Dolph paces around Zack's apartment, tugging fruitlessly at his hair. Everything with the evil Digimon possessing their friends still weighing fresh on everyone's minds, they'd all been relieved for a break from it all, but now... now, the Digivices are lit up with the telltale summons from Luke and it takes everything in Dolph not to scoop his and Zack's up and throw them out of a window. But unfortunately, the terror of almost losing Zack, Wade, Seth and AJ had also drove it home just how bad things could get in the Digiworld at a moment's notice. He taps his fingers against the surface of his Digivice, Zack's sitting next to him and vibrating relentlessly.

He sighs and collects both devices before venturing into Zack's bedroom, staring down at him as he sleeps on, loosely hugging Patamon to him. Hating himself for having to do this, he rests a hand on Zack's shoulder and lightly shakes him awake. "Kid, time to get up," he murmurs. "Luke needs us."

Those words alone are enough to bring fear to Zack's sleepy eyes but he sits up and rubs Patamon's furry forehead until he stirs, wide blue eyes peering up into Zack's. "We gotta get to the Digiworld, Patamon." Struggling to his feet, Zack allows Dolph to lead them out to the computer, a Digiport forming as soon as they hold their Digivices up to the screen. The two of them not giving enough strength to the portal to get them to the Digiworld, it's enough to get them to where the others are touring in Florida, so that all of them can travel as a group to figure out what Luke wants.

When they finally arrive, he greets them, looking somber. "I wished to give you all a little more time to regroup, but this is critical and I can't wait any longer. An entire village is being held captive, a strange electric field force surrounding it. No one can enter, no one can exit. The Digimon inside are panicking, as you can imagine. Food is scarce, things are getting desperate." He motions towards their Digivices and watches as the maps light up on the screens, pinpointing where they're to go. "Thank you for coming here so quickly."

Dolph looks around at the others, none of whom look thrilled to be thrown back into the deep end this soon after getting freed from the darkness. He knows Zack is still recovering and AJ, Seth nor Wade look much better, leaving the rest of them to pick up the slack and keep them safe. But there's nothing to be done for it, especially since they're already here, so he keeps his thoughts to himself as they follow Seth to the portal that will take them to the Vaccine zone. As soon as they arrive, Dolph steps towards Seth before turning to face the others. "I think, to ensure we're all as safe as we can be, we should Digivolve our partners now."

It's a good plan, and it's agreed upon, as the others tug their Digivices out of their pockets. The light and pure power of so many Digivolutions happening at once leaves Dolph a little overwhelmed, dizzy almost, but once everything is calm again, he blinks and looks around, feeling calmer in the presence of so many large creatures. Even Wade had opted to Digivolve Lunamon into Nefertimon, to ensure that the smaller form of Gatomon wouldn't be lost in the melee. This also gives the majority of them the opportunity to travel on their partners' backs, only him, Zack and Alicia unable to as Wizardmon nor Darcmon could easily carry the wrestlers, and Kiwimon isn't large enough for such things. He's pondering how best to rectify this when-

"Hey, guys, climb on up," Heath's heavily accented drawl calls out to them and they all look up to find Mammothmon's huge body kneeling down so they can get a good handhold. Dolph laughs and shakes his head, deciding then and there to let Heath have a free pass despite his terrible choice in haircuts, pushing Zack towards the furry beast. He stays on the ground until he's sure the broski is safely up, Heath catching his hand and pulling him up the rest of the way, before climbing as well. Thankfully Mammothmon is huge enough to hold himself, Wizardmon, Zack, Darcmon, Alicia, Kiwimon and Heath, because otherwise Dolph's not sure what they would've done.

Considering his size, he's actually very quick and only lumbers a little behind the others, the group of them making good time to where the blip on their maps indicate. It's just as Luke had explained, a sheen of electricity gleaming around a village of homes. There's no way in or out and various Digimon are circling what had once been the exit, desperation and hunger in their eyes. Dolph swallows as hundreds of eyes lock on them, pleading and hoping for rescue... Mammothmon puts his trunk down on the ground, Heath whooping as he takes the quick way down, using it like a slide until he lands in the dirt, laughing. "C'mon, guys, it's fun!"

Zack looks pensive but he goes ahead, gasping until he hits the bottom, Heath helping him find his footing as Alicia attempts it, squealing the entire way down. Dolph goes next, unsurprised that, when they take their turns, Wizardmon, Darcmon and Kiwimon make their way down much more gracefully than their partners had. "You are ridiculous," he tells Heath with no malice, wrapping an arm around Zack's shoulders before they turn to face the village, all glee leaving them as they face what's going on for real.

It's terrible, and there appears to be no way through the arching electricity coating the entirety of the land. "What do we do?" Zack mumbles, biting his lip as he tries to think of something. Some way to help.

Cyberdramon quickly grows bored of sitting around waiting for a brainstorm and slices forward, his claws scraping against the barrier. His hard armor isn't impacted by the strong electricity but his claws do nothing but make a hidden nails-on-chalkboard sound that send the others cringing away in pain, their ears ringing once he finally gives up on that being a feasible option. Mammothmon is next, trying to rend the shield in two with his tusks, but only succeeds in literally banging his head against the wall ceaselessly until Heath yells at him.

Wizardmon and Darcmon move as one, Darcmon slicing nonstop with her swords as Wizardmon lifts his arms up and beckons towards the sky above. "Thunder Cloud!" he calls out, slamming his arms down as lightning blasts down and strikes in the same direction as Darcmon's swords, the shield beginning to crack in the places where Cyberdramon, Mammothmon, and Darcmon had struck it. Just as the Digidestined are holding their breath, certain that this is it, it'll break apart and free the poor creatures inside, there's a monsterous roar overhead and something lands heavily, knocking Darcmon and Wizardmon both over and ending their rampage against the barrier.

"Fools! I will not allow you to harm them!" a horned creature, whose entire body is coated in metal armor, screams, electricity streaming from every inch of his body. "This is the only way to keep the village safe, I will not allow you to ruin my efforts!" He goes berzerk, swiping out with a rapidly expanding arm that slams into all of them with a bone-rattling punch that winds Dolph before moving on, striking each Digidestined and Digimon as if knocking down bowling pins.

Forcing a sharp, painful breath out of his lungs, Dolph fights up to his feet and stares up at the Digimon, stumbling towards Zack. The others are stirring, but the broski is painfully still and fear wells up in Dolph, leaving him ill and clammy as he collapses to his knees and crawls the rest of the way to Zack's side, trying to shield him from whatever else this creature might be thinking in its deluded state. "No," he grunts, gripping his Digivice with his free hand. "You're not going to hurt anyone else. I won't let you."

"Atlur Ballistamon, please stop!" one of the Digimon in the village cries out, voice barely audible over the force field. "The only thing we're in danger of is starving in here, free us!"

Turning, he sneers at her, shaking his head. "Sparrowmon, I have protected you all your entire lives... you know nothing of true danger, of what I must protect you all from! I will not stop!"

"But you're killing us," she responds, tears dripping down her face. "Please-" Her words are quieted when a sharp streak of electricity blasts close to her, sending her skittering away in terror. "Atlur Ballistamon, what happened to you?!"

But Dolph can't focus on her, or anything else, as Atlur Ballistamon rounds once more upon them, staring down at him challengingly. "You were saying?" he wonders, electricity pulsing throughout his body.

Dolph can do nothing but watch, eyes wide in horror, as he punches out, lightning still cycling around his fist as it approaches them. It's going to hit him, yes, but worse, it's going to electrocute Zack as well, there's nothing he can actually do to spare the weakened man, his attempts at protecting him failing. "NO!" he yells. This causes a chain reaction, the Digivice in his hand abruptly exploding with powerful light as the ground rattles, his failing determination to rescue Zack re-igniting when something shoots up and towards him, forming a crest like what Seth, Heath and Miz have, floating into his hand. He gapes at it before looking up, Wizardmon engulfed in this brilliant energy. He's never felt stronger.

"Wizardmon Digivolve to..." His form fading away, the Digimon disappears entirely, leaving nothing but a large book behind. Dolph blinks in confusion as Atlur Ballistamon laughs mockingly, about to finish what he had started by slamming his electrified fist through both Dolph and Zack, when the book slams open, bright light pouring out of it. "Wisemon!" The creature is tall, mysterious. A red robe covers him from head to toe, and a white shroud covers his face. Outside of pale wings poking out of his back and dark hands that seem to be controlling two constantly rotating round stones- one red, one yellow- there are no other distinguishing signs to recognize him by. His face is shrouded, two golden eyes locked on Atlur Ballistamon as he hovers over the parted pages of the book.

Dolph's not sure what to think about this new form of his partner, but their eyes lock and something inside of him eases. He trusts the tall creature with everything in him, turning his attention to Zack. "Hey, kid, open your eyes," he mutters, pushing him lightly. "You don't want to miss seeing Wisemon, huh?" There's no response and he swallows, looking back up as Wisemon seems unworried, sidestepping one of Atlur Ballistamon's fists, the book moving with him as if they're one.

"Pandora Dialogue," he says, even his voice sounding smooth, hard to grasp. Red letters on the book suddenly lift off of the page and swirls around Wisemon for a moment, as if absorbing power from him, before racing towards Atlur Ballistamon. Undisturbed by his electricity, the attack slices through his armor, causing him to yell out in indescribeable agony. Wisemon tilts his head, watching him as he collapses to his knees, scratching at his body desperately. Wisemon lifts his hands, the stones following his movements, and time seems to be rewinding- Atlur Ballistamon quiets abruptly as the barrier shorts out, then fails completely, freeing the villagers as they stream out, desperate for food and trampling towards fruit trees just visible in the distance.

"No, no!" Atlur Ballistamon cries. "Please, you'll be safe inside, go back! Go back!"

Dolph watches in perplexed sympathy, glancing down at Zack as he slowly, finally stirs. He thinks he knows now, that everything going on in the world had caused Atlur Ballistamon's data to be fragmented, corrupted by his paranoia and uncertainty about his ability to protect the village. "Wisemon," he calls out, the first words he's speaking to his partner in this form. "Finish this."

Pandora Dialogue, this time, wraps around Atlur Ballistamon, seeping into his body, and the guardian Digimon watches, tears dripping down his face as his strength fails, the electricity cycling around him weakening before disappearing entirely. "No," he whispers, his mission a lost cause now.

Sparrowmon, however, hesitantly flies back over to them, landing close to Atlur Ballistamon as his data begins to fade away. "We're going to be ok until you're reborn," she tells him confidentally. "You've taken good care of us up until now... and we will be waiting for you when you're restructured. Please be ok."

He swallows hard, gaze clearing as he stares down at her. "I'm so sorry," is all he manages to say before he's gone entirely, leaving nothing but a few teardrops to soak the ground at her feet.

Dolph grunts as he painfully sits up, leaving a hand on Zack's back as he slowly breathes in and out, looking around. "C'mon, kid," he whispers, gripping Zack under the arms and pulling him up. He looks dazed, groggy, but their eyes lock as soon as he's sitting up and Dolph smiles. "'Bout time, kid. How are you feeling?"

"Like I was suckerpunched, bro," he grumbles, leaning against Dolph. "What happened?"

"Pretty much that," he sighs, staring down at his new crest. "Look, kid."

Zack squints at it. "A crest, bro? What's the symbol of?"

"I'm not sure," Dolph murmurs, though he knows that's wrong. He knows exactly what it is, had known from the moment that Atlur Ballistamon had been targetting Zack. "I think it's friendship though."

Zack looks up at him, lips twitching up into a smirk. "Yeah? That suits you pretty well, bro."

Dolph can't help but grin.