Shinsuke is standing at the edge of a beach, staring out over the water with a wistful look on his face. He turns slightly as John Morrison joins him and they exchange vague smiles before turning back to the beauty before them. "Thank you," he says after a few moments, and John tilts his head at him. "For patience. I know I am not... easy, sometimes. To get along with."

John's eyes soften and he lifts his arms in a shrug. "Who is? I mean, my tag partner is The Miz."

Shinsuke's teeth flash in the mid-afternoon sun. "This is true," he concedes.

John rocks back and forth on his feet a bit. "I always wonder what the rest of this world looks like. Especially when it's not torn to shreds, you know?" He hums under his breath. "Someday, I'd like to explore the whole damn thing."

Shinsuke glances at him, nodding. "I would like that as well," he says quietly. They stand in silence for a few moments more, enjoying the view before them, when-

"Shinsuke! John!" Tamina walks up to them, her brows furrowed. "We need to move, there are multiple villages along this line lighting up right now, I think something big is going on."

Shinsuke and John glance at the map before Shinsuke nods and follows her back to the group, John right behind them. "Everyone ready to go?" he asks, glancing around at the others. This week, AJ, Gable, Miz, Morrison and Tamina fill out the ranks and he's relieved to see that for once most of the group is here. More numbers are good, especially when walking into the unknown in the digiworld. He's learned that lesson many times, as has most of them, he's sure.

"Yes," they all chorus back to him, and he nods, leading the way to the portal waiting patiently not that far away.

When they arrive on the other side, everything seems normal. The sun is still shining, the wind is still warm and steady on his arms. Then Shinsuke looks up and the illusion is quickly shattered. Pillars of smoke raft up in various spots before them, and he clenches his fist, aware that each must be from the villages Tamina had shown them. "Let's go," he says tensely, the group of them quickly making their way to the nearest.

When they arrive, the village is... simply gone, buildings flattened, lives lost, very litle remaining but debris and the acrid mix of smoke and data flowing in the wind. "Shit," John breathes out.

The next village isn't much better, they do find a couple of digimon who had gotten out unscathed crying in the wreckage, but there's little they can do for them once they're sure they're not in danger anymore. It's the fourth village along this stretch of land that they finally find something useful- an actual path leading to the creature causing this, who is currently on his way to the fifth village that's just within sight.

"MetalGreymon," Shinsuke mumbles, his fingers twitching spastically. "Apollomon."

"Yes," his partner says, lunging forward- just to be met head on by a range of missiles that tear into him and cause him to crash to the ground.

"Apollomon!" Shinsuke cries out, trying to run for his partner- just for John to grab his arm. "Let me go-"

"No," John mutters. "You won't make it through a strike like that, just wait."

Apollomon struggles to his feet, rage crossing his face, and this time when he lunges at MetalGreymon, he lands a strike, fire spiraling around them. But it's not enough, MetalGreymon roars right in his face and then there's a horrible noise- MetalGreymon's vicious claws shred through Apollomon's body, and Apollomon screams, echoing and desperate as data floods the air around him, and his body falls limp, close to deletion.

This time, John is frozen in horrified shock and can't hold Shinsuke back and he lunges forward, not caring about anything else as he rushes for his partner. "Coronamon!" He skids and grabs at his falling partner, holding him close and ignoring MetalGreymon's looming form. "Hold on, it's ok, I'm here." He swipes his digivice over Apollomon's failing body and struggles to breathe as Apollomon feebly reaches out for him.

"You need to go," he gasps. "There's nothing- to help me, and..." He groans. "MetalGreymon will kill you, please, Shinsuke-"

Ignoring him, Shinsuke continues to grip his digivice, pressing his forehead to Apollomon's chest. "Why isn't it working?" he demands, spitting out Japanese at the device as it continues to remain dark and lifeless in the palm of his hand. "Heal him!"

"Shinsuke-"

"I'm not leaving you!" Shinsuke's eyes are wet and large when he looks up. "I'm not leaving you."

"TAOMON!" Shinsuke vaguely registers Tamina's voice in the distance, and then there is a strange barrier surrounding them, seemingly drawn into the ground around their prone bodies. Shinsuke looks up to find the other digimon partners standing between him and MetalGreymon and his eyes well up with even thicker tears, as he turns his focus back onto Apollomon.

"You don't get to go like this," he informs his partner shakily. "After all of this time, I will not allow you. The others won't let you go so easily either."

Apollomon gasps out a weak laugh and reaches up to touch Shinsuke's face, wiping some of the tears away carefully. "I'm not sure if it's up to them," he admits faintly, exhaling slowly as Shinsuke absorbs just how warm his touch still is.

"Well, it's up to me," he says stubbornly. "And I say no. You're staying right here."

Apollomon smiles at him fondly and shakes his head, even that small motion seeming to bring him a fair amount of pain as he gasps feebly. "Shinsuke, it's always been an honor to be your partner. I wish we had had more time..."

"We will," Shinsuke insists. "We will." He continues to grip his nonresponsive digivice, growing more and more frustrated the longer it remains inactive.

MetalGreymon suddenly roars and tears through the group of Digimon, stopping just short of the barrier that is protecting Shinsuke and Apollomon, and roars right close to where Shinsuke is crouching, clinging to Apollomon. Taomon regroups first, slashes her brush at him once more, and he roars out in fresh pain as he's electrocuted by the outer edge of the shield. It's the first time MetalGreymon shows any kind of weakness, collapsing to his knees, and Justimon takes full advantage of it, flying forward and pressing MetalGreymon further into the shield with his feet, causing the creature to take even more damage from the electricity lingering there.

He roars out again and thrashes, sending Justimon flying. JewelBeemon attempts an attack next, glowing with beautiful energy, but before he can even get too close, MetalGreymon shoots missiles at him and he's forced to give up the attack just to avoid the mess of weapons thrown his way. FlaWizardmon tries, too, but barely gets close enough to do anything when MetalGreymon slashes at him, sending him flying. Justimon grabs him and gets him out of there, FlaWizardmon nodding in thanks to him before Justimon resumes trying to get a shot in.

Justimon and Taomon regroup and exchange glances before rushing forward, Taomon swiping her brush rapidly as Justimon slams his fist into the ground, sending shocks through the dirt and sweeping towards MetalGreymon, unbalancing him and leaving him vulnerable to Taomon. "GO!" he yells and she swipes her brush through the air, painting a new seal separate from the one protecting Shinsuke and Apollomon, sending it to surround the unbalanced MetalGreymon.

His roars of anger turn into confusion, and then pain, as golden light blasts through the seal, eating away at his body and destabilizing it. He looks very battered, on the brink of destruction, once the light fades away, and Taomon stands, steady and calm, as data flows from the multitude of wounds along his body. He lunges forward, one last attempt at an attack, but doesn't even make it a few feet before his body explodes in a sea of data, drifting slowly into the smoke from the nearest village he'd just visited before the digidestined had found him and disappearing on the wind.

Taomon exhales slowly before allowing herself to dedigivolve, her barrier around Shinsuke and Apollomon fading away.

As Shinsuke clings to what remains of his partner, more of his body disappearing in the time it had taken to defeat MetalGreymon, the others circle them, watching and waiting with sadness on their faces. "Why isn't it working? It has in the past," Shinsuke demands, shaking his digivice.

Apollomon smiles wearily at his partner, acceptance in his eyes. "Perhaps this is just how it was meant to be. Perhaps there is some reason I need... to be reborn." Shinsuke shakes his head desperately, tears dripping down onto Apollomon's chest and sizzling on his skin. "We both know how this world works, Shinsuke. I will come back to you, you just need to be patient."

"Like you were, all of that time you waited for me," he whispers.

Apollomon smiles. "Exactly. Like that. It'll be ok." His voice grows faint as more data pours from his body and Shinsuke looks away, clearly struggling with facing his partner's deletion. "You've been an amazing partner, Shinsuke, and it's been an honor to help digimon in need by your side."

Shinsuke trembles and nods, unable to formulate a decent response, but knowing that Apollomon will understand. He does look up, however, when Apollomon lets out a faint gasp, staring up into nothing, the last of the light fading away from his eyes. "Apollomon-" he's just managed to whisper when what remains of his partner shatters in his hands, pouring data out over his fingers.

Shinsuke chokes on sudden grief, unable to hold on as the particles drift and fade away, his shoulders shaking. "Apollomon...!"