Michelle pushed herself away from her computer and stretched. Work on the story she was writing was going relatively well. But what she needed now, was a break. She looked down and saw an object that she had never seen before. It was small and teardrop shaped. The case was made of indigo colored plastic. Near the point was a small black antenna. It also had a round, blank screen and a few buttons. Michelle figured that it was a new key chain she had bought (although she couldn't remember doing so) and clipped it to her bag. A quick survey of the apartment led to the decision to go food shopping.

~~*@*~~

          Lex sat against the cool gray stones of the parapets, and sighed. Brooklyn stood nearby leaning against the wall. They stared at the stars quietly; enjoying the companionable silence. Lex had been let out of the infirmary the night before. The only compensation to his earlier botched suicide attempt, was that hw was not to be left alone. Demona quietly walled out, her daughter in her arms.

          The night was pressing. It's silence began to crush down on the pair. Healing would take time, but it would happen. Lex's hands searched his loincloth as his attention remained trained on the distant suns. Brooklyn watched him do this.

          "I didn't know you smoked."

          "I don't. I just wish I did."

          The two friends lapsed back into silence. The past couple of nights had been hard. The clan had found themselves unsure of how to deal with Lex, and Lex seemed reluctant to deal with them. He would react most of the time, but seemed otherwise apathetic.

          "I didn't mean for it to happen, you know."

          Lex's statement startled Brooklyn. It was the first time since the incident that Lex had even attempted to start a conversation. Brooklyn kept silent though. He knew that Lex didn't expect him to respond. The two of them had always been close, and Lex seemed to respond better to Brooklyn than anyone else. Which is why it hurt Brooklyn that he hadn't picked up on Lex's feelings earlier. He should've known something was wrong before.

          "I mean, I was thinking about it, but I wasn't really going to."

          "It's okay Lex. I understand."

          "I just wanted the loneliness to stop. You were busy, and Broadway…"

          "Lex, you're my brother and I care about you. I never meant to make you feel alone. I'm sorry that I hurt you."

          "Brooklyn and I will do everything in our power to help you. We will not abandon you."

          "Thanks. I know it should help make me feel better, but…"

          "It still hurts. You have to give it time to heal[1].  It's only been four nights. And in that time, you've made a lot of progress."

          "But I'm still not happy."

          "No one's asking you to be."

          Lex, Demona, and Brooklyn lapsed into a thoughtful silence. The stayed like that until four glowing lights approached them. When the glow faded, four teardrop shaped devices lay before them. They were identical with the exception of their color. Lex reached for the sky blue one, Brooklyn picked up the red-violet one, and Demona took the remaining two. The four devices showed red blips that indicated the other devices. Lex examined his closely. But before he could say anything, the castle's security alarm went off. Lex and Brooklyn stuffed their devices into their loincloths, and took off full speed towards the trouble. Demona too her daughter, Lillith, to a safer part of the castle.

~~*@*~~

          When Daisuke opened his eyes, he found himself in the mouth of an ally. He wasn't alone. Takeru, Chibimon, and Tokomon were with him; but only them. The others were gone. Takeru slowly opened his eyes and took a look around.

          "Where are we?"

          "Never mind where we are, where is everybody else?"

          "Here's a better question; what the hell happened?"

          "I don't know. One minute I'm reading weird writing on the wall of a ruined temple, and the next I'm in some ally."

          "Did you understand any of it?"

          "I think we have to find five people and save the world." Daisuke said as he picked up Chibimon. Tokomon took his regular spot on top of Takeru's head.

          "First I think we should find the others and figure out where we are."

          "Good idea."

~~*@*~~

          Hikari, Miyako, Poromon, and Salamon suddenly found themselves in a dark, damp, tunnel of some sort.

          "What happened?"

          "I think this is the thing I felt. Hey Tai. Tai?"

          "I don't see anyone else. Whoa."

          "What?"

          "Gatomon dedigivolved into Salamon without having to DNA digivolve first."

          "That's odd. Even if we go back to the real world from the Digital World, Gatomon stays Gatomon."

          "So I guess this means we're not in the real world."

          "If we're not in the real world, and this isn't the Digital World, then where are we?"

~~*@*~~

          Koushiro and Iori found themselves in some sort of courtyard. A group of people wandered past with water guns. Koushiro looked around and picked up Motimon.

          "Do you have any idea where we are?"

          "It appears to be some sort of housing complex; perhaps a campus. It also appears that we've been separated from the others."

          "Do you think they're nearby?"

          "Hard to say. My digivice is only picking up your signal, but they don't have a large range to begin with. Wait. You still have your D-terminal with you, don't you?"

          "Of course. I'll send out an e-mail to the others. With any luck, we'll be able to find each other."

          "I think we should also make efforts to figure out where we are. Besides, we'll be less conspicuous if we're moving."

~~*@*~~

          "I know that we still don't know a lot about the Digital World, but how'd we go from a temple to a forest?"

          "I don't know. But it might have had something to do with the Latin Dai read."

          "You know Latin?"

          "Not really. I know enough to recognize it, although I'm unable to translate it. Don't you think it's strange that the rest of the prophecy was written in plain Japanese, but that little part was written in another language altogether?"

          "It does sound strange, now that you mention it."

          "Sora, I don't think we're in the Digital World anymore."

          "What makes you say that?"

          "Both our digimon dedigivolved."

          "The last time I saw her as Yokomon, was when we came back to the real world to look for the eighth child."

          "Do you remember what Koushiro said about parallel worlds?"

          "Kinda. Why?"

          "I think this is one of those parallel worlds he was talking about."

~~*@*~~

          "Now how'd we get here?"

          "You know where we are?"

          "This looks like Central Park."

          "What could we possibly be doing in Central Park?"

          "I have no idea Joyu. But I think we have bigger things to worry about."

          "Pukamon?"

          "He's right though. We're here, but no one else is."

          "That is a problem. We don't even know if anyone else got brought to New York."

          "You mean, that we could be wandering around Manhattan and never find the others?!"

          "It is possible… I think the first thing we should do though, is find you way out of the park. It's beginning to creep me out."

~~*@*~~

          ~Not again.~ thought Taichi and Yamato as they suddenly found themselves ripped from where they were standing. They found themselves materializing about four feet above ground. When the local laws of gravity took over, they were unceremonially dumped into a pool of water. They reached the surface sputtering.

          "I hope whoever did this is having a good laugh."

          "Do you think someone found Puppetmon's dolls?"

          "Didn't we destroy them?"

          "Oh yeah."

          Taichi and Yamato scrambled out of the water and took a look around. Three of the walls of the room were made of glass and steel. Koromon and Tsunomon bounced over the grass covering the floor to the half drowned boys.

          "Where are we?"   

          "I don't know. But wherever it is, I don't think we've gone unnoticed."

          "Ye got that right laddie."

          Taichi and Yamato slowly turned around to find two creatures unlike any they had seen before. One was a grayish blue and was built much like a large dog. The other was more man like; with a pair of wings, a tail, tan skin, and a sword. A sword that happened to be drawn. Koromon and Tsunomon bravely leapt in front of their partners. Taichi began to reach for his digivice, but stopped when he heard the whoosh that indicated the arrival of one more creature.

          "What are you doing in my home?"

          "Would you believe me if I told you I had no idea?"

          The large purple creature that had spoken, simply glowered.

          "Though not."

          Koromon got ready to counteract whatever these creatures threw at them. Yamato slowly moved so that his back was against Taichi's, and he gripped Taichi's hand in his. Both boys got ready to give their digimon the energy needed to digivolve. No one was ready to make the first move.

~~*@*~~

          Lex and Brooklyn burst out onto the balcony over the atrium. As they skidded to a halt, they surveyed the scene below. Goliath, Hudson, and Bronx had a pair of teenaged boys surrounded. The boys had taken up a defensive position, and two odd-looking balls bouncing at their feet. It seemed like everything was already under control.

          "Do you think we should go down there?" Lex asked Brooklyn as he turned to face his maroon friend. Brooklyn looked back at Lex.

          "I think we should stay here until we're needed. There's no telling if our presence would trigger an attack simply because they feel… Hey. What's that noise?"

          Lex and Brooklyn looked at the strange devices they had found. Each was beeping and depicted three double blinking lights. Down in the atrium, the boys pulled out their own beeping devices. Goliath and Hudson got ready to battle as soon as the intruders made their move. But the boys simply looked up to the ledge that Brooklyn and Lex were standing on. As soon as Lex's brown eyes locked with the blue ones of the blond, an understanding was reached.

~~*@*~~

          "Ugh! This is disgusting."

          "You can say that again."

          "I say we find the first… Was that a rat?"

          "Miyako. I can't breath."

          "Sorry."

          Brentwood sat hidden in the dark, watching the two new people wander through the sewers. They looked harmless and lost. Brentwood knew what to do in cases like this. Brentwood left his post, still unnoticed by those he was watching.

~~*@*~~

          "Talon! Talon! Talon!"

          "Whoa there. Slow down. Now what's wrong?"

          "Brentwood see new people. New people lost."

          "Where did you see them?"

          "Talon come; Brentwood show."

          "Claw, keep an eye on things here. I'm going with Brentwood to check out these new people."

          Claw nodded. Soon Talon followed the fidgeting clone. The clones had come far in the time since Thailog died in the amusement park fire. They could follow simple instructions, and even improvise a little. And although they knew how to speak in proper sentences -with pronouns and properly conjugated verbs- Talon knew that Brentwood tended to slip when he got excited. Yet these slips were becoming far and fewer between.

          As they neared the place where Brentwood last saw the two girls, Talon began to pick up the sound of their conversation.

~~*@*~~

          "Let's face it Miya. We're totally lost."

          "And I'm still not picking up anyone else with my digivice. I wish this thing had a compass."

          "We don't know where we are. We don't know how to get out of here. We don't even know who -or what- is down here."

          "You got that right."

          "Don't worry Kari. I may be a rookie, but I can still do some damage."

          "Dogs talk?"

          "I am not a dog."

          "We don't want to hurt anyone. Honest."

          "That's good to hear. The name's Talon."

"Um, Talon, just what are you?"

~~*@*~~

          "Uh Mimi, I hate to break it to you, but I think we're lost."

          "We're not lost. Central Park isn't that big. As long as we keep going strait, we'll hit the street."

          "Hold it. I just got a signal on my digivice."

          "Where?"

          "The way we're heading. And they're getting closer."

          "Well, let's get going then."

~~*@*~~

          "I never thought about it like that. It would explain a lot of things."

          "I never would've thought you liked that sort of thing."

          "Everybody hides things from the outside world. Besides, Dai's the one who got me into it."

          "So how long have you been in love with him?"

          "Is it that obvious?"

          "Sort of. It's noticeable enough that anyone can see it, but not noticeable enough that they can't rationalize it away. Besides, it would be pretty silly if I couldn't see love when it happened."  

          "Miyako can't see it."

          "Are you sure?"

          "Well… Hey! What's that?"

          "It looks like Joyu. And Mimi!"

          "At least we know we're not alone here."

          "Don't worry Ken. Daisuke's here somewhere; along with Koushiro."

          "How can you tell?"

          "It has something to do with my crest. Genni once said that we'd start to develop special abilities along the lines of our crests. Hey Mimi! Joyu!"

          "Sora! I'm so glad I found you."

          "So who else do you think is here?"

          "Daisuke and Koushiro are here; but they're not together. I don't know about anyone else though. Uh, do you happen to know where we are by the way?"

          "Central Park. You can't feel the others?"

          "Too many people. I think I may be able to tell who's with Daisuke since he's closer. But it's going to take time."

~~*@*~~

          "So."

          "So."

          Takeru and Daisuke walked down the street. From the looks of the storefronts, they appeared to be in an Asian section of an English speaking country. The fact that most of the cars had a picture of the Statue of Liberty on their license plates, led them to deduce that they were both in New York. But knowing that they were somewhere in the state of New York did little to tell them where exactly they were, let alone where the rest of the team was.

          "You seemed to take Tai's coming out well."

          "Why wouldn't I?"

          "Well, with the way you go after Kari, and the way you grilled him after Kari's party, I just assumed…"

          Daisuke stopped short at that statement. He simply could not believe Takeru's nerve. Not only had Takeru assumed that Daisuke was still pursuing Hikari , (which he wasn't and hadn't done in a while) but he had assumed that Daisuke was a homophobe. (which couldn't be further from the truth) And still Takeru remained oblivious to Daisuke's shift in mood. In fact, the blond had kept walking when his 'friend' had stopped, and didn't look like he was going to stop any time soon. Daisuke quickly caught back up with Takeru after a moment.

          "Don't presume you know me TA. Just because someone's straight, doesn't mean that they're homophobic. As I recall, you were accepting of Taichi. Or was you interest in Kari faked. Is that it? Are you having a hard time believing someone wouldn't hate a… 'dirty little faggot' like you?"

          Daisuke's vehement words had the effect of freezing Takeru. What Daisuke (and to an extent, Takeru himself) didn't know, was that Takeru was in fact a 'dirty little faggot'. Daisuke's words enraged Takeru. (who would latter be pressed to say why they did) It didn't matter what Daisuke had said, just that Daisuke had just majorly insulted him. It also didn't occur to Takeru that Daisuke had managed to insult himself with the fag crack. Pretty understandable since Takeru didn't realize the Daisuke was dating Ken. Not that Daisuke and Ken tried to hide their relationship. They both thought it was fun to see how long it would take the others to notice the change in their friendship. Takeru turned on Daisuke, ready to pummel the brunette into the pavement. Thus occupied, neither were aware of the suspicious crow nearby or the fact that they were standing in front of the door to a Chinese market.

~~*@*~~

          Michelle stopped at the fish counter and looked around. Everything looked good. But that was no big surprise; this was a very good market for fish. She finally settled on some fresh tuna, whole red snapper, and the smallest piece of Chilean sea bass stake. (which still was a considerable amount) Michelle took a curious glance at the meat counter, not expecting to get anything. She didn't buy much red meat these days, simply because none of it really appealed to her. But today the lamb and veal seemed to be calling for her to buy it. She also took the time to pick up a few other things she would need.

          Michelle took her purchases and began to leave the store. Her mind was on what she was going to do with the meat and fish she had gotten. She didn't see the two boys standing in front of the door until she walked into them.

          "Oh, excuse me."

          Takeru looked at the woman who bumped into him. (as he was closer to the door) Despite the fact that she seemed older than him, she was just a little taller than him. She didn't seem angry that he and Daisuke were blocking the path. Rather she was willing to take the blame for the incident. She looked pretty average; in fact had she not collided with him, Takeru never would've known she was there. Yet there was something about her that he couldn't place. Something that nagged at him saying 'this person's important'. Michelle, for her part, was trying to track down the 'vibe' the two boys gave off. It was at that moment that Michelle's new key chain (or at least that was what she assumed it was) started to go off. She carefully worked the thing into her line of sight to see why it went off, as it had never done so before.

          "You have a digivice."

~~*@*~~

          Iori checked his D-Terminal with a frown. He and Koushiro had been wandering around… wherever it was that they were for what seemed like hours. Even though they weren't the only people wandering around, (they had seen the same group of people with water guns a number of times, and had barely missed getting hit in a water fight) they still made an effort to stay unnoticed. Having no idea where they were, they were unsure of how hostile the people they saw would be. And neither of them were comfortable with so many unknowns.

          "I don't like this."

          "Neither do I. But there's not much we can do about is."

          "Hey! There's that group again. They seem to be familiar with the area for the most part."

          "Maybe we should follow them."

          Iori and Koushiro began to shadow the group. They kept far enough away, that the group didn't seem to notice them. Iori idly watched as a blond splintered from the group and went off on her own. A few minutes later, the group led the boys past a sign and the blond chose that moment to come up behind Iori and Koushiro.

          "Freeze." she said in an icy voice, her water gun trained on them. Motimon and Upamon pulled their stuffed animal impersonations. Iori and Koushiro did as the girl had asked. The rest of the group approached.

          "What should we do with them?"

          "How much do they know?"

          "I am not sure. There is a chance that they do not know of our purpose here."

          "But they were following us. They must be spies."

          "I doubt that. If they were Sabbat spies, we would not have caught them so easily."

          "We should take them hostage. We'll need…"

          "That's enough Mike. We don't need extra people to worry about in a fight. And we won't need anything if we can't find our friends."

          "I say we leave them be."

          "Are you mad?!"

          "You would risk everything on the off chance that they know something or cane be of use. The longer they stay with us, the more likely they'll find out the truth. What then?"

          "We kill them."

          "Perhaps this is a discussion best discussed a bit more privately."

           The group moved a few feet away in a huddle. Every now and then, one of them would shoot a look at Iori and Koushiro. Iori and Koushiro, for their part, kept still. Neither of them knew what to make of these people, and they were unwilling to provoke these possibly unstable people. After what felt like forever, (but was really five minutes) the group broke out of the huddle. The blond approached Iori and Koushiro, her water gun out.

          "Follow, and we will be forced to kill you."

          She fired a burst of water right past Koushiro's ear as a warning, then rejoined her group. Koushiro and Iori waited until the strange group was out of sight before even thinking of moving.

          It wasn't until they turned to get a better look at where they were, that they noticed the sign they had been standing in front of during the entire exchange. It proudly stated, in plain English, Pratt Institute.

          "At least we know where we are now."



1) Digimon fans will have my head if I don't acknowledge that this was said a number of times in the third Digimon movie (last of the three segments if you go by the American movie version.)