Daichi: Everything's beginning to fall into place again, but… It'll be a while for things to settle into 'normal'.

Verity: We own nothing here.

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Ken's head hurt. There was noise and he was moving, and someone, possibly T.K.'s other friends, were saying something, but he just couldn't concentrate.

"Ken." One of the voices was clearer now, and he could tell that it was T.K. speaking to him. "Ken, you're right here. You aren't out there, that's JewelBeemon. Focus." He tried pulling his mind together the way he'd been taught to, separating his thoughts from those of his partner. Eventually, the tumult lessened, and he could breathe more easily.

"Yeah, it's kind of overwhelming the first time, isn't it?" T.K. asked. "It gets easier, though. The next time won't be nearly as difficult." Ken was unconvinced. The confusion and power that pulled them together had been harder to loosen than he could ever have imagined. "Trust me, we need you to be here as much as possible."

It wasn't just the strength of the link though. All of the negativity surrounding them made it easier for him to retreat into the comforting warmth of JewelBeemon's mind, where he wouldn't have to deal with it.

Of course, refusing to deal with his problems was part of the reason he was in that mess to begin with, wasn't it?

"I'm fine. Let's keep going."

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When the Crest of Kindness was placed back where it had been before, the oppressive feeling vanished, for the most part.

"So," Davis started, "Is this dealt with, or do we have to come back later and do it again? Because I'd really rather not."

"Maybe we should take this place apart, just to be safe," Yolei suggested. "I mean, it can't blow up if it's been dismantled, right?"

"How should we take it apart, though?" Cody asked. "It seems too big a job for just us and our Digimon to do."

"Maybe we could get the others to help," Kari tried. "I mean, they can't all be busy. Izzy only discovered this place was set to explode because he had time to check. And even if they are, it can't hurt to ask."

"Well, not us, anyway," Hawkmon muttered.

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"So, I've been wondering something," Yolei brought up while they waited for Izzy and Joe to arrive to help dismantle the place. "Why didn't you tell us about the Control Spire Digimon? If we'd known, we could have helped."

"That was the point," T.K. said. "You only would have helped if the Digimon weren't 'real'. And that's not something I want to encourage."

"Why not?" Cody asked. "Don't you have any respect for life?"

"Not when it's trying to end mine, or anyone else I care about." Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh, but at this point he didn't care as much anymore.

It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with them. He did, remembering when he'd used to hate fighting. But that had been a long time ago, closer to six years than four, chronologically speaking. Even now, he didn't particularly like it He just felt that he had to.

"But, you still-"

"I never said you had to like it. It's just something that has to be done. It was that way four years ago, and it's going to be that way now, once all the dust has settled from this most recent disaster." He would have shaken his head, if it weren't for the fact that Patamon was resting on it at the moment.

The conversation ended there, partly because nobody particularly wanted to continue a week-long argument, and partly because Izzy, Joe, and their Digimon had finally arrived.

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Looking back on it, they didn't have nearly enough Digimon for the task. JewelBeemon knew what he was doing, certainly, and Angewomon could be trusted to follow his lead. However, ExVeemon was led by his partner, Digmon had to be careful not to tunnel directly into any important systems so he didn't get electrocuted, Kabuterimon wasn't meant for lifting heavy objects, and Ikkakumon just wasn't built for desert work whatsoever.

Still, despite the fact that it would be a long job, well, somebody had to do it. Pegasusmon couldn't do much, but neither could Angemon, and T.K. felt that activating a Digi-Egg was more likely to work than summoning his hope, at least in this instance. And, honestly, having someone who could actually do heavy lifting was important, and he was more than willing to do it.

While the Digimon did a lot of the work, reasons being that they actually could do it, T.K., Kari, and Ken were speaking with Joe and Izzy about how JewelBeemon and Angewomon had made their appearance.

"It's strange, though," Izzy remarked. "The two of us can't bring out our Ultimate Digimon- and trust me, we checked." This bit was pointed at T.K., who had brought out the suggestion of the Ultimate Level in the first place, as though he knew something they didn't. Fair enough, given that he did. "But Angewomon's right there. T.K., can you Digivolve Patamon into MagnaAngemon?"

T.K. shook his head. He knew his Crest was there, but it just didn't have the radiance that it used to. "I'm not sure if it isn't because of the circumstances, though. Hope is… hope's been hard, recently." He didn't go into detail, and nobody asked him to. They all knew at least some of what was going on.

Not anywhere near enough, but, well, it was a start.

"We should probably tell Mimi about this," Joe commented. "I mean, if one of us can Digivolve our partners again… well, I've kinda missed Zudomon, and you said she has Palmon with her."

"Assuming she hasn't sent her back in the past week or so," Kari confirmed. "But I didn't even realize Gatomon could Digivolve until she did it."

"It was the same with JewelBeemon," Ken admitted. "I'm not sure how or why it happened, it just did."

Still, mysteries aside, at least the day hadn't ended too horribly. And T.K. noted that, despite what Yolei and Cody seemed to think, at least Ken was being accepted by the others, although an actual welcome might have to wait.

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Daichi: This one was kind of awkward, I admit it. But at least it's setting up for the next bit.