Neverworld

Your faith is slipping through your fingers. Hope's in short supply.
Fear and pain are closing in to take away your pride.
You can't relax and rest in peace. At least we have to try.
I'm here to fight despite the odds so God help me 'cause I won't let it die!
- Ugly Duckling, "I Won't Let It Die"

Episode 9

Sora Takenouchi didn't know what she had done to earn a summons to Command. Part of the reason she gave Jeri her old position of hospitality director was so she didn't have to deal with the upper management. Being friends with Izzy was easy enough; working under him at the same time was more challenging. She knew the beverage shortage had raised complaints, but it still was a problem for Jeri to answer.

"Do you know what this is about?" Sora asked Zoe in the elevator.

"Tai didn't give me any details," the blonde replied. "He just told me to come get you." Now Sora was worried.

She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the elevator. Kari was talking to someone over the radio, but stopped the conversation once she noticed Sora. Tai, Izzy and Davis were in the middle of their own discussion, which also ended instantly.

"Sora!" Tai said, excitedly bounding up to her. He grinned at her for several seconds before he announced, "We found them."

At first, she was just confused. "You found..." Then her eyes lit up. "No!"

"Everything we're hearing says they're in a castle near the next continent. So yes."

Sora clutched his arms, her smile matching his. "Really?" She was already getting choked up.

Izzy nodded. "Mikey heard a Sepikmon say they weren't the first humans he'd seen and followed him to the castle where Keenan confirmed a human presence. We've only registered the five other arrival events that brought everyone else here. We would have heard any others from anywhere in the world."

"And their castle is out of our communication range, which is why we never picked up on them before." Kari smiled. "This is really happening."

"That's wonderful." Sora pulled Tai into a deep hug. "Thank you."

Tai wrapped his arms around her, his smile somehow growing. He closed his eyes, taking in her joy. Her entire presence, actually.

A cough interrupted him. Thomas stood in the doorway to the meeting room, staring at Tai with a dour expression. Tai looked around. Izzy, Kari and Davis were still watching him and Sora. He pulled himself away from her, instantly defensive and blushing. "What?! This is a big deal. We can't react to it?"

Izzy snickered. Kari smiled and shook her head. Davis just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Stupid Tai."

Thomas wasn't amused. "Sora, please go back downstairs. Zoe, please take over for Kari."

Nobody was smiling now. Even Zoe was surprised by his stark tone. She shrugged at Sora as she returned to the elevator.

"The hell?" Tai said, turning to Thomas. "We just found Matt. You know he and Sora were together. I had to tell her."

Thomas waited for the elevator doors to close before responding. "No, and you shouldn't have." He looked his fellow officers. "I need all of you in here. Now."

The four of them complied, not sure why or the reason for Thomas's sudden attitude. Inside the meeting room, statistics, arrows and equations covered one of the walls. Davis and Kari didn't pay much attention to them as they sat down. Izzy, on the other hand, turned white.

"What's wrong?" Kari asked him.

He only shook his head. "Oh no... no no no..."

Tai fell into a chair on the other end of the marked wall. "Okay, what's going on? You think it's them too."

Thomas nodded. "Yes, but there's a problem. Their captors are ready for us. Based on the information Keenan provided, their armies are massive and explicitly designed to guard against a siege. Whoever has Matt and TK has no intention of letting them go."

None of this fazed Tai. "Okay, but Mikey's got a pretty strong team. Nothing they can't handle, right?"

"If it was just his team against the defending army in a fight to the end with no other factors, maybe. But the castle has many natural and constructed defenses they'd have to break through. We also have to worry about Matt and TK being used as hostages, or eliminated if we gain the upper hand. We couldn't handle an extended siege."

"Just..." Izzy's head was buried in his hands. It was shaking. "What are the odds?"

"A fair assessment puts Mikey's odds of successful retrieval at twelve percent." Thomas sighed. "I can't in good conscience approve this mission."

Tai looked at the other officers. Davis was irritated and shaking his head. He rubbed Kari's back, trying to hold off her tears. Izzy was having a panic attack.

"You're kidding, right?" Tai turned back to Thomas wearing half a grin. "You're not really going to pass this up because of some numbers, are you? I'm sure we've all beaten those odds before. It's Matt and TK we're talking about. It's worth it."

"Not if we're putting Mikey and his team in this kind of danger."

Tai shook his head. "He'd be willing. He'd do it in a second."

"He would. That's why we need to be responsible and not get him killed."

Looking at Izzy, Davis and Kari, Tai said, "You guys are with me right?"

"I don't know, Tai," Kari replied. "I'd feel pretty terrible if something happened to them on our watch."

Davis scoffed. "You're asking the wrong guy. Twelve percent sounds great to me."

"Hmm..." Tai grumbled. "Izzy, guess you're the tie breaker."

"This isn't a vote," said Thomas.

Izzy's eyes scanned the board rapidly. He understood everything Thomas had put up there, but it only troubled him further. His head fell and his fist clenched. "Everything Thomas said is correct. We can't do it."

"Oh, not you too!" Tai exclaimed. Izzy stood up and ran out of the room, head lowered. While Tai continued arguing with Thomas, Izzy sat down at his station, and leaned forward on his desk. As he realized there was no way to avoid it, he buried his head in his arms and cried.

"Uh..." Zoe had no idea what to do. Had Kari done the same thing, she probably wouldn't have reacted. Seeing any sort of emotion from Izzy froze her. "What's going on in there? What's wrong?" she finally asked.

He didn't respond, nor did he stop. The meeting room door opened again. This time Kari stepped out. She was morose, but not as emotional. She sat in Thomas's chair, leaned over, and held Izzy from behind, her chin landing on the back of his shoulder. She closed her eyes, but didn't speak.

"Why is it so hard to accept?" he said. "The numbers are right there. The only logical conclusion is that it's a bad idea. But..."

She held him tighter. "But you want to see them as much as we do."

"I want to say to hell with it and agree with Tai. But I can't. The data's right there. It's mocking me."

"It's awful, but I think we need to listen to Thomas." Izzy returned a sad nod.

"That's why you put him in charge of this sort of thing, isn't it?" Zoe said, doing her best to be sympathetic.

Izzy pulled his head up, taking a tissue from Kari and drying his eyes. "It is. He's more rational than Tai or Davis."

"Or me," said Kari. "He also isn't missing anybody." She sighed. "I just feel so helpless."

"There's no way to rescue them?" asked Zoe.

"It would be too reckless. It wouldn't be fair to Mikey," Izzy answered.

"Too bad there isn't a way to change the numbers," said Kari.

Izzy sat up, suddenly alert, eyes locked on his monitor's screensaver. He sat there, frozen in thought, for a minute.

"What's wrong?" Kari asked. Izzy turned her way with a distant look in his eyes. He put his hands on each side of her face. "Izzy?"

"Changing the numbers. That's genius," he said. Without warning, he popped out of his seat, grabbed Kari's hand and led her back into the meeting room.

Tai and Thomas were still arguing, but the lack of progress had turned it from a heated debate to a tiresome war of attrition. Neither wanted to continue, nor would they surrender. They were happy for the distraction of Izzy and Kari entering.

Izzy blurted his proposal: "All three teams. What does that do to the odds?"

Tai grinned. "Yeah, now we're talking!" Kari and Davis returned their own smiles; Kari squeezed Izzy's hand.

Thomas grimaced. "It's not unfeasible, but it's drastic... and does put us at risk defensively."

Slapping Thomas's back, Tai said, "We can hold the fort for a couple days. If anything's worth throwing the kitchen sink at, it's this."

"Hold on and let's see what this does."

Tai nodded and sat down with Izzy and Kari. He and Izzy exchanged a fist bump under the table.

Thomas only made a few notes on the board; there was no way he could have anything more than a ballpark figure with the others waiting and watching him. Most of the math was in his head.

When he was satisfied with his result, he turned around. The eager look on their faces made him frown just before he said, "It's still less than even. Forty to forty-five percent at best."

"Impossible!" Izzy shouted, standing up. "We just tripled our power. The advantage should be exponential."

"The hell do you have against getting them back anyway?" Tai asked.

Thomas only glared at Tai. He was too disgusted at the notion that he'd have an agenda to respond to it. Izzy, however, deserved an explanation: "Introducing multiple teams adds one major disadvantage and amplifies a second. The castle is out of our range of communication. We won't be able to provide any real-time data on what they're facing. And unless they expend some of their units to relay messages, we will be in complete radio silence until the operation is over."

"How is that any different with all three teams?" Izzy asked.

"How else will three teams effectively communicate with each other? More importantly, who will lead them?" Izzy's shoulders slumped immediately and he fell back into his chair. Thomas continued, "When it's just one team, it's easy enough to put Mikey in charge and tell him to figure it out. Multiple teams need to be coordinated and led. And Takuya and Marcus will not appreciate answering to someone who hasn't been here as long."

"Mikey probably doesn't even know what Takuya or Marcus are capable of," Izzy said.

Thomas shook his head. "Not to the degree we would need. Each team is successful because each leader knows how to get the most out of it. Mikey doesn't know anything about bio-merge. Our evolutions require us to unleash our emotions, but spirit evolution is about controlling them. And Takuya can't possibly understand digi-fuse. I can't trust any of them to command this operation."

"Well hell, let me do it." Everybody turned to Davis, who sounded far too casual about it. "What? I know what these guys can do. And Ken and I'll have to ferry them over there anyway. I got this."

Thomas narrowed an eye. "That may be the case for Marcus and Takuya's teams, but have you even seen a digi-fuse?"

Davis smirked and pointed at himself. "Uh, hello? Imperialdramon?"

Rolling his eyes, Thomas said, "That's a completely different process."

"Whatever. It's the same idea."

Izzy started to nod. "If anybody's going to appreciate digi-fuse, it would be Davis. The mechanics aren't the same, but they both work for the same reason."

"Do you know all of the forms Mikey's team tends to rely on?" asked Thomas.

"We'll get him a cheat sheet," said Tai. "Let's just do this."

"Come on, Norstein." Davis stood up. "This ain't some routine mission to stop this year's bad guy. This is for TK and Matt. You think I'm going to let everybody down? I'll make this happen. Don't slam the brakes on this just because you're afraid I don't know everything that goes into Shoutmon X6 or whatever? Roll the dice for once."

Thomas looked at his notes. Everything he had said about a centralized, capable general to coordinate three teams was true. This was now a question of whether they had one. In a way, he was thankful he didn't have to answer it.

"If somebody was able to lead all three units as one while still getting the maximum ability out of all of them, the odds increase by as much as fifteen percent. That puts us at above fifty." He looked at Tai. "Commander, is Davis able to do this and are you satisfied with the risk vs. the reward?"

Tai stood with a smile. Thomas struggled to hide his; Tai's answer was never in doubt: "Davis? Go get Matt and TK."

"Yes, sir," Davis said.

That didn't end the conversation, of course, and Thomas and Izzy made sure to feed Davis as much information as he could and develop an initial strategy. But Kari interrupted them. She wasn't letting Davis get too far into his planning without showing her appreciation through a deep embrace.

"Thank you for taking this on," she said. "I'm sure you'll do amazing."

Davis was happy to receive it, even kissing the top of her forehead. "Anything for you, Kari."

Izzy caught himself frowning. He had done just as much to push the mission forward, but Davis came across as the big hero. He knew none of that ultimately mattered, but as he watched the two he was alarmed at how jealous he was.

Takato Matsuki couldn't have been more excited about this mission. He was on board Imperialdramon with the rest of the response team, picking up the patrol team to rendezvous with the investigation team for the first joint effort in more than a year. Based on the attack strategy Davis and the rest of Command had developed, it would the first time he'd be working directly under Marcus, whom Takato had always admired as a strong leader. Most importantly, they were out to rescue Matt and TK.

He and the other tamers tried not to make a big fuss about meeting heroes from the old Digimon cartoon. It had come up, of course, but after people from multiple worlds started arriving, Izzy grew less concerned about it, at least compared to Ken's allegations about Ryo or this new Quartzmon business. Frankly, it had been so many years since any of the tamers had watched it that it didn't make as big an impression. Rika always claimed that she had never seen it at all. But part of him still held it close to his heart, and part of him had always been disappointed at never meeting Matt and TK. That part made Takato eager to help complete the team.

The same part made him worry about Takuya. He was having a rather terse conversation with Yolei. The plan pit them together as part of an aerial team and while they carefully worked their roles out, neither were enjoying it. There was uneasiness in their voices as they were careful not to stray off into more uncomfortable conversations. Takuya's recent criticism of the original digidestined had rubbed more than just his targets the wrong way. Takato, as one of their biggest fans, could only wonder how passionate Takuya was about retrieving two more.

It nagged Takato enough to make him want to say something. Yes his loyalty to the digidestined could never be questioned, but he was also close to Takuya. He may be able to reach an understanding better than someone like Yolei who was too closely tied to them. He sat next to Takuya as soon as he finished with her.

"So, uh, you ready for this?" Takato asked.

"You bet. This could be pretty epic." Takuya wasn't as boisterous as he usually was, but his nodding suggested sincerity.

"I'm sure you're loving the idea of a couple more digidestined." Takato hoped his sarcasm was on point.

It was, although Takuya leaned back, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you mean? You think I don't want to rescue these guys?"

"No, no! I just know you have issues with the digidestined so-"

"Okay, first..." Takuya cut him off, holding up a finger. "I'm a digidestined too. They don't own that. Second, I may have my issues with Tai and Kari and Mimi, but I don't know these two. For all I know they're cool. Third, even if I knew they were total assholes I'm still gonna get them to safety. That's what we do."

Takato held up his hands. "Well yeah, of course! Wow, that came out wrong. I just didn't know if you were excited about all this."

Takuya leaned back, calmer. "Oh, yeah. Of course I'm excited." He snickered. "Just maybe not for the same reasons. This is the kind of stuff I want to be doing all the time. Tai and them got this one right. And if we take that castle, it's a foothold in a whole new continent. Command says there's nothing useful over there, but how do they know? Let's start exploring it."

"Is that a good idea? If we haven't been over there, it's probably in bad shape. And you know Command wouldn't want to push that far."

Takuya raised his eyebrows, grinning. "If this all goes right, it won't be Command's decision."

Nene Amano was directly above the castle, testing how high Sparrowmon could hover. She knew she was going to end up doing recon. She didn't think she'd have company.

"Aren't we too high?" Keenan asked. He and Falcomon seemed less comfortable aboard the birdplane than either Nene or the lone Monitamon that accompanied her. The second was with Davis at his command center. The third was in position to relay updates home.

Sparrowmon was not too high. Nene knew a siege on the castle was going to require a complex operation. Davis surprised everybody when he delivered a plan calling for an attack from four sides. Nene could see Deckerdramon in the water and the specks atop him that would digivolve to provide long-range support and assistance. She saw the likely beneficiaries of that assistance- the ground team tasked with charging at the castle with brute force. The third team was the reason for their elevation as Aldamon, Aquilamon and Rosemon prepared for an aerial battle. All of this drew forces away from a fourth team that would tunnel underground to sneak in and make the rescue.

Once Keenan saw everybody in position and Nene received confirmations from Mikey and Christopher over her squawker, she gave the signal to Yolei. Aquilamon flew down to Rosemon and Aldamon's level. Aldamon flew down even lower, in range to launch his attack.

"Atomic Inferno!" Fireballs rained down on the castle, impacting across the buildings and courtyards inside. Nothing caught fire, but it was surely enough to get the ball rolling. Aldamon added a second attack for good measure.

Whether it took the second attack or they just had a lousy response time, four dozen Airdramon and six Hippogriffomon emerged from the towers and charged upwards. Aldamon, Rosemon and Aquilamon fired on as many of them as they could. Deckerdramon took a few more from below, but the numbers were as bad as they feared. Nene was relieved Command refused to let the Fusion Fighters go alone.

"Keenan?" Falcomon asked his partner.

Keenan got a nod from Nene and shouted, "DNA Charge- Overdrive!"

"Spiral Raven Claw!" Ravemon swooped down to join the battle, taking a few more enemies down.

It was still overwhelming- a mad scramble that required constant movement from the four heroes. This made it impossible for Aldamon or Rosemon to get in their wide-area attacks. Even if they could, hitting all these enemies would have been impossible without risking catching Aquilamon in the crossfire.

Several minutes elapsed and of the enemies that made it up to their height, only a few Airdramon had gone down. After Rosemon used her thorn whip to take down one Airdramon tailing Aldamon, the spirit of fire flew up to Sparrowmon and returned to his human form.

"What's wrong?" Nene asked. Takuya was on his knees, panting.

"Too many of them," he said through staggered breaths. "Gotta go big."

"Do you need a-"

He leaped off Sparrowmon, holding his D-Tector as he fell. "Unity Execute! Unified Spirit Evolution!" EmperorGreymon dove back into the fray, sword at the ready.

It was too late. Short as his absence was, a Hippogriffomon capitalized, blasting a heat wave attack that knocked Aquilamon out of flight. Yolei tumbled over, but her partner was surrounded by Airdramon, unable to fly after her. Several shots later, Hawkmon was falling too.

"That's bad!" Keenan shouted. "Ravemon, help her!" Ravemon was too far away and too busy to hear him. Keenan tugged Nene's skirt. "What do we do?"

As much as Nene was concerned about Yolei, Aquilamon was going to be missed on the battlefield, as would anyone that tried to rescue them. She had to prioritize. "We replace them..." Her Fusion Loader was already out. "Reload! Beelzemon!"

As Beelzemon entered the fray, EmperorGreymon shook off his opponents and flew after Yolei. She saw it all as she fell. She was so stunned by the fact that she was plummeting that she didn't think to scream. She didn't know how long she had, but she was confident EmperorGreymon would reach her in time.

But then he stopped. Her eyes widened as he pulled up and returned to the battle. "Takuya..." she mumbled. She had assumed that somehow she would be saved. Now, for the first time, she actually thought she might die.

"Gotcha!" Instead, the rescue came from below. Rapidmon grabbed her, then kept flying up to snatch Hawkmon as well. He flew back to his station aboard Deckerdramon. The moment her feet landed, she leaped at Henry.

"Oh you saved my life!" She blurted, clutching her beau and peppering his face with kisses.

"Who saved your life now?" Rapidmon protested, dropping Hawkmon off with Cutemon.

"You are the best boyfriend ever!"

Henry struggled to get in a word between all of her pecks. "You know I was watching you guys in case anybody needed help. It wasn't just-" A deep kiss silenced him.

Kazu elbowed him in the shoulder. "Dude, it's free points. Just roll with it."

Finally, Henry gave up explaining and let her kiss him to her heart's content.

"Please no making out on my Digimon," said Christopher, folding his arms.

"Oh, Christopher, their hearts are true," rumbled Deckerdramon. "Let them go." Christopher grumbled; much as he wanted to, he was never allowed to argue with Deckerdramon again.

"Yeah, Christo, moumantai!" added Rapidmon.

Marcus Damon looked to the sky, waiting for his opportunity. Takato, WarGrowlmon and Beowolfmon were getting impatient.

"C'mon, we need to get going," said Beowolfmon.

"Ain't up to me," Marcus replied. "It's up to Rosemon."

Rosemon finally delivered, throwing an Airdramon in their direction. "Here we go!" shouted Marcus as he charged at WarGrowlmon, who catapulted him in the air in time to punch the Airdramon. He landed on WarGrowlmon's back, fist filled with DNA. "DNA Charge! Full Power!"

Agumon charged out of hiding, digivolved to RizeGreymon and flew towards the walls.

"That is the coolest thing ever!" Takato gushed. Beowolfmon rolled his eyes and followed RizeGreymon up the wall.

Several Mamemon atop the parapet blocked their ascent, raining down bombs and halting their momentum. While it kept Beowolfmon grounded, it wasn't such a big deal for RizeGreymon, who swatted away the attacks before flying to their level and launching one of his own. The Mamemon were surprisingly resistant, however, and still prevented him from getting a landing.

Meanwhile, Takato struggled to break through the front door. Both it and the wall were surrounded by a large moat, but it was the only way WarGrowlmon was getting through. Even an Atomic Blaster beam did nothing against the steel door. Takato looked up; RizeGreymon and Beowolfmon weren't making much progress scaling the wall. Given how important it was for them to draw out the heavies lurking in the castle, things were getting desperate.

Marcus leaped off RizeGreymon onto the parapet, but a MetalMamemon knocked him right off. RizeGreymon caught him, but he was still frustrated. "Hey Takato!" he shouted down. "If you're not having any luck down there, call out the big guy.

Takato smiled. "I was just thinking that." He raised an arm. "MetalGreymon!"

On loan from Christopher, MetalGreymon emerged from below a cliff and charged at the door, gliding over the moat. "Trident Arm!" His scorching metal claw pierced the door, but it didn't budge.

"Okay, we can handle this..." Takato mumbled, nodding at WarGrowlmon.

"Radiation Blade!" WarGrowlmon fired his arm blades straight at the crack MetalGreymon created. The crack grew, splintered, and one more punch from MetalGreymon did the rest

The destruction of the door rattled the walls as well, disrupting the Mamemon just long enough for Beowolfmon to run up the side and land on the parapet.

"Frozen Hunter!" One slash and two of the Mamemon were gone. RizeGreymon took out the rest.

"All right!" Marcus shouted atop RizeGreymon. "Courtyard here we come!"

Except it wasn't really a yard. Other than the interior buildings and a few thin walkways, the entire space within the walls was filled with water. The walkways separated it into several pools. Before they could guess how deep they were, multiple Seadramon sprang out of them.

"Uh... wasn't expecting that," Takato said as MetalGreymon ferried him across the outside moat. WarGrowlmon wasn't going to fit on those walkways.

Worse yet, the other walls still had Mamemon guards that started launching bombs at the attackers. Beowolfmon used his sword to strike down the initial volleys, then asked Marcus, "So what's the plan?"

Marcus only grinned. "Plan hasn't changed, Koji. Charge!"

Kari Kamiya couldn't take the silence any longer. Since they were so far away, had no way of actually assisting, and the way of relaying a message was time-consuming, the other officers commanded Davis to report back sparingly. The first update signaled the start of operations. The second, forty-five minutes later, said that the enemy forces were as large and powerful as they had thought, that the aerial team was already in scramble mode, and that Yolei and Hawkmon had been shot down.

That last part hit her hard. Yolei was her DNA digivolution partner, ending up in such a scary situation while Kari could only sit back home and listen for news. Even if everything went well, it would be hours before they heard about Matt and TK. Yet her and Tai and Izzy hovered around the system without a word. Finally, the tension became too much to bear and Kari just walked out.

She knew she should have tried to find Zoe to fill in, and almost went to find her before going downstairs to the storage room to calm down. As it turned out, that's where Zoe was, seated on the couch with a cup of water.

Zoe grumbled upon seeing her superior. "Suppose I have to head back up, huh?"

Kari shook her head and sat on the opposite end. "They're pretty much glued to the signal. I don't think it's a big deal."

They sat in silence for at least a minute. Kari found it just as tense as it was upstairs. She could sense she was on the verge of breaking down, as the lives of TK and Matt seemed to hang in the balance with no way to help or even get reliable news. But she fought it off as best she could. She knew how much Zoe criticized her composure. Losing it in front of her would be humiliating.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked. She must have sensed it too.

Kari forced a smile back. "I'm fine."

"You're lying." Kari's head lowered. "It's got to be a pretty helpless feeling."

"I'm trying," Kari said, head shaking. "But I just want to hear that they're okay. I just want to know they're alive. I'm trying to hold it together but..."

Zoe sighed. "Jeez, just let it out. It's okay. Those guys mean a lot to you. I can't blame you for getting a little emotional."

Kari was still leaning forward, head facing the floor. "Are you sure? I know you think I let everything affect me too much. I really am trying."

"No, I get it. I..." Zoe stopped when she realized what Kari had said. "Look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I really hope they find them. You may not like me much, but-"

"I like you," Kari said. Zoe turned; the child of light was staring back at her.

"You shouldn't," Zoe said, looking away and shaking her head. "Not with all the things I say about you. If you haven't noticed, I'm not very nice."

"But you're good. And you stand up for what you believe in. Even when it's hard. I wish I was that strong." Kari inched closer. "You were right about Nene's report. I needed to do something about it and I'm glad you made me. And the way you defended Mimi?" She shook her head, eyes wider. "I could never stand up to my friends like that."

"I don't know if they're my friends anymore." Zoe bit her lip. "I don't know if I have any friends at all."

Kari paused. All of her grief over the mission was forgotten at the sight of Zoe struggling with her own problems. "It's funny," she said, barely above a mumble. "All these years we've been working together and I never realized how lonely you were."

Zoe turned to her. She wanted desperately to deny it. She couldn't. It wasn't even a few incidents over the last week. Zoe couldn't say if there had been any time since arriving in the Digital World, or even in the years before that, where she could have honestly said she was happy. "I don't think you realize how lucky you are. One sign of trouble and you've got Tai or Izzy or Davis who will drop everything to help you."

"No, I know I'm lucky. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have made it this far." Kari put a hand on Zoe's shoulder. "You don't have anybody like that, do you?"

"I don't know. None of my guys are all that great with emotional support. Koichi maybe, but we aren't as close as we should be. With JP it's... complicated."

"What about Jeremy? I heard you've been spending a lot of time together."

Zoe sighed. "I don't know. It's nice to have somebody new to talk to, but... well, he was pretty forward about how he feels about me." She stared at the wall, suddenly pale. "That sort of thing has led to some ugly situations before." With half a grin, she added. "And I wouldn't say he's my usual type."

With a nod, Kari said, "I'm really glad I don't have to deal with that sort of thing."

Zoe raised an eyebrow as her grin faded. She shrugged it off and mumbled, "Right..."

"But Zoe..." Kari sat closer and put a hand on Zoe's knee. "I want to help. I want to be there if you need someone to talk to. I just... want to try to be your friend."

For a long time, Zoe tried to find a reason to say no. She still had her doubts about Kari and the other digidestined. She wasn't going to be swayed away by one moment. But in the end, she needed somebody to lean on and Kari was the only one offering without conditions.

"That would be nice," she said. Kari leaned in for a hug; Zoe turned to accept it, eyes welling up as she tried to fool herself into thinking she didn't need this.

Suzie Wong thought she had the most boring job: she and Lopmon were literally guarding a hole. While Cody supervised the tunneling project that would lead the strike team into the lower floors of the castle and the dungeon that Matt and TK were presumably held in, she was making sure no one interfered with the entrance. It allowed the strike team to keep their forces hidden until they were inside. With everything else keeping the enemy forces busy, it was unlikely she would see any action.

A message from Davis was a saving grace, as it let Suzie leave. She and Lopmon dropped into the tunnel and crawled in. Digmon and Dorulumon had made good progress with their tunnel. They were already under the moat and finishing with the stone wall that would take them inside. Here the tunnel widened enough to let everybody stand.

"What's the latest?" Cody asked, not turning around.

Suzie frowned. "Is that any way to say hello? We've been standing alone out there for more than an hour. You can do better!"

He still didn't turn around. He just sighed. "Hi, Suzie. What's the latest?"

"Nope! Not 'til you look at me."

"It must not be that important then."

Finally, Lopmon said, "General Motomiya wanted us to relay that the courtyard is actually a large pool and that you may need to adjust your depth accordingly."

"Traitor," Suzie mumbled, squeezing Lopmon's head.

"We're fine," said Digmon. "It's basement on the other end of this wall. I can feel it."

"All right then." Cody nodded. "Thank you."

Suzie didn't budge. The drilling continued in silence until Cody said, "Why are you still here?"

"It's boring up top," she pouted. "Isn't it boring down here? And dirty? And loud?"

Cody cringed. He could hear her over the drilling and found it twice as irritating. "It doesn't bother me. You bother me."

She nudged him with her shoulder. "Jeez, are you always such a sourpuss?"

"According to my friends, yes." He looked at her for the first time. "Besides, we're in the middle of a mission to rescue TK and Matt. This is very important to me."

"Doesn't mean you can't-" She stopped when the drilling did. The wall gave way, revealing a dark, narrow hallway. Suzie got on her squawker and said, "Mikey, we're in. Get down here."

"Digmon! Dorulumon! Cover the entrance!" Cody shouted. The two Digimon jumped inside and secured each end of the hallway. "Great, now the strike team can-"

"Rock Cracking!" Digmon shouted, attacking something down the hallway. Cody, Suzie and Lopmon got closer and saw the masses of Ninjamon charging towards them. Lopmon jumped in to help him. Cody entered the basement, but stopped Suzie when she tried to.

"No! It's too dangerous!" Cody said, hands on her shoulders. "Stay here and wait for the others."

"But-" Dorulumon's attack silenced her. So she sat in the hole and watched Cody keep an eye on an attack that was now coming from both sides. "I'm not helpless you know!"

"I'm not getting into an argument with you, Suzie," Cody said, frantically darting his eyes between the two sides. "Neither of us can do much of anything until Mikey and the others get here, so there's no reason both of us need to get killed."

Suzie folded her arms and sneered, frequently looking back to see if the cavalry was on their way. She turned back to Cody just in time to see a Ninjamon get past Dorulumon.

"Look out!" She leaped forward, planted her foot and executed a perfect high kick into the Ninjamon's midsection, sending him sprawling to the floor. Cody looked back at her, stunned. She flipped a strand of hair back and grinned. "See? Not helpless."

"How was I supposed to know you study martial arts?" Cody asked. She kept on grinning; she didn't actually study them, just watched Henry practice.

A backpedaling Dorulumon bumped into her, knocking her towards Cody. "We may have a problem here," said the wolf as the Ninjamon's numbers began to overwhelm them from both sides. Cody clutched her as the three Digimon surrounded both of them, themselves fending off what were almost a hundred enemies.

"If nothing else, I give you a little more credit," Cody said.

"Lot of good that does!" Suzie cried.

"Seismic Speaker!" Ballistamon's shout signaled the massive sound wave that floored enough of the Ninjamon to allow them to see him, Shoutmon, and Mikey. Ewan and Rika followed. Tuwarmon and Renamon charged ahead, each taking a side and leaping into the air.

"Fujin's Waves!"

"Diamond Storm!" The two attacks forced back enough of the Ninjamon to let the strike team secure a position inside. The reinforcements were enough to halt the attack.

Understandably, Digmon and Dorulumon were exhausted from the drilling and subsequent battle. As Digmon turned back into Armadillomon, Dorulumon returned to Mikey's Fusion Loader. Armadillomon looked on, simultaneously alarmed and jealous.

"Okay, which way do we go?" Mikey asked. He was met with silence.

Rika stamped her foot. "You're kidding me. We go to all this trouble to get down here and you don't know where to go?"

"Why don't we split up?" Ewan suggested. "Mikey and I will go one way and you and Suzie and Cody can go the other way?

"Me and... Suzie?" Rika looked at the young tamer. Suzie smiled back.

"What, haven't you worked with Suzie before?" Mikey raised his eyebrows. "She's got these sweet modify cards. She's great."

"I-" Rika tried to protest, but Mikey and Ewan ran off.

Suzie smirked. "Did you hear that? 'Great.' From the gogglehead. I want that on a certificate."

"Let's go!" shouted Cody. He wasn't sure if adding Rika to the team was going to make this operation better or worse for him.

Marcus Damon knew his team was doing exactly what the plan called for, but he hated every minute of it. While Beowolfmon ran across the other walls to take care of the remaining Mamemon, RizeGreymon had made next to no progress against the pool full of Seadramon. Even after Takato bio-merged into Gallantmon, little was changing.

"Rising Destroyer!" RizeGreymon's attack took out several, but before he could fly further ahead, attacks from all sides halted him. Gallantmon was able to use his shield to block and counter threats in front of him, but there were too many from the sides to advance. More Seadramon popped out of the pool to replace the ones defeated.

"This isn't fair!" Marcus shouted, hanging back with MetalGreymon. He leaned over one of the pools, just as a Seadramon popped out of it.

"Ice-"

"Shut up!" Marcus punched it back into the water. "RizeGreymon, get back here!"

Gallantmon already knew what was coming and fell back to give Marcus and RizeGreymon cover. As expected, RizeGreymon reverted to Agumon. "DNA Charge- Overdrive!" shouted Marcus.

ShineGreymon took to the sky, focused on a populated section of pool and fired. "Glorious Burst!" The light energy blew away at least four Seadramon. He charged towards the front door.

"Lightning Joust!" Gallantmon's attack led him and Marcus speeding across the narrow walkways toward the main door. They fought their way across, taking care of all the nearby Seadramon on their mad dash. "Now how do we get in?"

Marcus knocked.

"Look out!" MetalGreymon shouted. Gallantmon turned around in time to see two more Seadramon right in front of him.

"Beo Saber!" Beowolfmon leaped down in time to slit their necks before they could threaten anybody. He landed in time to watch more Seadramon emerge. "The hell are they coming from?"

"All right! Here we go!" Marcus pounded his fists as the door began to swing open.

"Megaton Hydro Laser!" A giant water cannon fired at them, knocking them all backwards into the pool. ShineGreymon and Gallantmon emerged in time to see a massive turtle-like cyborg step into the courtyard. JumboGamemon's twin cannons were aimed squarely back at them.

Gallantmon held up his shield, but looked around when he realized not everyone had surfaced. "Marcus? Beowolfmon?" He looked into the water and saw a Seadramon dragging Marcus under.

Marcus tried to pull himself free, but Seadramon's grip was too tight. He wasn't able to get a breath before going under. The lack of oxygen started to take its toll. Even so, he saw a troubling figure approaching him, just as Beowolfmon slashed the Seadramon and pulled Marcus up to the surface.

"Are you all right?" Beowolfmon asked, guarding Marcus against the the remaining Seadramon.

"Our problems are just starting," said Marcus between several coughing fits. Beowolfmon saw what he meant as a MetalSeadramon flew out of the pool and stared down the three opposing Digimon.

Beowolfmon wasn't sure whether to keep his eyes on him or JumboGamemon. "Guys, we may have a problem here."

Koichi Kimura didn't want to admit he was getting bored. It was almost reflex action by now to join Jeri once Takato had left for his mission. He met her in the small office assigned to the hospitality director. As it turned out, Jeri still had a fair bit of work to do.

"You have to do this every week?" he asked.

"Sometimes twice. I'm sorry it's not very exciting." She patted his hand and resumed her typing.

"I wish I could help. I'm not exactly busy right now." Koichi huffed. After the Etemon debacle, he figured it would be a long time before he had the chance to plan any major events.

She smiled at him. "You're keeping me company. That's plenty." She leaned towards him, lips pursed for a kiss.

Before he could give her one, the door opened and Izzy burst in. Jeri pulled away from Koichi and turned to Izzy, hoping her smile would mask her blush.

"Do you have a moment?" Izzy asked.

"Not really. Trying to get a river order in."

"Sorry..." Izzy noticed Koichi. "What are you doing here?"

Jeri answered for him: "He's getting a couple things for his room. What do you need?"

Izzy dropped several sheets of stapled paper on her desk. "Can you order all this?"

As she looked over the stack, Koichi asked, "Isn't there an operation right now? Koji made it sound like it was a pretty big deal."

"It is. But it's out of our communication range so there isn't much we can do about it right now." Izzy sighed. "This is my means of distraction."

"We have a lot of this equipment already," Jeri said. "Have you talked to JP?"

"Not yet. Should I do that first?"

"Please. I can hold off on the order until then." She handed back the papers. "So what are you planning that you need all this gear?"

"Uh..." Izzy suddenly turned sheepish, looking away frantically. "Well, you know that giant trunk full of data the patrol team found?"

"Yes, Ryo told me about it. Did you figure out what it was? Was it anything useful?"

"For research purposes, it's total junk. This is my method of getting some measure of function out of it."

Jeri's eyes widened. The items on his list were all pieces of sound equipment. "Wait, are you saying..."

Izzy nodded. "Music. Quite possibly every piece of music ever uploaded to the internet. Rather than let it go to waste, I was thinking of organizing some sort of social event."

She turned to Koichi, then looked back. "You mean... a dance?"

He had to think for a moment, but Izzy nodded. "Hmm... yes, I guess that would be what you call it. This is sure to be a very trying battle and I think we could all stand to enjoy some recreation afterwards. Especially if it's successful."

Jeri furrowed her eyebrows. "You weren't going to do this right after they come back, were you?

"That was the idea. Is that wrong?"

She shot to her feet. "Are you kidding? I'm going to want a new dress! We want everybody looking fantastic! We need to let everybody order new clothes." She pointed at the papers. "And I didn't see any lighting on there. Can't have a dance without lights!"

"Music needs lights?"

"Of course, dummy! And we'll have to do decorations, and refreshments, and let people find dates..."

"D-dates?"

Jeri huffed. "Have you ever been to one of these things before?"

"It should be plainly obvious that I haven't."

"You don't actually plan on running this, do you?"

"I..." Izzy sighed. "I guess I failed to consider the magnitude of the event. Do you have time to handle the details?"

"Absolutely not!" Jeri smiled and gestured towards Koichi. "But Koichi does."

Koichi bowed. "Please give me another chance."

Izzy hesitated for a moment, but smiled. "With Jeri and I helping you, I'm sure you'll do a great job. Good luck." He handed Koichi the papers and left the office.

Jeri hugged Koichi. "Isn't that great?! I knew if I gave him enough to think about, he'd let you plan it."

Koichi sighed. "Yeah... it's nice to have something to work on again."

"What's wrong?" Jeri pulled away, enthusiasm suddenly drained.

He looked down to the floor. "Well... the girl I want to be my date's probably going with someone else." His eyes found hers as he added, "Isn't she?"

Christopher Aonuma knew Davis was crazy. While he never bothered to befriend Ken, he respected his roommate's intelligence. He didn't realize the devastating combo they made.

"Given the size of that pool, it's impossible for all those Seadramon to live in there. That's why I suspect an underwater entrance." It was the second time Christopher needed it explained. It sounded more sensible coming from Ken.

"So yeah, snoop around down there and see if you can plug it up," said Davis.

Kazu was listening in. "And how do we expect to do that? Other than gator-boat, none of our Digimon are good swimmers." He saw several aquatic Digimon swimming around them. None of them looked friendly.

"Dammit," mumbled Christopher.

"Don't fret. I'm sure we'll find a solution," Guardromon said.

"No... we have one." Christopher was angry that Mikey had so much foresight. To think Christopher almost refused when Mikey offered to lend him just in case. "Chibitortomon! Dracomon! Digifuse!"

The resulting combination was a little blue dragon with a turtle shell, natural swimming ability... and a knack for observation and finding weak points. Christopher gave him instructions and ordered him in the water. After some reluctance, the fusion complied.

"So what's the plan to keep them alive?" asked Henry.

"Don't know," Christopher replied. "Hadn't thought that far." To be honest, he found both of them terribly annoying and didn't care. "Why don't you get on that?"

Henry nodded at Rapidmon, who hovered over the surface, occasionally firing a shot into the water at any Seadramon threatening DracoTortomon. After investigating the undersea cliff walls, DracoTortomon surfaced and Rapidmon lifted him up and flew him back.

"I found a tunnel, and the weak point that will close it," said DracoTortomon. "Now what?"

Moments later, Deckerdramon floated next to the wall and Shurimon held Guadromon over the water. Guardromon was understandably nervous. "Kazu, you do realize when submerged in water, iron will-"

"What are you, my science teacher?" Kazu interrupted. "We're gonna be the big heroes!"

Christopher waved him off. "Don't worry, we've got Cutemon."

"Uh... I don't know if I can do rust," Cutemon mumbled.

At Christopher's signal, Shurimon used his long limbs to lower Guardromon enough to find DracoTortomon pointing out the tunnel and the place to shoot. One Guardian Barrage attack completely collapsed the rock and made entrance impossible.

DracoTortomon surfaced as Shurimon pulled Guardromon back aboard Deckerdramon. "We did it!" DracoTortomon shouted.

Guardromon was sprawled out on the deck when Kazu ran up to him. "You hear that?!" He stopped when he saw the orange splotches covering his partner.

Christopher patted Kazu on the shoulder. "Nobody'll notice those. Good work."

Rika Nonaka had immense respect for both Cody and Suzie... so long as she wasn't actually working with them. As they searched the empty hallway, checking vacant room after vacant room for signs of Matt and TK, Suzie did not stop talking and Cody would not put an end to it.

After clearing out yet another empty room, Suzie said, "I'm just saying I saved your life and you owe me one."

Cody shook his head. "I already acknowledged that you saved me. But we're on the same team. We're supposed to help each other out. We shouldn't keep score." He turned to Rika. "You understand that, right?"

Rika shrugged. "I always keep score."

As Cody grumbled, Armadillomon said, "C'mon Cody, what's so bad about a little life debt?"

A rumble from above them stopped their movement and their conversation. Rika exhaled loudly. "What are those goggleheads doing?" she asked. She tried to sound annoyed, but a hint of worry betrayed her.

"Hey!" Lopmon looked up, rubbing her head. "I just felt a drop of water." A second drop fell on her from the ceiling.

Suzie looked at both Lopmon and Rika, then turned on her squawker. "Davis, this is Suzie. It's pretty empty down here, but we heard something upstairs and the ceiling's starting to leak. What's going on?"

"Marcus and them are having some issues," Davis replied.

Ken added, "They're fighting two Mega-levels that are strong in aquatic conditions in what amounts to a giant swimming pool. You're probably right below them."

"Stupid Marcus. What did he get into this time?" Rika muttered.

"Hey, did you say the ceiling's leaking?" Davis asked. "Maybe you guys could drain the pool."

"Are you crazy?! We'd drown!"

"Actually Rika..." Renamon looked up. "We'd be protected as Sakuyamon."

Rika sneered at Renamon, angry that she'd even entertain the idea. She returned to the squawker. "This is insane! You seriously want us to break through the ceiling and have God knows how many gallons of water falling on our heads?"

"And one of the Digimon they're fighting, hopefully," Davis replied.

"If we take away the water and split them up, they'll have a much better chance," said Ken.

Rika grumbled. She could argue with Davis forever, but stopped short of questioning Ken. "Well, fine, I'll be safe, but what about these two?"

Cody looked at Armadillomon uneasily. "Well, I have Submarimon, but..."

"How much room you got in there?" Davis asked. Nobody answered. Suzie's face contorted.

"This is going to get uncomfortable, isn't it?" she muttered.

Cody shook his head, equally disgusted. "That won't work anyway. We'll need Digmon to collapse the ceiling. He can't turn into Submarimon fast enough."

"Actually, we can deal with that." Rika reached into her pocket and retrieved a card.

She showed it to Lopmon, who nodded and bowed at Armadillomon. "Thank you for your consideration."

Suzie took the card, snickered, and ran it through her D-Power. "Digi-Modify! Digmon's Drill activate!"

A giant drill replaced Lopmon's ears and she took a Renamon-assisted leap up to the ceiling.

"Hey, that's not cool!" Armadillomon shouted.

He didn't get any more room to protest as he found himself armor digivolving into Submarimon. Cody prepared him in time to see Rika and Renamon bio-merge.

"Hey!" Suzie shouted. "You can't look at her while she's doing that!"

Cody still stared slackjawed at Sakuyamon. "I... realize that now."

She smacked his shoulder. "Perv... no funny business in there, got that?"

He didn't get a chance to respond as the drilling began to crack the ceiling. The water went from drips to a stream and the cracks grew. Lopmon knew it was time to stop and dropped to the floor.

Sakuyamon felt the ceiling and looked down. "Incoming!" she shouted.

Lopmon jumped into Suzie's arms and the tamer sprinted into Submarimon, where Cody was already inside. He clutched her as tightly as he could and was only barely able to close the hatch before the ceiling gave way and the water cascaded down, flooding the room in seconds. Neither Submarimon nor Sakuyamon bothered trying to swim against the deluge, instead riding it down the hallway.

Submarimon was certainly not a Digimon built for two, as Suzie's face was pressed hard against Cody's chest. "I... I can't breathe!" she shouted, voice muffled. "And I can't feel my legs!"

Cody tried to look down, but trying to sort out whose legs were whose was difficult with a steering wheel in his ear. "Just hang on!"

"You owe me another one for this!"

"Technically, I'm saving you!" They crashed into a wall. Instinctively, he cradled Suzie's head.

The next impact was some sort of explosion directly above them. Water started pouring into the hatch. "We're leaking!" Suzie screamed.

Cody forced his eyes open and looked out the window. They were being pulled backwards down the next hallway, letting him see MetalSeadramon behind them. Another attack from him shattered the glass and completely filled the hatch with water. In fact, Submarimon turned back into Armadillomon.

He continued to clutch Suzie underwater while Lopmon swam to grab Armadillomon. Thankfully the wave ended and they were able to breathe again as they slid along the hallway, water still covering a foot of it.

Cody opened his eyes again and saw MetalSeadramon prepared another attack. It was aimed straight at them. He clutched his eyes shut and did his best to protect Suzie.

"Varooma-Boomerang!" He didn't need it. The attack from Shoutmon X4 gave Mikey and Ewan enough time to pull both them and their Digimon to safety.

MetalSeadramon shook off the attack and said, "You think I'm scared of the likes of you?"

"How about the both of us?" Sakuyamon replied. "Spirit Strike!"

"You two okay?" Ewan asked Cody and Suzie. As Shoutmon X4 and Sakuyamon proved to be a fair match for MetalSeadramon, Cody finally took a breath and released Suzie.

Only she wasn't releasing him. Cody looked Ewan, then back at her. "Uh, Suzie... you can let go now."

She slowly relented, her eyes opening as she realized it was safe. As he sighed, she hugged him. Cody winced; they were soaking wet.

"Fine, you only owe me one," she said.

Koji Minamoto was determined not to let his frustration get to him. ShineGreymon and Gallantmon had struggled against both JumboGamemon and MetalSeadramon in these conditions, while MetalGreymon didn't dare move without a proper landing area. Beowolfmon should have made a difference, but he tried one attack too many. His strike did no damage against JumboGamemon and left him vulnerable to a counter-attack that cost him his form. All of his prior work taking out the Mamemon left him too drained to attempt to become MagnaGarurumon. He knew he should have made the switch sooner, and was kicking himself for such a rash mistake.

When the pool drained and took MetalSeadramon with it, JumboGamemon stood in front of the entrance, still blasting at anything that moved and still deflecting anything that attacked it. Koji was lucky to make it back to the front gate and the protection of MetalGreymon. Marcus was still dodging attacks in the courtyard. While the lack of water eliminated the enemy's natural advantage, it also made falling from the walkways a more dangerous prospect.

"Okay, guys, all at once!" Marcus shouted, holding up a hand. ShineGreymon, Gallantmon, and MetalGreymon all charged. "Three... two..."

"Jumbo Crater!" JumboGamemon interrupted their plans, firing all of his cannons in every direction, including inside the castle. Everybody had to take cover. MetalGreymon didn't in time and was blasted backwards into the outer moat.

To make matters worse, Davis chose now to ask Marcus for a status update. Sprawled out on the ground, Marcus answered, "Yeah, MetalSeadramon's gone, but the big guy here isn't moving. We can't get close to him."

While ShineGreymon's next attack was swatted way, Marcus waited for a response. None came. Another round from JumboGamemon's snout cannon forced Gallantmon into defense. Marcus gritted his teeth; it wasn't that he felt any danger, but unless they could get the jump on him, this enemy would forever remain unmovable.

Marcus's squawker crackled to life again when Davis said, "Could you guys keep him distracted for a sec? Oh, and stand back." Marcus shrugged and relayed the message to Gallantmon.

"Shield of the Just!" Gallantmon's energy beam from the right would have at least moved JumboGamemon if he hadn't already dug into a small crater. He returned fire.

"Glorious Burst!" ShineGreymon's attack from the left would have done the same. JumboGamemon lowered his head but otherwise seemed to absorb it.

"Giga Crusher!" Floating above Marcus, Imperialdramon Fighter Mode fired a huge energy wave that caught JumboGamemon unawares. The combined force of the three energy attacks shattered the beast's armor.

"Lightning Joust!" Once last charge from Gallantmon's lance was finally enough to destroy it.

Rising to his feet, Marcus looked up at Imperialdramon Fighter Mode and shook his head. Over the squawker he said, "You know we could have handled that. Don't think you saved our skins or anything."

"Oh of course," Davis replied, mockingly. "He picked Keenan up to help you inside. Go get our guys."

Marcus didn't respond. He waited for Keenan to leap off Imperialdramon. Koji rejoined them and Takato and Guilmon split apart. As ShineGreymon guarded the entrance, the four boys and one Digimon finally broke into the main building.

"This way," Keenan said, leading them all to the wide staircase in front of them. Downstairs, they saw Mikey and Ewan watching Shoutmon X4 and Sakuyamon's fight with MetalSeadramon. Mikey flashed a thumb's up to Marcus. Marcus returned it and followed Keenan in the opposite direction.

In the corner of the hallway, Keenan pointed at a large door. It was locked.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon's fireball warped the hinges and it fell right off.

"Good job, buddy," Takato said, unable to control his smile. "Now let's get 'em."

They stepped into the room carefully. None of them coordinated anything, but all did their best to look professional and, perhaps more importantly, impressive. They were, after all, the great liberators.

That stopped the moment they saw whom they were liberating. Takato squinted in disbelief. "No... wait... what?"

Marcus looked ready to throw up. "You've gotta be kidding me..." he mumbled.

The old man set aside his cup of tea, stood from his soft easy chair, glanced at his Kamemon cowering in the corner, and shook his head. "Well if it isn't Marcus... should have known you'd be the one behind all this ruckus."

Next Time on Neverworld- Episode 10: "Spoiler Alert"
In this episode, the teams plan out a way to keep the newly taken castle defended. As Izzy's dance approaches, Tai isn't sure how to interpret Sora asking him out, Davis tells Kari a secret about TK, and Mimi's interest in Ewan intensifies. Jeri finds a problem with the refreshments Koichi imported.

"One song. For one song, we're all together."

Author's Notes
Feel free to punch me for the twist ending. It's okay. Free shot.

While Tai and Sora's reactions to the prospect of finding Matt and TK are obvious, it's fun to explore the reactions of some of the other digidestined like Izzy, Davis, and Mimi last episode. There's a twisted bit of angst when the facts and his emotions pull Izzy in two different directions.

One of the fun things I picked up doing System Restore was the differing nature of the various seasons' evolutions. Even if they had full knowledge of them, expecting one leader to command the others is truly daunting.

Shoutmon X6 does not actually appear in Fusion as the number refers to the number of components rather than a sequence. It does appear in the manga, with all the parts of X7 sans Sparrowmon.

In the interest of keeping episodes under 10,000 words, there's a deleted scene! It didn't have enough meaning to retain but it involved Davis, Ken and Yoshi back at base. Maybe I'll release it somewhere if there's enough demand.

Cliche as it sounds, don't freak out at the whole dance thing. It will be the main focus of the next two episodes, but it also seriously advances all of the relationship-based storylines, throws a major shocker, and launches the story into position for the mid-season climax.

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