Izumi's mind was buzzing. Not the "filled with a million thoughts" type of buzzing. No, it was the sound of silence trying to fill itself. It was the low hum of her trying and failing to process the scene. The pieces were all apparent enough, individually. There was the computer, its light filling the room unevenly. Takuya next to her, slack jawed. A dark skinned girl, late teens, dripping wet and feral. And there was Koichi, hands hanging limply at his sides, head bowed forward, resting his forehead on the girl's shoulder. On its own everything made enough sense to be identifiable, but together the picture just didn't work. What was happening? What had just finished happening? How had they so quickly transitioned from a stranger emerging from the computer and Koichi pinning her to this?

The girl seemed equally befuddled, her black eyes surveying the blank boy with a mixture of compassion and fear. Awkwardly, she tried to embrace him and, when that failed, patted him on the back. Like he had a bad cough… A stray thought crossed Izumi's brain as she wondered how anyone could be so inept. When the pats did nothing to wake him up she let out a long sigh, grabbed Koichi's shoulders, and pushed him back. He looked up at her, and whatever expression was in his bloodstained eyes seemed to give the girl pause. She grasped his chin and forced a smile.

"Hey now, none of that," she said, her voice a soft horn in the stillness. "You need to be focused now, understand?"

"Whoa, wait a second," Takuya snapped, jumping as if reality had literally snuck up and kicked him. "You speak Japanese? Then why didn't you open with that! Who are you? Where the hell did you come from? Why are you- you're freakin' drenched!"

"It's the Digivice," Koichi answered, moving just enough to glance back at the pair. "It's translating for us. Now that it's active. This is Bahar, Chosen of Justice."

"Just Bahar," the girl cut in, palming hair from her face. "Whatever force chose me made a huge mistake, but here I am so I guess they haven't figured that out yet. And I'm soaked because I just came from the Dark Ocean. Your little buddy Dorian didn't have the balls to face me after his betrayal and stashed me there for safe keeping."

"He is not our buddy," spat Izumi, finding her voice.

"Sorry, I just assumed what with you having all his shit."

"Enough," Koichi cut in, his eyes swinging to admonish them. Izumi opened her mouth to retort, thought better of it, and chose to fold her arms instead. Bahar traced her lower lip with the tip of her tongue, giving Izumi a challenging smile.

"We were all betrayed by Dorian, we all want to find him. But he's not important anymore. I need to know… did you… did you see my brother in the Dark Ocean? Was he-"

"No." Her voice was suddenly sharp, her dark eyes clouding. "No, I would've known if another Digidestined was there."

"Okay, time out," said Takuya, stepping forward. "Can someone please just explain what's going on!"

"You haven't told them?" She addressed the question to Koichi, who avoided her gaze fervently, stepping back towards his friends. Letting out a heavy sigh, Bahar rolled her head, cracking her neck loudly. "And neither did Dorian?"

"The Dark Ocean? It's been mentioned," Izumi said curtly.

"Get me a towel. Then we can talk."

"Tell us about the Dark Ocean and we'll get you a towel."

"Or we can do both!" Takuya interjected. "Come on ladies, haven't we had enough fighting?"

Bahar's features, if possible, darkened. She moved towards the door, pausing at Takuya's shoulder to hiss: "I'm not a lady." Then she went into the kitchen, grabbed a dishtowel, and started to dry her dripping hair. "Well, come on. You wanna hear it or not?"

"Was Ysault as rude as you and Dorian?" It was a low blow and Izumi knew it. But her exhaustion had stolen the compassion and tact right out of her. Bahar froze for a moment, as if Izumi had actually cut her.

"No," she whispered, peeling off her shirt and causing them all to blush. Water dripped between her fingers as she rung it over the sink. "No, she was the best of us, the kindest, the gentle one. And we broke her. We couldn't accept her as she was, so when Tache came… she…"

"That's what the Dark Ocean does," Koichi interjected, hanging back in the shadows as the rest of them migrated to the living area. "It takes your uncertainty, your pain, and turns it into shame and rage and hatred."

"Yes," Bahar snapped back into focus. "It's both a dimension and a force within the Digital World. Any evil, any sort of corruption, can be traced back to some kind of contact with the Dark Ocean. It hungers, but it needs a carrier to escape. The first human was a boy named Ichijouji Ken via a device called a Dark Spore in the back of his neck. Then it gained an intelligence when the corruption was stripped from Koichi here. Now it's inside Ysault and able to enter our world. It- Tache, wants to spread, and It's able to do so by consuming anyone it comes into contact with."

"Yeah, that part we know," mumbled Takuya, looking pointedly away from Bahar as she pulled her dry-er shirt back over her head.

"Did you also catch the bit where it doesn't matter how happy you think you are, Tache will eventually find a way into your brain and turn you inside out until you're nothing more than a puppet?"

Silence.

"Not you," Izumi whispered, almost to herself.

"What?"

"It didn't corrupt you," she clarified, her jade eyes swinging up. "You said you were trapped in the Dark Ocean for however long, and you expect us to believe you're still yourself?"

"Fair point," Bahar muttered, crossing her arms and searching the room for a way to answer the accusation.

"It's not inside Bahar. I can feel it; she's free of the taint," Koichi offered, frowning. "But how that is is an excellent question."

"It's not like it never tried," Bahar bit. "I could feel it in my mind every second I was trapped in that hell! Like drowning forever… It tried to tell me I was broken and deformed, that the only way I would ever fit into the world was to burn it all and build a new one. And I was tempted… yet I never stopped being me…"

"How did you stay sane?" Short. Direct.

"Well, for one thing I've put up with that sort of shit before, and I promised myself I'd never get that twisted around ever again. Who I am is good enough for me and that's all I care about." For a moment she looked… it was impossible to describe her exact expression. Strong and fragile, like she'd found power in the vulnerability. Like nothing could break her the way she'd already been broken.

"But it's more than just being… proud. It's… Justice isn't vengeance. It's not just about hurting the ones who harmed you. It's also about having compassion for whatever hurt drove them in the first place. Have I wanted to destroy the world? Sure, but honestly who hasn't. It's a shit hole. And yet… Ysault came from this world and she is good. The Ysault I knew was the kindest person, someone who gave more than she had and never complained about receiving nothing in return. But we failed her and she became something I despise. Dorian, for all his backstabbing, loves Ysault and his loyalty to her could very well destroy the world. They both do evil but I know they're not evil. I can't hate them. The Dark Ocean paints things as black and white but they're are complex."

"Soooo, you coped by becoming a philosopher?"

"No-Yes- Look, that's how I used to see things. In absolutes. Darkness was evil and defeating darkness was good. And make no mistake, the Dark Ocean is pure evil. But just because that's easier to believe doesn't make it right. I guess I did get philosophical, and that's what got me through it. Realizing that the bad doesn't drown out the good and the good doesn't diminish the bad. I had to look at myself, at everything the Dark Ocean wanted me to be, and accept that part of me exists. And accept that it doesn't define all of what I am… I had to come to terms with the fact that Ysault, for all her goodness, gave up."

"So, and tell me if I'm getting this right, the way to defeat the Dark Ocean is to accept it?" Izumi rubbed her temples, suddenly feeling very tired.

"While ignoring it at the same time," Takuya added, trying so very hard to sound enthusiastic and informed.

"I wish I could tell you, I seriously do," sighed Bahar. Her eyes met Takuya's with such weight even he felt crushed. "But you don't know me- didn't know me. You can't know how I changed to survive, or how I dug in and refused to change. Hell, neither of you have experienced the Ocean, what it's like to get that messed up, and ideally you never will. He has though."

She jerked her chin in Koichi's direction and he visibly tensed.

"It's coming. You may've been able to fight It, but I don't understand how. I don't know what all that is supposed to mean. I don't even know that I want to stop It."

"Koichi," Izumi breathed, turning to face him. "You don't mean that."

"I do. I don't care about the world any more."

"Then stop trying," Bahar cut in, her voice hardening again. She leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. "The world's too big anyway. No one here is gonna save it. Think about your brother. I know Tache has him; I saw it in your mind just now. Are you giving up on him? Ask yourself: are you so far-gone that you'd let Koji drown?"

"No." It was instantaneous. Koichi inhaled deeply and stepped into the kitchen. He winced away from the light, but Izumi noted it wasn't as bad. It didn't burn him like before. His eyes were blood red, irises so dark they ate the light instead of reflecting it, and yet he still came. He stopped by Takuya, catching both his and Izumi's gaze.

"Not him. It can't have him. It can't have any of us."

"Good," said Bahar, smiling just a little. "Then lets get started."