Y/N:Natsuni's was fun and intense to write. I hope you enjoy it.

U/N:Willis is hard for me to keep straight so he's never in character. I assure you, his real character, who I'm supposed to be writing, is very interesting, and flirtatiously distant, but I cannot do that apparently :P So just pretend he's always been in character...

Title: Digimon Adventure 06: Data

By: YukiraKing and UrazamayKing

Disclaimer: We don't own Digimon or its characters.

Part 3: Ignorance

Chapter 29: Highway To The Safety Zone

Willis Kennedy:

Terriermon and Lopmon were Knights, and I was very proud of them and all they'd accomplished. I was perhaps a little bitter that they were required to remain in the Temple longer than just about everyone else because of that reason though. I'd talked to Tatum about it, and she explained that she and the other chosen along with the digidestined were to come last. Right before them were the Knights. That was just hardly fair. I was so happy they were helping people there too though, but not happy enough to be content with not talking to them for the same reason. Every time I called Tatum, or used the video chat system they were unable to be found, likely helping people, and that was great.

Really great.

But I missed them a lot. I hadn't seen them since I last gone to work. It had been more than three weeks. Twenty-five days to be exact, and that was nearly a month. That was hardly fair—I rarely spent any time away from them, couldn't I just go to the Temple? No, I was 'needed here' for stupid things like putting together beds. And while I was happy to help as well, I wanted to be with my partners.

Really I did. Very much so.

I felt pretty alone even excluding Terriermon and Lopmon. Michael, Jenna and Tatum were all at the Temple with my partners, the place I should have been. Here I had Kiyoko who was pretty amazing to be fair. He was really smart, and could easily be my temporary Tatum replacement, except he talked a lot less than she did, and wasn't ginger. Hideto was somewhat like Michael if not immensely darker and more depressing. He was also thinner and bisexual. Warg and Melga were not nearly as fun as Terriermon and Lopmon, but they sure got into enough trouble to account for my missing partners. And of course Jenna's sassy behaviour could easily be replicated by Mari if only I was allowed to spend time with her.

I was basically permitted to spend an hour a day with my friends, and other than that I was sent to work with whatever digimon needed help. So far today I'd helped clean four cells with the Roachmon brothers who told me all about what happened with the broken data stream. Thankfully someone thought I was important enough to tell things to. I'd found out the digidestined had a meeting while I was putting together a bed for Hikari in Gatomon's room for whenever she came to stay permanently. And that was just rude of them to do.

Just now I could hear Hideto speaking with Yamato a few cells down about how horrible Yamato's band members were. I turned to the door longingly as Mari walked past. She smiled and waved to me, sending my spirits up to the roof just as Takeru swooped in and asked for her help. He motioned for her to head the other way and her shoulders drooped as she looked to me apologetically.

"Stupid Takeru, stealing all my girlfriends." I muttered.

"I hear you," MetallifeKuwagamon said to me, a great big smile plastered on his face.

"Right," I said as my phone beeped. I looked to the message and groaned, ignoring it.

Omg, Tanya said that you...

It was from my ex-girlfriend Tiffany. She came equipped with an entire nine season drama television show, I swear. Everything about her was dramatic. Just this morning she sent me a message saying "I miss you" And now she was mad at me again. I had no intention of getting back together with her, but that was because I was now resigned to the concept of living alone for my entire life. It wouldn't be so bad. I would have Terriermon and Lopmon and of course I could always a puppy. That would be cute, though maybe Terriermon wouldn't like being overshadowed by the dog, so I could get a cat. That would be nice. I just didn't have much luck with girls.

My very first girlfriend turned out to be the girl I was so in love with. How cheesy was that? Maybe I did fit right into Tiffany's drama show. I'd dated Hikari, my longest relationship to date, and that was horrible from day one, so I wasn't even sure why we kept it going. I was happy she was with Takeru now. What I'd said was just bitter for the sake of being bitter. I was happy she was happy and Alice had told me that time I'd gone to Heaven to see my dead family members that Hikari wasn't right for me. But she said Mari was! So why wouldn't she date me?

When the hell did life get so complicated?

It was that moment I sent Hikari that email all those years ago. "Been to the Digi-World lately? No? Well I have. And it was easy to do so too because the digi-port has been open for a very long time, so I thought it would be ok to go inside. It's still as great as always, great scenery, beautiful skies... only it's different now. Why? Because I didn't see a single digimon. Not one—well besides Terriermon and Lopmon—Yeah, Chocomon digivolved, cool huh? Anyway, I searched for hours, but I didn't find a single digimon until I spotted the strangest creature. I can't even explain it, but I noticed something was on its head... a weird symbol. One that I had seen before, but only once. Hikari it was the crest of knowledge. I came out of the Digi-World to send this to you, but I'm going back in, so I won't see your response. Just... come help if you think it seems fit. Love, Willis."

Like, whatever. Did I have to drag myself into all of this? Sure I'd gotten so much out of it. I'd gotten Michael and Jenna, and my mother now accepted digimon, and I met my sister and father, and I represent two of the most integral traits of the Digital World, and now Mari was back in my life, however randomly she decided to show up...

So it all started with the digimon of knowledge. Funny how things always come back around to bite you... even if this bite wasn't so bad.

My phone started ringing, and I looked to it, angry that Tiffany would bother calling me, but when I saw the picture on the screen I saw that it was not Tiffany at all, and that it was Tatum. I quickly answered, dropping the mop I was using to clean the floor, hoping for a chance to speak with Terriermon or Lopmon.

"Willis," Tatum called into the phone almost annoyingly loudly. "We're sending more data streams over."

"Pardon me?" I said, nervously. "You can't do that. They can stop them!"

"Stop!" Tatum insisted urgently, "Of course we know that. Just get outside and wait for them. It's important."

"Okay," I said, but she had already hung up the phone. "Gotta go," I told MetallifeKuwagamon, rushing out of the cell. I passed Hideto and Yamato, and a bunch of other digimon. Then I passed Kiyoko and smiled to him, he was staring at his blog and the work he'd done while some of the others mom's sat around him. He was doing good work here, and that program we'd made for the oceans was hopefully strong enough—but whether or not it was it was an ingenious idea. I was proud to have even been a part of it.

I didn't know who Tatum was sending through the streams, but didn't they know it was dangerous? Didn't they know we had no more room for digimon? We'd already filled in the lower levels under the false floor with Numemon who were happier down there anyway without realizing that was where Betamon had been tortured. We were working on locating some other levels which Kiyoko insisted there were according to his blueprint, but even on the blueprints the secret entrances were secrets. If we could find them then we could fit hundreds of extra digimon inside. Or, you know, my parents. My mom and Michael's dad needed to come eventually too—and so did Mimi's parents. They were all in America, and I sometimes thought that maybe the others didn't remember anywhere aside from Japan existed, which would explain the lack of information passed on to me over the years. But America was in danger too, and we needed to get my parents here if everyone else's parents were allowed inside.

Not that we had a way to do that yet. Well apparently we did. We were just going to ignore the men and women who were filled with enough hate to kill us if they got the chance to do so. And they had gotten the chance to kill a poor defenceless Yanmamon which was simply horrible, and now we were sending more digimon across?

It had better not be Terriermon and Lopmon they were risking. Then again... maybe that wouldn't so bad if they managed to get here. Tatum had called me. Why else would she call me aside from the fact that I was the only person here she really knew?

"Where are you going?" Babamon asked angrily from her place by the desk Hideto had crafted for her. She pointed her broom at me as if she was going to hit me with it. "You can't leave. You will ruin our invisibility factor."

"I'm getting the next shipment." I told her.

"You're not leaving until I see you turn invisible." She chastised. I ignored her and pulled the door open, stepping outside. Yes it was dangerous, but it had to be done. I instantly looked up at the data streams that Meiyomon was sending around hastily. My eyes scanned them for any sign of Terriermon or Lopmon who I was sure had to be inside of them. My heart was beating quickly with anticipation and nervousness. They could die, but if they managed to survive then I'd finally be reunited. It was coming soon.

I noticed that some of the streams were picking up the offending officers and throwing them around to disorient them. Meiyomon had thought it all out. He was making sure whoever was coming over was going to be as safe as possible. Then I saw it. The one we were waiting for. It was coming toward me. It had to be the one. The one that would deliver me my partners.

But it was empty...

And then it landed just past the river before shooting off in a random direction.

"Damn..." I muttered. It wasn't the right one.

But then people began popping out of thin air like popcorn as cell phones were flung in different directions. I first noticed Hikari, standing with her arms hugging herself, her face red and tear stained. Then I noticed a purple little Impmon hopping up and down crying harder than even Hikari, and then Iori and Jou who were carrying a very pale, broken looking woman.

My heart beat stopped entirely. The disappointment of seeing Terriermon and Lopmon had not come would have been tolerable, but seeing this instead? That was something I didn't know I could handle.

"Get the door!" Jou shouted to me, and I did so without thinking, or willing myself to do so. I watched in fear and panic as they rushed her through. I knew her, but couldn't remember her name. Who was this girl? What was wrong with her? Was she going to be okay? Suddenly Hikari had hugged me, tears falling onto my shoulder.

"W-what happened?" I asked, scared.

"H-he shot her!" Hikari sobbed incomprehensively. I could barely understand her, and then she was rushing inside to follow them all. I closed the door behind myself and heard Jou scream for everyone to get out of the way. Everyone in the Coliseum had to have heard the urgency in his voice as he screamed because they all fell completely silent.

I felt excluded, but like I shouldn't stop following. My legs didn't seem to be listening anyway. My entire body was on edge and I was following Hikari as she stumbled on her way down the hallway, holding Impmon's hand. Heads were poking out of their cells and watching as we moved. Kiyoko was standing with Hideto and Yamato each of them looking as confused as I felt. We passed Mari and she grabbed my arm dragging me into a cell that she'd been preparing for some digimon I couldn't be bothered to identify at the moment.

"What happened?" She asked me sharply.

"I don't know," I said nervously, "I-I... The girl..."

"Who?" Mari asked quickly, looking into the hallway, "What's going on?"

"I don't know..." I said, turning back to see Takeru. He looked to me and looked like he'd found what he was looking for.

"Where did they—" He didn't finish because I'd pointed down the hall and he set off at a run, so I followed mindlessly. I didn't want to think about what was happening. I couldn't. Was this someone else dying? And what was worse was that it was happening slowly. Not like the digimon deaths were they were deleted on sight. This was slow. She'd been shot and was now in the process of losing the precious life she'd been granted.

I found the lab we'd all crafted into a doctoral lab for Jou and saw that the girl was laying on a bed that looked like Alias III might actually have stolen from a hospital. Seeing her now, in this light her name rushed back to me. Noriko. That was her name. And that was simply the first thing about her. There was more—her life. I was aware that Takeru was comforting Hikari now, and aware that Yamato and Alias III had crowded the doorway behind me, and aware that Iori was holding Noriko's hand, but my mind and my eyes were trained in on Jou who was moving around the room panicking. He was looking for something, but no one could help because he didn't even know what he was looking for.

Hikari tried to pull away from Takeru, trying to get to Noriko, but he was keeping her back because Iori and Impmon were already taking the space. Jou would need room to work whenever he discovered what he was going to do.

"Tell me what happened again!" Jou shouted.

Everyone seemed to shocked to speak except Iori who awkwardly made hand gestures as if he was explaining long before he actually spit out what had happened. "It was Morestuna. Ken's police chief. He shot her with the gun. The one that deletes digimon."

There were many gasps behind me that I ignored. "But she's not being deleted." I noted. "Because she's not a file that can be. She's not digital."

"True." Jou said, pointing to me, happy to have some kind of help.

"We just need to know what this does to humans," I said.

"Koushiro did research on the guns," Takeru said helpfully. "I could call him?" Jou looked to him with eyes that dared him to not call Koushiro. He was dialling the number, and Jou was frantic, taking the phone from him.

"Can everyone leave?" Jou asked without any signs of the usual polite manner in which he spoke, "I need to think. Impmon can stay, but everyone else, just—Koushiro!" Jou interrupted Koushiro's response. "Tell me what you know about the guns." Then to everyone else again, "Go!"

Noriko released Iori's hand as if she were letting go of her last threads of life and then smiled to him, repositioning herself. It was a relief to see that she was not entirely shut down. It seemed she was very much in shock and perhaps weakened, but not dead. Not yet, she was holding on and had strength left to use up.

I stepped backwards out of the room, the relief of seeing her move on her own giving me enough power to do so. I was standing in the hallway a moment later, looking toward where Mari, Hideto, Kiyoko and Yamato stood. Takeru and Hikari were followed out of the lab by Iori, and the three of them stood with me momentarily.

"Hikari!" Noriko called from inside, her voice stronger than I'd been expecting. We all turned to see her holding up a violet phone case. "Please call him for me."

"Him?" Takeru asked.

"Her fiancé," Hikari gasped out, rushing into the room to retrieve the phone. "I'll tell him what's happening. I'll bring him to you. I promise!" She was already looking through the phone for his number, walking down the hallway toward the others.

Yamato suggested we all get back to work to keep everything running smoothly, and everyone agreed though no one moved to actually participate. Somehow it seemed meaningless. The walls seemed stickier and the grime on the ceiling was thicker. The stone seemed impossible to clean, and even the clean rooms we passed seemed like they needed to be redone. Somehow everything was impossible to ignore. Every speck was impossible to miss. The hairs that were out of place on Takeru's head drew my attention for a while as we all walked toward the antechamber. I stopped watching his wild stands of hair when he rushed to get a seat for Hikari to sit on.

"Tomotsu," Hikari said into the phone finally, "Where are you right now?" She paused, breathing in slowly, her emotions seemed to be controlled if only momentarily, "You need to leave work, I'm sorry. I'm Hikari Yagami, I work with Noriko. Something terrible has happened. We're going to come get you and bring you to her." Hikari placed her hand over her mouth as, even from where I stood, I could hear his distraught voice, wondering what was going on. "I don't entirely understand what is going on." Hikari said quietly, "I just know that she wants you here. Someone will explain w-when you get here. Just tell us where you are." The man fired off his address and Hikari promised someone was on the way. She hung up the phone and looked to Iori, "You have to get him." She told him, "Please. Go through Jou's house, it's the safest path. Bring him here as fast as you can."

"As long as you call Natsuni too," Iori said, "Tell her what's going on."

"Of course," Hikari agreed as Iori got to his feet and was heading to the door, she then turned to Takeru, "You should go too." She told him.

"What?" He asked, "Shouldn't I stay here? Don't you need someone to be with you?"

"No, I'm fine. I just need some space." Hikari told him gently.

"Fine." Takeru said, annoyed. I could so relate to that. Hikari was a very kind girl, but as a girlfriend she liked to keep people from coming into her heart. That was the problem with our relationship. I was open and she was not. I really hoped Takeru was stronger than I was and could make it work anyway. I wanted them both to be happy.

"Okay." Hikari said finally watching Takeru fall into stride with Iori. "I'm coming too, apparently." He told him, looking to Hikari. Iori looked uncomfortably to Takeru for a moment. I knew the problems they were having. I was there when Yamato had screamed to Takeru, listening from down the hall. But Iori nodded, putting aside his differences for the time being. Takeru said a general goodbye blatently ignoring Yamato and Hikari, and followed Iori out the door where I assumed they would pick up the fallen cell phones.

Hikari's shaking hands were dialling Natsuni's number on Noriko's phone as Mari spoke up, "What if we use that time travelling key to go back and save that girl?"

"Not a good idea," A snide voice said from the corner of the room before any of us could get our hopes up. It was Katsue. She'd been given a room, but had become so used to sitting on her stool in the corner that she still sat there. She'd been given a desk and a computer though now as she documented everything that went on in the Coliseum. Monimon sat on her desk with her, looking to us with a sad emoticon face.

"And why not?" Hideto asked. He didn't particularly like her it seemed.

"Mari should remember," Katsue said, "When we went back in time to save that Gemini fellow—" "Gennai," Yamato corrected her—"we came back to the present and you were all dead."

"But that was years worth of collateral damage." I said, shaking my head, not liking her words whether they were true or not, "This must have only happened today, what damage could possibly be done?"

"A life for a life..." Mari said quietly, her eyes looking to the floor adamantly, "When one person's life is spared, another must take her place." Everyone was silent for a moment. Mari had told me once that she thought Lalamon's death could have to do with Sora's. Going back to save Sora, everyone assumed Arkadimon was the death that had taken her place, and perhaps that was true, but Mari reminded me that Arkadimon was a glitch and therefore was not meant to exist, so his life would not amount to Sora's. I assured her it was a coincidence, and she believed me I thought. It was in her denial stage, where she was sure she could bring her back. That was the worst stage to go through her with, because every morning she would wake up having forgotten about Lalamon and fall apart again when she remembered the truth.

"We can take Morestuna's life," Hideto said confidently.

"That wouldn't be right either," Kiyoko said softly, "Killing someone isn't a good guy characteristic." He seemed to be reminding Hideto of this fact as if they talked often about what being a good guy meant.

"Well killing an innocent girl isn't right." Hideto argued loudly, causing Kiyoko to turn his head upset. Mari took his hand to comfort him since Hideto was too angry to do so, and we all finally turned to Hikari who had gotten through to Natsuni.

"Hey," Hikari said, "No, it's not her. It's me. Where are you? Okay, well I'm coming to get you then. Yes I am. Okay fine, just get to the Digital World. Iori wants you here. Something happened to Noriko." She paused again, looking up to us and she swallowed thickly, "No, she's okay." She nodded, unsure of herself, "She has to be."

Natsuni Ando:

It was awkward. There was no other way to describe it. Armadillomon and Goblimon were upstairs in my childhood bedroom, playing with my old toys. They'd been given the strict instructions of making no noise, and pretending they didn't exist. No matter how hard I—or my father—glared at my mother she wouldn't cave and give them the freedom of wandering the house. I didn't live there any longer, I no longer had a say in anything that occurred under her roof.

I was one hundred percent positive that it was Dad's roof, since he was the only parent that had ever had an occupation. Mother was far too busy being the perfect housewife and an overbearing mother to be able to hold a job. But whatever, she claimed it was hers, and that her word was law.

Dad was always too lenient. He let her get away with everything because he loved her. That's what he said anyway. I was pretty sure he didn't care because he wasn't home most of the time, because he was so busy picking up unnecessary, extra hours in the office. It wasn't as though Mother was planning to build a new addition to our house and needed the money. My childhood home didn't need refinishing. There was a reason she felt the need to be the perfect socialite. We were well off, and she did her very best to demonstrate that fact "tastefully" through her decoration choices. She was always off buying another painting, or decorative vase. There was a sleek, black, grand piano in the foyer next to the large winding staircase that curled around the room leading to the second floor. There was an overabundance of plant life—to demonstrate her non-existent caring and nurturing personality—and all of our furniture was handmade and crafted with the finest woods available. All stained in the exact same shade of mahogany. There were more rooms than I knew what to do with. It wasn't a mansion, mind you, but Mother had definitely built additions over the years. We had a sun nook, a library that doubled as my father's office, asitting room and of course the grand foyer. So no. Mother didn't need the money for renovations.

He went to work so much because he was avoiding her.

Dad was just too sweet to admit it to her, because he did love her—though he'd admitted it was very rocky after I'd accidentally involved her in a journey to the Digital World. She'd never forgiven me for that, and she hated Goblimon's presence with a fiery passion that was hard to rival. Dad didn't like that. I was his 'precious baby girl'—his words, not my own—and he hated to see me upset. He wanted Mother to get over her 'petty and selfish opinions' and just get on with being a happy family.

Only Mother wasn't ready to do that—and I doubted she ever would be.

Which was why she was seated on the plastic covered arm chair on the opposite side of the living room, with a lamp on, and a book spread open upon her lap. She was turning the page ever six minutes. To the second. I'd timed her. She was so dramatic about her master plans of ignoring me until I went away.

And she called me childish.

"How is Iori doing in school, he's coming close to finishing, isn't he? It must be harder now," Dad was saying. I nodded, and prattled off about all the inconsequential details of our lives, taking care to mention Iori's name, and the digimon, as often as possible, just to try and get a rise out of my mother. But it never worked. She just kept counting the minutes until she could turn her page again.

And then my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller display and nearly put my phone away, since it was quite rude to answer whilst in the middle of a conversation. It was Noriko. I couldn't imagine why she was calling me though, so I pushed aside all thoughts of good manners, and accepted the call.

"This is Natsuni Ando, how can I help you?" I answered jovially.

"Hey."

"Hello, Noriko," I said, though the voice didn't sound quite right.

"No, it's not her," she answered. "It's me. Where are you?"

Hikari.

My heart started speeding up. What was Hikari doing with Noriko's cell phone?

"I'm at my parents' house," I told her. "Why?"

"Okay, well I'm coming to get you then," she said, sounding very determined.

"Uh, no, you're not," I said, shaking my head. Why did she need me? Was something wrong? What was I thinking? Of course something was wrong. I could hear it in the tone of her voice. Was it Iori? Was it a digimon?

"Yes I am," she protested.

"I can get there myself," I assured her.

"Okay fine," she said giving in, her voice growing less controlled with each word she sent my way. "Just get to the Digital World. Iori wants you here."

I nearly sighed in relief, before I blurted out the word "Why?"

"Something happened to Noriko," she explained. I mentally slapped myself. Of course it was Noriko, why else would Hikari have her phone? And then it hit me, something happened to Noriko.

"What?" I demanded. "Is she dead?"

"No, she's okay," Hikari assured me. I had a feeling she was mostly trying to convince herself though. "She has to be."

I promised to meet her soon, and then hung up, getting to my feet and pacing, trying to wrap my head around everything that was happening. Digimon were in danger. I'd known that already. The digidestined were being targeted. I knew that too. But the chosen were being attacked? That was new. And it meant I wasn't safe anymore, like I thought I was. I figured that since it was just the digidestined on that documentary—truly an exemplary work, technically speaking, though it was unfortunate that it wasn't taken as positively as it should have been—that everyone else with a digimon would be safe so long as they didn't flaunt it around town.

Evidently I was wrong.

"What's wrong, sweetheart," Dad asked gently. "Tell me."

"I have to leave," I said. "My friend was hurt, I don't know how bad it is, but Iori needs me there. I need to be there for her too. Come with me. Please?"

"I can't just leave the office," he protested, though it was a feeble effort. He was only taking all the extra hours to get out of the house after all. He didn't want to be here all the time. He also had a whack of holidays that he'd stockpiled. He could do it. He could come with me. He could be safe. Maybe he'd even meet his own digimon partner. It could be a wonderful bonding experience for the two of us.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

I turned my head to the foyer, confused. No one just knocked on the door of Mother's house. She'd installed an old fashioned knocker—shaped like a lion head—but a visitor was expected not to use it, as she'd also been thoughtful enough to provide a doorbell. I glanced at Mother and Dad. Dad was just as confused as I was, and Mother's face was pinched, as though she was wincing at the sound of knuckles slamming into her precious door.

Dad and I both migrated to the foyer, not wanting to risk the chance that they'd knock again. I got there first, pulling open the door. My heart leap into my throat. Three people were standing on our door stoop. A tall, broad man whose muscles threatened to escape the tight black shirt he'd stretched over them. Next to him was a shorter man, stockier in build. His clothing wasn't so tight, but it too was black all over. The third was a woman, also dressed in black, but I had to look way up to see her face. She was so tall, not bulky, but she definitely had some strong muscle tone going on.

They were the perfect picture of a bad guy's lackeys.

And I'd seen enough movies to know for sure.

"Can we help you?" Dad asked smoothly. His voice was charmingly warm, but there was a slight edge to it. It was obvious he wasn't being cordial. He wouldn't be inviting them in. He'd clearly drawn the same conclusion as I had.

"We've received notification that there are digimon on the premises," the shorter man said. His voice was loud, harsh, excited. I noticed the guns they had strapped to their belts. Each had two guns. They were exactly what Iori had warned the digimon of. They would kill them.

I almost panicked.

But I'd seen plenty of movies where the girl was the weak link, the one that couldn't hold herself together long enough for the heroes to talk their way out of a mess. I wasn't going to be one of those girls. Not when I had Goblimon and Armadillomon upstairs. I had to be strong. So I swallowed my fear and panic and looked the men straight in the eyes, not backing down, but not showing defiance either. Dad and I had to play the perfect balance of affronted and confused. I knew he could do it. But could I?

"You know, I haven't the foggiest where you heard that horrid rumour," Dad said with a baffled smile. "There aren't any digimon here." I shook my head, looking at them, puzzled. I didn't trust my voice not to break, so I kept my mouth shut. Noriko. Dad. Goblimon. Armadillomon. Breathe Natsuni, breathe!I pushed back the thoughts again.

"We'd like to canvas the house," the woman declared. "We're under strict orders to not leave without confirming a lack of digimon presence."

"I think I would know if there were any of those...vermin...in my home," Dad growled at them, sneering when applicable, and overall giving the most amazing performance of his life. If I hadn't known his stance on digimon was a favourable one, that sentence alone would've convinced me he was with DWD.

"Of course sir," the woman said. She was still unsure, but his utter disgust at digimon was enough to convince them that he was serious. We'd won this battle! The digimon were safe. I was ready to dance in circles and cheer at the top of my lungs.

But that feeling fled quickly.

A pair of heels clicked their way to the foyer, and Mother walked in—with perfect grace and poise, obviously—stopping in the doorway to the living room. "They're lying you know," she informed our unwanted guests. "I would know. I was the one that called to inform you of our infestation. They're upstairs. Turn left at the top of the stairs, and it's the second door on your right."

I could only stare at my mother as she betrayed two of my closest friends. Any hope I'd had that she could redeem herself was gone. She wasn't a human being anymore. She was one of them. She was a monster. My heart was pounding in my chest, trying to break free of my ribcage. I slowly stepped backwards, away from the door, trying not to alert the exterminators to my intentions.

But it was taking too long.

I turned on my heel and bolted towards the staircase that was too close to the door. They'd get there in no time. Dad slammed the door on them, locking it quickly, and started racing after me. I was three steps from the bottom when I realized his plan. He was shoving the grand piano with all his might towards the steps. He was going to block them—temporarily, because they could easily climb over it, or simply shove it aside—to give me time to escape.

But what about him?

"Dad," I shrieked. "Dad you're coming with me!"

"No," he said looking me straight in the eye. He was dead serious. There was no way I could change his mind. I could feel the tears starting to come. "Listen to me. You get to the digimon and you get them out. They're family, Natsuni. Andos protect their family." He glared at Mother, and she seemed appalled that he excluded her from the family name, replacing her with digimon. But I didn't care if her feelingswere hurt. Dad was right. The members of DWD were slamming into the door, trying to get it to open, despite the locks. "I can hold them off," Dad told me. "I'm going to keep you safe. Promise me you're going to go."

"I don't want to leave you," I pleaded.

"Go!" he shouted.

The door fell onto the floor with a loud crash, and I was racing up the stairs. Once I reached the top, I risked one last look, and saw Dad punching them, kicking them, throwing vases and potted plants. But the tall guy, the really strong one, decked Dad in the face, and he fell to the floor.

"Daddy!" I screamed. My vision was blurred and my voice crackled. Somehow, my feet knew to keep going and I was racing down the hall. Thanks to Mother, they knew exactly which door to go to. I knocked over the pedestals with Mother's prized art pieces—the vases, the sculptures—and the plants that were in my way. If they wanted to get to the digimon, they'd have to work for it.

I threw the door to my old bedroom open and slammed it shut behind me. I screamed for Goblimon to help me with the dresser. He shoved it in front of the door after I'd flicked the lock. He added the side tables and the waste bin too.

"What's wrong?" Armadillomon asked.

"Everything's going to be fine," I told him, deciding that the explanation could wait until later. I pressed the power button to my old desktop computer and tapped my hand impatiently on the tabletop. Why couldn't this go faster? "Guys, get away from the door. Stay by me, okay? Just get over here."

I'd never realized I could be thankful that my desk was on the same wall as the door. Armadillomon snuggled up to my feet, and Goblimon put his big hands on my shoulders. We watched together as the logos started dancing on the screen.

"Come on, come on!" I shouted. I pulled my digivice out of my pocket, glad that I'd forgone the purse idea and stuck with a simple sweater. I had my phone and my digivice and my wallet. Nothing clunky to try and transport. Mostly though, I was just thankful that I'd thought to even bring my digivice on this visit. I was always forgetting it at home.

"What's that?" Goblimon asked, afraid. I flinched, realizing that the DWD people were shaking the door handle, trying to open it. The screen was loaded now, but I had to get the gateway up and running, and that would take time. This wasn't the newest computer model.

"Ignore it," I suggested, getting ready to punch my screen. They'd started tackling the door or something. Whatever they'd done to get the front door open, they were doing it again. The banging stopped though, suddenly. For a brief second, I thought they'd decided to leave us alone. I should've known better.

"What's that?" Goblimon asked, confused and terrified at the same time. It was a strange sound, but familiar too. It was in almost every sci-fi movie I'd ever seen. It was the sound effect used with alien weaponry, laser guns, plasma blasters...

"Guns," I whispered. They were shooting my door. I wondered how long the barricade would hold out against them. They were yelling at us. They didn't want to hurt me. If I'd just surrender the digimon, then they'd leave me alone. DWD was the future, and I would see the light soon. I just had to see it to believe in the cause.

"Just give us the beasts!" the gruff voice yelled. It was the short one.

"If anyone's a beast it's you!" I screamed at them, hurting my vocal chords with the sheer volume of it. I looked at my screen. The gate was there! Yes. I just needed to open it and we'd be safe. I grabbed my digivice only to send it tumbling to the floor when a blast of purple light shot through my room on our left. There was a hole in my door. They'd shot a hole right through my door. I quickly grabbed my fallen digivice and activated the gate, hearing more shots being fired. As we disappeared into the computer I screamed—one of them had stuck their hand through the hole, and started firing shots at random. One was headed directly towards us.

And then we were surrounded by the Temple walls.

I looked to Goblimon and Armadillomon. They were both there. We'd made it. We were all in one piece. I collapsed to the floor, crying for Dad—was he going to be okay?—crying for our close call. It was an ugly sobbing, and I my whole body was shaking with the effort, my heart beat still far too fast, my hands shaking. I wrapped my arms around Armadillomon, heaving him onto my knees, and then Goblimon did the same to me. I was the centre of a digimon sandwich, and we were all crying together, so happy to still have this chance.

I knew I'd have to tell them—and the others—the story soon, but I'd do it later.

If I stopped crying by then.

Next on Digimon Adventure 06: Things have officially moved past petty battles and hate crimes, it is now developing into a full on war as Daisuke, Kurayami and Michael pull the third part to a close.