A/N: A word of warning before we start: this fic is gonna get really weird at some points. It kinda comes with the territory of being based (even if just loosely based) on Genesis' Foxtrot album; if you've heard that album, you should have an idea as to how weird this is gonna get. (And if you haven't heard it, you should; it's a great album! Well, unless you're not a progressive rock fan, I suppose.)

Also, I would like to thank my friends tiedwithribbons and KingViolet96, since it was their stories that inspired me to write this. Both of them are great writers, and you should definitely check out their stories!

Lastly, even though I seriously doubt any of them will actually read this, I figured I should also thank the band themselves, for making wonderful music (both on this album and on many others, which I should really get around to listening to one of these days). Anyway, on with the story!

Like a bright-white cloud blanketing the landscape in a dense fog, a swarm of white butterflies advanced across the Digital World. They all moved in the same direction, and at the same speed, and with the same goal. Hard as it was to believe, this swarm was not a collection of hundreds or thousands of simple minds, but rather a manifestation of one mind, and this mind had a very specific intent.

It had been meaning to do this for the longest time, but it knew it just had to wait until the time was right.

And as of now, the time was definitely right.

The butterflies meandered on their path for a while, before finally finding the place they needed to go: none other than Primary Village, the land of new beginnings. Elecmon, the caregiver, was in the middle of feeding some of the babies when the swarm came into view. He had seen some of the butterflies in the past, but only just a few at a time, and never more than around ten. But now, they all were here, and for Elecmon, this could only mean one thing.

It was time.

Elecmon looked at the swarm, nodded in understanding, and ran into a nearby building. Meanwhile, some of the babies had noticed the swarm; some were curious, some were amazed, some were scared...

...and in the case of one of the babies, a little green digimon who resembled an unripe tomato, excited.

It didn't take long at all for Elecmon to run back out of the building. In his arms, he was carrying two eggs: a red one with a black spiderweb pattern, and a blue one with thick, criss-crossing, off-white stripes. While Elecmon, being the caretaker of Primary Village, had had to deal with several different sorts of digi-eggs over the years, these two specific eggs were, as far as he knew, the only ones of their kind.

And if the swarm's arrival was any indication, these eggs were needed right now.

Some of the butterflies flew up to Elecmon, clustering themselves in a bowl-like formation. With a nod, Elecmon gently set the two eggs inside. Miraculously, none of the butterflies seemed to be affected by the extra weight at all; they continued hovering as if the eggs weren't even there.

Another cluster of butterflies flew up to the green digimon and gently scooped him up until he was sitting on his own platform of butterflies. He gave Elecmon a slightly confused glance; Elecmon just winked at him. The green digimon inwardly shrugged. Most things happened for a reason, after all; in time, he was sure to find out what that reason was, and as the butterflies flew away with him and the eggs, he caught a glimpse of Elecmon waving goodbye.

The butterflies resumed their flight across the Digital World, making sure to steer clear of any potentially-hostile digimon. Meanwhile, the green digimon's mind was swimming in confusion; on one hand, he was excited to see the butterflies again, but on the other hand, what did they want from him right now? And what did those eggs have to do with anything? He pondered all sorts of different scenarios in his mind; at this rate, anything could happen.

Indeed, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely even noticed as he was descending. Once he actually touched the ground, though, his mind snapped back into reality. He found himself in a lush grotto filled with green grass, fruit trees, and berry bushes, along with a clear pond. It had just then occurred to him that he was about to get some food from Elecmon before he was sent here. Well, this solved that problem, but what about the other things going on?

He watched as the butterflies gently lowered the eggs onto the grass. Once the eggs were firmly on the ground, two butterflies flew up to them, each landing on one of the eggs. The two butterflies started rapidly fluttering their wings. This carried on for about a minute before they took off to the sky, joining the swarm that was now flying away. Before the green digimon had the chance to ask what was going on, he noticed a strange light coming from nearby.

The digi-eggs were glowing, which of course meant that they were hatching.

When the glow dissipated, he saw two digimon standing before him. One was a small spider, while the other was a small purple blob-like digimon with rounded ears. The two newcomers gave him confused stares.

At this point, he decided that an attempt at diplomacy was the best course of action.

"Um, hi!" He tried to hide his nervousness. "I'm Datirimon, and-"

The spider stepped forward. "Where are we?"

Datirimon stepped back. "I...I don't really know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You were here before us, weren't you?"

"I just got here!"

The spider cradled her forehead with a front leg, the exasperation in her voice growing more prominent. "Yeah, and weren't you paying any attention to your surroundings?"

The blob hopped over to the two, glancing at the spider in particular. "Calm down. If he doesn't know, he doesn't know."

The spider sighed. "Well, I still would like to know where we are."

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Datirimon." The blob smiled at him. "I'm Kiimon."

But...am I? Or did I have a different name once?

"Nice to meet you!" Datirimon looked at the spider. "What's your name?"

"KoDokugumon." But...that doesn't feel like my name. When...?

"Great!" Datirimon looked at all the different fruits and berries around the grotto. "Since we're here, we might as well get something to eat. I don't know about you two, but I'm really hungry."

Kiimon looked around. "Actually, I'm hungry too."

"Mm-hmm." KoDokugumon walked over to the nearest tree and started climbing it.

For a little while after that, the three baby digimon sampled all the different foods in the grotto. Since KoDokugumon could climb trees, she had the easiest time getting to the fruit in the trees; Datirimon and Kiimon, meanwhile, stuck with fruits that were already on the ground, and even then, they ended up eating more berries. Once none of them were hungry anymore, they drank some water out of the pond. Afterwards, Datirimon told Kiimon and KoDokugumon everything he knew about what had happened just before the two hatched.

"A huge swarm of butterflies?" Kiimon looked up at the sky. "Interesting..."

KoDokugumon stared at the pond. "Why was he keeping our eggs in a building, though?"

"I don't know." Datirimon kicked a nearby pebble, watching it bounce across the water. "I was gonna ask him, but I didn't get the chance."

"Hmm..." Kiimon looked around. "Maybe there's something special about KoDokugumon and I, and we don't realize it?"

"But what would that be, though?" KoDokugumon asked. "I wish we had the slightest clue as to what was going on."

"So do I." Kiimon yawned. "But right now, I feel like taking a nap."

KoDokugumon gave Kiimon an incredulous look. "Out here? How do we know it's safe out here?"

Datirimon walked over to them. "I haven't seen any other digimon out here. And besides, I somehow feel...really safe here, you know?"

"You two had better be right," KoDokugumon muttered.

Truthfully, it wasn't just Kiimon who was sleepy; the other two were also sleepy. As baby digimon, it was rare for them to be neither hungry nor tired. Their internal schedules would even out as they digivolved, but right now, their lives would mainly be about eating and sleeping, with everything else second to those two.

So, the three of them went over to the biggest tree in the grotto, each taking a different place underneath it. Datirimon lay down in the soft green grass, let out a huge yawn, and soon drifted off.

It was a clear, starry night, and he was standing on the shores of the Net Ocean, staring off into the horizon. Suddenly, the ocean turned black, and the white foam of the waves turned purple. When he looked down, he saw that the sand beneath his feet had turned blood-red, and before long, even though he saw no one else on the beach, he heard voices whispering in his ear.

"If you run, we'll catch you."

"If you hide, we'll find you."

"If you fight, we'll kill you."

"You can only win if you surrender."

He gasped and looked around; to his right, a short, somewhat humanoid figure stood in the distance. He could barely make out the figure's form, but its eyes were glowing a bright green. The figure glared directly at him, and he could hear one more voice.

"You're in deep trouble now."

In that instant, the figure dashed towards him, faster than he could comprehend. When it was close, it leapt straight in his direction, and-

Datirimon gasped, sitting upright and looking around. He was no longer on the beach, but instead back in that same grotto he was previously in with the others.

What was that? I thought I was gonna die there!

He stared up at the sky; the sun's position made it clear that this was late in the afternoon, and he thought he could see the sky beginning to turn yellow in some places. At this point, he figured he might as well see if the others were awake, so he began walking to where Kiimon had chosen to sleep.

"Hey, Kiimon, are you awake?" he asked.

No answer.

He turned the corner. "Kiimon-"

He froze.

Someone was sleeping in Kiimon's spot...

...but it wasn't Kiimon.

Mustering up courage, Datirimon walked up for a closer look. This new figure actually looked more like a human, even wearing a blue suit. But, Datirimon thought, most humans didn't have grey skin or sharp teeth...and yet this one did. Did he do something to Kiimon...

...or was he Kiimon?

At this moment, Datirimon started wondering if KoDokugumon had suffered a similar fate, so he turned around to check the other side of the tree. But just then, he heard a loud yawn coming from behind him, and glanced backwards.

The man had woken up, and was now looking at him with a single golden eye.

With a nervous laugh, Datirimon stepped back. "Uh, Kiimon, if that's you, I think something happened when you were sleeping."

"What do you mean, Dati-" He stopped himself; the voice that just came out of his mouth did not sound anything like the voice he had before he fell asleep. As he stared down at his body, things were starting to get clearer all of a sudden. "Wait a minute..."

"What?"

The man slowly pushed himself upwards; as soon as he was standing, Datirimon almost cowered, for Kiimon (or whatever his name was now), despite formerly being around the same size, was now several times his height. Grabbing his walking stick, the man made a beeline for the pond. Upon staring at his reflection in the water, all manner of memories began rushing back to his head. It was all so clear to him now!

Datirimon tentatively walked up to him. "Uh, are you okay, Kiimon? If that's still your name?"

The man turned to him. "Actually, I'm Mummymon now."

"Okay...what are you thinking right now, Mummymon?"

The look on Mummymon's face became noticeably more downhearted. "I just remembered the last thing that happened to me."

"What's that?"

Slowly, Mummymon took a seat next to Datirimon. "We had just found out that our boss was being controlled by someone else."

Datirimon raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'we'?"

"Arukenimon and I." Mummymon looked at the sky and sighed wistfully. "She was so beautiful and smart; I loved everything about her, even if she didn't like me."

"What happened to her?"

"It turned out our boss was controlled by this evil digimon named MaloMyotismon." Mummymon put his face in his hands. "The first thing MaloMyotismon did...he tortured her, and then he...he..."

Datirimon gasped. "Did...did he kill her?"

"Yes!" Mummymon threw himself to the ground as tears flowed out of his eye and his voice cracked. "I tried to avenge her...but he was too strong."

"Oh, I'm so sorry..."

Mummymon could barely talk through his tears. "Just, the thought of living without her..."

Datirimon, listening to Mummymon's sobs, wanted to find something, anything to say to help out. But no matter how he tried, he wasn't sure what to say to make his heartbroken friend feel better...

...that is, until the realization came to him.

"Wait a minute! I just thought of something!"

"What?" Mummymon sniffled.

Datirimon smiled. "Look at it this way: if you came back, then maybe she came back, too!"

"You really think so?" Mummymon's face lit up instantly.

"Sure! I mean, if you were Kiimon, then maybe KoDokugumon-"

A loud groan cut Datirimon off, and he and Mummymon turned their heads towards the tree where it came from. The groan sounded distinctly female, something they both noticed.

Could it be...?

Slowly but surely, they walked towards the source of the voice.

"What happened?" the voice continued, sounding groggy and exhausted. "I feel like I got hit by a bus..."

Datirimon made it there first, and what greeted him was not KoDokugumon, but rather a woman in a red dress. Her purple-gloved hand was pressed against her forehead, right in between her hat and her purple sunglasses.

He blinked. Is this-?

"Arukenimon!"

She gasped, and barely had time to react before Mummymon threw his arms around her and held her like he was never going to let go.

"I'm so happy to see you again! I thought you'd be gone forever...I thought we'd be gone forever! It's-"

Pow!

Her fist slammed into him, sending him reeling backwards, and she angrily stood up. "I just woke up, Mummymon. The last thing I need right now is for you to do that. Especially since I still have no idea where we are!"

Datirimon cast Mummymon, who had fallen on the ground next to him, a worried glance. "Are you okay?" He was right when he said she didn't like him...

"I love it when she's rough with me..." Mummymon stood up and looked at Arukenimon. "So, what do you think we should do now?"

"How should I know?" Arukenimon started walking around. "We're in the middle of nowhere, we have no idea where Oikawa is..."

Datirimon paused. Wait...Oikawa? As in...

"...and our car could be anywhere right now! We might as well be in the middle of a desert, for all we know!"

"Wait, honey!" Mummymon gestured towards Datirimon. "I think maybe he can help us."

Arukenimon facepalmed. "He's a baby digimon, Mummymon. How is he going to help?"

"Maybe he knows something we don't."

"Like what?"

Datirimon decided to speak up. "Did you guys say something about Oikawa?"

Mummymon looked at him. "Yeah, he's our boss."

"I think I know who you're talking about!"

"I'm sure you do." Arukenimon rolled her eyes.

"Does he have black hair and pale skin, and a purple trenchcoat?"

In that instant, Mummymon and Arukenimon froze. This digimon knew what their master looked like...but how?

Mummymon was the first to speak up. "Yes, he does! How did you know that?"

"Well, I'm-"

"Where is he?"

Datirimon recoiled at Arukenimon's sudden question. "Um...er..."

"If you know him, you probably know where he is. Do you?"

In his heart, Datirimon realized that he had just talked himself into a corner. I know where he is, and I don't want to lie to them...but if I tell them the truth, are they gonna like what they hear?

"Well?"

With resignation, Datirimon slowly nodded.

"So, where is he?"

Datirimon took a deep breath. "He...he turned into..."

"Actually, I'm right here."

"Huh?" The three turned towards the new voice, and what they saw was not what they were expecting at all. It was the shade of a man; with his black hair, pale skin, and purple trenchcoat, none of the three could mistake him for anyone else.

"Oikawa?"

"Boss?"

"Yukio!" Datirimon ran up to him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Oikawa smiled at the sight. "Hello, Datirimon."

With confusion, Mummymon stared at the equally-confused Arukenimon, and then at Oikawa. "You know him, boss?"

"Yes, Mummymon. Datirimon is my digimon partner."

It was Arukenimon's turn to ask a question. "Wait...since when did you have a digimon partner?"

"Yeah, and why are you a shade, boss?"

Datirimon looked up at him. "And where are we?"

Oikawa looked at the sunset. "I owe all three of you an explanation, it seems. Come with me."

He walked through the grotto, and the trio followed him. Eventually, the four were at a cave entrance that the three digimon hadn't noticed before. As Oikawa walked in, so did the others.

A/N: Next time, Oikawa reveals his rationale.