Author's Notes: Due to poor financial conditions, I have to pawn my laptop quite often, which, sadly, means I can't update as often as I'd like. But anyway, please enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, there'd be more Guilmon based Digimon. Like SaintGuilmon. And a GeoGrowlmon. A GeoGrowlmon would be cool. Also there'd be a Digimon series with a bisexual autistic transgender female lead and she would have a gay best friend and it would be awesome. Oh and she'd be a cheerleader.

The silver haired boy smirked as he stepped into the mansion. A red carpet spanned out to cover most of the floor and curtains hung from the windows. A grand spiraling staircase led to the upper floor, while a door in the stair case led to an inner room, where a second staircase led to the basement library.

A small section of the floor lay exposed with no carpet to cover it, revealing a glass floor. Gazing through it you could see the river that ran beneath the grand estate. Several exotic varieties of fish swam through, chased by bigger fish and a few aquatic Digimon.

Maids ran back and forth, carrying pillows and sheets, dusting the furniture, and doing other household tasks. One ran past the young boy, stopping only to offer a quick hello. He smiled politely as he opened the door beneath the stairs and climbed down to the library in the basement.

A ceiling of glass revealed the underside of the river above. It had been installed artificially like an aquarium, and would have provided hours of entertainment for the boy if he cared about such trivialities. No, he had better things to do with his free time than fish watching.

So he ignored the fish and the shelves of books and manga from all over the world. They came in English, Japanese, German, Indian, Latin, Spanish, French, and every other language written under the sun. Not that half of them did anyone in the family any good. They hadn't learned every language in the world. The boy himself only understood a few languages.

"It seems my brother and sister have been busy," said a voice in the room. It came from a tall humanoid figure wearing armor. He had long blond hair and eight wings, four were angelic and white while the others were demonic and black. He seemed to radiate with power.

"Good. Looks like the pieces are finally getting into place. Yggdrasil still has no idea what we're about to do. He's suspicious, but he won't be able to put the pieces together until it's too late to stop us," the boy said with a calm look on his face. His emotions would have betrayed nothing to the ordinary observer.

The winged man, however, frowned. "Something's troubling you."

The boy brushed his hair behind his ear and frowned, "sometimes I hate how perceptive you can be, Lucemon. I messed up. From now on out, we're going to be walking a tight rope."

"Who cares about a tight rope when you have wings?"

Chapter Two

A slender girl stood tall with crossed arms and a fierce grin on her face. She looked thin and almost elf like, with light skin and long blonde hair. She wore a black leather jacket over a red shirt and simple jeans. "Heh, just a Champion. This isn't even going to be a challenge. Kidd let's take him down, collect the bounty, and go get some cake." She turned to the Digimon at her side, a tall werewolf with a scarred muzzle and periwinkle fur. He wore torn jeans, white bandages around his arms, and carried metal knuckles for weapons.

"Looks like 'es been messin' with you real bad," said the Werewolfmon, apparently named Kidd.

Naota was almost certain that was a nickname, so far every other Digimon had a name ending in mon. It'd break the rules for one to not have a mon name, right? Maybe it was short for Kiddmon.

Lynxmon snarled at the girl. "You smell just like him."

The girl growled angrily as she swung her arm out, throwing a daggers of light at her opponent. Lynxmon roared out in pain as they dug into his side. "Wild Nail," before he could finish, Kidd threw a punch into his face, knocking him backward.

"Hey, Kidd, we should hurry up and finish this. I'm sure the cop's called backup. We wouldn't want to lose the bounty now would we?" She said as she cracked her knuckles.

"No, we wouldn't want that pup." Kidd charged forward and threw another punch. The air seemed to boom like thunder with each of his heavy movements. He connected with Lynxmon's jaw, then his side, and sent him flying. Lynxmon roared in anger as he charged forward recklessly, bounding from side to side, hoping to catch Kidd off guard. But the Lynxmon was too slow, he leaped at Kidd with all his might, only to receive a fist to the face.

"You'll pay for this." Lynxmon roared.

At this point Naota really wanted to ask if it was normal for humans to throw around daggers of energy like that, but he didn't want to look weird.

"Cheap talk, can't ya come up with somethin' interestin'?" Kidd threw another punch at Lynxmon, but this time Lynxmon's teeth sank into the werewolf's arms. Kidd let out a howl of pain and tried to clobber Lynxmon with his free arm, but Lynxmon broke away just in time.

"Wild Nail Claws!" Lynxmon cried out. He tore into Kidd's side, and Kidd reeled in pain before bringing a fist down on Lynxmon's head.

Naota cringed as a sharp pain ran through his arm. Kabuterimon went down rather quickly but Lynxmon seemed to be taking quite a beating. Kidd seemed to be getting a few licks of his own, but Naota had no idea how long he could last. If only the backup would get here soon.

Kidd lifted Lynxmon by his front legs and tossed him back through the air. Lynxmon landed with a thud and skidded across the street before rising up to his paws. The two Digimon raced toward each other and Lynxmon attempted to close the gap with a running leap. Kidd jumped up and grabbed onto a light pole, swinging his body forward to bury his feet deep into Lynxmon's ribs. The cat roared in pain as Kidd let go and pursued his prey through the air, connecting with a fist to Lynxmon's mouth.

"Howling Bu," Lynxmon found his attack interrupted by another fist to the face. He spat angrily at Kidd and snarled a low guttural sound from the back of his throat. "You'll pay for that." He swiped at Kidd again, ducked under the werewolf's fist, and head-butted him in the stomach, pushing him back a little. "Howling Bust," he couldn't finish this attack either. The blonde girl held her hand out and sent another storm of daggers flying at him.

She turned to Naota and frowned as she examined his arm. "That looks like it hurts, don't worry, I'm sure an ambulance is on its way now. "I can't do much but," she held her hands over his arm and the pain subsided just a bit as the bones seemed to mend a little. "You'll still need to get a cast but it shouldn't be as bad."

"Who are you?" Hikaru asked. She moved quickly, getting to Naota's side so that she could position herself between Naota and the girl.

"My name is Loaño Ishida. You can call me Lo. And relax, I just healed your cousin," she rolled her eyes. "Somebody's got major trust issues." She turned her attention back to the fight. Lynxmon managed to sneak in a few blows every now and then, scratching deep into Kidd's leg, sinking his fangs into Kidd's thigh, but Kidd had the upper hand for the most part.

"Okay, but how did you do that?" Hikaru asked.

"I had help." Loaño answered before turning her attention back to Kidd and Lynxmon. Kidd threw another punch and it sounded like boulders smashing when he connected with Lynxmon's jaw. Lynxmon reared up on two hind legs and clawed at Kidd's chest. "This guy seems unnaturally resilient."

Elly gnashed her teeth. "It's whatever's driving them to this. Scientists think it's a virus of some sort affecting Digimon. It makes them violent and makes them stronger. We've had our hands full. It's why that damn bounty system was put in place."

"You don't approve?" Loaño asked.

"Normally, I would never approve of anything encouraging ordinary civilians to risk their lives, but in this case it seems you really saved our asses," Elly admitted.

"Carnage Wheel!" Lynxmon cried out. The flames engulfing him turned blue as he spun into the air like a wheel racing forward. Kidd tried to block him, but Lynxmon tore at Kidd's arms and side with his claws as the flames licked Kidd's body. There came a great burst of fire and Kidd fell backward. Lynxmon landed on all fours and laughed. "Howling Buster!" He fired another burst of flames at Kidd, but Loaño raised another wall of light to protect her partner. "You," Lynxmon sneered as he turned to Loaño. "No ordinary human possesses the powers you display. I think I'll enjoy eating you."

"Rock Fist!" Gotsumon hurled boulder after boulder at Lynxmon, pelting him as hard as he could manage.

"Sparkling Thunder!" Elecmon cried out as he sent a burst of lightning directly at the flaming feline.

"Super Shocker," Tentomon beat her wings rapidly as she amplified Elecmon's lightning attack with her own electricity. The three attacks hit Lynxmon in the side, causing him to spin in anger and examine each of the three Digimon in turn. "You worms think you're a match for me? I'll destroy this fool and then kill each of you in turn."

Loaño suddenly smirked. "Kidd, go for it. 'He' said you can finish it."

"Good, I was getting' tired o' holdin' back." Kidd said with a smirk.

"Carnage Wheel!" Lynxmon rolled through the air, spinning as his flames grew bigger and brighter. They turned blue once more as he laughed with glee. Kidd watched his target carefully, ducking at the last second before nailing Lynxmon with an uppercut.

Kidd smirked as Lynxmon coughed in pain. He dug into the cat's underside and lifted him into the air, giving him a chance to grab Lynxmon's front legs. "Alley-oop!" Kidd threw Lynxmon as far as he could. Lynxmon tried to twist in midair to land on his feet, but his back hit the asphalt hard. Kidd rushed to his side before he could recover. "Knockout Punch!" Kidd brought his hands together and slammed down on Lynxmon's belly.

The cat cried out in pain as a blinding white light engulfed him. When the light vanished, so did he, leaving only an egg in his place. Loaño casually strode over to pick up the egg, just as several police cars and an ambulance rounded the corner. "Sure took you long enough," she said to nobody in particular.

Cops poured out and immediately turned to Elly for answers. The roadblock had been set up when a pedestrian phoned in saying that Lynxmon had been spotted on the streets. Elly and Tentomon were on traffic duty while the police searched the back streets for their target. They should have responded quicker, but something seemed to have caught their attention. Something apparently unfit for civilian ears.

Loaño turned to Naota and examined him closely, her eyes glazed with curiosity and confusion. "Look, don't worry about Lynxmon. Whatever made him go violent should have been fixed when we reverted him into an egg. Sure it seems brutal, but it's the only way to help. And the authorities will take good care of him until he hatches again."

Naota nodded. "Thanks." He looked to Daichi and Hikaru who showed no reaction to this girl's statements. Based on Elly's earlier threat, it was normal for Digimon to turn into eggs when defeated. Naota assumed it was also normal for eggs to hatch back into Digimon. Yet this girl saw it fit to explain it all to him as if she suspected he didn't know. Perhaps she merely wanted to assure him that the egg would be taken care of until it hatched, but that didn't seem like it.

Perhaps it had something to do with that help she'd mentioned earlier.

Daichi put an arm around Naota's shoulder, careful not to disturb Naota's broken arm. He led his brother to the paramedics. "My cousin and I are okay," he told a woman with short black hair and glasses, "but I think my brother here broke his arm."

"We'll have to take him in to get a cast. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for all of you, we can only fit two visitors with us. Do the rest of you have a phone to call a ride?" She asked the group.

"I have a car around the corner," said Kidd, "I can take them home."

Daichi turned to Gotsumon. "I'm going to go with Naota, tell aunty and uncle that we're okay."

Hikaru scratched Elecmon behind the ear. "You be good now." She turned to Loaño. "Thanks for everything. We'd be dead if it weren't for you."

Loaño frowned. "I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see each other. Not sure what your finances are like, but you should really invest in a Digivice. They can really save your life." She sighed. "Honestly, they need to start thinking about ways to make them cheaper, not more expensive."

"Yeah, the new ones with the built in music players are cool, but way over what I can afford," Hikaru admitted. "But anyway, thanks again," she turned to glance at the ambulance. "I better get going."

The hospital stood in the middle of a well-kept lawn with roses growing everywhere. The paramedics took all three teens to get examined. Once Naota let it slip that he'd injured himself in a car crash, they insisted that Daichi and Hikaru be examined as well. They gave Hikaru and Daichi clean bills of health, while Naota seemed fine except for his broken arm. Luckily, Daichi completely forgot to mention Naota's amnesia, so he avoided any lengthy, unnecessary, and expensive brain scans or other tests that might otherwise have occurred. He got his arm X-rayed and the doctors put his arm in a sling.

Once they'd all finished, Daichi called his aunt and uncle on his cellphone. He assured them that everybody was okay, but they needed a ride back home. They told Daichi that they were already on their way, they'd taken off for the hospital as soon as Elecmon and Gotsumon told them what happened.

They sat in the waiting room at the entrance. A huge TV hung from the ceiling for people to watch from the long comfortable couches. A few arcade games stood in the corner, though nobody was playing. Naota glanced at them. Blast Zone appeared to be a simple fighting game where you played as a Digimon and fought other Digimon. If you filled up your bar enough, you could Digivolve to a higher level. Ulforce Rush looked like a basic racing game where you played as Digimon. You could attack the other Digimon, Digivolve, and collect power ups and items. He had no idea what an Ulforce was.

Naota's arm felt funny in the sling, but it didn't hurt much anymore, Loaño's healing really helped it. More than anything he felt guilt, confusion, and worry. Now that Lynxmon was gone, all he wanted to do was go searching for the other Naota.

Daichi let out a yawn. "Man, I just finished paying for that car. Talk about a kick in the nuts." Same old vulgar Daichi. Naota would have cracked a smile if he didn't blame himself for the scenario.

"I'm sorry," Naota apologized.

Daichi smiled at him. "Hey, bro, don't worry. Wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was," Naota said. "Lynxmon blew up your car because he was after me."

"Well, don't worry about it, I'm sure the insurance will cover it," Daichi said. He rubbed his chin. "Anyway, it's not that big a deal. I'm just glad you're safe. That Lynxmon was a huge freak."

Hikaru frowned. "He said Naota and Loaño were alike, right. I wonder why." She turned to Naota and eyed him suspiciously. "Naota, please, if you're hiding something then let us know. We can't protect you if you don't tell us what's going on."

Naota tensed up. "I promise I'm not hiding anything." His stomach twisted. He hated lying. Hated it. Loathed it. But he didn't trust anybody nearly enough to explain the situation. Well, maybe Loaño. If only he had some way of finding her.

Naota rubbed the couch cushions with his fingers. They felt so soft and smooth. The melodic stroking felt like music to his ears. Finally he smiled and told Hikaru, "I'm sorry. I'm just freaked out. Lynxmon kept saying that there was something unusual about me. I have no idea what he meant." Could he tell that Naota was from another world? Maybe Loaño was as well! Naota's heart pounded with excitement.

Daichi put his hands behind his head. "Ah, just ignore it. Probably whatever was making him act funny was screwing up with his sense of smell. Or maybe he just smelled your cherry conditioner."

Naota froze. Cherry conditioner? Sure he liked the smell of cherries but he preferred strawberries. He liked strawberry flavored snacks, desserts, and strawberry scented bath products. He couldn't see how Digimon could possibly influence that. He closed his eyes and formulated several distinct scenarios but had no way to fact check any of them. He bit his lip, wondering how he could solve this conundrum.

Then he reminded himself that he had bigger fish to fry.

He stared out at the late afternoon sky, amazed at how much had happened in such a short time span. The hospital trip itself hadn't taken very long, in fact he was sure it hadn't even taken a full hour. He'd never been in and out so fast. Sure they came in an ambulance, but nobody was in a dire state of emergency. He didn't consider himself a medical expert, but Naota was sure that most patients usually spent a long time waiting for attention. They zoomed in and out of the place as quickly as possible.

Something was suspicious.

Naota closed his eyes and formulated several distinct scenarios, many involving several important people pulling strings to get Naota special attention. When Hikaru and Daichi stared distractedly at the TV screen Naota dug his nails into his thigh, punishing himself for the wishful thinking filling his head.

A man and woman walked through the door and Naota nearly did a double take. He recognized his uncle Arthur Reinhardt at once. He had golden hair arranged neatly on his head, light skin, and a muscular build from years spent playing Football in Middle School, High School, and College. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, much like the other Arthur often wore, but he had a large tattoo of a dragon on one of his arms.

Rin Reinhardt, maiden name Mizuki, was a beautiful woman with flowing black hair, pale skin, and an elegant red dress. She looked a little fatter than her other world counterpart, but she was still just as beautiful as ever. "Naota, I'm so glad to see you're okay." She said as she walked toward her nephew. "Your uncle and I could barely sleep these past few days. What happened? Are you okay?"

Naota nodded. "I'm fine."

"Daichi said you don't remember anything about the past few days," Arthur said. "Did you tell the doctors? Maybe they can figure something out."

"I just want to go home," Naota told him. "I'm exhausted."

"Of course," said his uncle. "Come on, let's get you home. Everyone misses you."

Naota wondered how crowded it would be sharing the room with Daichi, Dan, and a bunch of Digimon. He hoped the Digimon were at least tidier than the humans. He loved his brother and cousin. The dirty athletic supporters on the floor, however, he could do without.

The ride home was peaceful. Arthur and Rin talked about how happy they were to have him back and how they'd never be able to live without him. Naota tried to smile. He couldn't take his mind off of anything. His thoughts raced around as uncontrollable as a swarm of bugs.

Digimon. The hospital. Lynxmon. Loaño. He couldn't even remember how many mysteries he wanted to solve or which ones he wanted to solver first. The other Naota. No, that would have to wait. It was starting to get late, the sun was hanging in the sky casting an orange glow upon the world. He'd have to wait until tomorrow to go searching for clues. Of course, he'd have to go to school first. Hopefully he wasn't too far behind on his homework.

He sighed. Math and Science would be okay, but he wasn't sure how other classes would go. History in this world would probably be affected by Digimon and English was a wild card. He wasn't sure if the cast of To Kill a Mockingbird had Digimon partners in this world or not. Gym would have sucked either way though, so he didn't worry too much about that.

"We're home," said his uncle.

Naota looked up to find a house one story bigger than the one he remembered. Naota bit his lip, both thrilled and worried. On one hand this might mean he had his own room. On the other hand he'd attract way too much unwanted attention if he couldn't find it.

He followed his brother and entered the double doors. Elecmon and Gotsumon awaited the group. "Are you okay?" Elecmon asked Naota. "I've been worried about you."

"I'm fine," Naota told the Digimon.

"Hey man, welcome back," said another voice.

Naota smiled at his cousin Dan. Dan Kealoha was Hikaru's half-brother from Rin's previous marriage, though Arthur didn't treat him any differently. Though he and Naota had no blood relation that didn't change the fact they were family. He had short black hair, a muscular build, and light brown skin. In this world he seemed to have built up a bit more muscle, just like Daichi. He wore a pair of board shorts and a tank top. Next to him stood a small bear like Digimon with black fur and a blue baseball cap resting on his head, facing backward. Naota resolved to call him Bearmon until learning his true name.

"Bearmon missed you too," said Dan.

'Well then,´ thought Naota.

"Hey, want to play some baseball later?" Bearmon asked.

Naota tried not to tense up. He hated sports and nearly everyone knew that. Did the other world's Naota actually like them? Everything else he might be able to deal with, but this might be a bit of a challenge.

"Sorry, Bearmon, I'm exhausted. I just need to take a nap or something." Naota bit off a tiny piece of his lip. He could ask somebody to grab something from his room for him, then watch where they went, but he didn't want to be a bother to anyone. He could search for his room and simply hope that nobody questioned him.

Aunty Rin smiled at him. "Why don't you go lie down? We'll order some pizza and call you when it gets here." She walked toward the kitchen and started speaking to somebody Naota could not see. "Hey, Armadillomon, we're ordering pizza. You want anything to drink."

"I'll take a Coke."

Naota sighed. At least he'd have his own room to himself. That meant no more mess and he'd be, well, not much better in the end. At least it would smell nicer. And hopefully he'd be able to find things easier, though knowing his luck he'd probably still be losing everything with how scatterbrained he could be.

Naota pretended to search his pockets. "Oh no, I don't have my phone." He assumed other Naota had a phone. If not then he'd be screwed. "I hope I didn't lose it. It's probably still in my room, can you call me."

"Oh sure," Hikaru said as she dialed his number.

"Thanks," said Naota.

"(Meltryosh.) Standing here in the fading light. The world's going down swinging. And if I stood alone I'd fall so hard. But your friendship is all I need." Naota ran off toward the song with a smile on his face. Assuming he hadn't left his phone in another room, then he'd just solved his problem. Plus, he felt happy knowing that other Naota was still a fan of the one and only Hazuki/Zer0.

Well, apparently there were two of her. But whatever.

Naota followed the song upstairs and took a turn to the right. He passed by another room with an open door. Dirty clothes lay on the floor and a small TV stood on a nightstand. An Xbox rested next to it, obviously this room belonged to either Dan or Daichi. He ignored it and followed the song to the end of the hall.

Naota found his phone next to his laptop, plugged into a charger. No doubt about it, this was his room. He found a small brown teddy bear, just like the one he knew and loved back home. He flipped it around and fiddled with the zipper, pulling out a small key. Okay that was new. Usually he kept a photo in there.

He looked around his desk and found a small pink notebook with a keyhole on the cover. He slipped the key inside, turned it, and opened the notebook.

December 12th

Dear Diary

Okay, Christmas is coming up soon and I want to get presents for everybody. I just wish I had more money. I mean, I can't afford to get gifts for everyone. I hope they understand. Maybe I could just get everybody 5.00 gift cards to Moink. Let's see Dan, Daichi, Hikaru, Elecmon, Gotsumon, Aunty and Uncle, Bearmon, Armadillomon, Falcomon, Ham, Kotemon, Haseo, Dorumon, and oh no, that's still a lot. Darn it. I'm sure aunty and uncle will understand. Dan and Daichi too.

But it feels really bad when you really really like somebody and you want to get them something awesome and then you feel bad for everyone else.

Well, my birthday is coming up soon, so maybe I'll get some money or gift cards I can use to buy gifts.

Naota read over the diary again. 'I wonder if Dorumon was Haseo's partner. That would explain why I wrote their names next to each other.' Not that he had a strict pattern, but it made some sense.

He put the diary aside, determined to read it later, and looked around his room. He had a soft purple carpet that felt wonderful under his toes, an elegant looking bed with purple covers and frills hanging over the side. He had a PS4 and a WiiU next to his TV, as well as a 3DS and a Vita on the side. Rows of manga lined one shelf, while games and DVDs lined another. He had several box sets of Gilmore Girls, which now featured a pink flower fairy standing next to Lorelai and Rory. He wondered how much the presence of Digimon would affect the story. He also had several box sets of Glee, meaning either the other Naota had terrible tastes or, maybe, in this universe Glee was actually good.

He turned to his dresser and began opening it. So far everything seemed normal. Other Naota didn't seem too unusual. Then he found a few athletic supporters and a protective cup. Okay, apparently the other Naota was into sports after all. He hadn't worn one since Elementary school, when his dad forced him to play catch with him.

Well, maybe they were required at school. Ignoring it, he opened another drawer.

Inside he found a wide variety of skirts.

Meaning either the other Naota officially identified as gender fluid or enjoyed cross-dressing. He closed the drawer, sighed, and sat on the bed, reaching for his diary. Skimming the pages he looked for anything useful.

'Playing Little League baseball was kind of fun, even if I was mostly just a bench warmer. I'm still not sure I'll try out for the High School team this year. Justin says I should go for it, Daichi says I should do whatever makes me happy.' He skipped a couple of pages. 'I wore a skirt to school for the first time today. I felt really nervous. In fact I puked a couple of times to tell you the truth. But everybody was really nice to me. I mean, I can't tell if they were really nice or just afraid. Hikaru and Haseo can be pretty scary sometimes.'

Naota froze. Overprotective and frightening Hikaru he could understand. But Haseo? Naota nearly dropped the diary as the tears came. He wondered what the other Haseo would be like in this world. Except he'd probably never know. Unless.

'Ugh, don't even think about it. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment.'

He kept reading the entry. 'Some of the other students even told me I was a really cute girl.' He kept skimming through the entries until he found one. 'Okay, Hikaru and Haseo are the only ones who know right now, and they've been really supportive, but I think I need to come out and tell the rest of my family. They love me for who I am, so I'm sure they'll accept me as gender fluid. I mean, all that's going to change is that sometimes I'll wear a skirt or dress and ask them to call me 'she' instead of 'he' right?

It should be so simple, but I'm still really scared. I wonder what dad would say. He already hated me because I was never the son he wanted.'

Naota slammed the book shut. He did not want to think about his father right now. He didn't want to think about his family at all. He turned on his laptop, drummed his fingers impatiently, and logged onto the internet as soon as he could. He Googled Digimon on Wikipedia and began reading as much as he could.

Digimon were first created around the same time as the internet. They lived in the Digital World and humans observed them from the safety of the computer screens. The Digital World lived at an accelerated rate. Ten years to the Digital World passed for every day in the human world. Then, after a year of everything going smoothly, there was a problem.

The Digital World Program seemed to crash somehow. Countless Digimon were evicted into the human world, most with their memories wiped. Those who retained their memories refused to speak of what happened. Humans and Digimon found themselves forced to coexist.

So they formed partnerships. Digimon could Digivolve to higher stages in life and they gained great power. They discovered that through the help of a human partner, they could undergo temporary Digivolutions and reach higher forms for a short period of time. This allowed many Digimon to advance as far as the Champion Stage, though only a few could advance farther.

Akimoto Industries and their number one rival, Vector Corp, began producing items known as Digivices, which allowed humans to help their partners Digivolve more easily. Reaching Champion was easy, though reaching the stages beyond still required some effort.

They also released several programs called Digieggs, which could be purchased and downloaded to Digivices. These were based on ancient Digieggs and, though not as powerful as the original Digieggs, they could allow any human to easily Armor Digivolve their partner into an Armor form, requiring even less effort than a standard Digivolution.

Things seemed peaceful between the humans and Digimon, for only a few Digimon ever sought to cause trouble. But that had changed recently when Digimon began growing violent. Some scientists suspected a bug or virus at work. But the research was inconclusive.

Naota closed Chrome and sighed. That was as much information as he could retain for the moment. He began searching his room again, and found the other Naota's copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was written long ago, 1960 according to the publishing info. Just before the time Digimon were starting to enter the human world.

Thankfully, the book was Digimon free.

With one worry out of his mind, he put the book aside and grabbed his Vita. Maybe he could relax and take his mind off things, like Haseo. He turned it on and found that other Naota was playing the same game that he was plying back home, Shinigami Conglomerate's Converging Hearts.

Except this was the version with Digimon, of course.

In the original you controlled a young character from one of three choices, male, female, or non-binary, and you found yourself in a world on the verge of destruction. Over ninety percent of the world's population fell victim to a virus that drove them toward violence. You possessed the power to enter their minds and fight the virus. By freeing optional NPCs you altered the flow of each of the game's chapters. Most NPCs didn't affect the overall plot much, just a few changes here and there, though some would change the bigger picture. But saving each person also gave you a new ability or stat boost. There were no levels, only this.

Apparently in the other world's version, you fought alongside a Digimon partner as well. And in addition to stat boosts and abilities, you unlocked new DIgivolutions.

Both Naotas had selected the male NPC, not for any particular reason, as they both played as girls and non-binary characters just as often. Or at least, Naota did. He assumed the other one did as well. He noticed that the other Naota had entered the same name for his character. Fletcher.

Naota sighed guiltily. He wanted to go home and play his copy of the game. They were both in the around the same spot, early on in Chapter 2. There were so many NPCs to save. Saving half of them was enough to give you Godlike power for that chapter, before the next chapter's enemies came in and upped the ante, but you never needed to rescue that many. Saving a few in each chapter would be enough to propel you to the end.

Hikaru had already beaten the game, saving only fifteen percent of the game's NPCs. Naota aimed to save them all.

Apparently he had five Rookie forms and three Champion forms unlocked, but you had to choose which ones to use in battle. You always started as a Rookie, but you could Digivolve mid fight. For his Rookie form he'd chosen Hawkmon, and for his Champion form he picked Birdramon.

He played a few fights, discovered that this version of the game required even more precise timing, and turned it off almost immediately. Digivolving required pressing five buttons as they flashed on the screen and you didn't have much time to do it. Oh well, other Naota's fault for playing on the hardest difficulty setting. Not that he'd done any better.

Naota grabbed his cellphone and looked at the numbers. If he called and anybody else answered, then what? He'd be forced to explain an awkward situation. 'Oh I'm sorry ma'am. I just felt like calling your dead son because I wanted to know if he was still alive.'

Then something hit him. In his world Haseo died on Saturday. Naota vanished on Friday and he claimed to have no memory. Nobody bothered mentioning Haseo to him. Surely they would have mentioned if something happened to a close friend of his, right?

Naota gulped and hit dial. He held the phone to his ear as his heart beat rapidly. He began sweating profusely. He turned his fan on to high and pointing it directly at him. The seconds seemed to last for minutes and nobody answered as the phone kept ringing.

An unfamiliar voice answered on the phone. "Naota, is something wrong?"

Naota gulped. "No. I just. I'm sorry." He hung up immediately. The phone began ringing soon after that as he received a call back. Was it from the person who answered? Or had they told Haseo about the call. He wished he could be sure without having to accept the incoming call. His heart nearly burst out of his chest as his trembling thumb reached toward the screen. His hand shook so much he dropped the phone on his bed. He picked it up again and stared at the screen.

Incoming Call

Haseo Misaki

And he wished he had the courage to answer it.

Naota took a deep breath, slid his thumb across the screen, and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" Asked Haseo. "Dorumon said you called. Is something wrong? You usually text."