. . .

Thomas

. . .

"And then you... Flew on your giant cyborg dragon thing, with your friends and their equally ridiculous creatures, and defeated the dark lord goat monster?" Eric questioned, summing up the final notes of this story his friend was telling him.

"Basically." Kokuwamon shrugged, having completely dropped the act at this point.

"I skipped over the nitty gritty details, but that's about the gist of it." Thomas added, leaning back in his chair a bit. The three of them now in Thomas' room.

Eric was likewise seated in a chair, still slowly processing everything. His eyes slowly looking to the big mechanical bug. "So... Not an alien, a... Digimon."

"That's right!" He beamed holding up both arms.

"So all the crazy conspiracies about giant monsters..." Eric reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "All true... Big cover up, the government is lying to everyone about what happened..."

To which Thomas shrugged, "Eh, no surprise there, but how do you explain that a bunch of angry fish from another dimension hopped the firewall to try and drown San Diego without causing a global panic?"

Eric sighed heavily, "I guess you're right... Still, it's pretty wild." Looking back to Thomas, "You're like, part of some super elite hero team, you saved the world!" Before looking to Kokuwamon, "And yours, it sounds like."

Thomas laughed nervously at that, "Well, I'm not sure I'd say we're elite or super heroes, we've had our fair share of close calls, and got pretty lucky..." Briefly thinking about Mephistomon, and his overwhelming power.

Eric shifted in his seat a bit, "You aren't... Worried there might be any more big scary digimon that wants to take over out there, are you?"

"Not sure," Thomas decided to leave out the part about Dragomon still being out there. "But I'm working on something so we won't have to worry about that."

Eric quirked an eyebrow, "Oh really? Care to elaborate on that one, boy genius?"

"Well it's just a side project for now," Thomas explained, "But it's a program to increase Kokuwamon's power."

His partner eagerly clicked his camps together, "The Infinite Energy Program!"

"I can increase his firepower to a certain degree but he doesn't have enough energy on his own to sustain it for long." Thomas continued, "So I'm working on creating a subroutine in his date that will create a self sustaining loop."

Eric tilted his head slowly, "And you're... Having issues, I'm guessing?" Acting as if most of that wasn't gibberish to him.

"I need a big charge to get it up and running," He said simply, "Finding a large enough source of power to kick it off is gonna be difficult."

Causing Eric to release a laughing scoff, "Bro you cracked interdimensional travel, I'm sure you'll have it down inside a week."

Thomas laughed a little in response, "Well when you put it like that-"

"Dinner's ready!" Mom's voice interrupted any further conversation.

Thomas' hands were instantly on the wheels of his chair, "Oh heck yeah, lets eat!" He was already rolling towards the door. "It's spaghetti night and I want those meatballs fresh!"

Eric quirked an eyebrow as he followed, "Since when were you a foody?"

"I spent a month in a dimension where people ate meat they grew in the dirt," Thomas replied simply, "I'm savoring every meal I get from now on!"

. . .

Cody

. . .

While others struggled with more serious, pressing matters, the young Rhodes boy was currently lounging around following another day of sending out job applications. Not much more he could do but wait for a response, leaving him to hang around the house and help out his grandmother whenever she needed something. Unfortunately, Shamanmon seemed to be on top of most of that, so he left here in boredom.

"Hmm..." Idly, he pulled out his Digivice and started looking at it, "I wonder if any of them are busy..." His eyes drifted to the clock, noting that it was already evening. "Nah, probably just settling down for the night..." His thoughts slowly turning to the friend they had on the other side. "I wonder what Sam is up to right now?"

"Who's Sam?"

"AAGH!" Cody jumped at the sound of his brothers voice right beside him, "Dammit Dustin, am I gonna have to put a bell on you or something!?"

The older brother laughed lightly, "I roll around in a metal chair, you're the one not paying attention." He teased, "So you gonna answer my question?"

"Do I have to?" Cody asked with an annoyed grumble.

"Come on," Dusty pressed, nudging him playfully. "Spill it tough guy."

"Fine fine, dammit." Cody relented, leaning back on the couch. "She's a friend, met her around the same time I met Shamanmon, also has a digimon." He explained.

"Oh really?" Dustin quirked an eyebrow, "And this isn't the same girl as the one with the demon right?"

"Nah that's Maddie," Cody waved him off, "Sam's digimon is more like some kinda crazy angel Valkyrie thing, and Sam's pretty badass herself." He added, "Not sure we would have made it as far as we did without her..."

Dustin tilted his head, noting the tone in his voice. "You miss her?"

The younger brother's cheeks instantly turning red, "S-So what if I do!?"

"Well you aren't doing anything right now," Dustin pointed out, "Why don't you go visit? Quit lounging around here if you miss her sooo badly~" He teased, putting far too much emphasis on the last few words.

Cody barked right back at him, "It's not that easy moron! She lives in the Digital World!"

Causing Dustin to blink in surprise, "Oh..." Before he suddenly laughed, "Damn, leave it to my idiot to brother to have a crush on a girl from another dimension."

Cody sighed at his teasing, slumping further into the couch. "Yeah I'm a real dumbass, now can you buzz off?"

"So you can go back to doing nothing?"

"Yep."

. . .

Thomas

. . .

Later that same night...

The young genius was seated at his desk once more. Where he tapped away at the keyboard, attempting to solve the algorithm preventing him from creating a digital feedback loop that would provide the power he needed to get his newest project up and running. When suddenly a burst of static rippled through his headphones, making him wince as he pulled them off. "Ow, what the heck?" He muttered, checking the devices over for any defects, "Hmph, might need a new pair..."

While Kokuwamon was snoozing in the corner, one plug connected to the wall after he'd fallen asleep while "eating".

Before Thomas could slip the headphones back on however, he heard footsteps approaching. And a second later his door was slowly opened, his father standing there looking half asleep. "Thomas, what you still doing up?"

The boy waved him off, quickly closing the program. "Just working on something, besides it's Friday night, no school tomorrow." He assured, trying to play it off.

To which his father quirked an eyebrow, "Thomas it's 2:00AM, this goes a little past just staying up for some late night gaming." Before he looked over at Kokuwamon snoozing, "Is it... Those nightmares?"

Causing Thomas to tense up a bit, "Who told you about that?"

Dad just chuckled, "Who do you think?"

Thomas sighed lightly as he looked down at his partner. "Traitor..."

"He's worried about you, you know." Dad continued, "Says you're not getting enough sleep, you're stressing yourself out with this new project of yours." Crossing his arms over his chest, "Can't you just take a break for a little while?"

Thomas hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head. "You didn't see what I did, what happened in the Digital World." He said, looking down at his digivice on the desk. "There were some real monsters, that really wanted to hurt people... And I wasn't strong enough then t-"

"You're scared," Dad interrupted, stepping a little closer and kneeling down so they could speak eye to eye. "I get it... And believe me I wish it wasn't you that had to go on some crazy adventure and fight monsters... But you've still got to take care of yourself."

"I'd prefer to take care of everyone else first." Thomas deflected, sighing as he shut down his computer for the night.

"Well you can go back to caring about everyone else after you get a good nights sleep," Dad answered, giving a light chuckle as Thomas rolled over to his bed. "How's that sound?"

"Irresponsible," Thomas replied simply, "But sleeping sounds nice."

He nodded with a smile, helping him get into bed. "Just get some rest for now, I'll make french toast for breakfast tomorrow."

"Okay... But I want chocolate chips in mine, or I'm reprogramming the fridge again."

"Go to bed son..."

. . .

Kai

. . .

The young prodigy shifted in his seat, adjusting his eyes as he awoke from a long nap. Looking out the window as the sprawling landscape changed rapidly below, from countryside to cityscape in a matter of moments. The States long behind him, as his ten hour flight to Tokyo slowly came to an end.

Taking Madison's advice, he booked a flight and spent much of his time on board thinking over the question posed before him. Sadly his partner had to stay home, the young man finding no good way to sneak him on board. Leaving him alone to ponder his choices, and the weight they each carried. Though, as he exited the airport, Kai couldn't help but think his time alone and in thought was good.

Before falling asleep on his flight, he'd laid out everything he felt needed to be considered. After much deliberation, he decided that he needed to speak with Sakura before anyone else. So he sent her a message ahead of his arrival, letting her know what time he'd be landing so they could meet up. His luggage only consisted of a single bag, as he only planned to be here a few days, so before long he was out of the airport and into the colorful city.

Luckily he fit right in around here, barely looking the part of tourist. Though, Kai had been forced to brush up on his Japanese before arriving to avoid any verbal missteps.

After catching a ride on the nearest bullet train, he reached the Prefecture in which Sakura's family lived. Instead of heading straight for their estate however, he made his way to the park a few blocks away. The designated meeting place, as decided by Sakura herself.

Spotting her familiar outline at a bench along the path, he made his way over with that single pack slung over his shoulder. Putting on a friendly smile, opening with a greeting in her language. "Good afternoon, Lady Tanaka."

Her eyes darted to him in a moment of surprise before she released a sigh of relief. "You scared me," Startling Kai by choosing to respond in english. "I thought someone might have followed me, my father's personal guard has been keeping an eye on me recently."

He quirked an eyebrow, deciding to speak in english as well. "Why would he do that?"

"Father has been rather intrusive recently." Sakura replied, shaking her head. Before adding in a low whisper, "It's best we speak in english, so if anyone does overhear us they won't understand."

Kai nodded slowly, his eyes slowly drifting around the park. They rested for a moment on every other person in range, as if searching for suspicious individuals. "Has it really been that bad?"

"He says it's to protect me," She scoffed, "But he could do that by assigning me an assistant, rather than hiring a thug to track me."

This was worse than Kai had thought, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize-"

"It isn't your fault," Sakura shook her head, "I know I've been... Vague, about my father's reasoning for trying to move things up... But that's because I think he's been monitoring my phone activity."

Kai tensed up at that, "Your father?" Could he have known about this entire meeting? Could he have men watching them right now?

"I stumbled across something," She explained quickly, "While I was looking for a reason why he might be trying to move up the wedding date." She hesitated for a moment, "I found out about some rather peculiar investments my father has made recently."

"What kind of investments?" Kai questioned, fixated on the conversation so far. "Just what the hell have I walked into?"

"A foreign company negotiated use of some of the property my family owns." She explained, "Cypher Enterprises, I tried looking into them but all I can find is that they're a small company funded by a few very powerful individuals, so far they haven't done much other than some investments into Cyber Core."

"A lot of companies do that," Kai replied, attempting to keep a level head. "It's the new energy infrastructure after all."

"But how many of them are setting up massive server housing units in foreign countries?" Sakura questioned, " They already have one in Shinjuku and just bought some of our land to make another, they've even started running lines beneath our main house!" She added, "I dug as deep as I could, but it's suspicious right? All you'd need is a few warehouses if you really wanted private servers."

"It is strange," He conceded, "And buying the space overseas would increase the cost of running significantly."

"Exactly!" She nodded quickly, "But that's as far as I could get, I'm no hacker or sleuth," She admitted, "I don't know what the connection here is." She admitted, shaking her head. "And then there's the staff changes, suddenly my father fires off much of our remaining staff so all we've got left looking after the house are a few cooks, one maid and that damn bodyguard skulking around all the time, but I can't find anything on him..."

This hypothesizing was fun, but- "What do you think this has to do with our marriage?"

"Right, that's the scary part..." Sakura calmed down for a moment, "When I was digging for more information about our families pact in our records, I found evidence that once the marriage is complete, a mediating party would have control over our joint financial assets from both sides for the first year."

Kai knew about that part, "Yes, and?"

"The man that currently heads this firm is my uncle!" Sakura explained, "That doesn't sound like proper mediation at all does it?"

Kai felt his heart skip a beat, his grip on his bag strap tightening. "You think they're planning to do something with my family's money?"

"I wouldn't put it past him at this point," She scoffed, "He's spent so much recently, investing in this company... I can't imagine the toll it's taken on my families wealth."

"We need to confront him about this," Kai stated as he stood up from the bench. The idea that his family might be taken advantage of like this? It already had his blood boiling, "I'll send a message to my grandfather to contact our lawyers, where is your father now?" He questioned while pulling out his phone.

"Should be at home still, probably getting ready for dinner." She stated, "Let's find Saki, she's got the evidence."

Kai blinked, "Who is Saki?"

"My friend, and our only remaining family maid."

"Ah, right... I should probably make a call as well, just in case we need backup."

"Back up? From who?"

. . .

Madison

. . .

"Can I get to Kotemon?" She repeated with a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she sat up in bed. "I mean... Sure, I guess... But why?"

"I got a call from Kai," Thomas explained, sounding much more awake for 4:00AM. "He needs Kotemon, Sam hasn't responded to my message so I'm gonna remote activate the gateway from my laptop, and connect your signal to Kai's so he can head over."

"Right..." Madison nodded, slowly dozing again, "Yeah that... Makes sense..."

"Hey, stay with me Maddie," Thomas could tell she was about to fall right back asleep, "Come on, it sounds like this is an emergency."

"Oh, right... Yeah..."

Forcing herself up, Madison rolled out of bed and started changing into something other than her pajamas. Tsukaimon rolled over in her own little bed, blinking awake. "Maddie? What's up?"

"We gotta make a little trip." She explained, picking her up as well.

To which Tsukaimon whined, closing her eyes as she tucked into Madison's arms. "But why do we have to do it so early?"

She released a tired sigh, patting her head as she made her way out the door. "Because we're good people."

"Uuugh... I think I just wanna go back to being a demon..."

. . .

Kai

. . .

"And this is... Really all we need?" Sakura asked, watching as Kai waited beside a small laptop, his digivice in hand.

"According to Thomas," Kai nodded, connecting to the video call and watching as Madison's face appeared on the screen, "Maddie, thanks for agreeing to help." He greeted with a smile, "You... Look tired."

"Sixteen hour timezone difference," She answered, giving him a thumbs up. Before pulling the screen around to show her surroundings, currently standing with Kotemon. "He climbed out over the wall to meet with us."

Kai laughed nervously, "Of course he did..."

"We're ready when you are!" Kotemon exclaimed, holding up his kendo stick.

"Good, lets make it quick." Thomas yawned as he chimed in as well on a different window, "You guys should probably stand back, we haven't exactly tested this method of opening a gateway before."

"Can we hurry this up?" Sakura questioned, arms crossed over her chest. "My father is going to get suspicious if we don't get to the house soon."

"Hey it's like four in the morning here," Thomas replied, "I had a whole nice father-son moment like an hour ago about taking better care of myself and now I'm opening an interdimensional portal, so no attitude please."

Sakura huffed a little at that, before saying in Japanese, "Are all your American friends so rude?"

To which Kai answered with his own question, "They're here for us, aren't they?"

She blinked in surprise at his quick response, "I... I suppose you're right."

"Okay," Thomas finished up his preparations, "Maddie just point your digivice at the screen, Kai you do the same, it should create a one-way link."

"Right," She nodded, Tsu sitting on her head and Kotemon by her side as she did so. "Ready over here!"

Kai did the same, aiming his Digivice at the screen, "So what happens once we create the link?" As his screen began to glow.

"You know... That is a really good question." Was Thomas' answer.

Causing everyone listening to exclaimed, "WHAT!?"

Before the screens of their respective laptops roared to life as well, and Kotemon would begin to feel a pull on his body. "W-Woah! I think it's working!" Before he was sucked right into the screen!

"Got him!" Thomas grinned, "Kotemon inbound!"

"Agh! S-Something's wrong!" Tsukaimon yelped as she felt herself being pulled along as well.

"Thomas!" Madison cried out, grabbing ahold of her, "Do something!" Her own feet sliding forward as she struggled to hold her ground.

"I can't!" He replied, "If we cut the link now, Kotemon is gonna be lost in the network!" He explained, "Just hang on, as soon as he is out I'll cut it and-"

"Too late!" Maddie cut him off as she lost her footing completely, flying forward into the screen with her arms wrapped around her partner. The two were sucked right in, sent hurdling through a data stream, high speed soaring across the network.

"Incoming!" Kotemon cried as he saw the opening ahead of him, "Clear the way!"

Kai jumped back, just in time as Kotemon came tumbling out of the monitor, hitting the ground and rolling to a stop. "Ugh..." Taking a moment to adjust his helmet as he sat up, "I think we need to work on that remote gateway of yours, Thomas..."

"Noted," The boy genius nodded, "Also you might wanna-"

"AAAGH!" The dual voice of Madison and Tsukaimon cried as they came flying out of the monitor as well, crashing into Kotemon and adding to the pile.

Kai blinked as he watched, "This is... Not good."

"Of course it isn't good!" Madison exclaimed as she got up, "I'm in Japan! I didn't want to go to Japan, I wasn't at all ready for a trip to Japan!" Trying to straighten out her clothes and hair, "I'm a mess, short on sleep, I don't have any of my things-"

"Can't we just send her back?" Sakura suggested, looking towards the screen.

"Eh- Yeah so about that..." Thomas nervously scratched his head. "We need a Digivice on both ends, so unless we want her to end up in California with me..."

"Well what about Cody?" Kotemon suggested.

"Tried reaching him but he's a pretty heavy sleeper." Thomas shrugged, "So you're stuck in Japan for a few hours, I guess... Sorry."

Kai sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is... Not exactly what I had planned but it's fine," Before looking to Sakura, "Is there somewhere we can take Maddie for the time being?"

"Eh... Yes," Sakura nodded, "We can leave her at the servants house near the old family shrine, we have to go there anyways to get the evidence from Saki."

"Thank you." Madison nervously held Tsu in her arms like some kind of comfort animal, "I-I'll try not to get in anyone's way..."

Kai held up his hands, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, we'll get this taken care of and go home."

Though, all things considered, he felt a little more at ease with her here...

Unbeknownst to them all, as they exited the secluded back room of an internet café, a shadow watched from on high. Sharp eyes veiled in a raven-black shroud tracked their movements. "Two of them now? This might... Complicate things."