. She lashed it out, a crooked scythe materializing to bury itself in an enemy aimed at Roy's back.

JewelBeemon and Meicrackmon darted along the chain, slashing into demons converging on their leader. Kit remained paralyzed, watching as an onslaught unfolded before him. Heroes and villains fell and crumbled to sparkling fragments around him. The dream grew foggy, focus blurring out everything but the four he'd followed on a journey through a subconscious land as they dipped and darted and damaged the throngs of shadowy antagonists piling against them. Kit flinched in pain as a gash of red split the skin on his arm. His head snapped to Cassi as she gripped her own wounded, bleeding bicep. Another gash ripped across his chest, Roy leaning back in an attempt to avoid a bladed swipe from his cloaked nemesis. Sophia and Seki fought to get to their partners, pulling against arms and tendrils and teeth. Kit tried to move, watching as Roy's shield shattered over his face. Echoed screams erupted from the dreamer and the dreamed as a razor tore through muscle and bone. Tears poured from Kit's eyes as he cradled his limp left forearm. Roy's landed with a wet thud on the grass beneath his rolling body, barely avoiding the follow through of the attack.

Seki roared out, crimson light blazing from a lance matching his partners sword as he threw himself through anyone standing between him and his human. Cassi and Sophia turned to follow his lead. Cassi's chain whip wrapped around bladed foot as their final enemy's arm poised to strike. Kit pulled against invisible restraints, sobbing in fear and panic and fury, despaired at the reality that he couldn't do anything even if he could move.

Everything went silent. Roy's eyes grew wide as he looked into the hollow smirk of the demon before him. Kit choked, blood dripping from his lips. Cassi fell to her lips, a distorted and slowed scream ripping from her chest. Sophia's tendrils restrained the bladed hands as Seki's lance crushed through his target's chest. Kit looked down, three thin slits gushing blood over his hand, and back up at Seki cradling Roy's limp body and Sophia rushing to Cassi's side. He collapsed to his knees, pressing his hands against his torso hoping to stop the flow. The fog of the dream grew thicker, his eyes blurred and the images around him shifted out of focus.

As he blinked through the sudden urge to sleep, a woman draped in shimmering gold fabric and adorned with golden armor stepped into Kit's view. Silver hair flowed in an unfelt breeze, tossing around the jeweled, golden mask covering her eyes. He blinked, and tried to get up for a better view. She held out her hand, beckoning him stay put. She knelt beside him and touched his back, the wounds vanishing in a soft pink glow. She held out her hand before him, ten golden orbs appearing and swirling with colorful light as they rotated in her hand. Each chose a color and pulsated in that light, white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple and black, and then they dispersed, leaving only the pink as it gently hovered to Kit.

The woman smiled and got back up, disappearing into an ornate, golden gateway.

Kit looked down at the small orb before him. It grew, expanding to become a large egg that nestled itself in his lap. His heart thumped in time with a gentle pulse beneath the fragile shell.

He faded out of consciousness, everything going black as he found a much needed peace in the comfort of his egg.

Sunlight prodded his eyes open. He squinted against it, disoriented as he returned to the real world. He sat up, bombarded with the memories of the dream he'd had and overwhelmed by its vividness. He shook his head, ready to move on from that adventure, and shuffled to his dresser to retrieve his phone. He opened the home screen and saw a notification from an unfamiliar app. He opened it, confused, and saw the egg from his dream displayed on his screen, pulsating slightly as if it were breathing.

A text screen popped up. "You have been chosen." He swiped the app closed and set it facedown.

"Nope." He shook his head as he walked away.