Seth stares up at the sky with a faint smile, stretching his arms out towards the clouds. Thinks about how Buddy would be as a digidestined, then shrugs. It's sometimes just as well that they're not always together, distance making the heart fonder and all of that. But still. He can imagine their partners side by side, cleaving through all of the evil this world provides, and it makes him smile just a little. Shaking his head to clear it of these thoughts, he turns his focus back onto Luke and inclines his head slowly. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

He doesn't exactly meet Seth's eyes, continuing to peruse the map of the digital world before him. "There are the usual villages in need of help," he says slowly. "But I want you to focus on one in particular first." He taps his nail against the map, and Seth catches a glimpse of an island, flickering slowly, before the screen goes dark entirely. "They need your help."

"Alright," he intones slowly. "Anything in particular we need to do here?"

Luke seems oddly concerned today, quiet, not his usual boisterous self, and when he looks up and meets Seth's eyes, Seth almost backs up with the force of the emotion on his face. "Whatever you can to help them out. That's all I ask of you."

"Yeah, of course," he says immediately, overwhelmed and a little intimidated by the aura Luke is exuding right now. "Like we always do, Luke. I promise."

Luke nods slowly. "Thank you," he says softly. Seth wants to ask why Luke is responding this way, but before he can, Luke claps him on the arm and not-so-subtly turns him to the digiport that connects his area to almost everywhere else in the Digiworld. "The sooner, the better," he informs Seth with a strained sort of smile.

"Right, of course," Seth says, deciding to backburner his need for answers for a little bit. "We're on it, don't worry."

It's curious, he thinks as he holds his digivice up. Luke's never responded like this to a mission before. Seth shrugs and activates the digiport, almost relieved to go through, if only to get the intensity of Luke's gaze off of him.

Instead of feeling better, however, things just feel worse once he's done this and Seth stumbles a little on the reappearance, looking around in confusion. No one else seems to notice, already walking forward to figure out their next move, and he scrambles to catch up. There are no villages around here, which makes things more complicated to figure out, but they continue on, determined to figure out how to help whatever around the area is in need.

Except that there is no digimon around to ask, nothing but hills and sand, and grass, and Seth stands still and spins in a slow circle, absolutely confused. "Luke, why would you send us here?" he asks himself, clenching his hands into fists and trying not to entirely lose his temper. "There's nothing here!"

Before his very eyes, things suddenly shift, and where once there was nothing, full cities grow, and people begin milling everywhere, Digimon scattered among them. He gapes. "What? I... what the hell?" He looks around but the others aren't in sight, and he looks down, expecting Betamon to be by his side, as always, but... no, his partner is gone as well. "What is this...?"

He's never one to feel vulnerable, or too lacking in self-confidence, but right now, he feels weak, uncertain and shaky. "What do I do? Who are all of you people?!" Then he stops short and takes a better look. "Wait, I know you. I know all of you." He rushes forward and reaches out for the nearest person, just to stop and frown as his fingers brush against... nothing. "Am I... am I hallucinating?" he breathes out, a flash of horror crossing his face. Despite this, he continues moving through the people, trying to attract someone's attention, anybody's. "Please," he mumbles as AJ Lee walks by without even looking at him. "What is happening?"

His breath catches in his chest and he staggers forward, standing in front of Dean Ambrose, staring at him. "You," he mumbles. They haven't seen much of each other since Dean left WWE, only texted a few times, and he misses him with a yearning ache deep in his soul that somedays feels like he could completely lose himself in it if he didn't distract himself with other things- like AoP, Buddy, being Raw's Messiah. There's no recognition in Dean's eyes, and Seth closes his eyes, shuddering out an exhale like it physically pains him. "You can't see me either."

It doesn't take long for him to realize it's a vision of the earthbound Digidestined, for some reason. "Why am I seeing all of them?" he wonders, watching Neville kneel down to pick up Popomon, the digimon never able to grow to a higher power level before Neville had left WWE and the Digidestined a few years back. "It makes no sense. I don't understand!"

Then he stops short. There's a digimon watching him, actually staring at him. "You," he says, reaching out for the massive frog type digimon. "You can see me. Who are you? Did you cause this?"

"You could say that," the creature says lazily, his voice deep, resonating in Seth's soul. "I am Tonosama Geckomon. You, my friend, apparently fell through a portal and landed at my feet. So I do what I do, and this was the result."

Seth frowns, shaking his head. "What do you do? And why does it take me to some strange island full of former digidestined? I don't understand."

Tonosama Geckomon smirks, parting his lips and beginning to sing. The musical horns on his back begin to quiver in time with the noise coming from his throat and Seth feels it reverberate throughout his entire being, causing him to collapse to his knees. Tonosama Geckomon seems satisfied quickly and ceases his song, staring down at Seth. "You didn't die," he says in slow awe. "Most digimon hear my voice and shatter, just like that, because it alters their very data. But you, you appeared here, and saw all of these people. What does it mean? I'm unsure. But I am definitely intrigued."

Seth stares at the digidestined still wandering around, going on about their days, unaware that he can even see them. "How do I get back to my friends?" he asks, feeling unease at the mention of a portal. "Where... where is Betamon?!"

"I have no clue," Tonosama Geckomon intones, already growing bored of this now that the initial intrigue has passed and nothing seems to be changing any further with Seth. "Perhaps there's something here you need to do, now that your core self has been altered."

"Altered?" Seth repeats, his vision swimming. "What... what do you mean? Altered how?"

"Well, that's clearly what I said I do, right? I change a creature down to its core with my voice?" Tonosama Geckomon shrugs. "It isn't hard to figure out. You're here because your body is different, and it needs something. Or you need something. I don't know, I'm not your therapist."

Seth exhales and leans his head against the ground before shakily standing once more and staggering back towards the only person he knows he might feel comforted by, who always used to have answers for him, no matter how uncomfortable they might be. He heads for Dean.

Dean, who can't see him, Dean who seems to be in the process of making a sandwich, sneaking ingredients to Otamamon every now and again with a chuckle. He looks happy, more confident in himself in a long time, and it hurts, somewhere deep in Seth's soul that WWE couldn't give him that. That he couldn't give Dean that. He reaches out and lets his hand ghost against an arm he can't really feel, trying to pretend. "I miss ya, brother," he says finally, eyes downcast. "I wish things were different."

Wrestling soulmates, he'd called them, a long time ago. Without that tether, without Dean's presence, no matter how it frustrated him, or wounded him, he'd always known his place in the world as long as Dean was around, he had motivation, inspiration. Once he was out of Seth's orbit, everything fell apart. "But that's not your fault," he mumbles. "I guess I always just needed too much out of you. Even when I claimed I hated you." He searches Dean's face, his shoulders slumping. "I'm glad things are going well for you. I'm... I'm glad you're happy." It's a hollow truth- he is as happy for Dean as he's miserable for himself, wishing that the things he's trying- Buddy, and AoP, and everything else, could even come close to filling the void that's been left in his life since May of last year.

Tonosama Geckomon's voice suddenly cuts into his thoughts, and he sounds amused. "You're glowing," he informs him, and Seth blinks, hard, looking down at himself.

"What the...?"

Everything changes again. He feels ground under his hands. And pain. So much pain. He groans blurrily and feels desperate touches along his jaw, down his shoulder. "Seth! Seth, please wake up!"

It's Betamon. And, perhaps, AJ, if the carelessness behind the hands trying to shake him awake is any indication. "Come on, Rollins, open your damn eyes already." Yep, absolutely AJ.

"'M up," he mumbles. "Stop, I..." His eyes slam open and he stares up in amazement. AJ is there, and Betamon, and Asuka, Lana, Owens, their digimon, they're all in his sight now and... and, no one else. He falls back against the ground and exhales shakily. "Oh, I'm back."

"Yes," Betamon says, stroking his face. "You... you had me worried."

"It's ok. It's all going to be ok." He smiles at his partner, feeling better than he has in a long time. Now that he's faced his true emotions about a few things. He sits up, relieved when he feels somewhat normal, no sickness or weakness lingering, amazingly enough. "Where are we?"

"Well," AJ mutters, looking around them. "That is the million dollar question."

Seth looks past him and his jaw drops. "No friggin way." It resembles the Darkness Ocean, but yet not, somehow. Gloomy clouds hang low overhead and there's no source of light anywhere, everything grey and foreboding. The ground he's sprawled upon is dried and cracked, and there's nothing but barren desert for as far as Seth can see. "Oh come on..."