Hey, do you guys know what's really disappointing? The fact that this story has more favorites and followers than reviews. I'm ecstatic for the number of people who favorite and follow but seeing a large review count is much more appealing. I don't want to do those, reviews for a new chapter stuff because that's stupid but I'd really appreciate it if you guys could just tell me something about my story that you like or think I can improve on. Thank you for giving your attention to this public service announcement now if you would please place your attention to the following word: REVIEW!

-X-

September 22: Unknown – 3:19 AM

I felt myself sinking into the pool of darkness underneath me as I looked at the three faces above, looking down on me with pity. One was an old man wearing a mask, another a large beast with razor-sharp teeth, and the last was a lovely young woman. But all three seemed to look on to me with the same sympathetic expression and I loathed it.

"What's happening to me?" I asked to the darkness around me.

"Why, my dear, you're so disillusioned by the faces of smiling children that you have forgotten where your true allies are," the woman smiled sadly. "Please come back to us, we all miss you. Don't you even care about us anymore?"

I stared up at the owners of these voices, it was strange but when they spoke, their mouths didn't move so it felt as if the voices were disembodied. I seemed to have stopped sinking now but half my body was still submerged in this mysterious black water. "…I… I don't even know who you guys are."

"How cruel," the old man stated with a shake of his head. "To think that you could forget your old friends after the centuries we spent together."

"Centuries? I think you've got me confused with the wrong person, I'm not that old," I muttered, though there was a string of doubt in my voice. I'm not even quite sure why. Ah, perhaps it's because I'm a Digimon, I can be reborn multiple times and forget the memories of my past lives. So for all I know, I could've lived for several millennia in a past life.

It felt like my eyelids were getting heavier and I was going to fall asleep which was strange because I was pretty sure I was already in a dream. Should I be able to feel anything in a dream? Should I even fall asleep in a dream?

The large beast took charge this time and his voice sounded frighteningly animalistic, it was more unreal than everything else going on in this wacky place. "We know we have you pegged right, it's just a pity that those humans brainwashed you. Do you really consider yourself to be one of them? Do you think they consider you to be one of them?"

I subconsciously gave him a smug grin. "I am well aware of what I am but at least I don't have a face as ugly as yours." The beast snarled ferociously and even though it didn't particularly scare me, I still let my grin drop. "Besides, if you get to know the humans, you may actually start to like them."

The woman made a face. "The very thought repulses me."

"But we're not so different," I continued. "Just look at you and the geezer. You both look like humans, you're practically halfway there!"

"That thought repulses me too."

The old man stroked his beard as if trying to remember whether or not he was actually human and not a Digimon. "You are incorrect; we are the same as any other Digimon with a human appearance, fully Digimon in heart and body. Kind of like your Mega form. Or did you forget about that one minor detail the same way you have forgotten about us?"

How could I forget? Sometimes I regret ever discovering that other side of myself. "I guess the thought never occurred to me. I mean, the first thought that comes to mind when I see human faces are that they belong to humans."

"He's not wrong," the animal growled. "But now is not the time for jokes, we must take our leave. We've outstayed our welcome."

"You are right," the old man nodded. "We shall visit you again at another time."

It was a struggle just to raise my arm to show the motion of me trying to stop them. "Wait, I don't even know who you guys are!"

It was too late then, their bodies were fading away and I could feel myself waking up. But at that last second, the woman turned to me with a delicate smile. "Please try to remember your past darling, your past with us." I didn't understand what she meant but when I looked at my hand, I saw blood smeared on it and a vision flashed through my mind. I saw a hand holding a gun and before the man with the weapon, a desolate land of blood and gore. Piles of corpses upon other corpses and I was absolutely disgusted by it but there was also this sick part of me… that relished it.

September 22: Hypnos Rooftop – 1:11 PM

The corner of Izzy's mouth twitched upward as he stared at the image on his laptop, Tommy wasn't even sure if there was a word to describe what he was feeling at the moment as he stood over the redhead's shoulder. On Izzy's other shoulder was Takato and he had to say, he had absolutely nothing good to say either. In front of them were Davis and Takuya, laughing hysterically with tears running down their cheeks as they were unable to contain their laughter.

Tommy groaned. "It's not that funny."

"It's pretty funny," Takuya laughed.

"It's hilarious!" Davis spouted, through tears.

"I mean, it's not the coolest looking Digimon but it looks decently strong at least, appearance is unimportant if we get into trouble," Takato said.

Rika hit the cackling brunets upside the head. "Both of you stop it!" The two of them made some sort of whimpering noise as they held the bumps that were growing on their heads. "And here I thought it would be a peaceful day without Kazu and Kenta around but I have two more morons to deal with. Besides, a strong Digimon has nothing to do with his appearance, just look at Terriermon."

"Ye – Hey!" the dog-bunny hybrid exclaimed, insulted. He turned to his partner. "Aren't you going to say something about it?"

"She is kind of right," Henry shrugged.

Marcus clapped his hands together to gather all of their attention on him. "Okay, it looks like this is everybody who is going to come but why are there only thirty of us?"

Everyone aside from those of the Data Squad stared at him and most of them tilted their heads to the side in confusion. "Who are you?"

That irked him. "I'm Marcus!"

"Huh?" There was a long pause as they stared at his face. "Oh…"

Marcus stared at his sister as if to blame her for them not recognizing him and it seemed like he actually did. "Kristy cut my hair because she said it was freakishly long," he grumbled. He pulled on a strand of his brown hair. "So that's why I have my dad's haircut which is even shorter than my hair five years ago."

"I just don't want to seem like I'm related to some prehistoric Neanderthal," Kristy retorted.

"I don't even know what that means nor do I want to know."

"Yeah, because you're technically a middle school drop-out."

Yoshino came between them just as she did with Marcus and Thomas when they were working together. "Okay, can we just get to the reason why you called all of us up here? Because I'm pretty sure we all have busy schedules and don't want our time to be wasted."

"Right," Marcus said, perking up almost immediately. "It has come to my attention that since we are all going to be working together, we need to get to know each other better. We have to build some trust or we'll never be able to accomplish anything in a fight when we don't even know that much about each other. So I propose we split up our groups and spend time with others!"

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Kristy mused. "Are you really my brother?"

Marcus ignored her. "But before that, tell me who is missing so I can adapt to those changes."

"Well, Joe is home cramming for some big exam tomorrow," Sora told him.

"Ken was called to the school for something, he doesn't really know what," Yolei sighed.

"Kazu and Kenta aren't here and I don't remember why but I'm happy about it," Rika grinned.

"Ai and Mako are visiting their grandmother in another city," Jeri said before adding as an afterthought. "Impmon is staying with me for the time being though."

"And Suzie said she didn't want to come because she feels there won't be any point," Henry stated with a heavy sigh.

"Kouichi has to help mother around the house and I think that's everybody not here," Kouji finished.

Marcus clapped his hands together again. "Okay, that's fine; this is good actually since its equal now. There are five people in each team so I will take each of them and mix it up so that we end up with five new teams with a person from each original team."

Yolei suddenly appeared by Thomas's side and hugged his arm. "I want to be on Thomas's team."

Mimi appeared on his other side and hugged that arm. "I'll also be on his team and since Yolei and I are technically from different generations of Chosen Children, we can both be on his team!"

"Too bad!" Marcus shot at them. "I have a different idea."

"I bet he's going to group himself with every pretty girl from each team," JP whispered to Ryo on the sidelines.

The Tamer nodded in agreement, both of them snickering a little. "By that logic, on his team, it would be Mimi, Kari, Rika, and Zoey. Can't say I blame him, he's been in the Digital World for quite some time, after all; he must be craving for some human female interaction aside from his sister."

"Yeah."

September 22: Shibuya Gym – 2:27 PM

Marcus was standing proudly in front of the place he chose to spend their bonding time and the other four simply stared at his back which was emitting rays of triumph. Two of the four seemed to be drooping as if in some sort of state of depression or humiliation at losing some sort of bet.

"Why the hell are we in your group?" Ryo and JP asked him.

Matt looked over their group which basically consisted of himself, Marcus, Cody, Ryo and JP. "It is a rather odd combination."

Marcus looked over to the two Yagami High second-years. "Come on, we're all men here, why are you two complaining? What group did you want to be put in?"

"It's not so much about that," Ryo sighed. "We just expected you to choose girls over any of the guys since that's what a normal man has on the mind. But instead, you choose to be in a group of all males and not only that, you take us to a gym where usually only men hang out so…"

Ryo stopped there and he and JP looked over to Cody who was just standing around, watching the cars breeze by while ignoring the older boys' seemingly meaningless conversation. They looked back to Marcus with a mixed expression of horror and disgust. "You pedophile!"

Matt stopped Marcus from punching in both of their faces by holding him back. "What was that?! I am going to kill the both of you when I get my hands wrapped around your necks and rip out your windpipes!"

"I'm sure they didn't mean it so just please calm down, there is no need to get so riled up about this," Matt huffed. When Marcus finally calmed down, the blonde sat down to catch his breath. "Man, you're strong and that was incredibly stressful for me. Now I know how Sora felt whenever she had to stop one of my arguments with Tai."

"Look," Marcus sighed. "I just dumped our names into five hats, pulled a name out of each hat and those became the teams. It just so happened that the five of us ended up as one team so I thought it would be fun to go to a gym. It was all pure coincidence; I'm not some pedophiliac pervert. As a matter of fact, I'm not even interested in sex at all, whether it's with a male or a female."

Cody, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke. "I don't think it's such a bad idea. Besides, studies have shown exercise to relieve many people of the everyday stress that comes from work or school. It might be good idea."

"Well, I supposed if you think so," Ryo relented.

JP muttered something under his breath but agreed nonetheless. "Fine, let's just go."

Marcus could not believe his eyes or ears at how easily the two of them had changed their minds to the idea. "Why is it that you guys agree with the youngest guy in this group but not with the oldest one?!"

September 22: Nonaka Residence – 2:50 PM

Yolei's eyes glittered like diamonds as she poured tea into Ms. Nonaka's cup. "So, you really have to wake up that early for some of your photo shoots? Wow, I can't believe it! Even famous models are just like normal people sometimes."

Ms. Nonaka laughed cheerfully. "You flatter me; I am a perfectly ordinary girl, just like you are. The only difference is our age and the fact that I live in this beautiful traditional manor as you put it. You know, you shouldn't sell yourself short, you're as beautiful as a model too you know."

"Thank you so much!" Yolei absolutely sparkled.

"You realize that the whole reason why I invited you to my house was so that you could 'bond' with us right? And not my mother?" Rika asked her at the doorway.

"Sh! I'm trying to talk to a model here; it's like a dream come true!"

"Whatever."

Rika closed the sliding door and walked over to the others who were just hanging around the raised walkway, conversing amicably. She stopped short of the oldest in their group, Tai, who was just sitting in the cool shade of the awning.

"Your house is really nice though, tranquil and atmospheric," Tai sighed. "I wish I could live in a place like this."

Kristy, seated next to him, took a sip from her cup of herbal green tea. "You could if you just went to college, finish, and got a real job. That might be a good place to start if you want to live in a place like this."

"Why would you anyway?" Rika scoffed.

Tai looked back to the Digimon who were playing and running through the wide open spaces in Rika's yard. Agumon, Poromon, and Biyomon seemed to be enjoying the fresh air while Renamon just leaned her back against a support pillar holding up the awning. "Well, it's perfect for the Digimon to play outside without getting caught by public eyes," Tai smiled. "I really miss the days when Agumon could just walk through the streets without the risk of causing a panic."

"I don't even know those days," Kristy muttered a tad bitterly. But she turned back to Biyomon and smiled. "But yeah, it would be nice to just walk out with them by your side rather than inside a small device, wouldn't it?"

"You guys are really talking about them around someone who can't?" Rika reminded them.

Tommy stood up from where he was sitting by the pond, where he had been watching the Japanese koi fish. "Its fine, I don't really mind that at all. Besides, I'm still able to communicate with Kumamon and Korikakumon in public without others knowing at least. That's not all bad."

"You see, there's nothing wrong with us saying things like that," Tai shrugged.

Rika gave him an estranged look. "I know your epilogue is made up but do you have any kind of speaking skills that resemble diplomacy at all?"

Tai sighed. "Look, I know this for a fact, kids who become DigiDestined end up growing up much faster than they'd like. When I was ten, before I even got involved with the Digital World, all I cared about was soccer and keeping myself out of trouble. After that summer, I was constantly looking out for my family and friends, worried that some otherworldly thing was going to happen and I would get stuck in the middle of it. We all grew up in some way, you must've too."

"…Yeah, I did," Rika admitted. "I learned that sometimes, being alone isn't as good as having friends around that care about you."

"Marcus does seem 'older' – and I don't mean literally – compared to how he was five years ago no matter how immature he may seem to you guys currently," Kristy nodded. "I wonder if that means I'm going to change too because I never had experience with being a DigiDestined before. It's not like it's that hard, right?"

"Depends on your enemy and your situation," Tommy told her as if he was some expert. "Right now, we don't know who we're supposed to fight but we do know our situation. You've got a partner who's already able to reach the Ultimate stage and you've got several experienced Chosen Children all around you. If you ask me, you're pretty much in good shape."

"He's right," Tai nodded.

"The adventure will be half as dangerous at least," Kristy chuckled.

"Can you guys keep it down?!" Yolei called from inside. "I am trying to socialize and become closer with Ms. Nonaka as Marcus intended."

"You're trying to get closer to the wrong Nonaka though!" Tai called back before returning his attention to the others again. "And besides, I think just talking to each other is good enough bonding. What do you guys think?"

Tai figured out early on that every DigiDestined team, there was always at least one lone wolf and in the Tamers, it appeared to be Rika. So she was the person he was mainly directing his question to and she was aware of that.

Rika sat down on the walkway next to Tai and gave him an unreadable stare as she responded. "Let me give it to you straight, I don't easily trust people and you probably figured that out already. But here's what I'm telling you, I don't trust any of you. The team I trust the most are the Legendary Warriors and not just because Tommy is the youngest next to some of the members of my team. Leormon came back with their D-Tectors and even though I can't fully bring myself to trust him either, I at least know him."

"You can't even trust your friend's own partner? You've got some major trust issues," Kristy remarked.

"Even Digimon keep secrets," Rika fired back.

"Why don't you trust Tai and his team though?" Tommy asked. "I mean, you must've seen the show right? You and the other Tamers said that it was what influenced and led you guys to becoming Tamers. Do you think that the entire show is fabricated?"

Rika shook her head. "All I'm saying is that a lot can change in four years. Besides, how do I know that they haven't been taken over by some crazed evil force and now they're doing things at his or her bidding?"

"Serious, serious issues," said Kristy.

"What makes you say something like that?" Tai inquired.

"You guys have always been here," she told them directly. "I don't believe in things like destiny, we make them ourselves so it's just strange to me that even before that day we all met, we Tamers already knew you guys. When Henry's brother was in school, you and Matt were friends with him and Joe was in the same class as him. Henry's older sister, Jaarin, is in the same class as Mimi for the second year in a row now and she was in all the same sports clubs as Sora. TK's mother did an interview with my mother and he ended up trying to be friends with me. Not to mention how Izzy visited Shinjuku Junior High and became acquainted with Henry. And lastly, you decide to get a summer job and you end up applying at Matsuki Bakery. Tell me that can't be all just coincidences."

Tai was silent for a second or two as he gave it some thought. He finally chuckled softly and gave a blissful smile. "To be honest, I don't believe in destiny either. But I do believe that when it is needed, some things are just meant to happen. Something brought us all up to the point when we all met and I think we should acknowledge that. So you don't have to trust me but at least give me the benefit of the doubt for now."

"…Fine… I suppose I can do that."

September 22: Odaiba District Mall – 2:56 PM

Mimi was dragging Zoey to almost every department store and buying whatever she thought they would both want. Zoey didn't really complain, mostly because she had no idea how, she was too distracted by the fact that her arm could be ripped off her body at any given moment.

The rest of the group basically followed the two of them while carrying all of the shopping bags like they were their personal pack mules. Well, Mimi's, Zoey offered to help them carry the bags but then was dragged into a jewelry store by her female companion. The blond was seriously starting to rethink her desire to have another girl on her Legendary Warrior team if it would become like this. Sure, she was girly, but not to this extent.

"Tell me again why we agreed to do this?" Davis grumbled irately.

Keenan adjusted the bags he held with his right arm. "Because Mimi scared you into doing it when you protested against it?"

"She didn't scare me!" the brunet argued. "I just flinched at her Medusa impression. Don't tell me that you guys didn't see her eyes become blood-red, her teeth became fangs, her tongue was forked, and her hair became venomous, blood-sucking snakes."

Henry and Keenan stared at him until they realized that he was being dead serious. "You were clearly hallucinating," they both replied together.

"I wasn't!"

Mimi came over to them, Zoey in full tow, when she had noticed that the boys hadn't followed them into the next store. "Do you guys not want to be at the mall?" she asked. "I'm completely fine with going somewhere else. But first, hold these bags." She shoved two more gigantic bags into each of their right hands. "Be careful with those, they're all from jewelry stores and they're all super fragile. You guys will have to pay for all of it if you drop or shake them too much. Now, everyone who would like to go somewhere else, raise your right hand."

The guys just stared at her in disbelief.

"You're kidding right?" Keenan asked but she ignored him with a smile.

"Great, then let's go to Victoria's Secret next!" she smiled.

"Are you sure you want to take three boys to a store like that?" Zoey asked but she was left unanswered as she was immediately dragged into the store.

"Unbelievable!" Davis groaned.

September 22: Odaiba Beach – 2:59 PM

"This was a great idea Kari," Takato chuckled as he took a sip of his smoothie.

Kari nodded as she raised her sunglasses to her forehead. "Well it was still warm out so I figured it was probably a good idea to hit the beach." She leaned back in her beach chair and stretched out in relaxation. "Besides, it's not every day you can just take a day to relax and feel the sun kissing your skin."

Three members of their group were sitting on beach chairs, Takato, Kari, and Izzy, who was typing away at his computer. The Digimon were able to get out of their digivices since they found a rather secluded area to hang out where the large rocks could cover them from view. It appeared that the redhead was taking notes on Guilmon and his behavior.

"Um, Izzy, what are you doing?" Takato asked when he noticed the older male's interest in his partner.

"Well, you said that Guilmon was created by you, right? Since I don't have any data on him, I figured why not study him upfront?" Izzy shrugged.

"It probably makes you feel like a real scientist" Kari laughed.

"It kind of does."

Kouji got out of the water and walked over to them, drying himself off with his towel. "Hey, have you guys seen Yoshino? She went out to get more smoothies like half an hour ago and she still hasn't come back. What do you think is keeping her?"

Izzy didn't even look up from his laptop while the other two looked around as if she might be nearby. "Well, she is a rather attractive woman and the fact is, she walked out in the swimsuit she was wearing, I'm pretty sure she's just trying to get rid of some pathetically hormonal boys since she doesn't want to bring them here where the Digimon could potentially be exposed."

Kari popped her head over the rocks and nodded her head. "Yup, as usual, Izzy's theory is correct."

Takato and Kouji looked over with her and Lalamon soon floated upwards and made a sound of frustration at seeing her partner drooled over like she was a piece of meat. "Why I ought to teach those boys a lesson!" Lalamon exclaimed but Takato held her back.

"You can't! You'll expose the existence of Digimon if you do," Takato told her.

Kouji leapt over the rocks. "Just leave it to me," he sighed as he walked over to Yoshino. As he got closer, he could clearly see that the boys were staring at her chest region and it was obvious that she knew since she was clenching her hand into a tight fist. She was clenching it so hard, in fact, there was actually a pink DigiSoul surrounding it so she kept it hidden behind her back with her other hand balancing a tray of smoothies. She looked like a scantily clad waitress at an adult venue.

"I really need to be getting back to my friends," Yoshino said through gritted teeth.

"Well, we can be your friends, right boys?" one of them smiled while draping his arms around the other two. The other two nodded stupidly and Kouji just couldn't believe that he was the same gender as they were. He had never felt more ashamed to be male.

"Hey!" Kouji called out to them, getting their attention. "You three realize that you're bothering her, right?"

"Yeah, and what's it to you?"

Kouji simply stared back at him with an expressionless face as he walked past them and next to Yoshino. "She's my older sister and I don't appreciate the fact that you guys are ogling her the way you are," the Warrior of Light responded coolly.

"Hey, we're being polite here. She is currently showing off ninety percent of her skin right now and we're only looking at the covered areas."

"That's a new one," Yoshino muttered.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Either way, I want you guys to leave her alone."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Kouji raised an eyebrow at them, wondering if that counted as a threat and whether or not he should react in defense. So in the next few minutes, Kari and Takato watched and cringed and covered their eyes until Kouji and Yoshino made it back to their secret hangout. "I took care of them," Kouji nodded as if he had just convicted murder and they were his clients.

"Remind us to never get on your bad side," Kari finally muttered.

"I'm just glad to get away from those morons," Yoshino huffed. She then turned back to Kouji. "And as a cop, I have the right to arrest you for assault but since I'm off-duty, I'll let this one slide." She took a look around as if expecting Samson to appear from out of nowhere. "We'll just keep this between us."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Kouji shrugged.

"What kind of DigiDestined group did we create?" Izzy murmured.

September 22: Norstein Shinjuku Estate – 3:03 PM

They got out of the limo and the large doors of the mansion seemingly opened up by themselves but it was really by the butler from inside. "I'm sorry it's a bit messy," Thomas told them as they entered. "The Data Squad and I just moved in last week and we haven't had the time to actually tidy things up."

"Everything is literally sparkling," Takuya stated in disbelief. "I can see my reflection on the floor. Obviously, your definition of messy is lightyears away from my definition of messy. Did you get blessed by the God of cleanliness?"

Jeri nodded in agreement. "It's like everything was polished but none of it is slippery in the slightest. It's amazing."

Sora and TK were the last ones to enter the mansion and they just felt like they had entered another universe, one unlike their world or the Digital World. "I feel like I just died and this is the house Kami-sama lives in," Sora commented.

Thomas chuckled lightly as he looked around. "Really? You guys think so? Because this is one of the Norstein's smaller estates, it's more of a cottage if anything."

"Okay, we're complimenting you; there is no need to rub in your fortune," Takuya said. "Besides, we only figured out to come here after like a whole hour of arguing where we should spend some time together. But now there's another problem, what are we going to do?"

TK shrugged, looking over to Thomas. "What is there to do?"

"I'll show you," Thomas replied. He began leading them towards the back door and none of them had any idea what to expect. When they finally made it, the Austrian opened the door to reveal a huge amusement park built right in his backyard. "Welcome to the Mirage Wolf Amusement Park. I had it built after I went to one on Kristy's birthday five years ago."

"Oh, I've been here before!" Jeri squealed. "I can't believe I didn't realize it while the limo was on its way here."

"I can't believe we didn't notice that rollercoaster from the front, it's taller than the mansion itself," Sora added.

"Doesn't the screaming bother you when you guys try to sleep at night? Or any time of the day frankly?" TK asked him.

Thomas pressed his hand against the wall of his mansion. "The walls are really thick and closing time is midnight. Now come on, let's go!"

They entered the park through the special entrance that was closed off to the public and once again, Sora and TK trailed in the back. "Is it just me or is Thomas a lot mellower when we're away from Marcus?"

TK paused as he took a few seconds to think about it. "Kind of like how Matt was when he was away from Tai during our first adventure into the Digital World."

"Exactly!"

"I'm willing to bet that there's a relationship like that on every team."

September 22: Hypnos – 4:32 PM

The sound of clicking resonated throughout the entire room, it bounced off the walls and back to the source, a lighter in a man's hand. "Um… Yamaki?" Janyu called after a while, catching his superior's attention. "Why are you always clicking that lighter?"

Riley answered for him as she came back with a piping mug of coffee. "He used to be a heavy smoker and when he quit, he ended up clicking that lighter to relieve his stress instead of lighting a cigarette. I'm just glad he also quit having such depressing lighting in this room."

"Well after Hypnos was destroyed that time, I decided it was time for some remodeling, a different design from the original," Yamaki sighed. He took a sip from his own cup of coffee before turning in his chair to face Janyu. "We've been working together for over five years now, what made you decide to ask that question now of all times?"

"It just never occurred to me before," Janyu shrugged. "It's a pretty slow day so I decided to get to know my boss a little more."

Tally released a little giggle. "Sounds like you're just trying to kiss up to him. Well, flattery doesn't get you anywhere with Yamaki, nor does getting to know him better, unless you're Riley of course."

"And what does that mean?" Riley and Yamaki asked.

Tally whistled a casual tune as she walked out of the room passing Janyu on her way out. "Also, do not mention anything about their personal relationship or imply that anything other than professionalism is going on because that can only go downhill," she hissed.

Shibumi walked in at the same time the blond worker walked out. He watched as she walked down the hall for a little while. "She seems to be falsely nonchalantly walking out of the room… She implied something about Riley and Yamaki," he deduced as he turned back to the others in the room. "Hey, Yamaki, I've got to ask you a question."

Yamaki took another sip from his beverage and placed it down next to him. "Is it about those DATS scientists I asked you to work with? Or something about the new digital gate's creation for sending all those Digi-Eggs back because I'm already worried they'll hatch and destroy everything in here."

"Neither, I just wanted to know why you wear those shades everywhere, including indoors."

"What is this? Get-to-know-Yamaki-day?" he huffed in exasperation.

"I just figured that since the kids are all getting to know each other better, why not do the same with us?" Shibumi shrugged. "Now give us all the juicy details." He was acting like a stereotyped teenager asking about what happened during a date.

Yamaki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose but he decided there was no harm in telling his story. "It has to do with my initial hatred towards Digimon. I was nearly killed by one. You see, a digital fog appeared when I was young. I was in it and the light from the digital fog permanently damaged my eyes and since then, anything bright, is too painful to look at. It's less severe now than before but it still kind of stings sometimes."

Daisy came in upon hearing their conversation. "Just because you almost got killed by Digimon doesn't mean you should hate them."

"…It wasn't about me," Yamaki muttered, almost inaudibly. "My parents were killed by that Digimon and even though I barely remember it, someone had saved me. I think it might've been one of the very first DigiDestined, he defeated the one that had tried to kill me, which I witnessed right before passing out. When I came to, I was told that my parents had died in some horrible car crash. I pretended to believe them because I didn't want to sound crazy for what I actually saw. I bore a grudge against those mysterious creatures and searched for answers. When I finally found out what was responsible, I devoted my life to destroying them. That is, until five years ago."

Everyone was silent, unable to find the words to say to their superior but it seemed that Riley had already heard this tale before. Shibumi as well, he didn't seem so much as surprised as he did somber. "If you don't mind me asking, how old were you when this incident happened?" Shibumi inquired.

"I was five, even at that young of an age, I knew what kind of stories would qualify you into getting sent to a mental facility," Yamaki replied. "Although at my age, they probably would've dismissed it as a child's wild imagination."

"Thirty years ago," Shibumi said.

"Whatever happened to this DigiDestined, do you have any idea?" Daisy asked out of curiosity.

"I don't have a clue, I think I saw him next to my bed at the hospital at one point but I was still having trouble seeing so I couldn't really make him out," Yamaki mused. "He seemed genuinely concerned about me despite the two of us never having met before."

"He probably did," Riley told him. "You were just–!"

She was cut off when an alarm rang out, sending them all rushing to their stations. Even Tally came back in at top speed and got into her seat at the same time Riley had put on her glasses. As the lift took the two of them higher up in the room, Yamaki ran over to them. "That's the emergency alarm, what's the situation?"

"I don't believe this!" Tally gasped.

"Well believe it because it's actually happening," Riley said.

"What's going on?" Yamaki asked again.

"Several Digimon are trying to realize into the human world, in five different locations," Riley finally answered after some typing. "They're going to bio-emerge in about forty seconds. This is bad; all of them are really strong according to their signals."

Before Yamaki could tell them to call the DigiDestined, Tally cut him off. "Good and strange news is, there are already Chosen Children in each of those areas. At Shibuya Gym, a neighborhood in West Shinjuku, Odaiba district mall, Odaiba beach, and an amusement park in East Shinjuku."

Yamaki began clicking his lighter more nervously now. "Well, we better come up with some good alibis just in case. I just hope they can handle this."

"Don't worry about it," Janyu assured him. "They may be young, but they all know what they're doing."

"I know. I just hope that they can trust each other."

-X-

With all of the Chosen Children mixed up the way they are, will they be able to pull together to take on these new enemies? How is it possible for so many Digimon to bio-emerge at the same time, coincidentally in the same places as the DigiDestined? Is it the work of their new evil enemy? Find out on the next, Digimon: Children of the Present!

I'm going to make this short. First, I'll be getting my SAT scores tomorrow so wish me luck. Second, I hear Fairy Tail is coming back in a couple days; April fourth to be exact. I'm excited because my sister and I follow it through the anime since we don't really feel inclined to read the manga. Third, don't forget to leave a review! Bye!