Author's Note
And back to the lab we go. Naturally, we'll make it a nice and ominous way to close out the block. Back with four more chapters as soon as they're finished. Once again, I'm hoping they'll be done sooner since the only heavy action is in episode eight.

Nexusworld

If I could write to myself when I was on top of it all,
I'd say you're going overboard and when you're falling you're gonna feel so small.
Someone's gonna tell you that you deserve the worst.
They'll say you're never coming back and tell you that you're cursed.
And when they give up—and they always give up—say "here I am alive."
- Yellowcard, "Here I Am Alive"

Episode 7

Tagiru Akashi couldn't bear another afternoon of hiking. The idea of being on a field team sounded so appealing he jumped at it without considering how grueling it would actually be. They had been out for days, almost every hour of daylight spent covering as much ground as they could, investigating suspicious pockets for enemies plotting an ambush, and checking in on the small camps of hardy Digimon toughing it out in what was presumed to be hostile territory. He expected to be raiding evil forces and protecting innocent lives on the hour. Thus far they hadn't been in a single fight.

"You guys have fun. I'm pooped," said Gumdramon, popping into Tagiru's Fusion Loader before anyone could protest.

"That's fine," Shoutmon responded. "Some of us aren't tough enough for these kinds of long trips."

"That's not working on me this time!"

Tagiru grinned at his partner's sass, wishing he could join him. "Is anything gonna to happen? I'm so bored!"

"We're better off not finding anything than running into trouble all the time," said Mikey.

"Says who? I want to fight something!"

"Yeah, call me when there's something to hunt!" added Gumdramon.

Mikey shook his head, a grimace of frustration forming. "We're here to make sure nothing nearby's getting the jump on us. There's bad stuff out here. The farther away, the better."

Shoutmon nodded. "Far as I'm concerned, this place is looking great. No fighting… no bandits…"

"No nothing." Christopher kept his arms folded as he trailed the group. "It's empty. It shouldn't be this empty. Not this far out."

"Hey, as much trouble as we've gotten, I'll take a little peace and quiet."

"I'm with Chris!" shouted Tagiru. "Where's all the action?!"

"Tagiru…" The mentor turned on his disapproving tone. "We can't hope for random fighting. Digimon really get hurt here."

"Can't believe I'm saying it, but I agree with Tagiru," said Christopher, ignoring Tagiru's grin. "Nothing wrong with a little skirmish here or there. It's a sign of life. And that it's not afraid of coming out of its holes."

"Still, we're not here to cause trouble."

"Don't have to. It comes to us." Christopher's voice rose, not to the point of shouting, but doubling down on the usual edge in his voice. "You know how many times we had to defend Isthmian from some attack? Once a month, at least."

"They attacked the castle?! That's so cool!" Tagiru exclaimed. "And you all had to protect it?"

"Nah, just my team and the old man was enough. But where do you think they run after we beat them? They should all be taking pot shots at us right now."

Mikey checked their surroundings. The mountain pass offered plenty of cliffs and bends ripe for sniper nests or sneak attacks. Yet they cleared it with no trouble. Now hushed, he asked, "So where'd they go?"

"Either they ran… or they hid… or they died." Christopher scanned the surroundings. "Question is from what."

The question continued to hang over them as the march continued. They cleared the pass and found a cave overlooking the rolling fields beyond the range. By now they were miles past the castle, leading them to wonder if it was worth it to push further or declare the job done and return home. Mikey wanted to know how far their buffer zone lasted. Christopher didn't want to find out what was on the other end of it. Tagiru just wanted something memorable from the trip.

The discussion lasted into nightfall, enough uncertainty overhead to keep it from getting too heated. They all agreed the mouth of the cave was an ideal place to camp for the night. Over dinner, Tagiru spent more time staring at the dark depths than the bright starlit sky. Outside was dead and boring, but the darkness had possibilities.

"Think someone lives down there?" he asked the group.

"Way this trip's been, probably not," Christopher replied. "Either way, I don't want to find out."

"What if it's a Digimon?!"

"Then I definitely don't want to find out."

Shoutmon stormed in, slamming a deck of playing cards in the middle of their circle. "Whatever. If it's cool with us crashing here, we'll leave it alone. Now are we going to play or are you guys chickening out after last night?"

Tagiru refused to back down from the challenge. The others had only taught him poker at the start of the trip. Christopher had picked it up in America and the elements of strategy, bluffing, and dramatic showdowns appealed to Mikey. This left Tagiru horribly outmatched, but he played with relentless enthusiasm.

His hardest decision of the night ended up being against his own partner. On the verge of elimination, he stared straight across the circle at Gumdramon's usual confident grin sticking out like a Cheshire cat's against the colorless backdrop of the cave entrance. "C'mon, Tagiru, call or fold. What'll it be?" His inability to read his own partner frustrated him to no end.

Behind Gumdramon, dull flickers of light flashed against the darkness. They flashed again, this time a little brighter, but fading to black. "What was that?!" Tagiru shouted, pointing.

Gumdramon snickered. "Scared to go all in, huh?"

"I'm serious! Something's going on back there."

"Tagiru." Mikey groaned, but obliged a look. "There's nothing going…" It happened again. Mikey shot to his feet and eased to his bag for a flashlight. "Let's check it out."

Christopher and Shoutmon followed suit. Gumdramon moaned, "Can't we finish this hand?"

"I fold!" shouted Tagiru.

"Dammit!"

The sparks stopped once the flashlights came on. They eased through the cave, searching for possible sources, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Even Tagiru began to wonder if his eyes were tricking him.

"I bet when we get home Izzy or someone will tell us all about the optical illusion that causes this," Shoutmon mumbled.

He turned around; the sparks picked up again, all at once, now surrounding them, flashing on and off in a big circle.

"Ghosts!" Tagiru screamed, unclasping his Fusion Loader and holding it up in self-defense.

Mikey shined a flashlight on the sparks. Below them, a circle of little metallic insects, half beetle, half stun gun, produced the little flashes of electricity between their electrodes. The one in the light pleaded, "Can you help us?"

"Help you?" Mikey asked, holding up a hand to keep anyone from attacking. "Why do you need help?"

"And who are you?" Christopher added.

"They're Kokuwamon!" Tagiru shouted, his Fusion Loader pulling up the holographic information. "Sweet!"

"We're so hungry," said the Kokuwamon. "Those flashlights have batteries… right?" They sensed salivating.

"Yeah, but we need them," said Mikey. "But I have a better idea!"

He reloaded Ballistamon, who offered to lend some of his energy to the eight Kokuwamon. They were gracious, but swarmed him, tripping over each other, desperate to feed on the electricity stored inside.

"What are a bunch of Kokuwamon doing in here?" asked Shoutmon. "Shouldn't you be in a factory or something? Sure ain't any food for you here."

"We had to flee our home," said the beetle. "The fighting was too intense. We barely made it out alive, but we've had almost nothing to eat since."

"Where did you come from? And who was fighting?" asked Mikey.

"Across the hills. We don't know how far. We just ran until we reached these mountains."

A second added, "We should have known something would happen. Marsmon demanded the strongest Digimon join his army. That was on top of his usual tributes. He didn't want us, but it was a warning."

"Forced to join an army? Tributes?" Shoutmon shook his head. "This guy sounds like bad news."

"Living under his rule is brutal. You should get out of here before he realizes you're here or you'll be in serious danger."

"No way!" Tagiru clenched a fist. "We won't just stand by and let them boss you around. Right?" He looked to Mikey for validation. All he got was a reluctant nod.

"You're too late. The factory was already… liberated. We don't know if any of the other Digimon survived."

Mikey stopped nodding, his eyes wide as he leaned in. "Someone attacked you?" he asked. "Who was it?"

All of the Kokuwamon lowered their heads. One finally mumbled, "The D-Brigade."


Rei Katsura wasn't ready to be on the next phase already. He and Haru had their proof of concept: they could connect to the internet back home and witnessed Yuujin's data first hand. Everything was lined up for them to introduce him into this world. Their plan of attack to accomplish this still had to be written.

As much as Haru enjoyed completing the crucial first step, Rei barely reacted. It was a pleasant surprise, but only one tick off the checklist. Rei emphasized the big picture, refusing to lose sight for the sake of minor victories. Furthermore, Rei didn't actually witness Yuujin's data, nor was he bound to get as emotional over it the way Haru did. As his cohort dreamed of a fated reunion, Rei dug deeper to figure out how to make it reality.

He still let Haru have his moment. This part was faster than expected, but who knew when they'd hit the next milestone, or even what that constituted. Plus he reasoned laying low for a couple days after nearly getting the rest of their team killed was sound strategy.

Finally, after nights of reading a sci-fi novel that, while featuring sentient androids, had little practical value, Haru set his book on his desk, turned to the bed on the other end of the room, and asked, "Rei, are you still up?"

"You haven't turned the light off." Rei answered, his back to Haru and the offending lamp.

"We know we can get Yuujin's data. How do we actually do it? I can't steal Izzy's laptop."

Rei sat up. He'd been ready for this conversation for a while. Sleep could wait. "That's only part of the larger problem."

"It's almost like we need a whole facility." Haru stroked his chin. "Resources… that's why I asked for Tai's support to begin with."

"You know we need to be underhanded, right? If you insist on following the rules, give up now."

Haru stared forward, deep in thought for a while before exhaling. "As long as nobody gets hurt. We can't have a repeat of last time." Another breath, then he added, "What did you have in mind?"

"One option is stealing Izzy's laptop."

"I told you I can't steal Izzy's laptop!"

"It's the only one here. All the other machines are desktops."

Haru shook his head. "Is there a way we could get another one in here? We'll need more than that anyway."

Rei nodded in concession. It was hard to envision a scenario where they wouldn't need discrete access to river shipments. The hospitality team managed those. "How strong do you suppose Ryouma's password is?"

"For the river stuff? I don't know… probably pretty good. From what Tagiru told me about him, I bet he has trust issues. He's kind of a wild card." Haru turned to Rei. "Someone like him, it could be just as likely he makes everything hard for us as it is he just gives us access."

"Just giving us access… that would be less prone to error. And we might be able to separate our shipments from the rest of the castle's."

"He's not just going give us access to something like that without knowing what we're planning," Haru moaned.

"He's not…" Rei glanced at his nightstand, and his seven-code band atop it. "Luckily we have friends on the other side."


Eri Karan was suspicious of downtime. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the occasional day off, and often craved one when her schedule was at its most demanding. But actually getting one was rare, and often led her to wonder what the catch was.

The catch, in this instance, was easy to surmise. The job of working with Command to design the new settlement fell to the international representatives. The job of procuring the necessary furnishings and equipment fell to Meiko. These were Eri's biggest allies, all stuck working throughout the day to craft a plan everyone could be satisfied with. As much as she took the position to its extreme, Eri's job remained the same: keep the masses in good spirits until they could be called upon to help make the plans a reality.

In some regards, she was too successful. Opening the castle to everyone and providing simple recreation broke up the tedium, and now the buzz over what their new home would look like resonated throughout the camp. Everyone she spoke to imagined something a little different, and no doubt shared their vision with their representative. They were nice dreams, but no doubt feasibility, compromise, and bureaucracy would all smear the final product. Whatever came out of all this discussion, Eri would have to rally everybody to support it. She felt entitled to at least know what it looked like.

A long walk with Dokamon and a round of boxing practice didn't help, leaving her on a couch in the library, pondering ways to get a seat at the table. She believed the representatives would strive for the best, but Eri wasn't one for sitting back when she knew she could help. She also knew she rubbed Command the wrong way and couldn't help but suspect an effort to squeeze her out of the process. That couldn't go unpunished.

"Oh, Eri, do you have a second?" Her internal grumbling almost drowned out Koichi's voice. She still struggled to see this soft-spoken boy as her counterpart. "If you're free I wouldn't mind talking to you about something."

She returned a curt nod. "All right."

He sat across from her. "Has anyone brought up Cerealia yet?"

Not only hadn't they, she didn't even understand the word. "Cere… what? Is this something to do with breakfast?"

"No… um, it's a festival we started to thank Ceresmon for providing all the river shipments over the years."

Eri looked away, her nod was slower now. She knew where this was going.

"We do all sorts of events outside. For most of us it's just an excuse to have a big party with music and um…" He coughed. "Anyway, it's going to be more challenging this year with all the new arrivals. We want everybody to participate. So…"

"Eri." Her seven-code band crackled to life with Rei's dull voice. Both she and Koichi stared at it. "Eri?" Rei repeated.

She held up a finger and offered a tiny bow of apology as she answered, "Rei? What's going on?"

"Are you alone right now?" She wasn't sure if she should be concerned. For all she knew he started every call this way.

"It's okay," said Koichi, lowering his head.

Eri grimaced. "Just a moment." She dashed behind a decorative fern, the closest thing to privacy in the lounge area. One drawback of opening the castle was the constant traffic. "Is everything okay?"

"I need a password for the river shipment system."

"What?!" She peeked over her shoulder for onlookers before quieting down. "I can't give you that!"

"It's for Yuujin." The simple reply silenced her. She knew Haru and Rei were trying to find a way to bring him back, and she knew Tai squashed the idea. She didn't know what sort of resources they needed, but it stood to reason they were considerable. Much as she wanted to see Yuujin reborn, and as much as she loved tweaking Tai, giving away access to river orders was a big deal, and incontrovertibly wrong.

"Rei, you know I want to help, but that's…" How could she articulate her predicament? Eri stretched her authority to help the camp, but she didn't break rules. She banked on her integrity to help her ease through any disputes. If Rei's activity got back to her, that was over.

"You can't hack into it yourself?" She figured Rei had far less to lose, especially since secret river shipments were already illicit enough.

"There's too many variables. This is less of a risk. We'll keep you out of it."

She took a deep breath. Rei was good about covering his tracks. And if caught he could easily lie and say he hacked the system. Everyone would believe that. Most importantly, this was about saving the life of a friend and teammate. That had to come before her position.

"I'll give you Jeri's. It's 'lionheart,'" she mumbled, eyes darting in every direction.

Her stomach turned when she didn't hear a response for a few seconds. It didn't improve when his reply was, "That's such a weak password."

"Don't question her password," she said, with more force and volume than she intended. Glancing around, she hushed herself and added, "She didn't have to worry about hackers until you showed up."

He didn't respond, and she didn't trust him to. With a grumble, she added, "I hate this. Just… don't get caught, okay? And bring him back. Bye."

She saw the suspicion on Koichi's face the moment she returned. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Uh… nothing!" Eri squeaked. She was never a convincing liar.

"I heard something about a password…"

"For the other castle. They can't keep anything straight."

Koichi conceded a side nod. "I guess that doesn't surprise me. But-"

"So! Your cereal festival! Fill me in."

"Right… um… Cerealia." He paused to let his suspicion pass. "So we started it last year and, uh… we learned a lot about running these sorts of things outside. I'm sure Nene and Matt would be up for another show." His eyebrows flared. "Oh, and you could do something too, I suppose."

"Naturally," she mumbled. Performing wasn't a problem. Under normal circumstances, she even would have enjoyed helping organize the event. But in the meantime her cohorts planned their life-shaping new settlement, while her friends defied the rules to bring back the dead. Was she really resigned to the providing the entertainment and refreshments?

"Did you get all that?" Koichi asked. They both knew she hadn't. She must have tuned out of his briefing.

"Sorry, I uh…" She was getting too consumed by the broader implications of everything and ignoring her primary duties. Much as she wanted to have her mind on bigger matters, it wasn't fair to Koichi, or anyone banking on this festival for a bit of fun. Eri stood up straight, composed herself and said, "Never mind. Let's do this. When is it?"

"See, that's one of the problems. We imagined it as an April thing but there's no way we'll be ready for that. Until they figure out a timetable for the new settlement, it's hard to pick a date."

"Well, that's…" Eri shook her head in frustration, but soon saw her opportunity. She was going to take charge of this Cerealia festival. In fact, nothing could be more important.

She ended up nodding. "That's perfect."


Davis Motomiya spent much of his free time at work staring across the row of stations at Kari. Barring internal turmoil, her smile never failed to brighten his attitude. He had learned to read her face pretty well, helpful for being quick to recognize when she needed cheering up. That wasn't quite the case; her eyes weren't weary enough. Still, they had a tendency to lose focus, and her fingers weren't as sharp on the keyboard as usual. Her mind was somewhere else.

This was a confusing development for someone who had experienced what many quickly heralded as a game-changing date. The usual gossip over her and Astra's relationship status was typical, but the date itself proved to be the big topic. Davis alone had heard several conversations about the bar being raised, including plenty from would-be players afraid they'd never be able to reach that level. For all that, he expected Kari to still be in heaven. After all, her account of it started all the hoopla.

The mystery was worth probing. At the end of the day, he caught her alone and asked, "So sounds like everything's going great with Astra."

"Um, yeah!" He could tell her smile was fake. "We just got the Odaiba Day video done. And yes, he toned it down."

Davis grinned, raising an eyebrow. "No, you know what I mean. When do I gotta run interference on Tai?"

"Oh, don't worry about Tai. When I told him how the date went, he was so impressed he didn't have a problem with us."

"Seriously?" Keeping the over-protective big brother at bay was half the fun. Without that, Davis was alone on the sidelines.

His smile must have fallen, because Kari asked, "What's wrong? You're not…" She blinked. "You're not weird about this, right?"

"What? No, I'm fine!" He was too exuberant; she'd sniff out that lie. Settling down, he added, "But you don't seem all that excited."

After a moment of hesitation, she scratched her shoulder. "I am, it's just… Tora wants me to plan the next one."

"So what's the big deal?"

"Davis, you know what he did! He went all out! How am I supposed to compete with that?"

He couldn't help but snicker, much to her frustration. "Kari, how can you be this cute?!"

"It's not funny! I'm new at this! After what he did for me I feel like I'm going to bore him to death."

Setting a hand on her shoulder, still smiling, he said, "Hey, you like him, right?"

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Oh I know you do. And he likes you?"

"I…" She turned away, eyes narrowing. "…I assume so."

"C'mon, he treated you to all that! Nobody just does that for fun."

"Well, uh…"

"Kari, it's you! Of course he likes you! You just have to find a thing that's you. He'll be into that!"

"Yeah, that's what Mimi said." Kari huffed, "…after I asked her for ideas."

"Got anything?"

"Uh… maybe he'd like heading down to the waterfall?"

"Whoa, what?!" The astonishment on his face was obvious, but he wasn't sure if his slight grin was more being incredulous than reacting to the kind of images in his head. With a chuckle, he explained, "There's only one reason anyone takes a date to the waterfall, Kari. You maybe don't want to go there."

"What do you m…" Her eyes widened, glazing over. "Oh."

"Yep."

"Now I kinda don't want to go down there ever again."

"Aw, it's not that bad. We can still go-"

"What?"

Davis shut up, looking away and scratching his neck.

"Well if that's out, I have nothing." She shook her head. "Thing is, all the things I think would be nice are quiet and I just don't think he'd enjoy that. I want him to have as much fun as I did." Shoulders slumped, she added, "But I guess I'm not that wild."

"Hmm… stuff he'd like…" He chuckled. And then again. He didn't know Astra well enough to know he'd like the ideas popping into his head, but…

Kari interrupted his thinking when she stepped forward and put her hands on his sides. "Davis… would you mind sharing what you're thinking?"

"I mean, uh…" He had every reason to hesitate. But her gentle hands and smile had him trapped. With a sigh, he said, "Anything for you, Kari."


Kiichi Funabashi and his flying Locomon partner may have been the most useful resource the international digidestined had at their disposal. Thanks to them, visits to the new settlement site were easy and frequent. The undeveloped meadow offered nothing enticing to attackers, but the representatives wanted to maintain a daily presence to assert their claim to it. Nothing permanent, just a rotation of kids shuttling in for a few hours every day. Not only did it keep nosy Digimon from encroaching, it also gave everyone a chance to explore the space and visualize building ideas.

It also provided a perfect cover for Catherine and TK to sneak off together. TK especially appreciated the flair of a pleasant train car floating through the sky. "You guys know how to travel," he said. "For something you use everyday, it's pretty romantic."

"Don't sound so surprised," said Catherine, adding a restrained giggle from the seat across from him. She scooted forward, leaning towards him, her smile suggesting everything. He returned it, ready to meet her…

"Trains always used to look like this!" Kiichi blurted. "You should hear about the coaches they had crossing Europe a hundred years ago!"

TK forced himself to smile back. "I should… but you know who's really interested in this sort of stuff? Patamon."

His partner looked up. "I am?"

"Yeah." TK repeated an insistent nod. "I bet Kiichi will even show you the controls if you ask."

"And Floramon too!" added Catherine.

Kiichi nodded. "Sure, I can show you two the cab if you want!"

"They want," said TK and Catherine in unison.

After some skeptical stares, Floramon waved a stem and said, "Well, I can tell when we're not wanted. Entertain us, Mr. Conductor." She had to scoop Patamon out of the seat as Kiichi led them away.

Catherine snickered. "Much as we love them, they do make dates more complicated."

TK raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so this is a date!"

She sat upright, eyes wide and cheeks red. "Oh, well, I…" TK had to restrain a laugh; it was hard to mistake this for anything else, but he loved catching her off guard. "I mean, don't expect me to rise to Torajiro's level, but…" He had to cover his mouth and turn away.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" He didn't expect her to drop the playfulness and turn sincere all of a sudden. "I guess I shouldn't have brought him up." Turning back to her, her head was down and shaking. "This should be about us."

He sighed. Leaning into an presumed emotion was fun. Watching her scold herself over breaking a perceived taboo wasn't. "Hey, Catherine? It's okay to talk about Kari and Astra. It doesn't bother me as much as you maybe think it does."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "You can be honest with me."

"Yeah." He winced. "Why? Does I sound like it does?"

"No, no… I suppose I assumed too much."

His smile flashed back on. "Well if it got us together I'm glad you did."

She looked down, a blush forming again. "That… may have been what I was hoping for."

"That may have been why I played along."

TK waited for her to look up again. He needed to see her eyes, both wanting this to be real and terrified that it was really happening. He wanted to ease her along, playing smooth and guiding her gently forward. That seemed to be the part she wanted him to play.

At the same time, the way she played the shrinking ingenue masked how the opposite was true. In fact, she pushed the buttons. She approached him, using Kari as an excuse to offer emotional support he didn't ask for or need. TK didn't even catch this at first; if not for Davis, he probably would have shut her down for her misplaced intentions.

What confused him was her confidence in making these assumptions about him, even when they weren't true. Aside from one notable misstep, Catherine knew TK more than TK knew Catherine. They had always kept in touch since that Christmas in Paris all those years ago, enough to call themselves friends. But the rare times they did chat were over the forum built for global digidestined, hardly the venue for anything as intimate and personal as his complicated feelings about Kari.

He had to consider the biggest unknown about his relationship with Catherine back home: she had three extra years to experience it. Did something in that span change it?

After Locomon landed and they relieved the two South African digidestined on morning duty, TK found his opportunity setting up their picnic lunch. With Patamon and Floramon playing in the woods, he needed to seize the moment.

"So you know I got here a few years before you did, right?" He hoped unwrapping plates of food on a tablecloth was casual enough for the conversation.

"Quite a few, I understand," she said with a giggle.

"Well… doesn't feel like that many for me." This wasn't a fun topic, but he tried to play it down.

"Yes, yes." Her grin grew. "And we used to think what happened to Davis and them was bad."

"Did we?" TK leaned forward, hands on the cloth. This was a perfect example. He didn't even have all the details of what happened to them, much less how he felt about it at the time. "Because that was after I got here. Did I talk about all that with you?"

Catherine recoiled, her teeth catching her lower lip. "TK, you… talked about everything with me. I suppose I became someone you could confide in when you couldn't talk with your friends at home."

He shook his head. "I don't know much about what happened in between and I'm not sure how much I want to. The stuff with Meicoomon, with Davis and the others… how it got weird between me and Kari… how Cody kinda hated me."

"Now now." Her head shake offered more reassurance, as did her leaning forward and patting his hand. "You're exaggerating about Cody. Although, to be fair, weird between you and Kari is an understatement."

When he heaved a sigh, she added, "I was more than happy to lend an ear. And yes…" Her lips curled into a smile. "…We opened up quite a bit. Maybe… more than that forum would have allowed were it in public."

He almost missed it. The revelation swept through him with a shiver, taking his breath. "Wait… you mean…" he mumbled.

Catherine offered a faint nod, refusing eye contact. "It was… freeing… and harmless, but oh, so exciting." She drew a satisfied breath. "And I must say you have quite a way with words."

Even so, she left him speechless. "I… wow…"

"It's a little scary being out here in person with you. But once I saw you here I realized I wanted to see if it works. If all of the… scenarios we dreamed up can become reality." She leaned in closer. "This does feel like a dream world after all."

A rustling from the woods halted them, grounding them back into this reality, fantastic as it seemed. TK glanced at the sound, but returned to Catherine straight away. This time, she wasn't afraid to look him in the eyes. "You know… the waterfall's really lovely at night." He was still overwhelmed by his surprise history with someone as stunning as her, but he hid it as best he could, with all the false confidence he could summon. TK leaned forward, and when she did too his lips quivered as they pursed together…

"TK! Catherine! Come look at these cool sticks we found!" shouted Patamon, freezing them in place.

After a round of blinking, their eyes opened and they exchanged nervous laughter.

"The waterfall, eh?" She repeated a string of slow nods. "…I bet it's even more lovely when we're alone."


Meiko Mochizuki felt jitters any time she visited Command's conference room. Her resolve to not disappoint Tai flew in the face of her position, which increasingly demanded it. As plans for the new settlement crystallized, everyone began to grasp the kind of resources necessary for the construction. She imagined it would be immense, and that Command would be skittish in demanding it of Ceresmon. Now she had the full list in front of her: a hundred pages for her to flip through as Tai and Henry watched in silence.

The list was extensive and exhaustive, enough to make her appreciate whoever took the time to compile it. She already dreaded her job of procuring it all. From the looks on the officers' faces, that wasn't why they were showing it to her. They wanted a reaction, some thoughtful assessment about its contents. Meiko knew enough about the plans to get a good mental picture, but this report was too stark, ordered by category and preventing her from sensing anything helpful. Did it realize everyone's plan? Would it meet everyone's needs? Was it too much? Too little? She couldn't glean any answers, but she sensed that wasn't the response Tai and Henry hoped for.

"It's quite a lot," She said, setting the report on the table. Catching herself, she added, "…I think."

"Yeah…" said Tai, eyes down.

"We're working on ways to get our own building materials," said Henry. "Wood, steel, that sort of stuff. If we can get that, that will help, but there's still a lot we have to order."

Summoning an air of confidence, she blurted, "I'll do my best to make sure everything's right."

Tai forced a smile. "We believe in you. But we've never asked this much out of Ceresmon and we're really nervous about it."

"You're afraid she wouldn't do all this?"

He nodded. "She helps because she feels like she needs to. Not because she wants to… or even that she likes us all that much. And she's been unreliable before."

"Can we talk to her?"

"Not really. Rhythm did before everyone got here… but she has to take over Kari to do it." Tai winced." I don't want to suggest that."

Meiko cringed. "Yeah… I don't want to see anything like that again."

"Again?" Tai's eyes reflected concern. "You mean it happened again back home?"

"Uh, so anyway…" Henry said it, pausing to think up an appropriate tangent. "We're not really comfortable trying to get all this, but we're sort of stuck with the international kids. We were hoping maybe you could look it over and find some ways they can scale back. They might not be sick of listening to you."

In other words, they wanted her to keep fighting for them, even after they'd reached an impasse. Tai glanced at Henry, but his eyes shifted to her. She wished she could pump a fist and promise results, answering Tai's call and rewarding his decision to give her this job. In reality, the overwhelming report made it impossible to offer any suggestions. Even if she had some, pushing back against the international representatives was well out of her comfort zone.

All she could do was turn it back to Tai and Henry. "What concerns you the most?"

Henry motioned for the report. Meiko was happy to hand it over. "The biggest one is the plan for kitchens in every unit. That's fifty ovens, microwaves, and refrigerators they need to get, install, power, and maintain. I get that they can't be as centralized as us, but that's a big demand."

"I know, but our way's been so hard on Mimi and Tommy."

"I get that we can't expect one team to feed 200 people. They'd go crazy," said Tai. "But they handled 30 or whatever without too much of a problem. Why can't they do, like, six kitchens or something?"

Meiko knew the answer to that: this was a global community. Whatever Digital World magic eliminated the language barrier was powerless against the culinary one. Grouping everyone into small units not only kept teams together, it unified taste buds as well.

Before she could gather enough steam to articulate this point, Henry flew past it. "And it's a lot easier on you ordering in bulk. Lots of little items are so hard to keep track of."

In the end, she surrendered. She doubted she'd be able to change any minds, but she needed to try, for Tai's sake.

"I'll… see what I can do," she mumbled.

"Just tell them it would be too hard for you to sort out," said Tai. "They'll work with you."

"That shouldn't be an excuse." She didn't catch her voice raising. Staring at Tai, she continued, "Whatever I need to do I'm going to try to do it. I shouldn't assume I can't."

His eyes widened, a hand raising in defense. "I… I didn't… I mean I'm sure you can, I just…" Now she felt bad. Of course he didn't assume she wouldn't be up for the task. Tai was in an uncomfortable position, trying to leverage whatever he could, even if that included her perceived incapability.

All three jumped when Eri kicked the door open, dragging Koichi in with her. "The entertainment team has an announcement to make," she declared.

"We're kind of in the middle of something," said Henry.

Meiko nodded. "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Eri asked, glaring back.

Tai struggled to manage the irritation in his voice. "Eri, I'm not saying entertainment isn't important, but it can probably wait until we're finished."

"Glad to brought that up. But first: Koichi?" She gestured to her counterpart with a smile.

Eyes focused on the table between Tai, Henry, and Meiko, Koichi said, "So Eri and I were talking about Cerealia and we've made three decisions."

"Cerealia?" said Henry. Even without knowing what that was, Meiko sensed his impatience.

"First off, Eri's going to be the primary organizer this year."

"Uh… okay…" Tai fished for a response. "Great, that sounds great!"

"Okay… next we think it would be nice to host it at the new settlement this year."

"Hmm…" Henry narrowed an eye. "That could get a little tricky."

"It's a good idea in general…" Tai framed his words with care. "And it's outside so the settlement doesn't have to be totally done…"

"But you'll still need some facilities… electricity, bathrooms, food prep…"

"Yes, but this would be a good time to show everybody the progress you're making," explained Koichi.

"Like a tour!" added Eri.

"And some of us stationed here don't get to see the other sites. I haven't even been to Isthmian yet."

Tai started nodding. "Yeah, uh… we can make that work. That's stuff they'll need anyway, so why not have a party once it's in place?" Eri smiled, this one kinder than the fierce grins she usually threw at Tai.

"And the third thing we decided is, um…" For all the demands Koichi had been making, he ran out of momentum for the final one.

Eri took over: "Cerealia's supposed to be a springtime thing, right? Since we can't do it in April, we're scheduling it for the last weekend in May."

Tai shot out of his chair. "May?! But that means we'd have to have all that ready by then!"

Her confident grin returned. Eri even whipped her hair. "If you keep putting it off, it's never going to happen! And we need this to happen for everyone needing a party, for Ceresmon to feel honored, and for the new settlement to show itself off!"

"We haven't even finalized the plans yet," Henry pleaded.

"Better get cracking then!" Eri dropped herself into the chair next to Meiko. "Since all of my planning depends on you guys getting things done on your end, I'd better stick around to make sure everything's on track."

Meiko lowered her head and covered her mouth. She didn't want either Tai or Eri to see her smile.

"What's that?" Eri pointed at the report.

Reaching for it to show her, Meiko said, "Everything I need to order for the settlement."

Eri fanned through the pages, too fast to be able to read anything on them. "What, that's it?"


Mikey Kudo struggled to sleep after hearing all the atrocities of both Marsmon's tyranny and the invading D-Brigade. One used a vast network of local enforcers to force compliance and outright worship of their despot. All production served the needs of the rulers, with demands for ritual sacrifice honored to ensure protection. The D-Brigade disrupted it, but their sweeping, intolerant regime based on martial law offered even less hope for freedom. The only thing worse than suffering under one of the two was to be caught in their constant war for territory.

Every pulse of instinct told him to put an end to it. No doubt each faction had to be immense and powerful enough to take and dominate so much land, but he refused to see any army as unbreakable. Not after defeating an opponent who had been able to subdue the entire world. At the same time, Bagramon's empire had manageable pieces to be toppled in separate climactic showdowns. Mikey knew nothing about the structure, size, or scope of either side. He did realize they were spread too widely for his team to stop alone, and appealing for more reinforcements back at Isthmian was sure to go nowhere. Pursuing peace was a foolish idea from all angles, but it killed Mikey to turn away from it.

"Hey Mikey?" Shoutmon's voice forced his eyes open, mercifully ending any hope of sleep. "We better get moving. Sounds like trouble."

The war horn in the distance popped Mikey upright. He ripped off his sleeping bag, threw his shoes on and ran outside, colliding with Christopher on his way in.

"Grab Tagiru and let's go. They're assembling."

"Ooh, where?!" He jumped when Tagiru appeared behind him with Gumdramon.

"Too close to the pass. We need to go around," said Shoutmon, leading the way.

He found a narrow, manageable slope leading them above the cave. They crouched atop an overlook giving them a clear view of the regiment readying themselves at the base of a small hill. Fifty Bullmon stood in formation, with a dozen Mammothmon behind them. Further back, on a higher elevation, a single Merukimon surveyed the battlefield, his back to the mountain pass.

"We keep going and we should be able to find a way down without them noticing," Shoutmon whispered.

Tagiru kept his voice down, but protested. "No way! We need to see what's going to happen!"

"Nothing good, I'll tell you that."

They heard the the loud engines from the distance as ten Tankdramon advanced, flanked by countless Sealsdramon and Commandramon troops. Despite no commander or signals, every Tankdramon raised its rear cannons and fired shells across the field at the other army.

"Incoming! Bullmon, charge!" Merukimon shouted. The Bullmon advanced over the hill at once. The Mammothmon fired their tusk missiles in unison at the bombs, detonating most of the first wave in midair. The string of explosions and bursting payload boomed over the battlefield, the thunder to go with the rain of metal showering the attackers. Tankdramon switched to its gatling guns, decimating the Bullmon, who in turn tore through dozens of Commandramon. Between the two sides, at least thirty Digimon died in the the first minute.

"This is…" Mikey's stomach churned.

Tagiru watched the Mammothmon catapult balls of ice across the field, disabling a Tankdramon's weapons and making it easy prey for a quartet of Bullmon. "This is so cool…" he mumbled.

"It's terrible," Mikey reprimanded.

One of Tankdramon's long range shells landed and blew up a Mammothmon. "It's sort of cool," Christopher said with a shrug. "But we can't be anywhere near it."

"But…" Mikey wanted to protest. How could he watch this and not want to stop it? Even if these were two armies who appeared to be well practiced at this sort of violence. Even if it was just a single skirmish in a larger theater. Even if both sides would react if a third party tried to step in.

"I'm as disgusted as you, Mikey, but we can't." Of course Shoutmon read his partner's mind. "All of us put together would only be an even fight. And if either of these sides found out humans were here interfering in their battles… they wouldn't take that lying down."

Gumdramon's eyes widened. "The Digimon would be hunting the humans."

"Get down," Christopher spat, dropping flat to the ground, as the others did a moment later. When Mikey eyed him for a silent explanation, he gestured to the cliff opposite the cave. A single Sealsdramon descended from the peak, rappelling down. He kept his eyes on the raging battle, on Merukimon specifically. Once landing, he scrambled for cover on the other end, out of sight.

It didn't take long for Mikey to realize the problem. "Did he just go in the cave?"

"The Kokuwamon!" Tagiru exclaimed.

"As long as he didn't see us. Now let's go," Christopher insisted.

"But they're sitting ducks in there! Haven't they suffered enough?"

"They're not our problem."

"C'mon… Mikey?"

Their argument was background noise to Mikey. The identical debate in his head rang louder. He could talk himself out of interfering with the larger fight: the risk was too high and neither side presented themselves as victims. The Kokuwamon were a different story. They didn't deserve what the Sealsdramon could do to them, and the cave was far enough away from the battlefield to avoid notice. That was probably why the Sealsdramon found it so attractive.

Once again, Shoutmon sensed Mikey's wavering. "Hey, we can take one baddie without you guys getting spotted. Come on, in and out."

Mikey nodded. He looked up at Tagiru, his grin too large to trust on a stealth mission. "Tagiru, stay here and let us know if anything's coming. Whatever you do, stay out of sight." Mikey motioned for Shoutmon and Christopher to follow him back down the slope.

Once at the bottom, Mikey and Christopher found cover while Shoutmon scoped the cave out. Sealsdramon camped at the entrance, eying a sneak attack on Merukimon rather than clearing out anyone inside. He waved forward a second Sealsdramon to rappel down and join him. Shoutmon ducked back in time to stay out of sight.

"I guess everything's okay then?" Shoutmon suggested.

The sound of the second Sealsdramon crashing off the cliff startled all of them. Shoutmon peeked in time to see him scurry across to the cave, but the sound echoed off the cliff walls.

Mikey's squawker crackled with Tagiru's voice: "Hey, the big guy heard that! He's coming over!"

Shoutmon not only confirmed it visually, but the two Sealsdramon retreated deeper into the cave towards the Kokuwamon.

"Oh boy… how bad do we want this Mikey?" Shoutmon asked.

Mikey didn't need the advice. For all the devastation, the least he could do was protect the only innocents. He owed that to himself. He also had a plan. "Tagiru?" he announced on the squawker. "Have Arresterdramon launch an attack on the cliff behind Merukimon."

Tagiru came through right as Merukimon neared the cave. Arresterdramon slammed his tail against the cliff wall, bounding away as the rockslide drew attention away from the cave.

"Will Greymon fit in the cave?" Mikey asked Christopher. Christopher nodded, rushing in with no need for elaboration. If Greymon couldn't deal with the Sealsdramon, the rest of Blue Flare could.

With Merukimon still investigating the rockslide, Mikey and Shoutmon snuck across the cave where they had a better view of Merukimon and could hear the roars and slashes as Greymon tore into Sealsdramon. They also heard the scurrying as one escaped. Mikey ducked behind a rock as he ran out, leaping onto the cliff on the other side. Part of him worried if he'd seen Christopher, but trusted him not to be so careless.

"Thousand Fists!" Merukimon did see the Sealsdramon, however, and in a flash appeared next to the cliff and pummeled him into dust. Next he turned his attention to the cave. Mikey stayed in hiding, but the pressure set in. He mumbled "Christopher, hide," disabling his squawker to avoid the confirmation giving himself away. He couldn't assume Christopher had heard him.

Still, he refused to panic. Compared to past scrapes, this was nothing. Even before Merukimon broached the cave, Mikey had his plan ready. He'd evolve Shoutmon and send him out alone, landing a few weak cheap shots and making up some underground resistance before bolting away. If he could annoy Merukimon enough to get him to chase, OmniShoutmon could improvise from there and get everyone clear.

Mikey whispered Shoutmon the plan, got a smirk of approval, and evolved him. Laying low, they just had to wait for Merukimon to get into an ideal position.

The blast above the cave jolted everybody, the dirt and rock falling from above threatening a cave-in. Mikey mourned his clever plan, rendered obsolete by whoever attacked the cave outside. Merukimon was already stronger than OmniShoutmon; Mikey couldn't risk this new factor forcing the two into a fair fight.

Tagiru's boasting: "Come on! Leave those guys alone and let's have a fair fight!" Mikey almost gave away his position swearing at his teammate. Tagiru was not only risking exposure, but Arresterdramon had even less chance of winning a fair fight. Merukimon dashed outside to meet his new challenger. Mikey could only return to his vantage point and hope it wasn't as serious a problem as he feared.

If Tagiru did anything right, it was buffing his defenses, digifusing Arresterdramon with MetalTyrannomon for additional power and a coat of gray armor. Even so, a face-to-face battle with Merukimon was a grave mistake.

The giant looked over the lanky dragon with suspicion. "That's not your true form. You've been enhanced… fused with some other Digimon. How?"

Tagiru jumped up on the top of Arresterdramon's head, a finger pointed at Merukimon, a wild grin on his face. "It's called digifuse! And it's going to knock you and your whole army out of here!"

"A human?!" Merukimon growled. "What are you doing here?"

"We're protecting-" Before Tagiru could finish, Merukimon appeared in front of Arresterdramon and slammed him into the cliff, throwing Tagiru onto the wall, clinging for his life. Without any hesitation, he charged at him with his knife. It clanged against MetalTyrannomon's armor.

"Spiral Shredder!" Arresterdramon spun, generating enough momentum to force his way out. Merukimon ignored him and set his sights on Tagiru. "Spin Caliber!" Another attack from Arresterdramon lashed him away. Merukimon grunted and charged at the dragon.

Despite being outmatched, Arresterdramon fought off all Merukimon's efforts at attacking Tagiru, but was punished each time he tried to save his partner. Mikey watched with gritted teeth, seeing Merukimon's speed and strength and wondering how OmniShoutmon could safely intervene.

"The hell's happening?" Christopher asked, appearing behind Mikey with Greymon at the ready. "What did he do?"

"He drew Merukimon away from us. He thought we were in trouble." Mikey failed to hide his irritation.

"So he gives us away?! You know what that could mean?!"

"Look, he just wanted to-"

"When are you going to stop making excuses for him?" Mikey turned around and found Christopher's glare. "We had this under control."

Mikey returned to the battle. He didn't need the lecture. He was frustrated at Tagiru too. But he refused to let that hover over his decision-making. He still needed to find an opening, and a tactic to capitalize on it.

"Thousand Fists!" A flurry of punches knocked Arresterdramon back into the cliff and reeling, too far to prevent Merukimon from reaching Tagiru. The hunter dangled from a small outcropping, helpless as he fell into the Mega's shadow. "You'll be the first to experience the fate of every filthy human in this territory."

"DX Double Blade!" Shoutmon DX's claws slashed across Merukimon, sending him spinning to the ground. Mikey and Christopher rode atop his shoulders, watching their enemy for any movement. They saw too much: Merukimon staggered to his feet, clutching his back, fury in what little of his face they could see.

"How many of you are there?!" he spat.

"More than you can count!" shouted Tagiru. Despite both being on the ropes, he and Arresterdramon shrugged off their pain to stand united next to Shoutmon DX. "Knock us down all you like. We'll keep getting back up! Come at us with whatever you want! It doesn't matter! The power of a human bonded with Digimon makes us invincible!"

Mikey doubted this pontification was a good idea. Humans had no business in this war, and Tagiru just announced not only their presence, but boasted about their strength. Who knew what kind of response that could generate? Merukimon glared back at Tagiru, then shifted his eyes to Shoutmon DX and the two generals atop it. Mikey forced himself to cast away his doubts, steel his expression, and nod back in unwavering support of what may have been yet another tactical error.

Merukimon narrowed his eyes, his voice like gravel: "Is that so?"

He leaped backwards and sprinted back to his post in the battle. What remained of the two sides still charged each other. Mikey didn't give his team any chance to celebrate the retreat before leading them down the pass, well away from any adversity.

Once they added enough distance, they stopped to return their Digimon to their Fusion Loaders and take a breath. Despite no harm coming to them or the Kokuwamon, Mikey treated the day like a loss. His shoulders hung low as he splashed his face with water from a nearby stream.

"Wow! Was that cool or what?!" Tagiru's exuberance kept Mikey from turning around. There was nothing to cheer, and plenty of reason to be discouraged.

He was glad Christopher took care of the lecture: "Don't be stupid. That was a disaster. We told you we can't show ourselves, so you stare down a Merukimon?"

Tagiru held his grin. "I totally bailed you guys out!"

"We would have been fine. You nearly got killed. And now he knows we're around." With a scoff, he added, "Those Kokuwamon weren't worth it. I hope you get that, Mikey."

Mikey did. Saving the Kokuwamon was a compulsion, giving him no more satisfaction than scratching an itch. Now it burned even more.

Tagiru kept the argument going. "But that's what we do here, right? Save Digimon? And in my case, save you two!"

"Tagiru." Mikey finally spoke, silencing both of them. He dragged his feet back to them. "I get what you're saying, but you jumping out there may have caused a lot of problems. I know you were-"

"What, you're going to give me grief too?!" Mikey refused to look up. He knew what kind of mania would be in those eyes. The ones who had once tasted the glory of singlehandedly saving the world. The ones who never again saw that high. The ones who saw the Digital World not as a dangerous struggle for survival, but as a new opportunity to shine all over again. Mikey couldn't bear to fight them. "I put everything on the line for you! You're not my mentor out here! You know what I'm capable of! You just saw it!"

He did. He saw everything. It was a depressing reminder of the one curveball fate refused to stop throwing him. The constant in his life of somehow always having to rely on Tagiru Akashi. Why did he expect this world to be any different, and why did he think he could keep riding his luck before it led to something terrible?


Kari Kamiya wouldn't admit how much she enjoyed having Astra's arm around her waist, even if he was only clutching her to stay atop Nefertimon. Still, the contact didn't distract her from her main job of finding the location Davis picked out. She also had to note that he should have had two arms around her. The other wandered around, forming hand gestures, pretending to take pictures, and something he described as "going for a one-armed dab." She didn't understand.

"Didn't you know you're supposed to keep your hands and arms inside the ride?" she called out.

With an unhappy sigh, Astra wrapped his free hand around her. Then he squeezed her, pulling his chest into her back. Her hunt for their date spot became harder with his warm breath on her neck. But in that moment, she was quite all right with getting lost and flying a little longer than necessary.

To her shock, she found the woods in question. "Oh! There it is! Nefertimon, bring us down!"

Astra waited for them to land. As he helped her off, he asked, "Sounds like you've never been here before?"

She stammered for a moment before answering, "Uh, this place was recommended by… a friend. He said there were some interesting Digimon to see here."

"Ooh, I can feel that! In the woods there?" She nodded. He took her hand and pulled her towards it. Gatomon barely kept up, dragging along a picnic basket.

A wooden sign nailed to a tree welcomed them to a dojo, sending Astra into fits of excitement. Kari had to shush him in advance of seeing the Digimon themselves: a dozen small, two-legged reptiles with traditional Japanese armor. They organized themselves in neat rows, practicing leaping attacks in perfect unison. Either they didn't notice the two humans or were so focused on their training they ignored them.

"Whoa!" The lack of response to Astra's cry made it clear it was the latter. Kari bowed in apology for him anyway.

They kept their distance from the army, walking behind them and avoiding eye contact until settling on the other side, far enough away so that their picnic wouldn't distract them.

"Those guys are amazing!" Astra continued to marvel at them from a distance. "Are they wearing sode? And there isn't even a captain… they've got all that down!"

She admired his excitement, even if she failed to see the fun in historical warrior training. Gatomon helped out in saying, "They're called Ryudamon." Kari refused to say she'd never seen one before.

"Ryudamon… I totally feel it!"

His elation drew a sigh of relief from Kari, but she kept trying to read him throughout lunch, watching him more than the Ryudamon in formation. Astra was into it… at least at first. But as they progressed and the entertainment or scenery didn't change, his eyes wandered more, his legs fidgeted, and he reached for anything to talk about. She had abandoned introducing her own topics, and even Gatomon followed suit, keeping to herself and demanding the two break the ice themselves.

"So did you make all this?" he asked after eating most of it with no comment.

"Yeah, last night." She chuckled. "Hard to find time in the kitchen when someone's not in there."

He only nodded back. She didn't expect elation—her mother's health food kick left her at a disadvantage when it came to cooking instinct—but his inability to expand the conversation was discouraging. Despite Davis picking a location that appeared to be, at least at first, interesting to Astra, Kari found little to enjoy about the date. She spent more time worrying about him, and nothing about the Ryudamon appealed to her.

The Ryudamon had stopped their training and mulled about, some glancing at the two humans with mild curiosity, but thankfully no hostility. Kari wanted to get through dessert and hope Davis's next agenda item landed better.

Instead, Astra asked, "You having fun?"

"I, um, uh…" She didn't know why his question caught her so off guard. She did know faking it wouldn't fly. "Sort of… I mean… it's about me making sure you have fun, right?"

"What? No! You need to feel it too!" He gestured at the Ryudamon. "These guys are cool and all but why would you come out here if you wouldn't be into it?"

"Well…" By the time she realized the impact of her answer, it was already coming out: "I guess I didn't think you'd enjoy any of the things I like to do."

It was a terrible thing to say on a date. But she needed to, for herself as much as him. Much as she loved his ability to sweep her away with bold ideas and grand gestures, it wouldn't lead to a successful relationship. That depended on having things to do and things to talk about that didn't involve surprise dance parties. A childhood of fighting and tragedy meant her idea of a good time involved finding peace in a good book, a friendly chat, or an afternoon flight with her Digimon. Astra grew up in a household of oppressive serenity. When he wanted to break free, he chased chaos. How could the two possibly mesh?

Finally, she asked, "That's… a problem, isn't it?"

Astra grimaced, jabbing a few nods. "Kinda why I wanted to see what your dates looked like."

An alert from her D-Terminal provided a welcome distraction. Kari would never wish for a massive disaster demanding her immediate return to the castle, but if there were ever a time…

Davis's message was short: "Get ready to run."

"What's wrong?" asked Astra. She didn't have time to try to explain it before the loud roar behind them.

They couldn't see what caused it and they didn't have time to look harder. "Kari?" Gatomon tugged on her shirt, alerting her to the the Ryudamon lined up in a fighting stance.

At once, they all shouted, "Charge!" They ran straight at Kari and Astra.

"Time to go," said Gatomon, jumping into Kari's arms. She had already started backpedaling, abandoning their dishes, turning around and reaching a sprint in seconds, the Ryudamon right behind them.

Gatomon, tall grass, and all the trees to weave around slowed them, allowing some of the Ryudamon to catch up. The Ryudamon didn't attack them, however. They raced by, some zig-zagging around them. One leaped onto Astra's hat and bounded forward. Enough got ahead that he and Kari weren't running away from them as much as they were running with them.

Astra laughed. "Hey, this is cool! I totally feel it!"

"But what are we running at?!" Kari cried.

At the edge of the woods, they reached a tall patch of grass. By then the lead Ryudamon had stopped. Astra, Kari, and Gatomon raced through it into the muddy pond on the other side. All three tumbled in.

Gatomon escaped and swam to the surface first, looking down again. Her concern was unnecessary as the water was only a few feet deep. Kari and Astra paddled to the other end, her partner helping them out to catch their breath on the grass, soaking wet, mud splattered across their hands, knees, and shoes. Splayed across the ground, she marveled at how the date had somehow managed to get even worse.

"Davis…" she moaned. His warning could have only meant one thing.

"Davis? Was that your friend who suggested this place?" asked Astra.

"Yes," she answered with a sigh. She sat up and peeled her shoes and socks off, wiping her slimy hands on Gatomon. Upright, she saw Davis and ExVeemon circling the pond to approach them. "…among other things," she added.

"How was your date?" Davis asked with a broad grin. Kari just glared back.

Astra hopped to his feet, throwing his arms over his head. "Awesome!" The motion sprayed water into Kari's face.

"That stampede was your idea, wasn't it?" she asked.

Davis nodded. "You bet! Happened to the response team once. Takato loved it. Cool how they only go after the threat and not you guys, isn't it?"

"It totally is!" Astra cheered.

Kari's shoulders slumped. All the doubts she had before solidified into a hard conclusion. She figured she'd get it over with while she was already exhausted and miserable. "Tora, I don't know if this is going to work. You're great and all but…" She heaved a few breaths. "I don't know how many more dates I can take."

"Aw, that's okay!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled himself in, squeezing enough to drench her further. "We're still hanging out though. I promise you'll love it!"

She blushed; despite the discomfort, she loved his proximity. "I suppose."

He released her and turned to Davis. "But hey, you got any more date ideas as good as this one?"

Davis's face lit up. "Oh, I got a million of 'em! Why, you wanna go out with me?"

"Hmm…" Astra scratched his chin. "I've never gone out with a dude before… do I feel it? Do I not?" His arms crossed, his hands finding the air. "I totally feel it!"

"Cool! Let's shoot for next Saturday! Oh, and bring a towel."

Kari fell back on her elbows, letting her dripping changing course. Eyes to the sky, she wondering just how much Yolei and Mimi would laugh when she explained how Davis stole her boyfriend.


Keenan Crier had grown adept at night surveillance. A childhood deprived of artificial light and the safety of the indoors made it a survival trait. Few seedy dealings in the Digital World happened in the dark, but he was more comfortable eavesdropping on them when they were. When following up on the battle between Marsmon's army and the D-Brigade a few days after Mikey reported it, he was comfortable watching the pieces move after the sun disappeared.

It was the only comfortable thing about it. No amount of mental bracing could prepare him for the sight of Merukimon as a merciless captain, standing in a sentry position outside the cave. Falcomon patted Keenan's hand.

They braced themselves when the Sealsdramon approached him, gun at the ready. Instead of a fight, however, Merukimon nodded and Sealsdramon lowered his weapon.

"Do you have an answer from your superiors?" Merukimon asked, his booming voice familiar enough to tear at Keenan's heart.

"Yes. He finds it curious Marsmon is resorting to such bold action so quickly."

"He has not come to this decision lightly. It is a reflection of how dangerous the situation is."

"So you say. But you must forgive General Darkdramon for being skeptical of your claims."

Merukimon peered into the cave. A squadron of Commandramon forced the Kokuwamon out at gunpoint. They dragged their tiny feet along the dirt, some too weak and forced to crawl or be carried. On orders, they lined up along the cliff wall. The Commandramon kept their sights on them.

"You took shelter in this cave during the recent battle, correct?" Merukimon didn't face the Kokuwamon, but his raised voice made the subject of the interrogation clear.

One Kokuwamon eased forward and nodded. "Yes, but we didn't see anything of it."

Eyes square on Sealsdramon, Merukimon asked, "While here, did you encounter and provide aid to humans?"

"The opposite, sir. The humans aided us. We were starving and…"

"If you were starving, why were you out here? You belong in our plants."

"The plant was under attack. It was destroyed by the…" The Kokuwamon eyed Sealsdramon with caution. "…in the liberation effort."

"Liberation?" Merukimon and Sealsdramon glared at each other, the latter tilting a head. The Mega paced past the Kokuwamon, raising his voice: "Marsmon offers you his protection, a chance to live in peace under his rule, and that isn't enough for you? You flee from your homes and beg for scraps from some human invaders?"

The Kokuwamon had no answer, only bowing his head.

Merukimon returned to Sealsdramon. "Does that satisfy you?"

Sealsdramon gave a reluctant nod. "This must be dealt with. We agree to your terms."

After nodding back, Merukimon paced again. "Kokuwamon, you refer to the D-Brigade's attack on your home as a liberation, you flee instead of fighting for your land, and you accept help from outsiders. Do you deny this?"

"We… we had no choice," the Kokuwamon pleaded.

Merukimon looked away. "In this time of strife we must all be unified against the growing threat. We cannot show mercy on those who commit treason." He raised an arm. The Commandramon fingered their triggers.

Keenan and Falcomon buried their heads before the chorus of gunfire.


Next Time on Nexusworld- Episode 8: "Taking Over the World"
Isthmian discovers the ramifications of Tagiru revealing himself to the northern armies. Maki confronts Meiko about her cold attitude towards her. A routine investigation team mission gives Izzy more than he bargained for.

"That's three times you've saved my life in the last five minutes. Careful or I'll read into that."


Author's Notes
Poker in Japan isn't all that big a thing, but it seemed like something Mikey and Christopher would totally go for (and Tagiru would be pathetic at). This is where the blanket "Christopher was hanging around America" thing from Hunters really comes in handy!

Cerealia was an actual festival in Ancient Rome for the goddess of grain Ceresmon is named for. At some point Koichi read a book and thought this was a great excuse for a party.

It was bubbling under the surface of their more direct confrontations last season but in his future, Cody had developed issues with TK well before the whole Suzie drama.

While the individual Digimon comprising the D-Brigade have been spotted infrequently (most prominently in the Next manga), the group itself is one of those like the Olympos XII that are mostly confined to background lore in the video or card games. Appropriate then that their enemy and key subordinate are part of the Olympos XII. Ryudamon debuted in the Chronicle manga nobody cares about. His Mega form can become Alphamon's sword!

Sode is traditional Japanese shoulder armor and I'm cursing Astra for making me dig through complex samurai battle dress pages to find an equivalent Ryudamon actually wears.