( Notes:

Well, it's been over a year since the last chapter... but at least it wasn't a four-year gap this time! So the last chapter ended in a cliffhanger... why not have another cliffhanger? We finally achieve a cross-season element in this chapter that'll be greatly expanded upon in future chapters. I've written a lot about this plot element since I came up with it, oh... six years ago. So if you're interested in how some of this is playing out, I've made some personal forums of mine to document my ideas and opinions that should at least clear most of this up. It's quite an action-y chapter, so for those of you who were waiting for that in this emotional mess of a fanfic, enjoy! It's pretty much purely downhill from this point on in terms of how life will be for the Tamers. Isn't that a lovely sight to behold? I hope you enjoy it as much as my sadistic mind does! )

( POV – Takato )

I was so scared. Deep down, I knew I couldn't bear the sight of seeing someone I know in such a critical condition. I wasn't made with nerves of steel. My prior accomplishments didn't mean a thing right now. I didn't want to see this.

And yet... my legs kept moving forward, and I brushed past every interception in my way. With Juri and Terriermon in tow, my body refused to stop until I could clearly see the gurney with Kenta on it. He was already strapped in, ready to be loaded into the emergency vehicle.

I gasped out a "Kenta!" in hopes of stirring him when I got close enough, but then I was held back by a much stronger, buffer officer than the one I had just blown past.

"Settle down, kid!" he ordered me, stiff and loud. Yet still… somehow, in control, without outright yelling at me like most men this big would do to alleged punks like me. "This area is off limits, okay? Now get yourselves out of this crime scene. We've got work to do and don't need outside interference!"

While I was too panicked and intimidated by this guy to utter a clear answer, Juri thankfully covered for me. "Sir, please! We know this boy! He's a close friend of ours!"

I briefly looked to Juri and nodded to her in gratitude. "S-she's right, sir. We need to see if he's okay! Now let us through!" I probably looked so desperate.

The cop looked down at us with sudden interest then. I could tell Terriermon wanted to retell our story and relation to Kenta in his own special way, but even he knew this was no time for an unscheduled surprise.

"You're friends with this kid?" The man asked us, probably for verification.

"Yes, sir," Juri assured. "We share classes with him, and he's part of our group. Please..."

The officer shook his head and cut her off before she could finish. "You can pass. We'll need you two to identify the boy and inform his next of kin. You'll save us a lot of time." He gestured towards the ambulance, which had Kenta fully loaded in and looked to be ready to take off at any moment. "Go with them, and stay with your friend in the hospital until we can come back to you for questioning."

I nodded to him, relieved that this worked out. The way he talked, perhaps Kenta was going to survive after all... "His name is Kenta Kitagawa," I noted, figuring it would be helpful to at least tell the cop the name of the victim.

"Kitagawa, then," the cop noted, jotting it down on a notepad. "Thank you very much. Now get going, alright? The longer you wait, the more risk you're putting your buddy at."

Juri briefly saluted... she's always been a little... eccentric, even at the worst times. "R-right! Let's go, Takato!"

"Yeah," I agreed, and followed her and Terriermon into the ambulance, where Kenta was already stabilized, with constant monitors on his condition. Phew... far as I could tell, at least he wasn't dead.

All of us got our first chance to give Kenta a look-over.

He looked seriously trashed. His clothes were a little torn in various areas, his hair was a mess... no glasses, either. But the most peculiar thing was...

"What's that thing on his forehead?" Terriermon was the first to ask, of course. "Did the bully torture him with a marker while they were taking a break on the wedgies and swirlies?"

It was black... two outlines of circles connected to each other with a line, with a small, full circle inside of the bigger one. Seemed kind of familiar, but at the same time... I dunno, it was totally lost on me. Juri looked just as lost.

"There's no other marks on him that I can see," Juri pointed out. "I wonder... do you think it's okay to touch it?"

"Kids," it was the EMT who was in the back of the ambulance with us, maintaining care of Kenta's status all this time. "Let the doctors handle the diagnosis. You two need to be calling the next of kin, remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry," I apologized. Then I looked to Juri. "You have a cell phone, right?"

"Uh huh," Juri affirmed, holding her pink one out. "How about you?"

"Got it," I said less enthusiastically, as mine was an outdated, limited ugly gray model. "Who gets to call who, then?"

Ah, this is where Juri took charge... "I know Kenta's home phone number, so I'll call for his parents. I think, maybe... you should try calling for our friends. This looks serious, after all. They'll be mad if we don't tell them."

"True that," I agreed. "Well, I can cover Ruki, Hirokazu, and Jen, but... I don't know Ryo's number."

"I've got it," said Juri. For having such a famous guy's number, she seemed awfully cool about it. "I've got the master phone book for our circle, remember? Don't worry; let's just get this out of the way." And just like that, she started dialing for Kenta's parents.

I sighed and looked to my phone... given what had happened earlier, I don't think I was ready to call Jen yet...

"Oh, whoops."

Never a good phrase to come out of this Digimon. "What is it, Terriermon?" I tiredly asked him.

"Eheh... I forgot to give this phone back," he mentioned sheepishly, holding out the camera phone he stole earlier.

Total. Facepalm. "Ugh, Terriermon... you're unbelievable, you know that?"

"You know you love it, baby! You wish you had my phone."

"Settle down!" Juri sputtered, totally anxious all of a sudden. Looks like her end was still ringing, waiting to be picked up. "Oh, Terriermon... as long as you have that phone, call some people! This is an emergency, after a- oh, hello, Mrs. Kitagawa! This is Juri Katou..."

"Yes, do call your Tamer, at least," I suggested with a hint of annoyance in my voice. At least this got the arduous task off of me. Looking through my digital phone book, I decided to call Ruki first.

It rung a few times... and appropriately picked up after the third ring.

"Um... hello?"

"Ruki," I said, relieved that I got ahold of her. "This is Takato. Where are you right now?"

"... on my way home, I guess," she responded, sounding about as confused as I expected. It wasn't like I called her very often. "What's going on, Gogglehead?"

This was where I tried my best not to get too frantic... "Uhh... l-long story short, something bad happened to Kenta and he's en route to the hospital right now. Me and Juri and Terriermon are with him. This is kind of an emergency, so can we meet you and Renamon at the hospital, like... ASAP?!"

"W-wait a second, what?! What happened to Kenta?!"

"We'll explain everything when we meet at the hospital!" I assured her. "Just get there as fast as you can, alright? Like I said, this is an emergency!"

"Hold on! I-"

I hung up.

Probably a bad idea to hang up on Ruki of all people...

But this was an emergency.

Next, I called Hirokazu. As always, he was quick to pick up.

"Y'ello?" Laid-back as ever, I noticed.

"'Kazu, it's me," I said, not needing to say my name. "Where are you right now?"

"Off on another wild and crazy adventure," he casually replied. "And you?"

I frowned, not wanting to kill time with him. "I'm in an ambulance, 'Kazu. With Juri and Terriermon. We found Kenta with the snot beat out of him, and he's being transferred to the Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Hospital, alright? Will you meet us there?"

"WHAT?!" Hirokazu sounded... really outraged. "The hell...?! Who did it?! Why I oughta..."

All of a sudden his voice cut off, just as I was about to scold him. "'Kazu...? Hey, did I lose you?"

"Huh... same phone call, right? Well, I'll be..."

Oh, good. "Hey, 'Kazu, what's going on?" I asked, kind of impatiently.

"Uh, well... long story short, I'm with Ruki right now! She's got me by the arm and she's going like the speed of light, can you believe that? She didn't care to tell me why until now... So I get what's going on, Takato. We'll be there soon!"

And he hung up. I blinked a couple of times, processing that. What were Ruki and Hirokazu doing together...?

"Jen's on his way!" Terriermon reported, rather energetically.

Juri nodded, putting her phone away. "The Kitagawas and Ryo are coming, too. Now we just have to make sure everything's going to be alright with Kenta..."

She looked over to him... he was still as pale, stiff, and out of it as always. I followed her gaze, but my eyes eventually made their way back to her.

Something beyond my control... started to kick in, and...

I found myself... holding both of Juri's hands with my own. With tenderness... and care... I gave them a light squeeze.

"It's going to be alright, Juri," I promised, closing my eyes. "I swear... we're gonna make all this right again..."

This was completely incomprehensible... even Terriermon seemed speechless. And Juri... I had my eyes closed and couldn't see, but I could just picture Juri... looking at me, with her big brown eyes...

I could envision that smile returning to me. And to that, I gave a smile of my own.

"Takato," she said, softened and seemingly calmed down, finally. "I hope you're right... so I believe in you."

Never, so badly, have I ever wanted to tell her that I loved her... more than I did right at this moment.

Regardless of that, however...

I still couldn't do it.

Why?

( POV – Nobody )

The doctors and nurses and medical technicians worked quickly to transport Kenta into a room where he could be stabilized with more capable equipment. There he lay, fully hooked in to an IV. His physical condition didn't seem to change much, though he was at least still breathing. Still, certain matters remained a mystery to the doctors and Tamers alike.

"This is like some really cheap knock-off of a horror movie," Takato noted. He was increasingly growing nervous, just being in a hospital. "Only... only no one's dead yet... but normally that's just designed to get your guard down..."

"Takato!" Juri was not pleased. "This isn't a movie; it's real life! You promised it was all going to work okay." And her Puppet chipped in, "Stop being so hypocritical, you hypocrite! Arf!"

She clearly meant business when her Puppet got involved. Takato soon learned his place and bowed his head. "Sorry for spouting off stupid crap, Juri. I'm just... freaking out, I guess."

"What?" Juri inquired, clearly curious. "Kenta's stabilized. We can rest for a bit now that we've got him here."

"Maybe you can..." Takato mumbled, looking around in all directions of the room. "This place in general gives me the creeps, you know?"

This detail stuck out to Juri. "Takato... are you afraid of hospitals...?"

"Can you not say that out loud?!" Takato pleaded, hands covering his stomach. "Between Kenta and this... I'm gonna get sick again..."

"Maybe I'd better get a nurse for you," Juri considered, worried. "We can't risk you relapsing at any time, especially considering your heart condition..."

"Oh, no no no!" Takato declined, raising his voice. "I am perfectly fine! I'm going to rough it and deal, just as a man should. Besides that, I'd make myself sicker for not being able to check up on Kenta!"

Juri smiled. "You're truly a loyal friend, Takato."

Just then, Terriermon came bounding in, looking as if he owned the place. "Look who I found...!"

In stepped Antijen, the new Jenrya unbeknownst to all. Naturally, despite his questionable outfit, he looked completely oblivious and innocent. "So Kenta really did get severely assaulted... h-how is he?"

His appearance drew silent stares from Takato and Juri. Juri realized sooner than Takato that it was a rude gesture, and nervously recomposed herself. "A-ah, Jenrya... he... Kenta... s-seems to be fine for the moment!"

"So, you came after all..." Takato quietly muttered, though he hadn't meant it to be heard by anyone else. As Antijen walked closer to inspect Kenta himself, he gave Takato somewhat of an agitated look. Regardless of Takato's subtlety, Antijen was quick to pick it up.

"Of course I came," he told Takato, as if he were crazy to suggest otherwise. In normal circumstances, perhaps so... "Terriermon said it was an emergency. What exactly were you suggesting?"

Takato did quickly pick up on the fact that this Jenrya was not like the one from earlier in the morning; the Jenrya who could barely look him in the face, much less speak with such certainty. Nonetheless, this wasn't the time nor the place to pick Jenrya apart, so Takato bowed his head.

"I'm sorry; didn't mean to come off as offensive," Takato apologized, softly as he could. "So, how much did Terriermon tell you?"

"As much as you're supposed to tell someone when you order 'em to drop everything you're doing and hightail it to the hospital," Terriermon answered for his partner, without even being asked to, of course. "Bare bones details. Not like we know much more than that already, right?"

Antijen narrowed his eyes at Terriermon, but ultimately nodded in agreement. "Quite. That said, are there any details worth mentioning?"

"None of us walked home with him after school," Juri explained. "So we didn't see who did this to him and how it happened to him..."

"Is it really that hard to guess how it happened to him?" Terriermon interrupted. "The guy got creamed! Just how many ways are there to beat people up that'd hold any kind of relevance?"

Antijen gave one of his (or rather, the original Jenrya's) signature disciplinary knocks to the head to his gabby Digimon. "Terriermon!"

"I guess he makes a valid point," Juri considered, as her eyes trailed back to Kenta. "It's easier to say we don't know anything about the situation; he was just found unconscious on the street like this... Takato, Terriermon and I just happened to be passing through the area and we hitched a ride to the hospital so we could get everyone here and keep company with Kenta. Though... there is a strange mystery we need to solve..."

"What's that?" Antijen inquired, moving in closer to look at Kenta, and blinking when he saw the black mark on his so-called friend's forehead, just where he left it earlier. "Oh wait, I see it now. Weird... didn't you clean it off?"

Takato shrugged. "It wouldn't wipe off, no matter how hard you scrub it. It seems permanent, but..."

Juri looked peculiar as she imagined various hypotheses... "Kenta's the last person I could ever see getting a tattoo, and even then, on his forehead?"

"It doesn't mesh time-wise, either," Takato noted. "His forehead was clean throughout school, and even if he had gotten one right after it let out, if I recall right, you have to wear some protective bandages over it for a few days before it sets in."

Antijen nodded. "This is true. That's even ignoring the fact that he's too young for that sort of thing, anyway. It looks like something we'll need the whole group for to figure it out... because it's already got me stumped."

Takato frowned, looking worriedly down at Kenta. "Well, that's never a good sign."

"TAKATO MATSUDA!" It was time for the boy to endure the wrath of the last person he should've hung the phone up on.

"Ah, Ruki!" Juri welcomed graciously. "And Hirokazu, too! Great, we're all gathering together quickly..."

Ruki stood at the doorway, practically dry-heaving for the length which she had to run non-stop, carrying dead weight in a mildly distraught Hirokazu, who, after a while, was not enjoying the duration of being dragged and being forced to keep up with the girl at the same time, as his recent injury made the idea of just skidding across the pavement in Ruki's wake even less inviting than it already was.

She reserved a death glare specially made for Takato, who quickly wanted to find a hiding place, except for the fact that hospitals intimidated him about as much as Ruki did. Without warning, she dropped Hirokazu to the floor (and a sharp cry was heard afterward, as Hirokazu landed approximately on the wrong spot) and stomped towards the rest of the group. Takato, Jenrya, Juri, and Terriermon were just then noticing how both newcomers looked rather worse for wear.

"Next time there's an emergency, Gogglehead, I just have the smallest suggestion for you that I'd really like you to consider," Ruki said through her clenched teeth.

"Uh... what's that?" Takato asked, his voice shaking. He officially took cover behind Juri, knowing she was literally the best Ruki shield for any occasion.

"If you wouldn't mind, Takato... how about telling me which hospital you're going to next time?! Do you realize how many hospitals there are in the area?!" Ruki promptly held up a hand, with all her fingers extended. "A lot! I care enough for a friend to go running all through Tokyo to find the right hospital, but let me tell you something: the person who makes me go through that may be the next one in the infirmary! Got it?!"

Antijen seemed more amused than afraid, compared to everyone else. "Tell me if I'm crossing the line, but I'm assuming your appearance and that stench plays into your foul mood at the moment."

Before Ruki could answer, everyone else in the room promptly held their noses and groaned as the scent of sewer-traveling infiltrated the once-sanitary room.

"This hospital was doing a good enough job making me nauseous by itself! What IS that?!" wondered Takato, coughing as the scent was quick to invade his mouth whenever it opened.

Ruki turned red in the face, but whether it was from sheer anger, embarrassment, or both, was not clear because not long after the rest of the visitors got a whiff of the smell, the rest of the crew, being the Kitagawa family, Ryo, and the doctor personally working with Kenta entered the room. Kenta's mother, Akemi, had brought MarineAngemon along as well.

"Here he is," the doctor informed his guests. "We have him stabilized right now, but it seems he hasn't yet regained consciousness."

"Kenta!!" Akemi cried as she rushed over towards her son; her husband, Shunsuke, was not far behind. "How could this happen to you...? What has this world come to?!"

"It's certainly a dangerous world," remarked the doctor, stiffly following the adults. "He must have suffered quite a beating to be in this shape... he was found over an hour ago, but still hasn't moved an inch since then."

Shunsuke grimly nodded as he comforted his wife; all the while he studied his son's condition more. "It looks like a whole gang of kids got to him... has there been any word of who did this?"

"Not at all; the police are still investigating the scene," the doctor reported, solemn and still. "There are some details that make this a rather... strange case, however. Roughed up as your son was, we found no bumps or bruises outside of whatever formed as a result of the impact from landing harshly on the cement. Whoever accosted him must have had a weapon of some sort; the tears on his clothing and the cuts on his skin don't seem likely to have been done by hand."

"That would rule fingerprinting out," Ryo noted with a nod. "What I'm curious about is the-..." He paused, sniffed around a bit, and coughed. "Holy..."

That's when the newcomers became aware of the eye-watering stink that had saturated the room.

"What on earth?!" The doctor spun around, trying to find the source of the smell. Takato, Juri, Terriermon, and Antijen all pointed to Ruki and Hirokazu, who were still quite a bit of ways from the others, still obviously soaked in sewer water. "Who let you through?! These rooms are sterilized for a reason!"

Ruki rolled her eyes and groaned. "Look, it's a long story. Takato called and said we had to get here right now, no exceptions, so we didn't exactly have time to go take a shower!"

"It was an emergency, after all!" Hirokazu piped up.

"Shut up, 'Kazu," Ruki muttered.

"What happened to you guys?" Takato asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be. "Did you fall in a sewer or what?"

Hirokazu nodded and grinned, still undeterred from Ruki's scolding. "Hit the nail right on the head, my man!"

Everyone else gasped, perhaps not expecting the metaphors to end up literal. "How in the world did that happen?" Juri asked, looking especially horrified.

"They can tell you later," the doctor interrupted, leading Hirokazu and Ruki away from the room. "After they get themselves sanitized. The last thing we need is bacterial infection from the sewers. Nurse?"

Almost instantly, a nurse turned up at the scene. "Yes, doctor?"

"Take these two children; make sure they are cleaned thoroughly before they step foot into this or any other room in this hospital, understand?" The doctor sounded more serious about this than anything else so far.

The nurse got a quick glance at Hirokazu and Ruki, and quickly realized the stench. Wincing, she nodded to the doctor as she scurried them off to the nearest shower. "At once, sir! Come along, now..."

Takato waved nervously, as he felt he had dodged yet another Ruki Rage Bullet. "See you later then, guys…"

Begrudgingly, Ruki followed the nurse and didn't bother dignifying Takato's farewell with an acknowledgement. Hirokazu, on the other hand, waved back and winked as he made his way out. "No worries, we'll be back soon! How long could it possibly take to wash out sewer water, anyway?"

Immediately after Ruki and Hirokazu were escorted out, the doctor shut the door and proceeded to cover the room in scented spray to eliminate the order, and disinfectant to kill whatever germs the two had brought with them from the sewer.

"Having dealt with that now, I would like you two," the doctor pointed at Takato and Juri specifically. "To run the entire situation from the top for the Kitagawas' benefit. Don't spare any details; any little thing could be crucial to Kenta's recovery."

Takato and Juri looked to each other nervously and shrugged. "I think you covered everything we know already," said Takato. "But if you want an order of events and weird stuff we noticed about Kenta since this morning, we can do that, I guess. Right, Juri?"

Juri nodded in agreement. The doctor nodded to show his approval. "Please, anything at all will enable us to have an accurate diagnosis for Kenta."

"Well, then. It started earlier in class today, when Kenta started getting these really bad headaches…"

( POV – Ruki )

"This is stupid," I grumbled. Even the sensational feeling of running warm water over my entire being could not calm me down. "Running all over the city because Takato's completely inept with giving directions… falling into a sewer because of your stupidity, 'Kazu… having to deal with the embarrassment of looking like literal garbage in a hospital and being sent here… to a unisex communal bathroom?! What kind of hospital is this, and what did I do to deserve this kind of punishment?!"

"Hey, it could be worse!" Hirokazu chirped back, in much brighter spirits than me. "At least we've got this wall separating us so you can have your privacy. I mean, needless to say I could do with or without, but maaaan, if this place didn't have a solid wall between the shower stalls, I probably wouldn't be alive right now, eh?"

I answered Hirokazu with a louder, deeper growl from the other end. The way my voice bounced against the small bathroom and created the echoing effect made it sound even worse than it would normally. "Listen, Ruki, I'm sorry about what happened, alright? You know I wouldn't send you careening down a manhole on purpose, right?"

"Just like how I wouldn't send my fist flying into your face on purpose, except that my fist tends to have a mind of its own at times," I retorted, scoffing. "If I don't hit you, who will? Somone's got to knock that defunct brain of yours into the right place before you really do kill yourself. And over everyone else, it looks like the only person willing to resort to that is me. Seriously, 'Kazu. After everything we've been through… and you still make wisecracks about my body while you have a bumped tailbone! Which, by the way, you ought to get checked out while you're here just in case you cracked it or something."

"Oh god," is what I heard, in a horrified tone. Looks like I inadvertently scared him a bit. "Cracked?! I'll never be able to sit down ever again!!"

I rolled my eyes and continued washing my own scum away. "Calm down, already. I was just exaggerating. You're not that bad off. Besides, we're here for Kenta; don't forget that."

"I would never forget that!" he shouted back, probably a bit louder than he should. Last thing I wanted was hospital staff barging into the bathroom to complain about the noise. "Man, whoever beat him up is lucky I wasn't anywhere near the place when it happened! I would've ripped the bastard in two; people who mess with my friends won't escape from me for long! Just you wait, Ruki. I'll get 'im."

"Big talk for a guy who doesn't even know who attacked Kenta," I remarked. "The perpetrator could be a six-foot tall muscleman who could easily beat the crap out of you, 'Kazu. Would you be so eager to avenge Kenta if that were the case? I don't think so."

"Like hell!" … I realized that maybe I shouldn't agitate him. The more I did it, the louder and angrier he got. "I don't care if the perp is our age or way bigger than us or even the return of the D-Reaper itself! Which is unlikely, but… point is, nothin's gonna stop me from beating the dude's face in when we find out who creamed Kenta. And we're totally gonna find him. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but…!"

This was getting aggravating; it was like the sewer incident all over again. At least this was for more than Ryo's stupid phone number, but still… 'Kazu was acting way beyond irrational, and he was only going to get himself hurt again if he started looking for trouble. I didn't want him to start making a habit of this… for… whatever reason. "Alright, seriously, 'Kazu. Use the soap, not the soapbox. No one's going to give a care for your noble avenging of your ex-boyfriend if you still smell like the sewers."

"I'm perfectly capable of multitasking, sweetheart!" He said, and that was a bit too casual for my tastes. "Besides, I'm a guy. It's a given that I'll finish before you."

I couldn't believe he just said that to me. As if I was like… every other girl who takes a shower…!

"Ooooh! You'd better not get out before me!" I warned, now putting in more of an effort to finish cleaning myself. "You can at least trust that I won't sneak peeks of your naked butt if you come out after me. We can't exactly say the same for the reverse situation."

"Having that to gain just inspires me to work faster!" Hirokazu announced, and it did sound like he was scrubbing faster. I froze for a moment when I heard him turning his water off. "And just like that… I win."

He was not getting off that easily. It was a good thing most of the soap and shampoo was rinsed out by this point, because I was quick to turn off my own water, quickly wring out my hair, and rush out of my stall in order to get my robe on. "You're not getting off that easily…!!"

In hindsight, it was stupid of me to act on impulse like that.

At the same time, we dashed out of our stalls. And hearing each other rush out, we naturally looked over to each other. So we…

We actually saw each other naked.

But… well, it might sound crazy, but there was something on 'Kazu's body that was far more noteworthy than his junk. N-not that I looked at it or anything…

It stood out enough to not even warrant that period of awkward silence that naturally comes from two adversaries suddenly seeing each other in the nude. "Ah! 'Kazu, your chest…!"

"Ruki, your… … breast!"

Pity he didn't return the favor because I planned to pay him back for it later, but in the tenseness of the situation, I didn't stop to think that maybe 'Kazu was pranking me and looked down at my own chest at the same time Hirokazu looked down to what I pointed out.

There was a strange… blue symbol sitting right on the right side of my bosom. He was telling the truth all along… it was a wonder why I didn't notice it while I was bathing. But Hirokazu was quick to gasp when he too saw what I pointed out to him – another symbol that really looked nothing like mine and was orange in color rather than blue.

"What the hell…"

This was too much to delay further with the awkward nudity. I looked back up to 'Kazu's face sternly. "Get dressed. We need to see a doctor right now!"

"Definitely feeling that one!" Hirokazu concurred, getting decent in a flash. "Let's go, let's go!!"

It was nice to get him to listen to me promptly, for once. I followed suit. "Right. Come on."

I didn't know what was going on, but we needed answers. Between this and Kenta, it was a miracle we didn't completely lose our minds.

( POV – Nobody )

"It's a pity you didn't see what actually happened," the doctor told Takato and Juri after they had finished their testimony. "That would have been valuable information… at the same time, it's fortunate that you found him before he was taken away. You saved us and Kenta's parents a lot of time."

Akemi nodded in agreement. "It must have been scary, kids, but we appreciate your acting quickly. We would have worried ourselves sick at this hour, not knowing where Kenta had gone."

Shunsuke looked to his son, full of concern. "So he was found in front of the pharmacy… that's a bit out of the way from school and home," he noted. "I remember him complaining about headaches just the other night ago. Right, dear?"

His wife nodded again. "He's been taking naps after school lately, which is very unlike him… and he's been more irritable than usual. Kenta actually said he was worried about some of you at dinner once," she said, looking at Takato in particular. "And that mark on his forehead won't go away… you don't suppose that's a sign of some sort of… rare migraine or disease, do you?!"

"There's nothing documented that matches these symptoms," the doctor said. "But no migraine would render him in this sort of condition. Someone obviously attacked him. If he had been suffering from headaches before this, it's possible he was on his way to purchase some aspirin."

"I agree," said Shunsuke. "I recently gave him his allowance money. He was probably going to use it to buy medications, but he should have just told us to do it, honestly…"

Takato sighed, as he felt horrible about the minor spat he had with Kenta earlier today. "Kenta's… had a lot on his mind. He's been so worried about us that he's hardly thought about taking care of himself. I just brushed him away when he tried to give me advice at school today… and I think I made him mad. If I didn't alienate him, I probably would've walked with him today and could've done something about this!"

"No, don't blame yourself," Juri said, consoling her friend. "I've been just as bad. Ever since the festival, our group has been… somewhat broken."

"Then it's time we reunite," Ryo concluded; full of determination. "Because this is no ordinary incident, and I think we can all agree with that."

The others nodded in unison.

Takato quickly looked apprehensive, though. "Are you sure you can commit to that, Ryo? We'd hate to tear you out of your own group of peers just for our sake. We know how busy you are…"

Ryo shook his head. "Regardless of age barriers, I'm a Digimon Tamer just like the rest of you. When we have unnatural phenomena to deal with, I should get involved. I haven't been the most reliable guy in the past, but I promise you I'm going to be better about hanging out with you guys and being there when I'm needed."

Juri was nearly speechless. "Ryo…"

Terriermon smirked. "C'mon, guys. It's Ryo! He's comfortable enough with himself to be willing to hang out with a bunch of kids! He's got nothin' to lose!"

"You're truly a good friend," Akemi told Ryo with a smile. "It's a wonder why Kenta doesn't talk about you more. He's- oh…!" Suddenly, MarineAngemon was struggling to squeeze out of Akemi's grip. "MarineAngemon, what's wrong…?!"

"Pi pi po!" He squeaked in his limited language. "Pu pa piii!" He seemed to be determined to see Kenta up-close and personal.

"Dear, you should let him go," Shunsuke advised. "He's Kenta's partner. He may be able to see something in Kenta that we can't."

Akemi was unsure of this, but released MarineAngemon onto the bed where Kenta lied. "Go on then, sweetie. The poor thing must be just as devastated as we are…"

The doctor just silently observed this, only muttering "So even this is a Digimon… so small…"

The others stared at MarineAngemon as he made his way to Kenta's face. He leaned in close, getting a good look at the strange symbol on Kenta's forehead. The relatively quiet Antijen's eyes snapped open as he realized that MarineAngemon seemed to know how to revive his partner. He so badly wanted to stop him, but knew he couldn't in front of everyone. He settled into a grumpy disposition eventually, continuing to ignore the true Jenrya's pleas to be set free.

"He's looking at that symbol," Takato stated, looking curious. "You know, there's something familiar about it… maybe he knows…"

Ryo also monitored Kenta's Digimon's actions closely. "You're right, Takato. I think I have an idea… but let's see what MarineAngemon's plan is first."

MarineAngemon looked around at the others just in, spreading his tiny wings as if he was to prepare a speech to them all. "Pi pi po-… po-pu!"

Juri was confused. "What did he say?" She asked out loud with her puppet.

Antijen just shook his head. "Only Kenta can understand him. It's no use."

Shunsuke scratched his head. "He knows MarineAngemon's language? You know, that's always puzzled me… I just thought Kenta was talking to himself, really. I didn't think he actually understood his Digimon's words…"

"… Knows his language…" Ryo repeated slowly. He pulled out a deck of Digimon cards from his pocket and started shuffling through them. "It couldn't be…"

Takato noticed Ryo's murmuring and looked to him. "Ryo…?"

"Look!" shouted Akemi, pointing to MarineAngemon, who had turned back to face Kenta. The others followed Akemi's gesture and saw MarineAngemon holding in his breath, preparing for something.

"PU!" MarineAngemon said, blowing glittery, blue hearts at Kenta's face. "Paaaa-PU!"

"What's he doing?!" The doctor shouted out, prepared to remove the small Digimon from the premises. Juri and Takato were quick to block him.

"WAIT!" Juri shouted out, looking back at what was happening.

"That's MarineAngemon's special ability; Kahuna Waves!" Takato explained in haste, also glancing back at what the Digimon was doing. "I've seen him do it before when the D-Reaper attacked the city two years ago. It can damage enemies, but it also heals allies and… from the looks of things, I think MarineAngemon's trying to purify Kenta!"

"Pu, pu, pu!" MarineAngemon wailed as he continued to shower Kenta in Kahuna Wave hearts.

Ryo pulled out a MarineAngemon card and nodded. "Takato's absolutely right. MarineAngemon must think that Kenta's been cursed." He went back to shuffling his deck, apparently trying to look for another card.

With his hand rested over his chin, Antijen quietly looked over what was happening. "A curse…" he said, humming lowly. Very briefly, he flashed a horrified look as MarineAngemon managed to make a significant change: with his healing abilities, he managed to change the symbol on Kenta's forehead. The symbol did not disappear, much to Antijen's chagrin, but it returned to its former state before Antijen knocked the boy out: shining a brilliant violet light rather than being dimmed out and black. Everyone in the room gasped at the sight.

"Wh-why did it change color just now…?" Juri asked. "That… that isn't supposed to be there, is it…?"

Kenta then grunted quietly, as if he was fighting within himself to regain consciousness. MarineAngemon eventually petered out; exhausted. He had gotten rid of the curse on the symbol, but could not wake his partner up. Helplessly, he looked to the others; the look on his face seemed to be begging for support.

"Looks like we're almost there!" Terriermon pointed out. "But MarineAngemon's out of energy. What's he want with us, though? It's not like we can heal him."

MarineAngemon quickly shook his head, trying to imply that Terriermon was wrong. If only they could understand him…

"MarineAngemon, I believe in you!" Juri shouted out, with tears in her eyes. "You can't give up hope now! We're all counting on you! If it's a curse, you have to exorcise it! You just have to!" She held her hands together and closed her eyes, as tears continued to spill out. "I… I always hoped Kenta would break out of his shell one day and reach his true potential… and he did. Please don't let his life end here now…!"

Suddenly, Juri was surrounded by an aura; pure yellow in color. Antijen looked horrified at this, but the others seemed too invested in MarineAngemon's success to notice. The symbol that once appeared on Juri's hand not long ago had appeared once again.

"Kenta, you've gotta wake up!" Takato pleaded. "MarineAngemon, you can't give in now! He's your partner! Your family! You can't let his friends down… his parents down… we all love him! And I hope he loves himself enough to know he has to come back to us!" Takato felt his chest grow tight – a familiar sign. But he ignored it as he too was overcome with an aura; a red one. No symbol could be seen on him, but there was a distinct shining coming from under his shirt. Takato cried as well as he begged to MarineAngemon. "I don't know how I can help him overcome a curse, MarineAngemon… but Kenta's my friend! He's been my friend since I was little, and I can't let him go like this! I have to apologize for how I treated him today…! Kenta, I'm so sorry… for everything we've been through, you and the others are like family to me!"

Takato slumped towards the bed, looking to MarineAngemon with leaking, bloodshot eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes… just let me know what, MarineAngemon. And let Kenta know… that I love him. Juri loves him. Jen, 'Kazu, Ruki, and Ryo love him… and his parents love him. And you love him too! Let him know he's loved…!"

Ryo finally pulled out the card he wanted, looked at it hard, and then at Kenta. He noticed the glowing Takato and Juri, but did not comment on it out loud. He looked straight at MarineAngemon. "If you need our help, then count me in. I might've not been the closest friend to him, but I'm going to change that from now on. Know he's cared for… and know he's got a shoulder to lean on if he needs one," he said with a grin. Now Ryo was covered in an aura, but this one was colored gray. "What's past is past… I'm here now. Let's save Kenta! Kenta, you know you can do it, too! You know you don't need our help… but we're gonna prove it to you, how important you are to us!"

No visible sign appeared on Ryo, but something was shining under his coat near his shoulder.

Antijen couldn't believe it. All of them were awakening without their knowledge, just to save Kenta's life. He found it ludicrous, corny… and detrimental to his own plans. But in that moment of weakness, something broke out. Jenrya had finally found the opening he was looking for. Everyone was too caught up in the moment to notice, but in a flash, the appearance of Antijen changed back to that of the regular Jenrya. The facial gestures were now Jenrya's… Antijen was put back on the inside.

"Kenta…" he whispered. "I have to admit… I'm a little… no, really jealous of you…" He swallowed, closing his eyes with the most honest of tears pouring down his face. Now Terriermon was paying attention to his partner, looking concerned, but for once, silent.

"But… it doesn't mean I want you to die!" Jenrya cried out. "MarineAngemon, do whatever is necessary! Please bring back Kenta…!"

Like the others, Jenrya gave off a colored aura of green. And like Juri, it was similar to the situation they had together… and promised to never tell the others about. A symbol did show on him; the same symbol as last time: a tear drop, glowing on his cheek underneath his tears of sincerity.

The others in the room froze as the colored auras intensified and poured into the tired MarineAngemon. The little Digimon suddenly felt a steady flow of power washing all over his body, waiting to be utilized. Revitalized, the pixie Digimon smiled with a "Pa…!"

He turned to Kenta, breathed in deeply, and howled the loudest "PU!!" he ever managed. He blew out a large, sparkling heart… this one was not blue, but rather multicolored; representing the power of everyone who helped restore MarineAngemon's energy.

Kenta's entire body began to glow slightly as the energy was transferred to him. His symbol on his forehead shined brighter than ever, and in a flash, everything faded away to normal. Instantly, Kenta's eyes snapped open. He woke up to MarineAngemon smiling over him, with the others standing nearby, watching him intently. Due to Kenta's naturally poor vision, however, everything was still a blur.

"Mmn… guys…?"

Kenta's mother could no longer hold it in. She burst into tears and embraced her son, completely forgetting that she nearly squashed MarineAngemon in the process. The little Digimon managed to squeeze itself out of the trap, and everyone smiled in relief when they realized their efforts were not in vain.

"Kenta, we worried about you so much…" Juri told him, wiping her eyes and smiling.

"We're so glad to have you back, buddy," Takato assured, also wiping his eyes and seemingly couldn't be happier than he was now. "You… really gave us a scare, there."

Kenta blinked as he gently urged Akemi to ease off on him as he sat up, looking around at his surroundings. He was slightly disturbed that he could not remember how or why he got himself into a hospital. The last thing he remembered was being on the way to the pharmacy after school…

"I… did? What happened?" he asked everyone, looking completely clueless.

"You mean you don't remember?" Ryo inquired, finding it strange that Kenta of all people wouldn't know how he ended up this way. "Takato and Juri here found you on the street unconscious and really roughed up."

"I was?!" Kenta sounded horrified. "No way… all I remember is going to the pharmacy to get some aspirin for my headaches, and-… ah, come to think of it, I feel a little feverish. Or is it just hot in here?"

The doctor shook his head stiffly, as he was rather disturbed by the things he had just seen. "I think I know what's causing that. Here." He gave Kenta a mirror.

"What the?!" Kenta was in shock when he found a still-glowing symbol on his forehead. "What is that thing?!"

"Here, dear," Akemi said in a soft voice, putting a new pair of glasses on her son. "You lost your glasses in the fight, and…"

Kenta's expressions did not change. "Clearing things up doesn't make this any less weird, mom!!"

"I know what it is now," Ryo said, calmly and sternly. "It's all coming together… and it's a wonder we never came across this sooner, but…" He revealed the card he was looking for to everybody. The card bore the same symbol that was on Kenta's head.

Juri gasped, clearly shocked. "It can't be! But… it does look exactly like…"

"… The Crest of Knowledge," Takato finished for her. "But that's… that was an element on the TV series, right? That was fictional stuff. It never happened when we were fighting enemy Digimon two years ago. It's just now popping up…?"

Ryo sighed. "I don't know why it was this delayed either… but this just cements the fact that Kenta is a chosen child, just like we are. You know what that means…"

Takato's expressions became stiffened and serious. "The rest of us… have crests, too?"

"Right," Ryo said with a nod. "Juri, look at your hand. Jenrya, borrow the mirror for a moment."

Both reluctantly did as Ryo instructed, and were shocked to find similar symbols on themselves, also glowing. Takato looked at them both finding their crests, and was beyond amazed at the phenomenon. "Juri, you have Hope…! And Jen is… Sincerity…?"

Jenrya frowned. "This… doesn't make any sense at all. I mean, this entire situation doesn't make any sense to begin with, but… why do I have Sincerity?"

"No kidding!" commented Terriermon. "You're the most reclusive guy I know! Only time you're brimming with sincerity is when you wanna stand on the soapbox and preach to everyone else."

"Who asked you?" Jenrya angrily snapped back, before looking to Kenta. "I just don't get it … why Kenta of all people has… Knowledge."

Kenta frowned, lightly poking the symbol on his forehead. "I hope that's not a slight at my intelligence, Jen. You know I've changed since the D-Reaper was around. My grades are almost as good as yours now."

"W-well, no, of course not!" Jenrya claimed, looking flustered. "It's just… I've been the go-to guy for information since the beginning… I thought it was a given that it would… you know… come to me."

Takato looked slightly confused himself. "That's a good point, actually… it would've been natural, but… there must be more to it. I mean, if I recall right, not everyone agreed with the crest they were assigned to in the TV show… and we couldn't have just gotten these at random, wherever they came from."

"Where they came from is a good question that I don't really have an answer for yet," Ryo admitted. "I don't suppose either of you have a theory, do you?" He looked specifically to Jenrya and Kenta.

"Not really," Kenta admitted, scratching his head. "But hey, I just woke up from a weird coma…"

"Yeah, give us some time to think about it," Jenrya concurred. "But if being a Tamer means bearing a crest… where's yours, Ryo?"

"I don't see one on Takato, either…" Juri noted. "But you two were able to help MarineAngemon all the same, weren't you?"

Ryo nodded. "Notice how the crests aren't in the same location for the three of you? Takato and I must have ours under our clothes. I'm feeling that burning sensation like Kenta's on my shoulder in particular… Takato, what about you?"

"Come to think of it…" Takato said lightly, as he slumped down and took a deep breath. "My chest… again…"

"T-Takato..!" Juri screamed. "The heart attack symptoms…!"

"Juri, take his shirt off," Ryo ordered quickly. "Now!"

Juri stuttered a bit, blushing slightly at the order, but quickly took off Takato's shirt to reveal a shining red symbol on the left side of his chest. It vaguely resembled a heart. Takato, feeling the cool air surround him after being de-clothed, started to calm down.

"Takato's got the Crest of Love…" Kenta acknowledged. "Actually, that's fitting for him, but… don't most leaders get the Crest of Courage?"

Ryo blinked; Kenta had a point. "You're right; that's true. Takato's broken the mold. So that leaves Courage, Friendship, Reliability, Light, and Kindness…"

"So go on and strip for us, Ryo-boy!" Terriermon shouted out. "Pity Ruki and Hirokazu aren't here to see it!"

Jenrya knocked Terriermon on the head. "Stop." He looked to Ryo. "You said your shoulder, right?"

"Yeah… my shoulder…" Ryo muttered as he took off his coat, then his gray shirt underneath. He turned around and started feeling for it, but the others shouted out as they were able to see the symbol quite easily.

"There it is, Ryo!" Juri called out, pointing. "It is on your shoulder! It looks like Reliability!"

"Reliability, huh?" Ryo said, smirking. "I had a feeling…"

Kenta rubbed his head, groaning. "This is way too much to take in after just waking up… but, um… where's Ruki and Hirokazu? Couldn't they make it?"

"They made it," Juri affirmed. "But they fell into a sewer earlier today and didn't have a chance to clean up before we called them about you. They were sent to the showers about twenty minutes ago."

"Ruki and 'Kazu…" Takato mumbled to himself. He then looked to the others with concern. "We've all got these Crests… you think that means they have one, too?"

Terriermon shook his head, though not necessarily in response to Takato's question. "Looks like they both missed out on the big moment. It must take some effort to get those Crests to show up, don't you think?"

"That doesn't mean they don't have them, though," Jenrya said. "They're Tamers; they must have them." He looked down with an intense frown. "We can only guess what this means for us. In the TV show, it helped the Digimon evolve… but most of us have gotten our partners to their highest levels already. And if Takato's Crest of Love is what's causing his heart problems…"

Takato's eyes widened, only just then realizing the plausibility of that being the case. "S-seriously?! Crests were supposed to help us out, right? Why is mine trying to kill me, then?!"

Juri looked extremely concerned, placing her hand on Takato's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Takato? You should probably lie down…"

"A-actually, I feel fine right now…", Takato mumbled, fighting off his urges to blush. "Once I got my shirt off and became aware of this… it's weird, really."

Kenta looked up towards his forehead, still feeling the warm, glowing symbol emblazoned over it. "The crest is right over where his heart is supposed to be… and mine's right on my head. You think maybe it would have some kind of relation to the headaches I've been getting lately?"

Ryo's eyes widened. "Nice catch, Kenta," he complimented. "That makes more sense than any theory we could think of, really. I mean, it's pretty clear that these Crests, no matter how much they resemble the ones from the TV show, don't function the way we'd expect them to."

Jenrya nodded, solemnly. "I can't imagine why these are showing up on us, but it wouldn't be without a reason. So we should work towards finding out how to utilize the power of these Crests and why they've come up like this."

"Without a reason?" Juri echoed back. "You mean to say that… that…"

Jenrya looked away and nodded.

"No way…" Takato muttered, unable to believe it. "A new enemy? Now? But it's been two years; why would…"

Kenta sighed. "Like evil needs a reason to be timely? Any good villain would know the best time to strike is when you least expect it."

The doctor who had been in charge of Kenta found it hard to find a place in the conversation. Kenta's parents were in the same position, but just looked content that their son was now awake and well again. He only vaguely recalled the terror that went about when the D-Reaper attacked Shinjuku two years ago, but never expected he would have one of the children who participated in that battle as a patient one day. He sighed to himself quietly, realizing this was a situation beyond the reach of himself and any other doctor in the hospital, but perked back up when he heard a couple of children calling out for him from a distance.

He backed out into the hallway and found Ruki and Hirokazu, the kids he had sent to the showers, rushing at him worriedly. They were clad in only the robes that were provided for them and towels over their heads to dry their hair. "Doctor…! Doctor!!"

"What's going on?!" he shouted, not liking their panicked expressions in the least. By this point, the others with Kenta turned their attention to the hallway, hearing the familiar voices.

"Seems like they're all clean now," Takato assumed. "You think they're screaming because of…?" He didn't feel the need to complete the sentence.

Ryo shrugged. "We'll see soon enough. Here they come."

"Doc, there's something really wrong with us!" Hirokazu wailed as he and Ruki skid to a halt in front of the doctor, now viewable to the others still inside Kenta's room. "There's this freaky blue symbol on Ruki's chest and a really freaky orange symbol on my chest and they're glowing and we swear they've never been there before and I don't think this kind of thing is supposed to happen and…!"

The loudmouthed boy was cut off by the doctor, who held a finger up and pointed to Kenta's room. "Go on inside," he instructed. "You aren't alone."

"Not alone?" Ruki complained, thinking the doctor was pulling their legs. "Look, buddy, my friend may be kind of a charlatan most of the time, but this time is a-…" She paused as she got a good look at everyone else. Jenrya with the glowing green symbol on his cheek, Juri with a yellow one on her hand, Takato and Ryo with their shirts off with red and gray-colored glowing symbols on them respectively, and Kenta with his consciousness regained and a purple symbol glowing on his forehead. Ruki gaped at the sight for a moment. "Oh… oh man…"

"No way!" Hirokazu shouted out as he realized the other symbols. "You guys have the disease too?!"

Takato shook his head and spoke calmly. "It isn't a disease, 'Kazu… looks like you've got the Crest of Courage."

"And you have the Crest of Friendship, Ruki…" Juri pointed out. "We don't know where these came from, but… it looks like the Crests from the TV show are the real deal in this world, too."

"What?!" Ruki looked down at her Crest, then examined the ones on her friends. "Oh… wow. No wonder I thought these looked familiar. We seriously have… Crests? Two years after we rid the Digital World of all its problems?"

"We're still in the process of figuring out what exactly is going on," Ryo admitted. "But they appeared on all of us when we were trying to get Kenta to wake up."

It had just then struck Ruki and Hirokazu that Kenta was awake and looking well.

"Kenta! Oh man, thank god you're alright!" Hirokazu cried out happily. "We were worried sick about you, buddy!"

Ruki smiled at Kenta, looking relieved. "You look almost good as new, too. Guess you're a lot tougher than I gave you credit for."

"Um… thanks, I guess," Kenta replied. "I have a feeling I wouldn't be awake right now if it weren't for you guys. I owe you all one."

"So who did this to you, bud?" Hirokazu asked, slamming his fists together. "If you don't have a name, just give me a physical description! I'll weed out the entire population of Tokyo until I find the slimy bastard who did this to you; I promise!"

While the sentiment flattered Kenta, he still looked worried and sad at the same time. "Sorry, 'Kazu. I don't remember anything about the attack at all. Not who did it to me, how it happened, or why it happened. All I remember is heading towards the pharmacy to get aspirin."

This concerned Ruki. "Not a single thing? That's really unusual… either someone came up from behind and knocked your lights out really quick, or…"

"Something else must be at work," Ryo cut in. "Not your average thug or bully. This was more than just a physical assault; the culprit put a curse on Kenta, too. That's why his Crest was solid black when we arrived here."

"That would mean that someone else knows who we are and what we're capable of," Juri pointed out. "Why else would anyone bother to seal off a latent power that no one, counting Kenta himself, had no idea he had?"

"What I don't get is why we don't know," Takato muttered, looking down. "I mean, even if it wouldn't have helped us during our fight with the D-Reaper, you'd think our bearing Crests would be relevant enough for Azulongmon to bring up at some time or another."

Ryo shook his head. "We'll have to find out what this means on our own. But we still don't know who's carrying the Crests of Light and Kindness yet. Before we make any moves, we should wait until Kenta's fully recovered and figure out who bears those Crests so we can come together and start coming up with some plans."

"Hah! Is that all?" Terriermon piped up. "Well, if it's just the Tamers who carry Crests, then it should be easy finding Light and Kindness! There's Ai and Makoto bein' Tamers for Impmon, not to mention Jen's little sister for Lopmon!"

"Assuming two Tamers can share a Crest, that is," Jenrya muttered. "Then again, two Tamers for one Digimon is pretty abnormal too, so it's possible…"

Kenta smiled. "You guys don't need to worry about my health. I feel fine now… like a great weight's been lifted from my shoulders. Must be this Crest thingy. Anyway, we ought to contact the twins' folks or Impmon so we can meet them as soon as possible. We can leave Jen to recruiting Shuichon, right?"

"Ah, yeah… no problem," Jenrya weakly assured. "I can do it tonight."

"Are you sure you're well enough to leave the hospital already?" Akemi asked her son worriedly. "A curse sounds so extreme and unnatural… what if you haven't been fully cured yet?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, mom," Kenta said, smiling. "I've never felt better. I haven't felt a migraine coming on since I woke up. Besides, if anything bad happens to me, MarineAngemon will be there to make me better. Right, buddy?"

"Pi pi pi!" Kenta's partner sung out happily, snuggling against his Tamer.

"Guess it's noteworthy to say that I haven't felt my heart give out or anything since I took my shirt off," Takato mentioned awkwardly. "Maybe we can regulate our bodies now that we know about our Crests?"

Hirokazu didn't look quite as complacent as the others. "Still gonna pulverize the bastard if I ever find him for wailing on Kenta. Or, uh… it. Whatever. I've got its number!"

Ruki shook her head, but then stared at Hirokazu as if she just realized something. "You know, I was trying to figure out why Hirokazu of all people would have the Crest of Courage, but I just remembered that the characters on the TV show with the Crest of Courage had the tendency to act like irrational dumbasses when it came to things like justice more often than not. No wonder I kept saying 'Kazu was more of a Gogglehead than our actual Gogglehead… I was right all along!"

"Well, with all due respect, I could never get myself to taint my flawless image with something as dorky as goggles," Hirokazu humbly admitted. "I'll just leave that as Takato's gimmick if that's okay with everyone else." The others laughed, but Takato looked annoyed.

"I don't even wear them anymore," he grumbled.

Compared to the others, Jenrya had been extremely quiet most of the time with very little to contribute. Part of him was excited to have his old self back in control, while part of him was too engrossed in the conversation to actually make a note of it. But it all came back to him as Juri shot him a rather concerned stare. Jenrya knew what this gesture was all about; it was only the two of them that had recently suffered an unnatural phenomenon, and because of Jenrya's questionable threats, they had never told anyone about it. Juri, both afraid and respectful of Jenrya and his wishes, kept quiet about it, but saw that this was an incident worth mentioning to the others to aid them in their new mission.

This was finally Jenrya's chance to seek some outside help to fight his darkness within, but when he tried to speak out, he found that he couldn't; no words would come out of his mouth. He came to realize this was not because of his own hesitation and stubbornness, now. Jenrya was unable to speak freely because Antijen could still suppress his willpower from the inside. Even if he had been thrown back to where he came from, Antijen was far too powerful now to be resisted by his host body. Jenrya could hear Antijen laughing from within his soul; untouchable and a proven constant presence no matter what he did. He was beyond the point where he could truly win against Antijen any longer.

Juri waited to see if Jenrya would consent to the secret becoming public knowledge to their peers, but saw that she would not get a verbal response out of him. She was about to ask out loud until Jenrya himself spoke up all of a sudden.

"Well, guys! It's getting kind of late and I have a lot of homework to do. I'm gonna go ahead and get home and let Shuichon know about what we're doing," he announced. "I'll see you guys later! Glad came out of this alright, Kenta." With that, he walked out the door before Terriermon could get a word in edgewise.

Ruki immediately found this strange. "He was pretty quick to get out of there, wasn't he?"

"Come to think of it…" Takato wondered out loud. "Wasn't Jen wearing a completely different set of clothes when he came in here?"

"Was he?" asked Ryo. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"I could've sworn he was," Takato claimed. "Didn't look a thing like what he had on before he left."

Juri noticed as well, but was too afraid to confront him about it with everyone. She did, however, suspect it had something to do with the strange dimension she found herself and Jenrya that day they were lost in the alley. The incident the two promised to never talk to the others about.

But he was no longer present to prevent her from talking about it. And Juri only wanted to talk about it to help her friends, because she was almost certain that their incident was connected with Kenta's incident. Much as she hated to break promises, Juri felt she could not bear to harm her friends any longer than she had already by withholding information; she thought that perhaps if she had only said something sooner, then maybe this attack on Kenta never would have taken place.

She could no longer stand the grief. "Actually, everyone… there's something I've needed to tell you all for a while. I was told never to speak of it, but… this is a special circumstance. It's about that day Jen and I went missing when Takato was still sick…"

Many eager ears listened on as Juri retold the events of that day. She made sure to spare no detail.

Meanwhile, Jenrya was running towards home as fast as he could.

"Whoa, Jen! Slow down, already!" Terriermon shouted, clinging to his partner for dear life. "Where's the fire, huh?!"

"Don't worry about it, Terriermon!" was all Jenrya would give his Digimon. But inwardly, his darker persona stewed.

"Damn it all! She's probably blabbing to all of them right now about the incident in the alley. She's onto me. They'll be throwing questions at you left and right tomorrow, Jenrya. I won't allow you to ruin this for me," Antijen grunted.

"And what'll you do about it?" Jenrya thought, knowing Antijen could read his mental projections. "I'm the one who's back in control now. I've let you play your game for far too long. You're the one who did this to Kenta, and now you're reaping what you've sown. Once my friends figure out how, we're getting rid of you once and for all!"

"You think it's that easy?"Antijen challenged. "You're going to be in for a nasty surprise down the road, then. In any case, the only reason you were able to reclaim control of your body was because I had a minuscule moment of weakness. What you fail to realize is that the same rule applies to you now: if you leave an opening for me for even a second, I'll snatch your body back within a blink of the eye. You're fighting a losing battle, Jenrya. Just admit it."

"Unlike you, I have friends on my side," Jenrya reminded him. "All I need to do is tell Terriermon before the night is out, and he'll be sure to mess you up so badly that you'll be screaming to get back into the depths of my body."

"Thank you for letting me realize that,"Antijen spoke mockingly. "That helps out immensely with my trying to decide who gets to go first."

"… G-go…? What do you mean by…?"

"Take a good look at your companion, Jenrya. Because by the end of the night, you'll see exactly why keeping your mouth shut would be the best course of action for you when I eliminate Terriermon right before your very eyes."

"Eli... min… NO!!"

"And since I can personally make sure you keep your mouth shut until I decide you can freely speak, Terriermon won't be able to react until it's too late! Face the facts, now! I've already won yet another round of this game! Be sure to say goodnight to your partner before I put him to sleep."

"NO!! TERRIERMON!!"

( TBC )