Previously on Digimon Travelers...

Through their battles, both the Digimon and children grow stronger. The opponents of the latest Digizone are no match until Ishtarimon, the Venus Celestial General, steps in to destroy the Digimon that resist the King. The four Digimon struggle valiantly, but are unable to push the battle in their favor. The children refuse to cave in to Ishtarimon's demands to turn over their D-Tais. When their friends are threatened, Alexa and Labramon join forces to shatter Ishtarimon's armor, forcing her to retreat. Another Digimon and child pair have joined the battle. But what place will they venture to next?

"Damn these humans!"

Peledramon tightened her grip on her partner's shoulder as Ishtarimon stormed into the room, making a beeline for Nabimon. "Nabimon! I've had enough of these damned disgusting creatures! We need to come up with something once and for all before we lose our ability to control them for real."

Nabimon looked up at her. Ishtarimon was no longer in the golden armor she typically wore, but rather a white and gold toga across her top half, creating a look of grace instead of the powerful statement her armor had created. "You felt like a mode change, I see."

"Change nothing! Those damned rebels!" Ishtarimon stamped one paw on the ground hard enough to spiderweb the stone underneath. Peledramon pushed against her partner's shoulder, urging her back against the wall. "Nabimon, we need to talk to the King about this."

"Very well. You two, stay here," Nabimon instructed as he followed Ishtarimon out.

Peledramon nodded, settling against his partner's neck. To her alarm, the girl pushed away from the wall, slipping out the door silently. "Wait, no," Peledramon said in a hushed tone, tightening her claws on the girl's shirt. "We need to stay here."

"Ishtarimon's got an axe to grind," the girl said quietly. "I want to make sure I'm not in its way. Just stay quiet."

Peledramon frowned, but knew that her partner had a point. She slipped down the hallway, keeping her distance from Nabimon and Ishtarimon, her footsteps making no noise. "Lord Ashurimon. The rebels continue to trouble us."

"Three of the Celestial Generals are no more, Ashurimon. Even the flaming sword has been lost to us. Now is the time to bring the justice of the heavens upon them, Lord Ashurimon," Ishtarimon pressed.

"The humans..." Ashurimon's voice sounded tired. "I don't understand why they've turned against me now."

"Humans are the best thing to deal with humans," Nabimon said. "Shall we let our pet deal with them?"

Peledramon could feel the muscles in the back of her partner's neck tense up. "She hasn't been very successful thus far," Ishtarimon pointed out. "I don't see why you're so sure she'll succeed now."

"She will. Humans are exponentially capable when they're properly motivated. If she doesn't win, she won't be able to stay in this world. I'll send her out after them again."

"And when she fails, Nabimon? Then what? Are you going to go after them yourself?"

"It's true that there are very few things in this world that can go against the combination of a Digimon and a human," Ashurimon cut them both off. "We will give her another chance. Ishtarimon, return to hunting the associates of the rebel Youseimon. We will send out the human girl against the humans one more time."

"As you wish, Lord Ashurimon." Ishtarimon turned, walking back down the hallway. Peledramon flattened herself as best she could against her partner's chest, the girl ducking behind a pillar. It was barely necessary; Ishtarimon didn't so much as look around as she walked away.

"Nabimon." Ashurimon's voice had fallen quiet, reflective. "Do you think I'm wrong?"

"You are our god, Ashurimon. What you do is for the sake of the Digital World."

"And yet, the humans threaten our world. Have I misjudged them?" A sigh. "I had such hopes for Daiichi's child. She shouldn't have had trouble with them at all. Look how easily she obtained the shin evolution."

"She is still just a child, my lord."

"It's because they're children that they have such power. I don't know what it is that she lacks that the others have."

"She will find it. As I said, they become more powerful when properly motivated."

She had apparently heard enough, for she slipped back down the hallway, as silently as she had entered. "It's okay," Peledramon said, touching her cheek with a paw. "I won't let you down. We'll win this time." No response. "Why don't we go home and rest? You must be hungry."

"Home? To where there's nothing?" She looked away from Peledramon, her glasses fogged up.

"There's me." Peledramon rubbed against her neck. "Wherever you go, there will be me. Let's go. I'll make you something nice."

"This is the address the Nijinos have," Rina said as she checked the number one more time. "I wasn't able to find out much about it yet. I figured it might be easier to go to the source."

"I guess so." Mirai looked up at the door as well, Youseimon holding onto her hand. "You want to knock?"

"What's this, turning shy all of a sudden? Well, not a problem for me," Rina said as she gave the door a sharp rap. No response came from within, and it remained that way when she knocked again.

"Maybe they're out," Youseimon said.

"Or maybe they really are dead," Mirai said with a shiver.

"At least one of 'em's alive, Mirai-chan. We've seen her ourselves. And I don't believe in ghosts, anyway."

"I bet you didn't believe in monsters, either."

"Yeah, well, that is that and this is this." Rina reached for the doorknob, giving it a twist. "Hey, it's open."

"Rina-chan!" Mirai stared in horror as her friend swung the door open, peering inside. "You can't go in there!"

"I'm just going to take a quick look around."

Curiosity beat morality; Mirai peered around Rina's shoulder as the other girl reached in, flipping on the lights. The apartment looked perfectly normal, simply decorated but well-kept. Nothing out of the ordinary. Certainly nothing to indicate it was abandoned or used by ghosts.

Youseimon slipped inside, taking off her shoes at the entrance. "Youseimon!" Mirai hissed.

"Hold on a moment. There's something here I want to examine." Hopping onto the couch, Youseimon pulled something off the shelf, something that appeared to be some sort of shadow box.

"Ooh, something interesting?" Rina entered, taking off her shoes, and Mirai had no choice but to enter or to look suspicious outside in the hall. "Show me, show me!"

"Rina-chan!" Mirai groaned as she followed. Youseimon held the out so both girls could see. It was some sort of electronic device, with a simple screen in its plastic case and odd markings around the outside, but it wasn't anything Mirai was familiar with. "What is it?"

"It's from the Digital World," Youseimon said, "that much I know for certain. It feels the same as our world. And see these markings here?" she said, pointing to the glyphs along the outside. "These letters are our native writing system. This without a doubt came from the Digital World."

"But what is it?" Rina echoed.

"I don't know. According to the glyphs, it's a 'digital device', but that doesn't tell me much about what it does or did. It isn't like anything I've seen in the Digital World before."

"Hm. So the Nijino household definitely has a connection with the Digital World, then."

"We already knew that," Rina pointed out. "Since that girl said she was the daughter of that Daiichi guy. Or rather, said she wasn't any longer, implying that she was in the past."

"Yes, but it indicates some deeper involvement than just that. Whatever this digital device was, it wasn't here to look pretty. It had a specific purpose. That means that either she or someone in her family was involved in some separate incident in the Digital World," Youseimon explained. "And at the least, this household knew about the Digital World."

Mirai rubbed her arm, looking around the room. "Did the name Daiichi Nijino sound familiar to you, Youseimon?"

"No. But I've not known the name of any human prior to meeting you. If there were humans involved with the Digital World in the past, I don't know what happened." Youseimon let out a sigh. "I envy you humans, in a way. You keep such faithful records of the past, even with the things you would rather not remember. We in the Digital World have no history. Only the snippets of legends and rumors that trickle down to us on occasion."

"We didn't keep good records, Youseimon. Much of our past is pieced together as guesswork, based on the tiniest things from past ages. It's just that we have so many people studying those tiny pieces that we can form something that seems complete." Mirai touched a hand to Youseimon's shoulder. "You'll be able to patch together your own history too, one day."

"Something's on in the back room," Rina spoke up. "I'm going to go check."

"Oh, come on, Rina-chan!" Mirai chewed at her lip, but once again followed as Rina walked down the short hallway, pausing at an open door. The interior of the room reminded Mirai somewhat of her own; it was pink and girly, with lovingly handmade bits of art hung on the walls. This had to be the dragon girl's room, Mirai thought. The room matched the girly exterior she put up.

"Check this out," Rina held up a notebook. "It appears her name is Kuroko."

"She's Nijino Kuroko, then?" Mirai put a hand to her chin. "That's sort of an odd name, isn't it?"

"Kind of ironic, yeah."

"Mirai, I've noticed something," Youseimon said. "This place has a difference from your room."

"It's girlier?"

"I wouldn't know about that. But there aren't any photographs in here."

Mirai blinked, then looked around. No pictures of the girl herself, no pictures of friends, no pictures of family. Struck by a sudden thought, she ventured back out into the living room. "There are no pictures out here, either."

"But there's gaps on the bookshelf. And there are empty nails on the walls." Rina pointed. "It's not so much that they weren't there, but more like someone removed them, don't you think?"

"But what would be the purpose of that?"

Youseimon turned as light came from the bedroom they had just left. The door creaked as it opened, and then the dragon girl stepped into the hallway, Peledramon around her neck. Her face darkened to a murderous level as she saw the two girls. "You...!"

"Are you Nijino Kuroko-san?" Rina asked her. "We came to talk to you and your family."

"Get out!" The words were practically a scream. "Peledramon, kill them! Get them out!"

"But your house-" the dragon protested.

"I don't care, kill them!"

"We're leaving!" Mirai said, raising her hands as Rina grabbed their shoes. "We're leaving, so don't be violent."

"Peledramon!"

Mirai grabbed Rina around the waist, and Youseimon hopped onto her shoulder as she activated the Internet Transport in a rush, queueing it to her apartment. Moments later, they lay in a tangled heap in the doorway of her own apartment, without the girl and her dragon. "Oh, Mirai-chan?" Her mother's voice came from the kitchen, and she stepped out a few moments later. "Oh, you brought Rina-chan as well. Are you three all right?"

"We're fine, we just tripped," Mirai said with a wave of one hand as she tried to extract herself.

"Is that so? Well, we're having beef donburi tonight; Rina-chan, would you like to stay? It's been a while, after all."

"I'll call my mom and see if it's all right," Rina said as she ushered Mirai toward her room. Once inside, she said, "Mirai, can I borrow your computer?"

"Sure, I guess." Mirai sat down on her bed, letting Rina have the chair. Youseimon came to sit next to her. "So that was the dragon girl's house, after all. Nijino Kuroko. At least we have a name."

"I want to check my email," Rina said. "I asked my big brother to have some of his friends to check on the name Daiichi Nijino and see what he could find. I'm hoping he has-Ah, there it is!"

"So what did he say?" Youseimon asked after a length of time.

"Nijino Daiichi. The address matches what I found yesterday. The whole family was killed in a boating accident. Or rather, they found the bodies of the parents and the son, but couldn't find the daughter, so they believed her drowned. Except that she turned up a few weeks later without a scratch on her and no memory of what had happened. This was about a year ago. I guess she's been living on her own since then." Rina scrolled down the email. "Let's see... she's supposed to be registered with our school, but she's apparently been a truant." Rina sat back in the chair.

"That's horrible," Mirai said with a shake of her head. "She must be lonely."

"She doesn't act like someone that's lonely," Youseimon pointed out.

"That's the thing, isn't it?" Rina said. "Her family died in an accident, but she doesn't seem sad about it. Rather, she said 'I'm no longer his daughter' and took all the pictures down... She seems angry."

"Why would she be angry? Something to do with the Digital World?"

"Well, my theory is that she doesn't actually know that her family is dead," Rina said. "If she thought, for example, that they had merely left and abandoned her instead, the anger makes sense."

Mirai opened her mouth, and found she could make no argument against that. "We still don't know what her full involvement in the Digital World is," Youseimon said, "but this at least sheds a little light on her mindset. Thank you for your help, Kiraharu-san."

"Rina-chan is fine. And you're welcome." Rina looked back over to Mirai. "So now that you know all this... what are you going to do?"

"So now that we know all this... what are we going to do?"

Mirai sat on the school's rooftop, Rina keeping a casual watch out as she chattered with some of the other girls. Youseimon sat just around the corner, out of sight, but still able to hear the discussion coming from the D-Tai in Mirai's lap, and chime in on it if needed. "Isn't it obvious?" Hestria said. "Having angst in your past doesn't make a valid excuse. We'll pound her ass into the ground." Having said that, she took a sip from a steaming mug that was probably a morning coffee, judging by the light of dawn behind her.

"I sort of agree," Felix said as he toweled his hair dry. Unlike Hestria's window, his was completely dark. "I'm not inclined to cut her some slack just because she's had her bad times. She's tried to kill us. But two wrongs don't make a right, so I don't want to go completely Rambo on her. If we can find a way to keep her in the real world, that'd be enough."

"What do you think, Andre?" Mirai asked.

"Mmm... You know, I just can't bring myself to hate her after hearing that," he sighed. "As my mom would say, it's not an excuse, but it might be a reason. I think her actions, in retrospect, are pretty consistent with someone who's lashing out in pain. Not someone who's a sociopath, who kills for the hell of it."

"I don't particularly care what her motivation is," Hestria said. "If she pushes me, I push back. If she thinks it's unfair, she shouldn't have tried to start a war to begin with. This isn't a game."

"Mirai?" Felix looked over to her. "What about you, what do you think?"

She rested her hands on her knees, and thought about it. "I... even though we've fought her and been injured by her, I just don't get the impression that she's mean or cruel. I think we might be able to stop fighting with her if we could get her to sit down and talk with us. I... want to try stretching out my hand to her."

"That hand's likely to be bit," Hestria told her. "Zebras don't change their stripes so easily. I'm not convinced that she isn't a psycho."

Felix looked from one to the other, then let out a slight chuckle. "Well, if Mirai says so, then I'm behind it. Let's see if we can talk it out first. It's not like we can't beat her ass later if that fails."

"Felix," Mirai said in surprise.

Hestria seemed equally surprised. "You're setting yourself up for pain, both of you."

"But Mirai is our leader," Felix said. "So I'll acquiese to her. Surely you won't dispute that she is the leader, right?"

"Me?" Mirai got out in a squeak.

Hestria closed one eye, her expression annoyed. "Fine, whatever. Just for the record, I still think this is a bad idea."

"Hestria... Thank you."

The D-Tai began flashing, causing them all to look downward. "We've got a Digizone," Andre said. "I'll get there in just a bit. I just have to let Mom know I'm leaving."

"I'll have to go wake Alexa, or she'll kill me," Felix said. "I'll be there as soon as I can. It's not too early for you?"

"It's never too early for me to kick some ass. I'm kind of in the mood for it, anyway."

Mirai frowned. "I'm still at school. I'll try to sneak out, but it might take a bit. I'll call if I can't make it for some reason."

"All right. We'll see you there."

Mirai hung up the conference call, looking at the phone in her lap. "Something on your mind?" Youseimon asked.

"I guess I'm just surprised."

"That they consider you a leader? I'm not. It just means that for each of them, there's something in you that they've come to respect. I understand how you feel, though."

"Was that what it was like for you?"

"I didn't ask to be a leader. But since I'm so stubborn and determined to follow my own path, people started falling in step behind me. It certainly makes you feel valuable. But at the same time, you have a lot of standards to live up to."

Mirai offered her a little smile before turning to Rina, waving her over. "Rina-chan? I have to go to," she checked the D-Tai, "uh, Niue. Can you tell the teacher I went home sick?"

"You're a troublesome one, aren't you?" Rina gave her a thumbs up. "But I got you covered. Bring me back a souvenir."

"Is this Hawaii?" Rusalkamon wanted to know.

"I don't think it's Hawaii," Andre said as Mirai and Youseimon joined the rest of the group. "But I'm not sure exactly where this 'Niue' is, either."

Alexa gave her brother a poke in the arm. "How about it, walking encyclopedia?"

"It's an island in the southeast Pacific, around Tonga and Fiji, if I recall. No, Fiji may be too far north. Um. As I recall there's only about 1200 people on the island."

"That seems kind of small for a Digizone, doesn't it?" Mirai asked. "Good morning, everyone. Or evening."

"Actually, it makes sense in a weird way," Felix said. "Niue's got wi-fi all over the island, as I recall. It's probably not much of a stretch to say they're more wired-or wireless, really-than their neighbors."

Hestria gave him a look. "Mind if I ask why you know so much about a random tiny island in the Pacific?"

"Oh, I know a bit about most of them. There's some really fascinating stuff in there. For example, did you know that the Pitcairn Islands-"

"Does anyone see this tower?" Alexa interrupted. "Or we can sit here and talk history all day."

Felix stuck his tongue out at her. Milomon hopped onto Andre's shoulders, shading his eyes with a paw. "I think I see something that way. To the north."

"Hey," Mirai said, "someone's coming this way." Two people on bicycles were riding down the road in their direction.

"Just act normal. They'll ignore us."

Alexa put a hand to her head. "We're on an island of 1200, you think we can just blend in?"

The pair on the bikes slowed as they approached, stopping near the pair. "Good afternoon!" the girl of the pair greeted. "Are you visitors?"

"We are. We're just taking a quick look around," Andre answered for the group.

The boy frowned at them. "That's odd, I haven't seen you around. Were you on the plane the other day?"

The group looked at each other. Somehow it seemed wrong to lie to the natives, not to mention easy to disprove. Hestria decided to go for full-on truth. "We teleported through the Internet. We're looking for a black tower which turns the surrounding area into a different landscape. It's filled with creatures like this," she pointed to Raptomon, perched in her usual spot on her shoulder.

The boy and girl looked at each other, and then shrugged. "Okay," the boy said. "We haven't seen it."

"But we can tell you where it isn't!" the girl said.

"It's not in the south," the boy began, pointing.

"We know, because we were just there!"

"It's not in town, either."

"Alofi, that is. That's where we're from."

"We would have seen it."

Andre blinked at the rapid transitions between one talking and the other talking. "Are you two twins by any chance?"

"Two years apart!" they said in cheerful unison.

"I'm Puaiti," the girl said.

"And I'm Temaru. We're brother and sister."

"Who are you?"

"And where are you from?"

The group looked around at each other again. "Well, I'm Felix, and this is my twin sister, Alexa," Felix began, "and this is Rusalkamon and Labramon. We're from Quebec City, Canada, and they're from the Digital World."

"The Digital World..." Temaru ran a hand through his hair, his expression perplexed.

His sister latched onto something else altogether. "Canada," she repeated in awe, eyes shining.

"I'm Mirai, and I'm from Fukuoka, in Japan."

"And I'm Youseimon, of the Digital World."

"Hestria, and Raptomon. Cape Town, Africa, and the Digital World."

"I'm Andre, and this is Milomon. I'm from Atlanta, in the United States, and Milomon's from the Digital World."

"You guys keep saying Digital World," Temaru knelt so he could take a closer look at Rusalkamon. "Where is that? I've not heard of it before."

"You haven't been to the right websites," Felix said in amusement.

"It's a world parallel to your own," Youseimon explained. "The area we are looking for is a place where the two worlds overlap. It should be somewhere on this island. It's important that we find it before the residents and the locals get into trouble with each other."

Temaru and Puaiti looked at each other again. "Okay," Temaru said. "We'll help you look."

"We don't want to trouble you," Mirai said.

"Please, let us help," both insisted immediately.

"Uh, o-okay!"

The two siblings beamed at them in unison. Felix grinned back. "Well, let's go on a scavenger hunt, then! We think it might be to the north."

"Let's circle around the beach, to the north," Temaru suggested.

"We'll be able to see most of the island from there," Puaiti added.

"It's only about two hours total by bike, but we'll be walking."

"Unless we find someone with a car."

"Well, I guess it's not too bad."

"It'll be like a tour!"

"It'll be kind of fun to be a tour guide."

"Well, come along this way, then." Puaiti waved for them to follow, walking her bike along.

The group followed the siblings until the end of the road, which wasn't far away. From there, the road it intersected seemed to circle around the edge of the island, skirting around the ocean's edge. "Ohh!" Rusalkamon ran forward toward the beach.

"Don't run into the road, Rusalkamon," Felix called after her.

She stopped by the edge of the rocks overlooking the sea, then waved back to him. "Oh my gosh, Felix! Felix, take a look! Look at the color!"

The rest of the group walked over, looking out at waters which were like blue crystal, revealing all the creatures living under its surface. "Look at all the fish," Milomon said, mouth watering. "They look amazing."

"I bet you don't have waters like this back in Canada and the United States, huh?" Puaiti said, hands on her hips as she grinned.

"I don't live near the water at all, so no," Andre said. "It's so peaceful. I can hear the waves."

"It doesn't even look like this in Japan," Mirai said, resting her hand on Youseimon's head. "It's amazing."

"We're very proud of our home," Temaru said as he turned his bike toward the north. "We may not have as many conveniences as your homes, but you'll never see a place like this where you're from."

"We've been traveling a lot of places," Mirai told him as they began to walk. The Digimon, without saying a word, all agreed to clamber down onto the rocks, skipping along the surface of the water and peering at the wildlife. "Each place is different. They're all amazing, but this place really is pretty."

"Where have you gone?" Puaiti asked, her footsteps practically bouncing in her eagerness. "Ahh, I'm so jealous! I want to travel too!"

"Well, I've been to the others' home towns. Let's see, where else? There was Lisbon, Portugal, though I didn't get that much of a look at it. Marrakech in Morocco was amazing! Cape Town was really pretty, too. So lively! And New York City! You've never seen such a huge town."

"Ahh! I want to go, I want to go! But I bet it's expensive!"

"Ah... well, because we use the Internet somehow, it doesn't cost us anything," Andre explained. "The travel doesn't, anyway. I don't really understand how it works myself."

She looked at him with shining eyes. "It's free? How do you get it?"

"You probably don't want it," Hestria said. "You do get to travel around, but that's a fringe benefit. You probably wouldn't like the real reason we have the Internet Transport."

"What reason is that?"

"Do you have any crime here?" Felix asked.

"Crime? No, none at all. We have a jail, but it's almost never used. Why do you ask?"

"So you've probably not seen a lot of violence in your lives."

The siblings looked at each other again. "No, we haven't. Why does that matter?"

Felix's hand went to his temple without him noticing. "You would, if you did what we did."

Another look between siblings. "You're saying that this world travel is involved in something violent?"

"It's a war," Hestria said.

They looked at her, and the at each other. "Andre, I caught a fish!" Milomon shouted from one of the rocks. "Can I eat it?"

"Put that back. It's not yours to take."

"Aww!"

"The fruit is better, anyway," Temaru called down to him. "We'll take you to the market after you find your weird spot. There's also some good restaurants to eat at. Have you ever had coconut crab?"

"Coconut crab?" Milomon's ears perked up. One could practically see the wheels turning in his head. "How does that work? Like a coconut with legs?" He paused. "Actually, that could be quite tasty."

"Haha, it's nothing like that."

Mirai looked at some of the houses and the buildings as they passed by. "It's kind of weird," she said, more to herself.

"What? Were you expecting thatched huts and hula skirts?" Puaiti said with a grin.

"No, but... Wherever you go, all the modern architecture is alike. It's only different when it's old. And when it's old, it's very different, but..."

"Well," Alexa said, "it could just be that there's really one best way to build things in this day and age. Every modern country has access to the same types of materials: steel, concrete, wood, plastic, and so on."

"I guess the more things are different, the more they're the same."

"Do you live in a house like this?" Puaiti said as she pointed one out. "We can show you our house when we get back to Alofi."

"No, I live in an apartment. It's a pretty big building, a few stories," she said. "Do you have any multi-story buildings out here?"

"Of course, in Alofi. It's our big city, though you might not think it's so big," Temaru said. "Although it's not like we have skyscrapers or anything. With the cyclones, it wouldn't be practical."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. We have some problems with typhoons, but since we're a much bigger island, we can build big things just fine since it's harder for them to get inland."

"That's right, Japan's on an island too." Puaiti beamed. "It's like we're island sisters!"

"That's right. There isn't a place in Japan that's more than 80 kilometers away from land."

"Ha! Eighty? It's more like three around here," Temaru said with a smile.

Youseimon pointed ahead as the road began to curve toward the west and the houses began to thin out again. "Look, over there. I think we found our tower."

Labramon padded forward, sniffing the air. "I smell oil."

The siblings both sniffed the air. "I think you're right," Temaru said with a frown. "What's making that smell?"

"Probably the Digizone," Milomon said. "Labramon, let's take a look ahead."

"Right." The pair of Digimon were quickly gone into the greenery.

Alexa pointed upwards. "We must be getting close. There's the tower."

Both siblings tilted their heads up, following the shape. "It's so tall," Puaiti said. "Where did it come from?"

"From the Digital World." Youseimon nodded to the others. "Let's get going. Puaiti, Temaru, thank you for your help-"

"We're coming too!" they insisted in unison.

Youseimon let out a sigh, but didn't protest further. "It's your choice."

"Let's take this road," Felix said, pointing to a road that cut through the interior of the island. "What's around this area, Temaru, Puaiti?"

"Just forest, really. And farms."

"Okay, then," Hestria said, "look for anything that's not that."

"Hey!" A small beetle Digimon wearing a scarf looked up as they approached, then ran into the trees. "Follow that one!"

Temaru and Puaiti left their bikes by the side of the road as they all ran into the woods, trying to keep an eye on the Digimon. And then the ground under their feet turned to concrete, and the trees disappeared. The Digizone was an industrial one, to be sure, but instead of having tall buildings and machinery out like a city from the future, the pipes and cogs seemed to be powered by steam. Airships overhead blocked out part of the sun. "So we've entered the steampunk Digizone?" Andre asked.

Youseimon shrugged, not getting the reference. "There's our tower. Let's Influence and take it down."

"No, wait." Raptomon's hackles rose. "Hestria, we need to shin evolve."

"Why? What's here?"

"She is."

Through the steam at eye level, the dragon girl walked toward them, Betedramon at her side. "Nijino Kuroko," Mirai said.

"Everyone, let's shin evolve!" Hestria held out her phone, as did Andre and Felix. The three digimon became Archeomon, Maremon, and Kaitomon, but next to them, Youseimon had influenced instead, becoming Apsaramon. "Mirai, what are you doing?" Hestria said, giving her a sharp look.

"We're doing this. Kbach Lear!" She threw up a barrier as Betedramon launched an Asterism Fall against them. The stars were deflected, tearing through the machinery around them, and shooting out into the human world beyond.

Temaru and Puaiti both gasped as the attacks impacted on trees, tearing into them, slicing off their tops. "Hey!" Temaru called in alarm. "Don't do that, you'll damage our land!"

"I don't care," Kuroko said. "I don't care about the human realm."

"How can you say that?" Puaiti shouted. "You haven't even seen our island! If you saw it you'd feel differently!"

"No I wouldn't!" Kuroko shouted back. "I won't ever care about this stupid world! I'm going to live in the Digital World, and all of you aren't going to get in my way!"

Hestria took a step forward, but Felix put a hand on her arm. "Mirai," he said, "what course should we take?"

Her eyes didn't leave Kuroko. "Can we... restrain Betedramon? Without hurting her?"

"Well... we'll find out." Felix cracked his knuckles, a smile spreading across his face. "You five, gather around. Time for a plan."

"Kuroko-san," Mirai called to her. "Let's stop fighting. Let's talk about this! We don't have any reason to fight each other."

"You're wrong. I have every reason to fight you," she hissed, and Betedramon geared up for another Asterism Fall. "You're in my way!"

"Go, Apsaramon!" Felix pointed, and she leapt at Betedramon, turning her shoulder as she got close.

"Kbach Lear!" As Betedramon shot her stars, the reversed Kbach Lear caught the attack from the inside, shattering as both attacks were neutralized.

"Nice trick," Betedramon said, "but I can do that again, and I bet you can't."

"I don't need to," Apsaramon said as Maremon leapt over her head, grasping one end of her braid.

"Starless Reins!" Maremon shouted as she looped her lengthened braid around Betedramon's snout, snapping it shut. Landing just behind her horns, she pulled the braid tight, keeping Betedramon from loosing its attack.

"Betedramon!" Kuroko called in alarm.

"Talk to us, Kuroko-san!" Mirai shouted. "Tell me why you don't want to stay in this world! We want to help you!"

"That's a lie! There isn't a single person in this world that cares whether I'm here or not, so why should I care about this world?"

"I care, Kuroko-san. Let's be friends."

"Friends? I don't know the meaning of that world. Even my own family abandoned me after they got tired of me. So I'm done."

"Kuroko-san, that's not..." Mirai bit her lip. "It isn't like that. Your parents-"

"I don't care about them. I envy you, Mirai-san. What a pretty name you have. Not like me. The blackness of the rainbow? What a disgusting idea. But I guess a lucky girl like you wouldn't know what it's like to be labeled as blackness, would you?"

"Oh?" The single word from Hestria held a dangerous note. "So you're saying you know what it's like to be black, then? Don't make me laugh."

Kuroko had time to look alarmed before Hestria was on her, hitting her hard enough to knock her to the ground. Betedramon reacted with a violent jerk, and Kaitomon and Archemon stepped in, restraining her further. "You think you've got it bad? Try living in my shoes sometime. You'll learn what it really means to be black."

Mirai walked over to them, putting a hand on Hestria's arm. "You going to hit me too?" Kuroko asked, cringing away from the girls.

"Kuroko-san." Mirai felt ready to cry over pain that wasn't hers, but she felt nonetheless. "Don't you think they named you that because of your beautiful black hair?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Let's go, Kuroko-san," Mirai said, holding out her hand. "You don't have to be in this place any more."

"That isn't true," Kuroko turned her face away. "My whole family left me. Why would they have a nice reason behind an ugly name?"

"Kuroko-san... You really don't know? Your parents... They didn't abandon you."

"You're lying! They-"

"You really don't know?" She felt the tear even without knowing she'd cried. "You don't know that they're dead?"

Kuroko's face snapped into a wide-eyed stare of horror, and Mirai instantly regretted saying those words. "That's not true! They didn't die!" Kuroko screamed. "They didn't die!"

Betedramon threw off her restraints again. "Betedramon!" Kuroko reached for her. "Use that! The power that Nabimon gave us!"

"But-"

"Do it! I don't want them to be here any more!" she screamed, her hands over her ears, as if that would somehow make the world stop its cruelty.

Betedramon looked at her, but then plucked her off the ground and rose into the air, taking on a sparkling aura. She took in a breath, and then released it with a few quiet words. "Dynas's Shade."

Hell descended upon the Digizone.

Mirai and Hestria both dove for cover, finding a crack in the pipes. Even so, the light and heat assaulted their senses, singeing their skin. As much as she wanted to shelter the others, or at least see that they were unharmed, she was helpless to do anything but wait until the light returned to a normal level.

The pipes in front of them had melted into a puddle of metal, steam rising as it cooled. Everything around them had been burnt and blasted, entire chunks missing from the buildings. In the sky, one of the airships was burning, sinking toward the ground. Even the island itself had been affected, showing a scorched crescent of earth where the attack had spilled out. Temaru and Puaiti lay in the street, knees bloody and eyes wide. "Guys!" Mirai called in alarm. "Say something!"

Felix was dimly aware of something blocking the sun over him, and opened his eyes to peer into his sister's face. "Anything broken?" she asked hoarsely.

"I don't think so."

"Oh, good," she said, slumping against his chest, "I managed to protect you this time."

He sat up in alarm. "Alexa? Alexa!" Normally, he'd be able to approach the situation rationally, plan the next step, but all he could focus on was the blood on her face, the burn on her shoulder. "Alexa!"

Next to him, Andre lay slumped against a small section of wall that had survived, unmoving. Youseimon was on the ground in front of him. He thought she might have come to their rescue as Apsaramon, but he couldn't recall for sure. Both Youseimon and Alexa had gotten hurt protecting him. "Merde!" he shouted, slamming his bloodied hand against the ground. "Get it together, Felix! I don't have time to be panicking!" Yanking back one of his sleeves, he looked around. Hestria and Mirai: mobile, mostly unharmed. Puaiti and Temaru: frightened, but unharmed. The other digimon: all down, and Betedramon was coming in to land. They didn't have long. "Hey!" Felix shouted at the pair of Niueans. "Come give me a hand, we need to move them!" They stayed where they were, but looked at him with wide eyes. "Didn't you say you wanted to help? Then help me!"

The magic word of 'help' got them moving, and they ran to his side, Temaru awkwardly pulling Andre onto his shoulders and the smaller Puaiti helping Felix with Alexa. "Mirai, Hestria! I'll take care of them!"

The girls were already running to the Digimons' sides as Betedramon again, releasing Kuroko. "I don't think I can do that again."

"You won't need to." Kuroko pointed at the downed Digimon. "Asterism Fall will be enough to eliminate them."

Betedramon turned her head, looking as Hestria and Mirai tried to rouse the Digimon, get them away. "Even the humans?"

"I don't care," Kuroko said in a whisper. "Get rid of them if they're in the way."

"I think you do care. That's why I want you to be sure."

Mirai carried Youseimon over to the rest of the group, letting her stand on her own as she rejoined Hestria. Raptomon had shakily gotten to her feet, but the other three were unconscious or too in pain to move. "What now? If even shin evolution isn't enough..."

"Lady!"

Betedramon walked toward them with slow steps, sitting back on her hind legs and spreading her wings. "Get out of my way."

In unison, Mirai and Hestria planted themselves in front of the other Digimon, each spreading an arm in a protective gesture. "Back off," Hestria said. "We won't let you touch them."

"If you don't move," Betedramon said, "you'll die."

"We won't die," Mirai said. "And we won't let you harm them further, either. Kuroko-san is wrong. You know that."

"Kuroko is not wrong! She's never wrong!" Betedramon drew in air, preparing for another Asterism Fall.

Mirai felt Hestria grab her hand in a strong grip, and as she looked, Hestria pulled out her phone. "Help me," Hestria said, her words unadorned. "I need your help."

She returned the grip, holding out her phone as well. The red and blue lights emerged from the screens, but this time, instead of engulfing the Digimon, they impacted on each other, surrounding the four of them with a blue-and-red mixed light. Mirai didn't flinch, didn't let up on her grip. It wasn't possible for a human to read someone else's mind, but in that moment, she didn't need to. Their heartbeats lay in sync, and their goal was the same. And it wasn't just them, but the two Digimon on either side of them, that took in the light and changed, their child data stripped away.

"Youseimon!"

"And Raptomon!"

"Kikan shinka!"

The light bounced off them both, picking up speed until it was a blur that whirled around the pair of Digimon. Raptomon emerged first, drastically larger in size, now on par with Betedramon. She was now all bird, long-necked and short-beaked, a rainbow crest falling down her neck. Her wings also held an iridescient rainbow light, stretching long and shapely. The smooth avian flow of her profile went all the way down her tail, which seemed to stretch out forever, rippling like ribbons. "Raptomon, kikan shinka to... Hoatzimon!"

Youseimon's form was only slightly larger than her previous forms, clasped with a breastplate that sank down to her hips, accented with guards on both sides, all in white with dark green accents. Boots with dragonfly-wing adornments rose up to mid-thigh, and gauntlets with similarly-shaped arm guards clad her hands. Her long hair fell down in curls, partially pinned, and a headband with the same dragonfly accents circled around her brow. Those same dragonfly wings burst from her back in two pairs, spreading like a fan. "Youseimon, kikan shinka to... Titanimon!"

"Hoatzimon..." Hestria echoed the name, then smiled softly. "You've gotten stronger again."

"Titanimon! Let's end this!" Mirai shouted, waving her phone aloft.

Betedramon took off into the sky, preparing to launch her Dynas's Shade again. Titanimon hopped onto Hoatzimon's back, and the pair took off into the sky. "You won't beat me," Betedramon said. "I won't let you!"

"This match is already decided!" Titanimon said, calling forth a long spear into one hand, holding it behind her.

"Dynas-"

"Midsummer's Calm." Titanimon brought the spear around in a glittering horizontal arc, slashing the light buildup that Betedramon was calling. It shattered like glass, raining bits of light down onto the ground below, soothing the raw edges of destruction where it touched.

"Bird of Paradise!' Rainbow light shot from Hoatzimon's wings, taking the shape of a bird which impacted with tremendous force on Betedramon, causing her to devolve in midair. The snakelike dragon fell like a limp piece of rope toward the ground below.

Kuroko let out a wordless cry of horror, running toward Peledramon as she fell. But it was Titanimon who launched herself downwards, wings spreading as she got close. Catching the dragon in both hands, she landed neatly, Hoatzimon landing next to her. "Peledramon! Return her!" Kuroko demanded.

"You've lost this fight," Titanimon said, her gaze fixed on Kuroko. "Will you still insist on fighting?"

"Return her! Don't harm her any longer! She's my precious Peledramon!"

"Titanimon." Mirai had let go of Hestria's hand at last, walking over to her partner.

Without a word, Titanimon nodded, gently delivering Peledramon into Mirai's hands. "Here. She's your precious partner, isn't she?"

"Peledramon!" Kuroko took her into her arms, holding the dragon to her chest.

"Did that scare you?" Titanimon said. "If so, you should understand our feelings. We all have precious partners we want to protect."

"Kuroko-san." Mirai held out her hand. "You don't want to see your partner hurt any more, right? Let's not cause any more destruction. Rather, let's talk. Surely there has to be a way for each of us to avoid fighting. Please, give me your hand."

"Kuroko," Peledramon's soft voice came from her arms. "You should listen to her."

"Peledramon? But why?"

"I want to see it," she said, leaning her head against Kuroko's collarbone. "The partner of mine that finally makes some human friends. Because my partner is a human. It's painful not to have any friends of your own kind."

"Peledramon..." Kuroko's expression fell.

She was silent, and then a crackle of electricity circled through her fur, causing her to cry out with pain. "Peledramon!" Kuroko cried in alarm.

"I'm fine..." The words broke off in another squeal of pain as the electricity circled again.

"Peledramon! Hold on, I'm going to get you help!" Before anyone could stop her, Kuroko ran for the tower, disappearing into it as she touched it.

"She's gone," Hestria observed as she joined them. "That could have gone better."

Mirai didn't answer right away. "We need to take care of our Digimon and the Digizone first. Let's go ahead and destroy the tower."

Hestria nodded, and Hoatzimon took flight again. "What happened to Felix?"

From beyond the edge of the Digizone, Felix waved to them. Next to him, Alexa was sitting up partway, putting a bandage on one of her scrapes, and Andre was also back in an upright position next to Temaru and Puaiti. "Are you guys okay?" Mirai asked as she picked up Milomon.

"We will be," Felix said. "We're in surprisingly good shape for having just survived the digital equivalent of a bomb."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Milomon groaned from Mirai's arms.

"Hold him there for a moment." Titanimon drew her spear up, then slashed across at an angle. "Nectar Rain."

Mirai flinched as mist hit her face, glittering droplets falling on the injured Digimon. "Oh," Milomon said, "that's a bit better."

"Think you can walk?" Titanimon asked him.

He looked at her, then snuggled against Mirai's arms. "I think I'll stay here for a bit longer. You know, just to be safe."

Labramon got to her feet, shaking herself off, and then immediately went to Alexa's side, nosing her all over. Hestria picked up Rusalkamon, walking back over to Felix. "Here. Your partner."

"I'm sorry, Felix," she mumbled as he accepted her into his arms. "I didn't do so well this time."

"It's okay." He stroked her hair, cradling her gently. "You did well enough. You'll continue to get stronger. I'll do better for you next time, as well."

"Felix didn't do anything wrong."

"Then neither did you. So go ahead and take a rest."

The Digizone withdrew from under their feet, retreating into its own world. "I feel bad that their zone suffered so much damage," Mirai said with a sigh. "It wasn't their fault that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"The human world, too." Hestria nudged a foot against the scorched earth and blackened grass.

"We'll just have to stop the source of the destruction, then," Titanimon said.

"We're sorry about that," Felix said to Puaiti and Temaru. "We normally try to avoid causing harm."

"No, no," Temaru protested, waving his hands.

"It's our fault," Puaiti said.

"We really weren't much help at all."

"Even though we said we'd help you."

"We'll have to do better next time."

"Are you sure?" Hestria asked. "Is that what you really want? You saw what happened. It could be worse, next time."

They nodded in unison. "You helped us," Puaiti said, her expression set.

"So we'll help you."

"Although we may not be able to do much from here."

"We'll do whatever we can, though!"

Felix smiled. "Then give me your email addresses. I'll send you our website. Once you're registered, I'll let Harley know to move you to the members' section."

"But we have to warn you," Mirai said. "The rabbit hole goes pretty deep."

"Well, that's okay," Temaru told her. "We'll just be careful of what we eat down there."

"Eh...? There's something about that in the rabbit hole?"

Andre laughed, then winced as he put a hand to his head. "We'll just sit you down and have you watch the movie one of these days, Mirai."

"Ehh? I thought it was a book?" Felix, Andre, and the Niuean siblings laughed at her confusion. Even Alexa spared a chuckle. "Wait, stop laughing and tell me, I'm trying to understand...!"

A little distance away from the group, Hestria's gaze rested on the area where the Digizone had been. Now, nothing but trees. "Something on your mind?" Titanimon asked her.

"That kikan shinka... Did you know about it?"

"No. It's the first time I've heard of such a thing, too."

Hestria tightened her grip on her phone. "Another unsolved mystery. And just when things are starting to pick up speed. We'd better be careful in the future."