Daichi: Now, for the hard part. Because Ib needs to comment on at least a small part of every episode to detail the long-term effects of her presence… no matter how long it takes for them to appear.

Tsukaimon: 02's going to be… interesting… isn't it?

Verity: We don't own anything.

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There were many things that Ib did not like about the current situation. The first, and most obvious, was that they were still in another world and had no way home, as well as being, last she checked, in the middle of the desert.

Second, and a fair bit more pressing, was the fact that the group had split in half about an hour ago. They'd ended up in what looked like an abandoned factory, and decided to explore in search of… something. She wasn't quite sure what.

She'd object, if Tai weren't so forceful, or maybe if she were a bit more confident. Or if she weren't struggling to hold off a panic attack from being in a dark, abandoned hallway.

As it was, she just focused on where Joe was going. They had Tai and Sora, that was two likely combat-ready Digimon as opposed to the other group, which had just Matt and Gabumon.

None of them really talked about what they hoped to discover. But Ib wanted to find a door to the outside, where she could stand under the sun again and remind herself that she wasn't that same little girl anymore. Or, at least, stop glancing over her shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed by anything.

"It's just a little farther," Joe told her, and she'd point out that he had no way of knowing that, if it were a better day. But better days probably wouldn't be coming for a long time, and she just had to accept that. "We'll be out soon."

"I hope you're right…" She just had to breathe. She wasn't alone, the Digimon were capable of fighting back against anything that tried to hurt them, it'd be okay. Maybe.

"What's wrong with her?" She could hear Tai asking, up ahead. Agumon shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe she's scared of the dark."

"That's… not quite it," Joe stated. "Hey, Ib, I think I see some light up ahead, there might be a window." A window. A potential door to freedom, if Sora and Biyomon had enough of a part to play in this. Maybe even a room, with a door that could be locked at the first sign of danger.

"That… that sounds nice," She admitted. "Let's head that way, then."

When Ib saw the helpless body caught in the gears, the memories intensified. And soon enough she was running again, and wondered why she even bothered pretending it wasn't like the Gallery in the first place.

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She wasn't entirely sure what happened next. Lalamon told her that they were running for a very long time- probably true, given how much her feet had been sore afterwards. Joe told her that she'd been hallucinating the entire time- also probably true, it wouldn't be the first time her mind made up strange things when she was scared or upset that she couldn't really remember later.

She did remember Kabuterimon, of course. Giant insects were not very easily missed, as much as she might have wished for that back in the jungle. And Andromon had apparently had his mind stolen by whatever controlled those Black Gears, or that's what she was told after the fact. She hadn't been in the proper mental state to take in much of anything.

Ib blamed the fact that she'd been walking through the hallways of an abandoned building only to be chased by something that wanted her dead. That would probably be enough to give anyone flashbacks, really. Not that she could check.

Still, as much as she'd hated the fact that she'd lost her composure in front of the other kids- even worse than in the first few months, when she'd freeze up whenever she saw a mannequin- it was over now, and she didn't think it was likely to become a problem again, if only because this world couldn't have that many abandoned buildings.

Sure most worlds probably didn't have random trolley cars or phone booths lying around, but she was actually trying to be optimistic for once.

It probably wouldn't last. She just wasn't that kind of person.

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It was the sunlight that made things better, sort of. It had driven the Numemon away, and served as a reminder, for Ib, that things could, in fact, end well some of the time.

"So, which way are we going now?" She asked. Maybe, if she focused enough on the present, she wouldn't have to deal with anything else.

Probably not. She wasn't that lucky. But she could still try, at least.

"It looks like there's a forest in that direction," Lalamon suggested. "Some shade would be nice."

"I'm just glad we're out of the desert," Tai admitted. Everyone else gave groans of agreement, some louder than others.

"Nobody talk about deserts for at least another week," Gabumon said. "Do you know how hard it is to clean fine sand out of my fur?"

"No, but you don't, either," Gomamon pointed out. "You haven't even been Gabumon that long!"

Ib sighed. "Please don't fight, any of you. It's not going to make this any easier." She'd already given up on sorting out her memories of that morning, the least she deserved was a somewhat-pleasant afternoon.

Something told her she wasn't getting it.

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Ib was sadly used to things spiralling out of her control. If she'd ever had any sort of control in the first place. She still wasn't too sure on that.

Being cornered by a giant demonic teddy bear, engulfed in a heart-shaped bubble, and released in the middle of what looked to be a town square, with no Lalamon in sight, seemed to be just another strange and terrible experience in the list of strange and terrible experiences that was her life.

And, arguably, she was one of the lucky ones, if being the only one that didn't act like a zombie and run off chased by a horde of toys counted as lucky.

She didn't move at first, or say anything, in order to ensure that Monzaemon didn't realize that whatever he did to the others didn't work on her. Because she didn't know if whatever happened before would work again.

Something poked her leg, and she glanced down to see a small crowd of plushies standing in front of her. One of them, a light-purple elephant, held up a sign.

Can we play now?

It was a simple question, and one she immediately had an answer for. No, she did not want to play, and she almost outright said it.

She then remembered that there were no Digimon in sight besides the one that could apparently muck up people's minds, so instead, she asked, "What would you like to play?"

Let's play chase!

Well, there was a benefit to all that. If she could just lose them, she could search for Lalamon, because leaving this town without her partner was something she did not plan to do. And maybe she could figure out a way to help the others, while she was at it.

Dolls couldn't be that difficult to hide from, right?

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Well… that answered that. Half an hour of running, and it seemed like there was a plushy behind every corner. Also a manhole, but Ib didn't feel like dealing with any more Numemon today.

There were also no signs of her partner Digimon. She knew she shouldn't worry- this was the world Lalamon was native to- but she couldn't help it. In yet another hostile situation, separated from everyone she cared about… why was this normal now? How was this her life?

"Ib!" A voice. An actual, human voice. Worst case, it was someone to watch her while she had another panic attack, because this was just not her day.

"Mimi," She gasped, running up to the girl in pink, who now that she thought back, wasn't caught in a bubble like the rest of them. A familiar plant stood behind her leg. "And Palmon. You're both okay?"

"We guess…" Mimi's Digimon said, glancing at her. "What happened? Where's Lalamon?"

"I don't know. Monzaemon put us all in heart-shaped bubbles, and then everyone began acting strange, and I couldn't find any of our Digimon." Which was sort of the most dangerous part. "Also, there's a small army of plushies intent on chasing me, but they don't seem to be out to actually harm anyone. ...Such as that," She sighed when the trio of kittens appeared. "I'd better run. See if you can't find Lalamon for me, okay!?"

It probably wasn't a good idea to leave Mimi alone in Toy Town, but the alternative was being smothered in fluff, so Ib didn't think that much of it. Besides, what help could she be without her Digimon?

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When Palmon Digivolved to Togemon in order to fight Monzaemon, Ib was watching from nearby, covered in plushies. They… actually weren't that bad, even if she still couldn't look directly at them without bringing up bad memories.

And the battle… well, it was impressive, and it made her wonder what Lalamon would look like when she Digivolved. Probably still some type of plant.

Not that it mattered, if Ib couldn't get her to Digivolve in the first place. More than half of them had already managed it, leaving just her, Joe, and T.K. left to see what their Digimon would look like in a Champion state. Just three of them left without any real ability to defend themselves.

And of course she was one of them. Why wouldn't she be? She'd always been helpless, not even able to save herself without assistance, and now she was trying to look out for seven more kids. And if Mimi hadn't gotten away, she would have been left the only one aware, unable to even do anything because her partner was locked in a box.

If life was a game, like the toys tried to make it out to be… she was clearly a terrible player. And she didn't think there was even a way to fix that.

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Daichi: Yes, some of this is actually important. It's not just her continually failing to accomplish anything- it's only been a few days, it's just that a day on File Island is… eventful.