"Oh, Deep, I'm gonna miss you," Chase said softly. "I know you're not going for long, but you're a close friend. Just trust that I'll be fine with David, Zhane and Hikari."

"I believe in you, man," Deep said, smiling. "Don't worry; it's just a quick check. I can't be there too long or Alison will latch onto me with her powers. Don't know how they work, but I know they're trouble. And if they're automatic, may God help me," Hikari was looking at Deep with a curious air. She wasn't sure who this Alison was, but surely she wasn't all as bad as everyone made out, right? Hikari wanted to ask, since it seemed quite disloyal of them, but what if her comment was really out of place with them? She didn't even want to think about fitting in right now.

"Good luck," she settled with.

"Thanks Miss Priss," Deep said. "You've grown on me, kiddo, even if you are a stuck-up bitch. So, how do you say 'Good luck' in Japanese, eh?"

"Kōun," Hikari said in surprise. "It's just one word."

"You're good at English and Japanese," Zhane said unnecessarily. "But we shouldn't be focussing on our lady companion right now. Really, we shouldn't spend too long on Deep either. He's going home, not to war, and we've got this field to sort out."

"He's right… Can you handle it on your own?" Deep asked anxiously, clasping his hands together.

"It's no trouble," David said, slapping Deep's back. "Look out for yourself,"

"I'm glad," Deep said weakly. "But still, it'll be no trouble to me if you call… I'll be right over…"

"Just go!" Zhane urged, and so Deep walked away into the data, evaporating slowly into the data. The high, icy surroundings of David, Zhane, Chase and Hikari deleted into the busy Train Station, and the four were left, momentarily, in silence. "Chase, can't we Digital Field it to Scotland? Come on, please?" Zhane begged suddenly, gripping to Chase's sleeve.

"No," Chase said irritably, freeing his arm. "None of us have ever been to Scotland before and it's beautiful. Deep's loaded, so he's paying, so we might as well make the most of his gracious offer and take the train. We'll be able to see lots of beautiful things on the way, anyway."

"But that's long… I want to get there, do it, and then come home again. Is that too much to ask?" Zhane reasoned hopefully, but his only replies were laughs in his face.

"Zhane, you should hear yourself! You're just moaning like an old man about going somewhere new and having wonderful, beautiful new experiences! You need to get out more, my friend," David was practically choking on his laughter, which was loud and obnoxious. Zhane had gotten word from his little sister that it was like a Hyena's.

"There's our train!" Chase cried suddenly, his deep tanned hands locking onto the wrists of Hikari and Zhane. He trusted David to run there himself.

"What do you mean, 'Our train'? We've been here less than five minutes," Zhane grumbled as he tripped over his feet as Chase surged to a hault, breathing heavily, beside the train.

"I… I booked the tickets… In… in, uh… In advance," Chase gasped. "They're for… this one," he held up four glistening tickets and handed them in, granting them admission to the long transport vehicle.

"It's… Small," Hikari said in bewilderment, collapsing beside Chase on the train. Chase was beside the window backwards, Hikari beside him whereas David sat opposite Chase and Zhane opposite Hikari.

"So, David, dish," Zhane said, donning Deep's smirk. Chase began to smile himself, thinking how Deep had been an influence on Zhane. He hoped that this was in a positive way, but who knew? "Who was your first boyfriend?"

"What the hell?" David cried in indignation, hitting Zhane very hard between the shoulder blades. "Kidding! I remember your ex-girlfriend!" He twitched in pain, wincing.

"Chase…" Hikari said softly; Zhane's comment had sparked inspiration for her own. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she felt herself blushing as she asked it. She didn't want to know for her benefit, or to chide him if not. She was just honestly curios, but she could see the subject made him uncomfortable.

"Once," he said, though his usually warm, clear voice was pained. Hikari felt her face flush again. She felt really embarrassed; what if it was a tough question for him? She wouldn't like to be asked about her parents. David, too, from just in front of her was wriggly in his seat uncomfortably.

"How about you, Hikari?" Zhane said, seemingly recovering from his spasms. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Hikari's face burned even more, but Chase came, unsurprisingly, to her rescue.

"Zhane! Lay off, will you?" His wonderfully bright eyes were clouded as he leant on the side of the chair, glancing out of the window. David was looking out of the window in melancholy also, and Zhane was looking all around the carriage, pretending to not care less.

Meanwhile, at the group's destination, however, someone else was looking out of the window, feeling the soft breeze blow his shining ginger hair. It was deep red and was blowing away from his deep blue eyes.

"Hm…" he muttered to himself as leant further out.

Episode Ten: The Super-Genius Professor of Edinburgh!

Edinburgh's station was busy. People were flitting around, hugging and chatting. Zhane held his ears irritably, blocking out the buzzing of people's voices as he pushed a pathway through the passengers for his friends.

"How's the field, Chase?" David asked delicately. He looked over the ginger boy's shoulder and looked at the D-Spacer, though it shone menacingly at him.

"Oh man, it's locked itself," Chase said as they broke free of the station. His fingers worked furiously at the touchpad. "Ah, but it should be reopening soon. Good news,"

"It is indeed," David agreed, though he wasn't quite sure what to do until it came time to deal with the field and then get going. David rubbed his hairless chin thoughtfully, enjoying the gentle breeze that ruffled his tumbles of straight, brown hair. "So… I guess we can go around and see the sights. It won't do any harm if we can't do the field until later."

"I thought that's why we had the long-ass train journey?" Zhane asked, receiving sharp glares. "Hey, don't be like that. It was an honest-to-God question, but if you're gonna be like that then fine, fine, so be it!"

"What sights are there in Scotland, though?" Hikari asked unsurely. She was eyeing a library just off of the gift shop.

"How about we split up?" Chase suggested. "Don't get lost! We can capture one another if we really have to via Digital Field," this seemed a reasonable enough idea, so Hikari was off like a shot to the library, though she looked back at little weakly to Chase before she entered, Zhane walked listlessly into the Gift Shop and David sprang on his heels towards the moors. Chase stood alone in the street, unsure of where to go. He looked around, taking in the many faces. His emerald eyes locked onto a familiar face. It was a man, older than chase with a strong, handsome face and a cheerful spring in his step. There was a good deal of lush red hair escaping from his scalp and the blue eyes on his face were glowing with life. It was the scientist from the news! "Hey," Chase called, running over.

"Oh…" the scientist jumped, looking at this stranger a little warily. "Hello,"

"Are you that scientist who invented the miracle cure?" Chase asked, striding along beside him.

"Oh! Yes, I forget that they air those Nobel things everywhere. You're the first that's come running up to me like this, though, right out of the blue," he smiled. "I guess Edinburgh's just used to me," his voice had a definite accent, but it wasn't too pronounced. It had the signs of a traveller in the making.

"I'm Chase," he said, leading the man into a café. "Chases Wolves, actually. Can I treat you to anything, Mr. Scientist?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't," the man insisted. "I thought you'd know my name; I'm Kyle Roberts. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen," Chase said, surprised at such an odd question.

"Sixteen? Really? Wow, you look older than that. I hope you don't mind my saying, but you have a time-worn face. Anyway, I'm twenty-one and I'm not having a sixteen-year-old buying me lunch! No, but I'll buy you something," Kyle insisted warmly. Chase shook his head politely, walking up to the counter with the man. "I hope my child looks a bit like you. You've got a nice look; you've got the red hair, though yours is more ginger than mine, and you've got nice eyes."

"Thanks," Chase said in bewilderment. "You're going to have a child?"

"Yeah," Kyle said dreamily. "My fiancée and I were amazed but very happy. I'd only proposed just the week before we learnt about it. Imagine my surprise! The doctor was worried that we'd argue over it, but we're so in love, a child would be just wonderful, don't you think, Chase?"

"Yeah," Chase said, lifting up his coffee and walking to a table. "I wish my life was as cheerful as yours. I think my melody's going off-key, now… And I'm just a bit tired of it," he laughed a soft, hollow laugh; "I think my bandwidth's wearing thin,"

"Bandwidth? Like on a computer? Maybe you should delete some of the older files? I'm one to talk, I'm a bit of a packrat, especially with e-mails, but if I talk to my love I want to remember it…" Kyle smiled that same, dreamy smile. Chase laughed, though Kyle heard that it was a sad laugh.

"That's actually a good idea, Mr. Roberts. I'll think about it. I should be going to find my friends," Chase stood, leaving his untouched coffee. "They'll probably be up to all sorts. Oh, yes! Speaking of my friends, could I possibly have your autograph?"

"My autograph? Of course," Kyle signed his name neatly on a notepad. "I have a fan?"

"Yeah, my friend Deep's gaga over your work. Though it might not be just you… Hey, I'm already late. Let's not go into details," the boy ran off, through the clear glass doors. Kyle looked forlornly after him.

"That poor kid," he said, plodding out of the café. He glanced at the gift shop and saw Chase again, tugging a dark-haired boy from it. They were both smiling, and from the distance Kyle couldn't tell if his smile was faked or not. "Might as well get back," he turned on his heel, though he felt like the boy's words had frozen his soul.

Edinburgh seemed colder, even for late January and the gentle frost that had formed on the grass and roads seemed menacing and threatening, but Kyle blinked these insecurities away fiercely.

"I won't let it get me down," he whispered. He turned the final corner, but even his own, warm, familiar lab seemed dark and hollow. Kyle sighed, wanting to see his fiancée more than ever, but while Kyle was taking a break from his scientific work (break as in not staying up till goodness knows what time and crashing before pushing himself too far again), she was busy with her accounting work. He couldn't go and bother her; worry her.

He slipped in, composing himself, and strode up to his computer, conspicuously left on.

"Stupid," Kyle said to himself, pulling up his small computer chair. A light flashing obnoxiously told Kyle that he'd gotten a message from someone. Maybe Carly's E-mailed me at work? She shouldn't be doing that… He was smiling as he opened up his e-mail, but Kyle stopped in his tracks when he saw the sender. It was there in italics. Not really that bad. Maybe it was a success message? No. Why did Kyle just know that this was bad news?

Red-Breasted Robin: Project-D is failing. Thought you should know. Hope you're well. So busy. RBR

Pauses. Why couldn't he breathe? Kyle's throat felt strangled as he typed a quick response. All he said was "Sorry". It wasn't enough. It was so kind of—

"I'm a failure!" his thought pattern was shattered. "I can't believe it… I didn't want that damn award! I tried so hard… And I failed… And now innocent people will—Oh, Carly, I'm sorry I failed you… I failed our child… I failed everyone that believed in me…" he sobbed into his hands while a message notification popped up again. His tearful eyes glanced upon it, lowering his shaking hands lowering.

Red-Breasted Robin: Don't be, old friend. For people like me, it's only a matter of time.

Kyle felt his heart sinking. Why couldn't he let things like this roll off of his back? He started to sob again, the sound echoing around him, but all of a sudden there was a noise that drowned out even his agonised sobs. Kyle turned, slowly, and saw a gigantic, monstrous creature. It was a watery blob of orange and brown to Kyle's teary eyes, but it was definitely trouble. He wanted to scream at it not to kill him, but he couldn't find the words. Maybe you don't want to, his mind jeered. Kyle wouldn't believe that, and yet his feet were rooted to the ground, his eyes glittering with horror.

"D—D—"

"Hello," a voice echoed, and Kyle turned. A sharply-dressed blind man wearing sunglasses had let himself in. He seemed completely calm.

Kyle gasped. This man; was he the one his contact had mentioned? "Who... Who are you?"

"Me…?" The blind man laughed, a regal sound, full of foreboding. "I no longer have a name, but your people call me... The Contractor"

Kyle thought for sure his heart must've stopped "You..."

"I can get you out of this... This "Digital Field", you know." The Contractor said gently.

"How..." he muttered, "Why?"

The Contractor ignored him and continued "I can make it so that you never entered this space. Just don't try and enter the room that was here again for a while, or stumble into another field. I only offer this once. I'm scarcely even seen twice. Or, you could end your life now. Stay here, let yourself be torn apart" he stressed the last words malevolently. Kyle didn't move and simply glared at the man.

"No?" The Contractor said nonchalantly. "Well then, there is..." he turned to face Kyle

"Do you wish to make a Contract with me?"

It was at that moment that Kyle took notice that the surrounding area was a rocky crag, or, it had been. As soon as the blind man spoke those words, they were standing on the roof of a cathedral temple-like structure, lit by an orange "Sun" and with spires spaced evenly around the circular edge. The Ground shone with a violet light, like a magic circle or ancient seal. It looped with others of similar volume, effectively encompassing the whole floor.

"You could gain unimaginable power. You could bring gods to their knees and make devils pay you tribute" The Contractor tempted.

"I don't care about any of that" The Glasgow-born Scotsman replied. "I..."

"You could fight vile, evil creatures. You could save lives. I will give you the tools and the power to do so. I will also grant you a single wish as, ah, compensation." The Contractor elaborated smoothly.

"A wish..? Wh-what kind of wish?" Kyle asked his heart racing.

"Any," was The Contractor's single word response.

"I... I..." Kyle could see images reflected in the light. A boy with brown hair; long, he was wearing goggles on his head and was wreathed in magenta light with a crucifix glowing behind him. Chase was depicted in one such image, launching a thousand arrows into the sky; standing beside a blonde Ape. A blonde kid releasing a device from a brick; a tall long-brown-haired boy and a short redheaded girl linking two devices together. A smug youth sitting in a mechanical throne with a polarised visor sipping red liquid with three teens kneeling before him, and, most hauntingly, a recurring image of a blonde-haired man wearing an asymmetrical silver mask, with a red iris glowing behind the single eye hole. He wore a tattered, grey, regal-looking long coat, his limbs bound by golden coils. He wore a slim line device clamped onto his left forearm. The red gaze of the man seemed to pierce Kyle's soul with its misery.

"I... What is that thing?" Kyle referred to the orange creature behind The Contractor.

"I am Greymon-L, Human. You... You're very smart. I... I need someone like that. I am Strong, I bet-"

"I need someone like that" Kyle finished confirmingly. "I accept your offer," he announced "I wish... I wish that... I can succeed in my endeavours... I... not for me... for my family! Their Future!"

The Contractor thrust his cane at Kyle, seeming to puncture his chest, withdrawing a light. Kyle's phone levitated towards the light and morphed into a D-Spacer.

"Sign the seal," The Contractor smirked gesturing to the ground. Kyle recoiled from the cane and the light, but regained clarity enough to trace his name into the ground, which then began to glow.

"What weapon is your best? And what is your preference in power?"

"I... I would like to manipulate machinery... and... I'm good with a sword, I guess..."

"Very Well…"A sword erupted from the ground and rose until its handle was near Kyle's hand.

"You and Greymon are now... one and the same…" Said the man, laughing softly. The light increased to blinding levels as their shadows appeared as one chimera as opposed to two separate shapes, "You should go. Your New Friends are in danger,"

Kyle nodded as the scenery changed back into his lab, his phone now alerting him to some sort of disturbance by the library. Invigorated by the encounter, Kyle sprang from the spot he was standing in, still feeling his heart thumping in his chest. He turned away from the lab, dashing back the way he'd come only around ten minutes ago. It felt a lot longer to Kyle, but the only thing on his mind was who he'd be working with. Other men his age? He pondered, breathing heavily as he slowed outside the library. It looked normal.

No-one was turning; they were just striding past the Library like there was nothing there. Maybe there wasn't. Kyle stepped self-consciously up to the large building, blinking cautiously before entering. His legs were immediately graced by sharp pricks. Kyle jumped, glancing at his feet. It was like a field of blades, and unlike the place he'd just been in, nothing of the Library was left; nothing that even resembled bookshelves.

"Look…" Greymon growled. "It's a digimon!"

"Eh? When did you get there?" Kyle was still cautious; the creature had tried to kill him, after all, but there was something about the great orange dinosaur that made Kyle want to trust him.

"Shh… You'll alert it to our presence…" Greymon slipped up behind the other creature; large with blonde fur; and caught it in his three-fingered claws. "Grhh!"

"What…?" the voice was calm, cold and relaxed. "Chase…"

"Did that thing say Chase?" Kyle cried suddenly, gingerly running through the blades. And sure enough, the tall, enigmatic figure of Chase appeared from another area of the bladed hell, eyes wide with surprise.

"Kyle Roberts…?" Chase stared with a mix of confusion and horror. "But Edinburgh didn't have a hunter…"

"No… I, um," Kyle felt his face turning the colour of his hair. "I… ah…"

"But why would someone like you contract…?" Chase whispered, green eyes glittering. "You were so happy… Kyle, you had everything going for you!"

"Yeah… I guess that I did," Kyle didn't want to tell Chase about it. The problem would be gone now anyway, or, at least, it should be. "But that's not important. What're you doing here?"

"That's too long a story for words… I better get the others," Chase sighed. "By the way, that's my partner your Greymon's holding. Can you ask him to let go for me?"

"Why not just ask me? It would be an honour to serve my senior," the gargantuan beside Kyle said, though his voice had a dark tint to it. He released the ape, which shook himself pointedly before springing after his ginger partner.

"You didn't mention that you knew an older hunter back there," Greymon growled softly.

"I didn't know myself," Kyle sighed. "Are all Hunters as young as him?"

"I don't really know, but I'd hazard a guess most aren't older than you," Greymon hissed. "I'm guessing that you're what—Nineteen?" Greymon took Kyle's hateful glare as that he'd gotten it wrong. "I don't understand human ages. It was an uneducated guess." No more words were spoken until Chase returned, muttering furiously with a brown-haired boy about his height. The dark boy from before was also there, raising his eyebrows and grinning, and beside him there was a girl. She was fairly short with long black hair, and in the wake of the four of them were more monsters. The ape from before, a flaming creature, a small bear with a backwards cap and a little cream puppy.

"Hello, Mr. Roberts," the brown-haired boy said graciously. "Chase says you don't really want to talk about your contracting, which is perfectly fine, but since you're here we'll put forward the offer. We four and another young man, Deep Beale, are a group of Hunters, formed after a recent message from The Contractor claiming that the end of the world is nigh. Most of us are staying at Zhane's place, and, well, there's always room for one more,"

"Yeah," the black-haired boy, Zhane, nodded. "Wait… What? We didn't discuss this!" he whispered hurriedly.

"I… I wouldn't like to be an imposition," Kyle said, glancing at Zhane's horrified face. "I'll be fine,"

"Wait! Wait, um, no," Zhane said, turning to Kyle and smiling. "Don't mind me; I'll be glad to have you."

"That's…" Chase said slowly. He glanced at Hikari. Her face was a look of emotionlessness, her features blunted, but Chase didn't know if she was okay with it. He sighed. She'd be fine. "That'll be great, Kyle,"

"Oh… I…" Kyle rubbed the back of his head. "Let's talk about this later, yeah?" he felt odd standing with a bunch of kids, all of whom were graciously offering him a place at one of their houses. He was years older than all of them. The girl couldn't be any older than fourteen. He pondered refusing for a moment, but then looked back to the middle boy's face. That warm smile was surprisingly charismatic.

"We have a Digital Field to deal with," Hikari pointed out quietly. "Roberts-San has the right idea. Can we talk about that later and deal with the field now?"

"Oh! Damn, yes," David said. "By the way, I'm David; he's Zhane and the girl's Hikari. We've got to find the digimon that this field belongs to, and I think we found it a little while ago?"

"Yeah," Zhane nodded proudly. "He's in the centre, but the little bugger's moving pretty fast,"

"Then let's get our skates on," Kumamon said malevolently. The others nodded, running in a general direction. Kyle gasped, clumsily sprinting behind them. Soon, a reptile creature with a large sword on its back came into view. It turned, eyes narrowed, when it heard the hunters coming.

"Lizard Dance!" it hissed, speeding towards them and slashing furiously.

"I'll take this," Chase said, swishing his hand in front of him. Apemon dashed in front of him, taking the blows and batting a large paw at the creature. It was so small that it fell with the force, but jumped nimbly upwards, only to be knocked again off of its feet by Apemon's Mega Bone Throw. It fell again, cringing as if in pain and struggling upwards a second time, only to be knocked off of itself another time. This time, however, the bone had wedged itself in the creature's abdomen, and a petrifying scream later, it was no more.

The blade forest disintegrated into little memory cards, which were split between the teenagers. After this was done, they all turned to Kyle, Chase breathing a little heavily.

"So, have you decided?" David asked. Kyle nodded, though he was nibbling his lip carefully.

"I will," he said. "I'll earn my keep, though… But I won't return with you to your home—"

"England," Zhane informed. "But that's fine. I can guess what you'll say. When you're ready, just create a digital field and come on over, alright?"

"Ah… Yes, that's kind," Kyle smiled, and the Hunters parted way with him. He walked them across the road to the station and waved them off, smiling weakly as the train carried them away.

X x x

"That was awesome, Chase," Zhane breathed hours later as he clicked his key into the door. The four of them fell into the flat, relaxing in the dark. Zhane slipped into the living room and clicked on the light, only to get the shock of his life. Someone was there. "…Deep?"

"Guys…" his voice was quiet and solemn, his eyes dark. "We have a problem."

X x x

Kyle stepped gingerly into his lab after waving the hunters off, looking around the once-homely place. It seemed alien to him after that confrontation. His eyes fell upon the computer, but as he stared his phone rang. He'd been expecting Carly, wondering where he was, but it was a man's voice that spoke as Kyle lifted the phone to his ear.

"I don't know what you did, what great lengths you went to," RBR's gentle brood said softly. "But Project D is a… Project D is a success."

Next Time: It's Eliot here, but more importantly, it's Ruru-Tan's birthday! The lone demon's been fatigued for quite a little while now, and I doubt he's gonna let me keep looking after him without a fight!

You bet. I'm not letting you take care of me, good joke. I'm the Lone Demon of Kyoto; I work and live alone—hey… Eliot, is that my—Eliot! Is that my sister?

Nice observation there! Find out why next time in "Lone Demon is Seventeen? The Eliot Takashi Reunion Plan!" Hey, my name's backwards!