As far as Yumeji was concerned, he was going to that special place in hell.
They were kissing, clothes were being tossed...
Then, she pulled back as they got onto the bed and whispered, "Yumeji, I need to tell you something... Now before we...Y'know..."
"What is it?" He asked.
Eri took a moment, and then...
Suddenly Eri was Luckyuro.
"I've been ordered to kill you!" And then she was aiming his own Gaburevolver at his chest and...!
_VAMOLA!_
Yumeji awoke with a gasp as the nightmarish dream ended, "What...?"
The TV was playing part of some movie...and... He was on the couch.
"Hm?" Eri-chan asked from next to him, a handful of popcorn raised up to her mouth. "I know, right?! What were they even thinking!?"
"What?" Yumeji blinked, "Sorry, Um...I think I fell asleep there for a moment."
"You did, actually," Eri smiled at him. "I thought I'd let it slide though, since you guys did blow up the big bad guy a week ago." She leaned towards him and he flinched away for just a second. "You ok, Yumeji-kun?"
"Just...I think the fighting's been getting to me," Yumeji said, sweating slightly, as if he were expecting her to do something all of a sudden. "I just had a dream that someone turned into Luckyuro and shot me in the chest."
"Really?" Eri frowned- "I don't think that little kid could pull off something that mean!"
"No, I don't think so either, somehow..." Yumeji agreed. "You know how nightmares are sometimes..."
"Haha, yeah," Eri nodded, "I've had dreams where I was riding ontop of that Gabutyra only to have him turn around and eat me! He even went "Gaburincho!" too!" And she said it with such a perfect gimmickry of the Gaburevolver- actually Doctor Ulshade's- voice.
"Somehow I think Gabutyra might be offended if you told him that," Yumeji remarked.
"Yeah! That guy's a big ol' softie, isn't he?" Eri asked. "I don't think I'd ever want to give him the idea though..."
"Yeah," Yumeji nodded, and then sat back into the couch a bit to relax. "I don't know why I'm worrying for anyways."
"You guys did defeat Deboss, right?" Eri asked. "There's no way to revive that guy, right?"
"Luckyuro and Candelira are the only ones we know that are still out there," Yumeji said. "Torin wants us to hunt Candelira down, at least. Since he thinks she might try to pull something off that could revive Deboss...But honestly, I'm more concerned about Quartzmon."
"Quartzu...?" Eri asked.
"Yeah, that guy who caused our families so much trouble years ago," Yumeji sighed. "Since he's the one who awoke Deboss here in the first place, he's the more dangerous guy. But since we don't know where he is..."
"If you knew, what would you do?" Eri asked.
"Honestly, first I'd thank him for allowing me the opportunity be on earth at just the right time to meet you," Yumeji smiled at Eri.
"Aww..." Eri blushed somewhat.
"Then second...I'd run him through with Kyoryuzin's sword," Yumeji continued on, "for all the lives he's ruined."
"Well," Eri said, "that's great news!"
"Why's that?" Yumeji asked.
And then Eri was Luckyuro- and aiming the Gaburevolver at him once more- "I'll be sure to pass along the news!"
_VAMOLA MUCHO!_
And then Eri was shaking Yumeji awake- and they were in the middle of a library- crying horrible, "Yumeji-Kun! Wake up! Wake up!"
"Huh? What!?" Yumeji wasn't sure what was going on now at all.
"You fell asleep on me suddenly, then you were shaking, and muttering and...and...!" Eri was crying, "You just wouldn't wake up!"
"What...what kind of nightmare was that?!" Yumeji asked, looking around at his surroundings in confusion as he got his wits about him.
_GABURINCHO!_
_Dinosaurs Plus Humans!_ The Kyoryugers all strike their poses in sequence as their Voltasaurs land behind them. _After Millions of Years, the strongest and bravest team in history assembles to protect the Earth!_
The Kyoryugers struck their poses as explosions went off behind them.
_HEAR OUR ROAR!_
"ZYUDEN SENTAI! KYORYUGER!"
WOW WOW! WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!
Kyoryu Pink was split into four! The Kyoryugers are fighting off the Sistermon Twins...!
WOW WOW! WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!
Gold caught Ankydon and Bunpachy batteries! Red quickly spun Chizuru~n away from Paramonsters!
AND THEN: DOUBLE ARMED ON!
We Are unbeatable Super Stars!
Caleb Grey AS: Kyoryu Red.
With our burning spirits fully charged,
Inaba Strider AS: Kyoryu Black.
Our Hearts begin to Pound! It's wonderful
Merry Mashimo AS: Kyoryu Blue.
To make legends come true!
Yumeji Tsurugi AS: Kyoryu Green.
Don't let anyone silence your bravery,
Roxy Phexis AS: Kyoryu Pink.
Always Rise to The Challenge!
Fam Fan Fan AS: Kyoryu Gold.
Does anyone Really Know...
Callie Grey AS: Kyoryu Cyan.
...where True Strength Lies?
Yui Kirigaya AS: Kyoryu Violet!
We a shot of Torin throwing a set of four broken, Silver #10 Beast Batteries plus a Navy #00 Battery towards the camera.
Instead of traveling around the entire world,
WITH:
Professor Kaiyumi Kyuto, and Commander Shinji Ikari
Just look inside your heart!
We see a re-ordered set of shots inside the Frozen Palace- Dogold and Luckyuro in the center with Candelira off to their right, and QuartzAstamon and Aigaron to their left.
(Let's get 'em!)
We see a shot of the Nine Kyoryugers, plus Eri and a whole squad of Kyoryu-Paramonsters in the background, shouting to the sky.
Gaburincho! Very Mucho!
Batteries were activated! Everyone's Dancing!
Today we're still going wild! (FIRE!)
Candelira and Aigaron are singing! The Kyoryugers are dancing with Torin!
Come on, Kyoryugers! Kick some butt! Go Nuts!
The audience is cheering- Dancing too!
Take a bite out of your world!
Gabutyra lands in the city!
No one could ever stop you!
The Voltasaurs in sequence let off their attacks: Parasagun! Stegotchi! Zakutor! Dricera! Pteragordon! Ankydon! Bunpachy! Plezuon!
Behold and Tremble as we Roar!
We see shots of KYORYUZIN with parallel shots of WESTERN, MACHO, and KUNG FU in smaller, in-window windows; a split screen of RAIDENOH and PLEZUOH with two in-screen windows of the SAMBA and WESTERN RAIDENOH formations; followed by a scene of RAIDEN KYORYUZIN and then EXPLODING KYORYUZIN!
The Voltasaur Team! VAMOLA, Kyoryuger!
Shots go by of the Kyoryugers slashing with their swords-
(WoWoWoWoWoWo!)
Then a group shot of the seven unmorphed inside of their base of operations.
BRAVE IN!
Quickly followed by a group shot of the Nine suited Kyoryugers standing in front of an impossible collage of KYORYUZIN KUNG FU, RAIDENOH WESTERN, PLEZUOH, and then the EXPLODING KYORYUZIN combo front and center.
*cue Title Card theme*
BRAVE 25! What the-!? The Renegade Dreamer!
Yumeji yawned as he and Eri walked up to one of many entrances to NERV H.Q.
"Eh?" Eri made a surprised sound, "You want me to come in!?"
"I can't trust myself not to fall asleep suddenly like that," Yumeji said, reminding himself of the fact that Eri was pinching the skin on his arm rather tightly by glancing down to where she was holding him. "I don't know what that was about but I've got a bad feeling about it."
"But you've been dreaming that I've been shooting you, Yumeji-kun!" Eri protested. "You shouldn't be letting me anywhere near you...! What if it's a prophecy or something...? I Don't want to shoot you!" She pleaded.
"That's why I want you with me," Yumeji said, "at least until I find a better way of staying awake... And there's also the chance that I'm still asleep from whatever's causing this. If I'm going to have someone shoot me with my own Gaburevolver, I'd rather it be you, Eri."
"Whaaaat!? That's a mean thing to say, Yumeji-kuuun!"
"Rather than someone I don't suspect," Yumeji added on as they walked up to the front door.
"I don't feel like I'm a dream," Eri remarked as she pulled the door open for Yumeji. "But if I am a dream, how would I know that I'm a dream?"
"We're dealing with strange stuff here, Eri-chan," Yumeji said, "as of right now, we're in completely uncharted territory..."
And so they walked through the various steps of getting Eri a visitor's pass, and into NERV itself...
Or they would have, had everyone at the security desk been lying on the ground, or in their chairs, apparently sound asleep if not for the various nightmares they were having.
"No..No...! Put the knife down...!" A man was muttering as his head rolled from side to side.
"Kenchi-kun...please...step back from there...!" A woman in a chair muttered.
"What's...going on here?" Yumeji asked.
"I...I don't know..." Eri glanced around. "Is this Deboss...?"
"Looks like it, but..." Yumeji frowned. "I can't be sure. Something feels off about all of this."
"What does?" Eri asked.
"If everyone at NERV was affected, but everyone outside was normal, why was I affected at the library?"
"...That is weird," Eri frowned. "It didn't affect me either so maybe...it's something here?"
"Try not to touch anything else from now on," Yumeji cautioned. "If I'm infected by something, then I should be okay..."
"R-right," Eri nodded, and then they continued deeper into the building.
It was the same story all the way down to the cafeteria.
People were all unconscious, groaning and moaning about nightmares.
"This is getting really creepy, Yumeji-kun," Eri grimaced as they passed a man passed out into his own food tray.
And then they spotted Caleb- collapsed on the floor in what had been the line for food.
"Caleb...!" Yumeji said as they rushed over to inspect him.
"Grnn...No...Callie, stop...Not Stymero...~" Caleb was muttering, even as a flush filled his face. "Not on Yui-chan too...!"
"..." Yumeji and Eri just stared at her for a moment, and then Eri asked, "What's he talking about?"
"I think Yui's having a nightmare about Callie living up to that promise she made the other day," Yumeji said.
And then Caleb's dream suddenly turned weird.
"Luckyuro!?"
"Eh?" Eri glanced back at Caleb- "Isn't that the one from your dreams?"
"It is..." Yumeji said- realization suddenly dawning on him. "You don't think Luckyuro's got something to do with this?"
"Well..." Eri said as Caleb suddenly burst out into laughter.
"HAHAHA! IGERANODON! HA- YOU- HAHA-CHEATER! HAHAHAHAH!"
"Somehow, I don't think so," Eri concluded.
"Yeah. I don't think Luckyuro would go for Igeranodon..." Yumeji frowned- "But that's a theme I just noticed."
"Huh?" Eri asked.
"In both dreams-" Yumeji paused as Caleb suddenly kicked out, yelling that Paramonsters were now attacking him- "In both dreams, we had our Gaburevolvers taken and used against us."
"That is weird..." Eri frowned- then stood up, "Come on, let's try to wake him up."
"With what?" Yumeji asked.
"A Gaburevolver, of course!" Eri grinned.
Yumeji got what she was going for, and pulled out the Ovirappoo battery. "Cover your nose," He advised. "BRAVE IN!" Thankfully- that worked out just fine.
_GABURINCHO! OVIRAPPOO!_
"Well, here's hoping...!" Yumeji took a deep breath of fresh air- and then spun the revolver and fired at the roof.
_VAMOLA! POOOOO~T!_
The noxious gas filled the room- and everyone asleep began coughing as they were woken up by that foul smell.
Caleb shot up like a rocket, crying out "VERY MUCHO!" as he did such.
And then- the yellow gas turned pink- and then condensed down in the center of the cafeteria into the form of... "DEBO NIGHTMARE!"
It was a sheep-boy wearing bunny pajamas.
"Who the heck are you!" Eri cried out in surprise.
"What! No fair!" Nightmare yelled in a childish voice befitting its size. "You guys totally ruined this room's nightmares entirely! And I was having such delicious dreams too!" He then yelled- "Oh well! SMELL YA LATER!" and with that- he popped like a balloon.
Yumeji and Eri just stared at the space for a few moments, and then...
"That," Yumeji said, "looked a lot like a Renegade monster to me."
"Renegade?" Eri asked in surprise, then quickly agreed, "I think you're right!"
_GABURINCHO!_
Caleb closed the mouth of his Gaburevolver around his butt.
"Owowow!" He hissed- "Well, at least that will keep me awake!"
"We'll keep heading to the lab," Yumeji said, "you go see if you can find Commander Shinji anywhere."
"Sounds like a plan," Caleb agreed- and then began walking off with the Gaburevolver hanging off of his rear end like a tail.
Eri barely stifled a giggle- "Oh Wow, that's so silly...!"
"As Inaba would say," Yumeji then put on his best Inaba impression, "Oh My!"
They continued walking down through the hallways, trying their best to wake up as many large groups of people as they could.
"Once we find Merry, she's going to be pissed at this monster," Yumeji said after they'd Ovirappoo'd a largely populated lab, but to no sign of the monster appearing.
"How come?" Eri asked.
"Merry fought something like this when she was a little kid," Yumeji said. "A spectral MetalPhantomon that wanted our babysitter for her body."
"Sounds like the start of a bad joke," Eri muttered.
"Merry lost a part of herself fighting off that monster," Yumeji explained, "she's had a low tolerance for nightmare inducers ever since."
"Is that why she called herself "Nightmare Eater Merry" that one time?" Eri asked, and then froze in hopes of Yumeji not catching that slip up.
"Yeah," Yumeji said, obviously either not caring that it had happened, or marking it off as a point towards this whole adventure being a dream still. "Debo Whereameye really ticked her off."
"So I'd heard," Eri said.
"I think this guy's going to do the same," Yumeji then fought off a yawn, and failed. "All we have to do is sick her on him once we find her," He said once he recovered from the yawn.
"You think that will do the trick?" Eri asked.
"Should." Yumeji said.
And then they found the Voltasaur Lab.
"Wow, this place looks amazing!" Eri said with awe.
"Yeah, the repair teams have really done a good job fixing it up," Yumeji said as he looked around. "Where is everyone?"
The lab was empty.
"Nobody's here?" Eri asked with a frown.
"Ah, yeah," Caleb came walking in then, still with the Gaburevolver to his butt. "Everyone was in the Spirit Base still when I came to get lunch."
"Then that's our next step," Yumeji said as he and Eri walked over to the one control console. "But first..." He took the Ovirappoo battery, and slid it into a slot on the console. "Gaburincho, Nightmare."
_POOOOO~T!_
And then- the gas filled the entire NERV HQ at once, everywhere except the Voltasaur Lab.
Yumeji pulled out his Gaburevolver and readied to fire off at a moments notice.
Caleb pulled out his as well, grimacing in surprise when a piece of his pants tore off.
Eri covered her nose, and they all waited for a few moments...
And then the Pink-Gas condensed into the room- the only place without that horrid stench.
"OH MY GOD!" Debo Nightmare yelled- "You Guys Really know how to ruin a party!"
_VAMOLA!_
And then the two Gaburevolvers shot at Nightmare- hitting him square in the chest and knocking him to the floor.
"GYAAH!" He yelled- "NO FAIR!"
"What did you do to everyone, Nightmare?" Yumeji asked.
"Me?" He laughed- "I just put traces of myself into the water system of NERV last night! And everyone either drank me or showered in me or just washed. Their. Hands. In me!"
"The water...?" Eri frowned- then gasped- "That's why you fainted at the Library and I didn't!"
"A time bomb just waiting to happen," Caleb agreed.
"And now that you've woken all of the losers here up," Nightmare yelled- "I've gotta go hunt down the ones that are outside! Smell ya la-"
And then he was struck by laser blasts from a Gaburichanger.
"Fam!" Caleb called out.
Stocking feet plodded along the ground, and Fam, dressed only in her underwear, sleepily stumbled off of the transport pad. "Vanquishing...ebill...in..." She then fell to the ground, snoring, "Heabins name..."
"Oh what the hell!?' Nightmare complained- "Is she sleep walking!? NO FAIR!"
And with that- Nightmate expanded in an attempt to explode.
"Oh No you don't!" _VAMOLA!_ Caleb then shot the cloud of gas with the Tuperanda battery.
_FLATTENED!_
And then Nightmare shrunk back to normal- "Aww! C'mon! Quit cheating!"
"BRAVE IN!" Caleb drew out a Gabutyra battery and slotted it into his Gaburevolver. _GABURINCHO! GABUTYRA!_ "KYORYU CHANGE!" he ran forward and then transformed into Kyoryu Red, leaving Yumeji and Eri free to move over and see if Fam was alright while he fought off Nightmare.
"Fam?" Yumeji tried shaking the girl awake, but to no avail.
Instead, she groaned, "Gigi...no...don't...!"
"Gigi?" Eri asked.
"One of Fam's friends from her world who got shot," Yumeji frowned.
"Luscinia...you'll...No! Why are you Luckyuro!?" Fam squealed in terror- and then started lashing out with her arms and legs- knocking Yumeji and Eri away from her.
"Damn it..." Yumeji frowned- "Now what do we do?"
"Er...Yumeji-kun!" Eri whined suddenly.
Yumeji turned around, and...
"Hi-ho!" Kyoryu Red was suddenly Luckyuro- and Nightmare was nowhere to be seen. "Time to cause some Sorrow!" He aimed the Gaburevolver straight at Fam...!
"NO WAY!" Eri suddenly threw herself at what was quite possibly another portion of a nightmare- distracting it long enough for Yumeji to bring out a Zakutor Battery.
"BRAVE IN!" he slotted it in (_GABURINCHO! ZAKUTOR!_) and activated the Gaburevolver, "KYORYU CHANGE!" The samba beat rang out, and he leaped at the KyoLuckyThing and kicked out- hitting the monster in the head, and discarding that disguise that it had put on, revealing it to be Debo Nightmare! Yumeji hit the ground and spun around, then aimed his Gaburevolver at it. "Fire!"
"NO!" Nightmare yelled- and then was hit by the energy blast.
And then the world around them exploded with light.
EYE CATCH!
"KYORYU CHANGE!" The eight Kyoryugers danced, and aimed- "FIRE!"
EYE CATCH!
"ZYUDEN SENTAI! KYORYUGER!" The Kyoryugers struck their poses in sequence.
Kyoryu Green stumbled forward as he found himself in a gravel quarry- along with the other Kyoryugers, plus a confused Luckyuro.
"Huh?" He looked down at the Gaburevolver in his hand, barrels still glowing slightly from the energy blast it had just fired off.
"Wasn't I just somewhere else?" Kyoryu Gold asked in confusion.
"Was I just...?" Luckyuro asked in a daze, "Was I just dreaming?"
And then- Debo Nightmare fell out of the tree in front of them, smoking from a pin-point shot to the chest.
"OWOWOWOW!" Nightmare whined, "How did you shoot me through the dream like that!?"
"Eh?" Black asked as everyone looked at him, "Don't look at me!"
"Curse you, Kyoryu Green!" Nightmare yelled in frustration- "You big cheater! How could you!? How DARE you intrude on Dream Back-lot like that!? And I was trying so hard to keep you all separate too...!"
"Wow," Pink clapped her hands, "Nice shot, Yumeji!"
"What?" Blue asked- "Yumeji got us out of there!? Way to go!"
"Oi oi!" Luckyuro yelled at the monster- "You weren't supposed to put me in there!"
"Er- Um-!" Nightmare protested- fidgeting. "You see-!"
"AND WHO TOLD YOU YOU COULD TAKE MY FACE TOO!?" Luckyuro then ran at the Debo Monster and began whacking him over the head with her rubber mallet- "THAT'S SUPER CREEPY! YOU NEARLY MADE ME KILL MYSELF!"
"Luckyuro wasn't Luckyuro?" Red asked.
"That explains the Yandere attitude," Black remarked. "He was having entirely too much fun turning my girlfriends against me! Completely out of character, there."
"Let's put an end to this in a rush, then," Green said, taking a step forward and striking a pose, "HEAR OUR ROAR, NIGHTMARE!"
Luckyuro then had the common sense to jump away- as the Kyoryugers didn't go one at a time...
Instead, the six of them just yelled their catchphrases all at once, making it come out as a garbled mess.
"Woah You Cheaters! Slow Down!" Nightmare yelled- "I didn't catch that at all!"
"ARMED ON!" Green declared- running the Gaburevolver down his arm- not even bothering to complete the roll call yet.
"ARMED ON!" The other four of the core five did just the same.
"THE STRONGEST AND BRAVEST IN HISTORY!" Green yelled as he took out the Kentrospiker battery, "BRAVE IN!" and then- he threw his weapon up along with the battery.
"ZYUDEN SENTAI!" the others shouted as they did the same.
"VANQUISHING EVIL IN HEAVEN'S NAME!" Gold swung her sword. "THUNDERSTORM AFTERSHOCK!"
_KENTROOOSPIKAA!_
"KENTRO SPIKER!" Green leaped up and caught the Kentrospiker, and then on the same downwards arc, he slashed the mighty weapon straight at Nightmare.
_SPIKOOOOOM!_
_ZANDAR THUNDER!_
"CHEATERS!" Nightmare yelled in surprise, completing the roll call as he was sliced in half by the Kentrospiker, and then thoroughly electrocuted by the lightning attack.
He exploded behind Green as he finished the roll call rather calmly with a slash of the mighty weapon to the side, "Kyoryuger."
"Wow!" Luckyuro said in awe. "Now that was Wild!"
"Not even bothering with the "try to stop us" bit today?" Dogold asked as he and Candelira stepped out from hiding. "See, Candelira, I told you that guy didn't have what it took to be the new Aigaron." He then slapped her shoulder, forcing her forwards. "Now go clean up your mess."
"Grrr!" Candelira ran over to the fallen Nightmare, and then pulled out the watering can.
"Go on!" Luckyuro cried out, "Say it!"
Candelira sighed, then chimed out in a mock-happy tone, "Nutritious Joyro!" You could hear the frustration coming off of her voice as she watered Nightmare with the watering can, and then quickly retreated as Nightmare grew to massive heights.
"SAVE-SCUMMING!" Nightmare yelled...
_BOOM BOOM!_
And then Plezuoh Kung Fu came soaring in from the side- smashing Bunpachy's ball into Nightmare's back.
"NO! A SURPRISE ATTACK BONUS!" Nightmare yelled as he hit the dirt.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone!" Violet called out from inside Plezuoh. "We had to wake the Voltasaurs up from that pink mist!"
"Now let's take this guy out once and for all!" Cyan agreed.
And then the two girls struck a pose- "PLEZUOH KUNG FU! BRAVE FINISH!"
_DON DOOOON!_
Plezuoh Kung Fu swung upwards with the Ankydon hammer- launching Nightmare high into the air.
"KYAAAH!" he squealed.
_ZUOOON!_
The Plezuon Mouth/rocket/blaster attached to Plezuoh's Back opened and let off a burst of violet energy that launched Plezuoh Kung Fu up into the air after Nightmare.
_BOOM BOOOM!_
And with a mighty spin- they swung the Bunpachy Ball straight into Nightmare.
"YOU GUYS ARE SUCH CHEATERS!" Nightmare yelled before exploding violently in mid-air.
"Ah, and that's the end of that guy," Dogold laughed- much to Candelira's frustration. "So much for the 'new' General of Sorrow!"
"Mouuuu!" Candelira turned on her heels and began marching off. "I'm going home!"
Dogold let off another chuckle before waving at the Kyoryugers and turning to follow her. "See ya tomorrow! I'm sure she'll have another candidate ready for you guys to put out of his misery by then!"
"Dogold..." Gold muttered, "it's hard to believe that him simply becoming the Boss of the Deboss Legion changed so much about this fighting dynamic..."
"Oh My," Black agreed, "it's giving me a headache just thinking about it."
THE VOLTASAUR LAB_ _ _|
The floor still had a giant crack in it, but otherwise, everything was looking to be back in working order.
"Well that was just a weird day," Merry grumbled as she and the others walked into the room.
"Welcome back, everyone," Kaiyumi greeted them.
"Well, I for one had fun watching you all stumble around the field like that!" Yui laughed.
"C'mon, Yui," Caleb protested, "it's not that funny."
"Actually, bro, it really was!" Callie laughed. "Yumeji had Luckyuro hanging off of his arm for quite a while there!"
"Eh?" Yumeji asked in surprise as everyone burst out into laughter. "What?"
"They probably thought they were both someone else," Roxy said through giggles.
"That's something I want to see!" Caleb said with a grin, "Please tell me you recorded that!"
Yumeji held himself back as everyone else continued walking into the lab. 'Well,' he thought, 'now's as good of a time as any, I guess.'
And with that, he sneakily turned around to leave, a motion which caught Torin's eye, though he said nothing about it.
"Eri-chan!"
Eri looked up from her seat at the cafe table she and Yumeji usually met at, and smiled as Yumeji walked over to join her. "Hey, Yumeji-kun! How was your day?"
"An absolute nightmare, believe it or not," Yumeji said as he sat down. "There was this Debo Monster that Candelira was trying to get promoted to become Aigaron's replacement."
"Ouch," Eri giggled, "lemme guess, completely the wrong type?"
"He seemed more like a Joy monster than a Sorrow Monster," Yumeji said, then he explained. "It put us all under a dream for a while there. Even Luckyuro got affected too."
"...Oh?" Eri asked, frowning slightly.
"Yeah, apparently where I was seeing you in my dreams, Luckyuro ended up standing where you were in reality," Yumeji explained. "I don't know if they ended up seeing the same things I saw, or if we were just mirroring people in eachothers dreams."
"Well..." Eri scratched at her nose, "I guess we'll never know for sure?"
"But, considering that I managed to break through that Nightmare with your help..." He noticed her blush there, "I'm of the opinion that we might have ended up sharing the same dream, Eri-chan." He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Especially when Luckyuro later remarked that they had fought off a copy of themselves...which the Eri of my dream did."
"Two of me fought each other?" Eri asked in surprise.
"Yes," Yumeji said.
"..." Eri blinked as she tried to find the right words to say.
"That is to say, you fought the other side of yourself," Yumeji clarified.
"Er...I don't really think this is something we should be discussing out here," Eri said.
"Yeah," Yumeji nodded, "somewhere more private would be better..."
They walked in silence until they reached Yumeji's house, and went inside.
He lead her over to the couch that they'd been sitting on in that second dream, and they both sat down before...
"Here," Yumeji held out a certain hand at an awkard angle, "bite it."
"..." Eri blushed slightly, then lightly did just that, matching her teeth up perfectly to a faint set of scars on his hand. "Gaburincho," She giggled slightly, then pulled away and said, "I'm sorry about that, by the way."
"It's fine," Yumeji smiled. "I thought it was weird, all things considered."
"How..." Eri tried to find the words to phrase her question, then asked, "How long have you known?"
"I've always sort of suspected since the day we met," Yumeji said as he reached out and tapped at her hat. "Mainly because of that."
"And even after I went to the trouble to make the other one look so different," Eri sighed, then looked him in the eye and asked straight, "and you still wanted to date me even suspecting that?"
"Honestly," Yumeji said with a smile, "by the point I really began to know it was you under both hats I just really didn't care."
"What tipped you off for sure?" Eri asked, curious to know.
"The fact that you showed up in the Digital World as Luckyuro when I'd brought you there as Eri," he admitted, "plus all those other times you'd helped us out for odd reasons. But for sure, it was finding out that you were hanging off of my arm in reality while we were fighting our way through the dream."
"W-We were actually doing that!?" Eri asked in surprise- blushing deeply.
"Yeah, apparently," Yumeji sighed, "everyone thinks we were both mistaking eachother for someone else though, so I think we're off the hook for the moment."
"That's a relief," Eri sighed. "Dogold doesn't really care either."
"I've gotten that impression as of late," Yumeji noted.
"I'm kind of glad he's taken over now," Eri said, "it makes me hopeful we can end all of this nicely."
"Me too..." Yumeji agreed, then said, "I don't care what name you go by, Eri-chan, just so long as you keep being that girl that I fell in love with."
"You too, Yumeji-kuun~!" Eri smiled at him. "I love you!"
And with that- they leaned in and kissed.
MEANWHILE_ _ _| THE FROZEN PALACE_ _ _|
A Rift suddenly opened in the middle of the room.
"What the-?" Candelira shrieked in surprise.
And then QuartzAstamon entered the room, smoking horribly as if having just suffered an explosion as he stumbled through the rift.
"Oh look," Dogold remarked, "the prodigal son returns! Sorry, but we of the New Deboss Legion don't want nor need your help anymore."
QuartzAstamon just growled as he stumbled away from the rift in the room he'd created, moving over towards the idle pillar of Sorrow.
"Eh? Didn't you get the Memo?" Dogold growled, drawing his sword, "You're not welcome here."
Candelira remained silent as she watched QuartzAstamon touch the pillar- and send forth a beam of light into the rift that seemed to adjust the time to that moment of space where Aigaron exploded. Then, she gasped as she saw the beam of light from the Sorrow Pillar grab two random fragments of Aigaron's body as he exploded, and then pulled them into the room- beginning the resurection process that had been used on Iceage, Metior, and Virsun...!
"What're you up to now?" Dogold asked in annoyance.
There was a double clap of sound as the two pieces of Aigaron were thrown at eachother in an attempt to spark a faster resurrection...!
But...Then...!
The entire room shook and shuddered as the temporal rift colapsed- and the two fragments were thrown across the room from eachother.
The walls seemed to explode with golden energy as the armor fragments began to regenerate into new bodies.
"Oh My...!" Candelira whispered as she watched a familiar silver-blue boot step out of the smoke and debris of one wall...
"What the-!?" Dogold took a step back in wary caution as a crimson boot having the texture of melted wax emerged from the other wall.
"Aigarooon!" Candelira threw herself at the familiar Tin Man. "You're back!"
"I-What?" Aigaron asked in confusion- "Where am I? The Palace? What happened...!?"
"Now just who the devil are you?" Dogold asked of the strange, mysterious figure whose emblem was different from that of Aigaron's...!
"En...dolf..." The figure said as purple sparks of energy flickered over his body. "My name is...Endolf."
Dogold turned towards QuartzAstamon, ready to spark and howl as he kicked up a storm...
But the crafty Digimon had vanished into thin air during the fireworks.
"Damn it." Dogold swore.
TO BE CONTINUED.
"The Newly Born Soldier of Hatred is super duper tough! Our best shot to turn it around is that Mystery 1+ Beast Battery! ...Or so it seemed, but what the fudge!? BRAVE 26! WOAH! The Gabutyramon! GABURINCHO!"
A.N.: *Evil laugh* That Endolf/Aigaron thing was something I came up with right at the very last possible moment. And yet...it works so nicely. *laughter continues*