"Guess who's back! Come on, everyone, group hug! Boxy? What's wrong?"
"Don't you ever leave me with that fool again; I'll split ya up the middle!"
"Okay, Boxy..."
"Okay, nothing! Mutha*Double record scratch* did not feed us!"
"Uh, we-we'll know better next time."
"He peed on me, bitch!"
"Frylock! Get him off of me, please!"

Yep, I'm finally back into Digimon after that hiatus. Young Amazons is taking longer than I would've expected so I decided to pull double duty and go back and forth with the stories; this being easier than the other. Certainly has been a lot happened since the last story in this series. The good news is that Last Evolution comes out in a few days (probably sooner if COVID hadn't screwed everything up) so what better time to get back into this?

Shoutout to MadDogLucario96 for some ideas and editing help. Oh, and JubiaMajo on Deviantart for the story picture as well.

And as always, disclaimer, I don't own any of this franchise, I just love it with all my heart.

Anyways, how's about we get right back into this?

Prologue

"No one's ever really gone." – Luke Skywalker, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Toyooka District, Iruma Ward, Tokyo, Japan. December 31st, 2016. 1259 Hours.
P.O.V. – Ross McGlathery

"Toyota, Mazda, Acura, Toyota, Toyota, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Nissan, Nissan…" Ren muttered as he looked out the window sounded bored out of his mind as we kept on driving out of the city. I should've just let him leave earlier with his mother and sister but I kinda wanted to spend some time with him; even if most of it was in the car.

"Feeling bored?" I asked him.

"There's nothing to do but name out the cars by their makers. Oh, a Mitsubishi." I had to chuckle at him saying that.

"Anything else you could think of to pass the time?"

"How's about letting me use your phone, or even better, letting me have one of my own."

"Ren, I need it for emergencies at the moment," I explained to him. "And as for your own, I want to wait a few years before getting you one. I need you to prove that you can be responsible." He said nothing more after I told him that. He just groaned and looked back out the window.

Some days, it's hard to believe that I'm here in this position after all the close calls we had with the Digimon. Things certainly seemed a lot easier the younger we were, and yet got more difficult as we grew in the years. I guess maybe that's the idea that we had little responsibilities when we were all kids. But the older we got, the more we had to focus on building our futures, what we needed to succeed in adulthood. A great example of that was during the fighting in '02, when half us Chosen Children basically sat on the sidelines a lot more than fighting the war against Osamu. That issue would prove even more hellish in our lives come the summer of 2005.

At first, things seemed pretty normal after we defeated Diablomon in Tokyo Bay. That whole spring of 2003 went by more like a flash in terms of memories. Of course, our happiness wasn't to last as it turned out. After BelialVamdemon was defeated, we honestly thought we had our Digimon partners with us to last this time around since our first adventure. As it turns out, it was borrowed time. Sometime around June of that year, several of the Digimon that we had in the Real World felt sort of exhausted. We thought that they just needed some rest in the Digital World, so we sent them there. However, as it turns out, apparently the gate permanently closed on us when all the Digimon were currently in the Digital World. I guess we should be a bit lucky since everyone was on their respective sides of the wall. But that didn't matter. No matter what we––or, well, Osamu and Koushiro–– tried, the gate wouldn't open. This hurt worse than at the end of our first adventure: At least we had a chance to say goodbye then.

Despite our feelings on how we were somehow cheated or punished, we had to move on with our lives, just as the world did. For two years, things seemed fairly slow, nothing truly of major importance happened in the world and the same could be said for us. The only things that would be of note was Yamato and Takeru's parents remarrying and the four of them all living under one roof again. Mimi and I, Taichi and Sora, and Jun and Osamu were all still dating each other while Ken and Miyako were now a couple. As I heard, Miyako was the one to ask Ken out, which was a nice little laugh for us.

By that summer, we were all firmly back to being mostly normal kids. Actually, not even kids anymore, teenagers, right on the cusp of adulthood. For several of us, the future was right outside the door with our final years of school, and where our respective desires and dreams would eventually separate us; as much as some of us didn't want it to. That was just the sad truth about life, even with how well we were able to stay connected in the 21st Century, it just doesn't feel the same as seeing your friends almost everyday and just enjoying life with them. For me, my focus was just on finishing high school then shipping back out to the States for basic Marine training in San Diego. After that, I was getting a college degree at Annapolis, as well as Marine Officer training to become a commissioned officer in the Corps. All while trying to balance a personal life and being a caring boyfriend for Mimi.

Of course, destiny always seems to come a calling for us whenever we get too complicit in our lives, and that summer of '05 practically was the breaking point for us all…

Yagami Residence, Odaiba District, Minato Ward, Tokyo, Japan. June 16th, 2005. 2212 Hours.
P.O.V. - Ross McGlathery

"{We need to locate Von Schrader's underground bunker! We know he's deep behind enemy lines!}"

"{Advance! GO! GO! GO!}"

"YAHHH! Meine Beine!"

"{HOLD THE LINE!}"

"{Jacobson! Cover me! I need to reload!}"

"Keine Gefangenen, Männer!"

"{Go! I've got you! Reload!}"

"{I've got armor!}"

"Zerstöre sie! Fahren Sie sie!"

"AHHHHHH! DU AMERIKANISCHER ABSCHAUM!"

"{Tomahawk! We've lost contact with forward observation! Can you see them?!}"

"{Negative! Smoke's too thick here!}"

"{Charlie! Charlie! You've got seven – REPEAT – SEVEN – armored units coming your way!}"

"{Roger, I see 'em! We're moving to engage! We're sayin' our Hail Mary's here!}"

"Come on, you Waffen-SS bastards! I've got plenty of BAR rounds for all of you!" I cried out to the screen as I was now starting the final level of the Battle of the Bulge campaign for Medal of Honor: European Assault. I was trying to stop Graf Von Schrader from detonating the dirty bomb in the Ardennes.

"Think they might just have to throw the entire Eastern front at you just to stop you." Taichi chuckled as he walked into the room. He was dressed in some sleepwear and still looked the same after so many years: His hair was still a complete mop. Of course, the same could go for me, other than some new glasses.

"Please, they'd need the Dark Masters if they wanted any chance of slowing me down." I paused the game before looking back at Taichi, seeing the somewhat darkened mood on his face. Not angry or anything, just sad and melancholy. "Shoot, Taichi, I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's alright, Ross." He sighed before he sat on the bottom bunk. "It's just been, what? Two years now?"

"Two and a month, I think. It was close to my birthday. Heh, great birthday gift from the Digital World huh? After everything we kept doing for it, it just pulls the rug right out under us." I said before leaning down and petting Drew. The old dog was starting to get up there in age as he laid quietly on his little bed.

"Seems that way…" He muttered to himself as I stood up.

"Hey, you doing alright right now?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine… just… I don't know… feeling a bit confused, that's all."

"About what?" I gasped. "Oh, that project Mr. Nishijima wants us to do?" His eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Crap! That was tomorrow!?" he shouted before immediately shooting up to stand. I nodded.

"'Fraid so. I don't really know what's so difficult about it for you."

"Easy for you to say. It's about what our future plans are…" he sighed. "You've already had yours planned out from the day we first met, for God's sake."

"True." I chuckled. "But surely you can't just think of something to put down, even if it's not true." He shook his head at me.

"No, I don't want to lie or anything. I want to be honest about it."

"Hmm, maybe get some sleep. Maybe you'll think of something by the morning." I suggested.

"Maybe so."

"Hey, you two…" Hikari said to us as she walked into the room. "Mom says you two should be winding it down for tonight."

The past few years changed her a bit. Her hair was still mostly the same with the little hairpin holding up her front bangs while her light brown hair was starting to darken a bit in recent years. Her height was also a change as month after month she was looking more and more like a beautiful young woman, which concerned Taichi and me. She had already attracted a lot of attention from boys at not just her school, but ours too. We'd always have to put those punks in their place as a result, but we couldn't be prouder of the young woman she was becoming.

"Come on, Hikari, it's only ten." Taichi groaned.

"No arguing. It's what Mom said, and I'll agree with that." She smirked before leaning back out of the doorway. "Good night, you two. Oh, I had the last slice of your birthday cake from yesterday, Onii-chan." She said before she closed the door.

"Is it just me, or has she been getting a bit more mischievous or something like that over the past few years?" I asked.

"She gets it from you." Taichi snickered. I walked over to him and punched him in the leg. "Ow!"

"She gets it from the both of us." I countered before laughing and turning off the PlayStation.

"That was my kicking leg!" He growled as he rubbed his leg.

"Oh, relax, it was just a dead leg. You'll be fine in a few minutes." I told him as I climbed up into bed above him. "Anyways, have a good night." I said as he turned off the lamp.

"You too. Though, don't stay up all night, will you?" He said, reminding me that I usually fall asleep around midnight.

"Don't worry, I will." I told him as I pulled out my DS and headphones and started up Kirby: Canvas Curse. I sighed as I got to playing. This has what my life has become, hasn't it? Just the monotony of a normal life; certainly nothing really exciting for a former Chosen Child who helped save the world a few times.

Of course, one of these days, I'm going to learn to take that phrase, 'be careful what you wish for' seriously…

Yeah, Grif from Red vs Blue said something similar once.

Anyways, the next chapter will be up in a bit so don't you leave just yet.

"Push the button, Frank."