Seth kneads his knuckles between his eyes and exhales, slowly. As if there hasn't been enough going on, now he's stuck with this. Dolph Ziggler, back on Raw, back in his group of Digidestined. AJ moving to Smackdown was almost a relief, but now his frustration seems to be multiplying as he looks over the group of people before him. Lana. Owens. Asuka. Aleister. Dolph. The only person he can sort of stand for more than thirty seconds is Asuka, and even that's a little rough sometimes, her loud, impassioned speech leaving his ears begging for a reprieve after a few minutes.

But it is what it is, so he motions them on warily and follows the path on the digivice, frowning and mumbling under his breath as he walks on determinedly. The further they walk this mountanous region, the hotter it seems to become and Seth instinctively reaches into his pocket, snags a hairtie and ties back his hair, relieved to have it off of his face, stopping it from sticking obnoxiously to his sweaty skin.

Asuka is chattering nonstop behind him, a familiar kind of droning on that he can tolerate a lot better than her more vocal exclamations, and Ziggler is quick with sarcastic replies, even when it's clear he's not sure what exactly she might be saying when she lapses into Japanese, but the others are quiet. Focused. Seth wishes it was a more common occurence as he scales up a small cliff and looks over the land beyond. Betamon is by his side and they peer out over the lifeless land before exchanging glances. "Seems peaceful," Seth hedges, immediately hating himself for probably jinxing it.

"Yes, it does," Betamon muses, frowning as they slowly make their way back to the others.

"Nothing," Seth tells them and they walk forward as a group, waiting for something to happen, the reason why their devices were leading them here to manifest.

It's abrupt when it does happen, one minute Seth's leading the group of five, and the next moment, everything around him is on fire. He stares on in horror, his heart suddenly racing, but Betamon is down and injured next to him and he can hear yells from behind him, though he feels strangely numb and detached from everything but the flames dancing around him, beginning to lick at his shoes. He stares down, in awe of how sudden it had all happened, when something latches onto him, drags him backwards.

Immediately he snaps out of his fugue state and gasps, collapsing to his knees. "It's ok, you are fine," Asuka chants overhead, clinging to Betamon's limp form. "I save you." She's covered in smoke and her eyes are wild, but her touch is steady as she stabilizes him. "Calumon!"

"On it!" Calumon calls out, beginning to digivolve. Seth squints against the powerful glow and doesn't protest when Asuka presses his face into her leg, stroking his hair gently. The cycle seems to cut off quickly as Kabukimon comes into view before them, and Asuka frowns, but keeps her thoughts to herself as her partner lunges forward, into the flames, searching for the cause.

More flames burst out around her, Kabukimon hissing out in pain as she tries to avoid, and Lana is there, Lana interjects herself, Bastemon lunging forward to join Kabukimon. Seth blinks on blurrily, feeling Lana's fingers poking and prodding at his side and back, muffled pain rolling through him from her touch. "Not good," she says. "Why did he just linger like that? He could've been burnt to death."

"I'm not sure," Asuka says quietly, still bracing him. "Perhaps something hypnotise him. Something." Lana and Asuka remain close, even as their partners search, and eventually Kabukimon returns, looking solemn and tense. "Find anything?"

"A silver Kyubimon," she informs them. "Bastemon is approaching now."

It's clear when the battle begins, because Kabukimon turns and joins in, and the amount of heat and flames around them grow. Owens begrudgingly stomps his way over and helps Asuka get Seth to his feet, dragging him further away from the battle. "Idiot trying to get himself killed again, huh?" Owens snaps dismissively before walking off to stand with Ziggler, Aleister and their partners, waiting to see how the battle with Kyubimon plays out, ready to step in and fight should Bastemon and Kabukimon lose control of the situation.

Which doesn't seem likely as Bastemon keeps the silver Kyubimon distracted with the steady fluxuations of her body, allowing Kabukimon to sneak closer and blast him from behind with a massive amount of sharp petals that shred through his skin. Immediately the fire dies down and Kyubimon lets out a howl of pain, spiraling away with his tails surrounding him. "Oh no you don't," Kabukimon mumbles, lifting her hands and sending off sharp beams of light that strikes Kyubimon in the side and rump, immediately sending him crashing into one of the nearby cliffs.

Bastemon stands over him, a strange look on her face, before she lunges forward and stabs straight through him, draining him of what remains of his power. She inhales sharply, glowing a bit, before he shatters into pieces and she steps back, eyes still lit with a strange, silver gleam. Kabukimon joins her, and the two of them stand over where their opponent had just laid, exchanging glances.

Lana grimaces and looks up at Asuka. "I guess our partners make a pretty good team." The displeasure on her face only grows when Asuka bites out rapidfire Japanese, startling her.

Seth groans loudly and forces himself to stand, eager to get away from these two. His body feels weird, his thoughts are still unfocused and distant, but he staggers forward, one step, then two, and takes Betamon from Asuka with shaking hands. "Thank you," he tells her faintly, before turning around slowly and making his way back towards the digiport.

Asuka and Lana exchange glances, their bickering forgotten for now, as they hurriedly follow after him, concerned about how bizarre he's been acting since Kyubimon's attack. "Wrong, wrong," she chants under her breath, eyes locked on Seth the remaining time they spend in the digiworld. Something has changed.

But what, she's not entirely sure.