Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

A/N: So this isn't the next chapter persay. It's an interlude to show you all the pov of the rest of the Digidestined of the events at the end of the last chapter. Don't worry tho. It's really freaking long. So long, I had to post this by itself, because the next chapter would've been forty pages if I had combined then. No one wants that. So here, read and suffer.

Interlude II

"I'm puncturing every single one of his stupid soccer balls," Izzy fumed as he paced to and fro frustrated. "He's getting itching powder in his training shorts. Tacks inside his shoes—so he won't be able to run off and do something like this!" Izzy threw one arm in a sweeping arc motioning to the Fuji TV Station on the other side of the street.

The street that was consequentially blocked off by a road barriers and a brigade of police cars. A small squadron of police were donning riot gear complete with helmets and shields and were grouped near the front entrance of the building on stand-by and in defense mode as if they expected aliens to come pouring through the front doors at any given moment.

A sizeable crowd of curious spectators had gathered—most of whom were exhibiting the energy of an audience before the curtain rose and the play started: antsy, somewhat bored, yet trying not to show their anticipation. The small coffee shop facing the tv station across the street was making a killing today in sales by the line that trailed out their doors and wrapped around the side as people stocked up on caffeine and sweets before taking their place in the crowd outside as if a parade were about to take off.

Romans and their lust for the blood-stained sands of the Coliseum, Izzy thought darkly.

"We should have dropped a sleeping pill in his energy drink a long time ago," Matt agreed. "Then we would have had enough time to tie him down and shear off that wild mane of his. It's causing no end of trouble."

"He just never listens to me—why does he never listen?!" Izzy howled in final burst of outrage, gripping fistfuls of hair and grimacing as if he had a killer migraine.

"I have some Tylenol if you want," Sora said rummaging in her purse.

Izzy held out his hand wordlessly as she dropped it into his palm, throwing his back and downing the pill whole. Sora paused for a moment before popping one in her mouth as well. Mimi offered her a sip from her bottle of fizzy strawberry Ramune which she gratefully accepted.

The group heaved one giant sigh in unison.

Matt's D-Terminal gave off a beep signaling a new message. Opening the lid, Matt read it silently and gave everyone the head's up.

"Joe says the roads are too jammed for Jim's car to get through any further. They're gonna go on foot now and get here when they can."

"I hope it's soon. Who knows how long until these guys storm the place," Sora said narrowing her eyes at the police. "I just wonder why they didn't do it the moment the moment they got here."

"They're waiting for reinforcements," a new voice spoke up.

Everyone turned their heads to see Ken who had arrived with Davis in tow. The boy's face was pale. "It's like chess," he explained. "The police are the rooks awaiting further instructions from higher up. Every step of action right now is a piece of a bigger game. The government is refraining from making any hasty moves until their knights are into position."

"The Self-Defenses Forces no doubt," Izzy cursed following the analogy.

"What are we exactly then?" Matt asked dryly raising an eyebrow.

Ken's lips pressed into a grim smile. "We're the pawns," he said bitterly.

"Stop being so melodramatic!" Davis cried slapping his friend across the back that had Ken stumbling sideways a little. "Every side has their own knights. We're the Digi Knights, ok, and we're gonna save the day and Taichi-sempai! Let's go!'

Ken grabbed the back of Davis's coat and yanked him back before he had taken two steps. "Thank you for the optimism, but no one's storming the fortress so to speak until we're all together."

"Come on, we can take 'em!" Davis protested trying to squirm out of Ken's grasp. "We got Wormmon and DemiVeemon!" he held up a duffel bag partially unzipped where the two Digimon poked their heads out cautiously. "They'll never even see Imperialdramon coming! He's like… Lightspeedmon!"

"Then we will have successfully un-did everything Tai is trying to accomplish right now," Ken reminded him.

Those words ceased Davis's struggles. "Taichi-sempai is trying to get people to stop seeing Digimon as evil monsters," he said staring up at the Fuji TV Station.

"Yes, and how is it going to look if the 'aliens' show up and wipe out the police force in one sweep?" Ken asked.

Davis pursed his mouth, looked to one side and scowled. "Wasn't gonna fight them," he mumbled, scuffing one shoe on the pavement. "I was thinking more along the lines of Imperialdramon just sticking his arm through the wall and rescuing Taich-sempai then flying off, but yeah, I can see how that could be interpreted just as badly, I guess…"

One corner of Ken's lip lifted up into a half-smile. "Let's think up another strategy that doesn't involve rushing in with guns blazing."

"Maybe… maybe Tai will get through to people," Mimi spoke up hopefully. "Maybe he'll get them to give Digimon a second chance rather than to shoot first."

Matt snorted. "When has things ever been that easy for us?"

"Hey, have more faith in your friends, big bro!"

"T.K.," Matt said turning around where his brother stood a few feet away. "Where's Cody?" he asked looking around for the smaller boy.

"Over there," T.K. pointed towards the entrance of the Aqua City shopping mall which was congested from so many people packed in one spot fixated by whatever was happening on the large-scale tv on the wall.

"Is that…?"

"The interview? Yeah," T.K. said, his expression growing somber. "And while we're all just waiting around for everyone else, why not watch it?"

oOo

"Do these portals open sporadically without any pattern or is there a specific origin to them?"

"Um… both?"

"Please, clarify, Kamiya-san."

"Well, sometimes, especially now, portals have been opening at random, but they're usually activated through a computer."

"A computer? How fascinating! How exactly was this method discovered?"

To say that Matt was holding his breath along with everyone else was an understatement. He knew Tai was attempting to shed some light on the whole alien misconception story the public had been spoon-fed, however, revealing the digivices just seemed… wrong. He wasn't sure how the world would handle the knowledge that a select group of people, mostly children, had essentially been given "keys" to another dimension.

People ranting over the existence of virtual reality games and monster battle and possibly elect status jealousy theories sprung to the forefront of his mind. Matt tried to shove the nagging voice in his head to the back, tried to convince himself that society was smarter than that and wouldn't immediately jump to that conclusion, but hell, wasn't that idea exactly what Tai and Ken had both seized at one point in the Digital World?

He needn't have worried though. Tai didn't appear to be overly eager about telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth completely yet.

"Well… if you're in the right place at the right time… the computer just activates the portal for you."

"Oh, thank Gennai," Izzy breathed a sigh of relief, his sickly green pallor fading slightly. "Does anyone have an anti-acid?" he asked, clutching his stomach.

Mimi offered her strawberry Ramune soda again. Izzy looked like he was going to decline for a moment, but then his stomach did this loud gurgling noise and he downed the whole bottle in three gulps.

"That interviewer is a total sleaze bucket," Mimi glowered at the woman on screen smiling in false sincerity.

Matt wasn't sure what that meant or even what she said really, because Mimi had lapsed into English at the last word, but he assumed it was an insult aimed at Tomoya Yoshino, whom thus far, had made it her personal goal to twist any information Tai produced into her own version of events and explanations.

"She acts like she's trying to be the narrator of some horrible soap opera," Sora said disgusted.

"That's what Mom calls the news," T.K. shared. "'One big horrible live reality soap opera'," his face fell. "She and Dad used to fight about that a lot…"

"Your dad, yeah!" Davis exclaimed, his eyes darting excited glances back and forth between T.K. and Matt. "He works there, right? Maybe he can bust Taichi-sempai out! I mean I know Taich-sempai's trying to do a good thing and all but this interview is bombing so hard."

"Bust Tai out?" T.K. looked exasperated. "This isn't one of those action drama shows and right now to the public, Tai is a wanted person of interest. We can't ask Dad to jeopardize his job like that. Besides, do you know how many different positions make up a tv station? How many different offices and levels of managements there are? We can't be sure Dad even knows about this flash news bulletin."

"Dad's in Production," Matt told Davis who looked baffled. "Plus he did call me to give the heads up before the news flash aired, so pretty sure he knows.

T.K. shot him a glare and Matt bit back a grin. So his brother was worried about their dad amidst all of this chaos and seeing police and guns in front of the building where he worked wasn't helping ease the anxiety any. The over-protectiveness must be an Ishida family trait. "It would help having someone inside there on our side, but I already tried calling and texting Dad back. Haven't gotten a reply yet. I don't know what's going on, but it's not good having only one plan anyways. We need multiples in case something goes wrong—which it will, because it always does."

"Ok, Plan A: Tai convinces everyone that Digimon are not aliens or monsters hell-bent on wiping out humankind's existence," Sora said in a voice as if she did not believe that herself for one second.

"If it weren't for that news harpy, he might have actually had a pretty good chance," Matt said.

"Just tell us, Kamiya-san," Tomoya Yoshino spoke sweet and softly as if she cared. One could almost mistake her words for honey instead of the viper venom it was. "Tell us your story of how these aliens, these monsters tricked you into thinking you were special for discovering their world and then how they duped you once you served their purpose whatever it may be. Perhaps to gain entrance to this world? Did you unwittingly show them the way? It's all right. You can make that mistake up now. Just tell us these monsters' weaknesses, tell us their true agenda for coming here."

The words were hauntingly familiar of when Tai blew up at them all after the LadyDevimon incident at the park and from the pained expression on Tai's face as the camera panned on him, he was having a rather nasty flashback of it.

"Oh no, she didn't," Mimi hissed looking as if she wanted to reach through the tv and slap Tomoya Yoshino across the face.

"I know Grandfather says violence is unnecessary and one of the world's greatest crimes," Cody spoke up for the first time, sounding more solemn than he usually did. "But I am currently repressing the image of me having a one-on-one spar with Tomoya-san in the Kendo arena… and Tomoya-san doesn't have armor. Or a stick." The boy had balled his hands into fists so hard his knuckles had turned white.

Davis clapped a hand on his shoulder proudly. "It's called vengeance. Welcome to the club of Don't Mess With Our Friends, Tomoya-san. Punch her, Taichi-sempai!" he cheered under his breath.

Tai did start to rise out of his seat looking quite done with the interview and Tomoya-san in general.

And then someone completely unexpected stepped up behind him.

"So the media constitutes putting words into other people's mouths now? I believe that's illegal."

Davis sputtered loudly several times before pointing furiously at the tv. "Fuckin' knew it was Oily-kawa! Now we have to rescue him! Let's break out Imperialdramon, Ken!"

He tugged roughly on Ken's arm, but Ken stood motionless, his face drained of color, staring in a mixture of disbelief and horror at the tv.

"Matt," Sora said stepping closer to him. Her forehead was wrinkled slightly—a tell-tale sign of worry. "Tai doesn't seem surprised Oikawa is there, does he?"

They watched as another chair was pulled up and what looked as if the interview would begin again shortly. Tai was leaning over in his chair, his head low as he whispered something angrily to the man. No, Tai didn't look surprised or alarmed at all. He looked annoyed if anything.

"What are you guys thinking?" Davis demanded. "Taichi-sempai isn't in league with Oily-kawa! He was obviously kidnapped—like I told you before," he threw a pointed stare at Izzy. "And forced to do this interview and now Oily-kawa is gonna make sure people think the worst of Digimon because he is a Bad Guy and this is all part of his nefarious scheme to cause panic!"

On screen, Oikawa spoke.

"These so-called aliens that are intruding on your daily lives and upsetting your ordinary routine—you'd better get used to it—because they're going to be our permanent neighbors."

The crowd around them burst into loud nervous chatter. The mood shifted from curious overtone to a heavy tension.

Davis threw out his arms wide for emphasis.

"Wait, I don't understand," Mimi said. "Why is Tai with Oikawa and why did we find his digivice on that truck half-way outside Tokyo?"

"Helloooooo?" Davis drawled. "Bad Guys have Minions! Arukenimon? Mummymon? Anyone remember them? The helped kidnap Taichi-sempai. The digivice was planted, obviously to send us on a false lead, and while we were all distracted chasing that rabbit trail, Oily-kawa swooped in and caught Taichi-sempai in his trap! Don't be asking why. The why is irrelevant. Bad Guy: Evil Plan. Who cares? We'll stop him. Be asking how."

"I really hate when you start making sense," T.K. told him. "But he's right, how did Tai end up with Oikawa?"

"Izzy, didn't you tell us he just stopped answering your messages?" Sora asked.

Everyone turned to Izzy who was looking a little red around the collar. "Y-yes," he stammered, fidgeting slightly. "I thought something was wrong, so I sent out teams to track his digivice signal—which I might add was moving at a steady pace. How was I—how were we—to know it was on a truck by itself?"

"So who was it you sent to pick up Tai then?" a new voice joined in the conversation.

Izzy flinched before turning around. Yolei stood not ten feet away, arms crossed, and eyes squinting suspiciously at him behind her glasses. Kari was beside her, throwing worried glances between her friend and the tv where he brother could be seen. Agumon stood next to her, wearing his usual incognito poncho to hide his reptilian features. He gave a fleeting look at his partner on the screen before turning his head to news building across the street. The setting sun was painting the metallic walls of the Fuji TV Station blood red with its last few rays of light. Matt hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

"Kari, hey!" Davis waved at her. "Don't worry, we're gonna get Taichi-sempai back. As of now, we are elaborating a fool-proof rescue effort to thwart the Bad Guy, expose his evil masterplan by uploading it online, reveal our secret identities and be praised as the heroes who saved the day!"

"No, we're not, and that was last week's Power Rangers' episode plot," T.K. said.

"How do you know it was a Power Rangers episode unless you watched it, T.F.?" Davis shot back. "But that aside, we're totally rescuing Taichi-sempai, Kari, I promise!"

"Just as soon as Izzy-sempai shares with us who went to pick Tai up," Yolei said never taking her gaze off her target. Izzy shrunk under it.

"No one picked Tai up, Yolei," Sora said. "Tai left before whoever it was got there and somehow," she looked at the tv again, "he ran into Oikawa and this happened."

"Really?" Yolei said taking out her D-Terminal, opening and reading out loud. "Walk towards the street corner. Your ride is here. From, Izzy." She looked up with narrowed eyes. "None of you even thought to question him on who he got to pick Tai up?"

"Well, it wasn't Jim," Mimi said. "He's with Joe driving around picking up all our partners from our homes."

"And it's not our dad," Matt said locking eyes briefly with T.K. "At least, I don't think it is. Was." He shook his head. "Why does this matter again?"

"Well, who else do we know that can drive?" Yolei asked. "Nobody," she continued before they could answer. "Therefore, Izzy-sempai never found someone to pick up Tai. Therefore, it was not necessary for Izzy-sempai to message Tai that his ride was there. Therefore, I propose it was not Izzy-sempai who sent that last message. Therefore," she paused and her face was about the same color as her hair at that point. "I think it could have been beneficial for us all to know there was the slight possibility of Tai walking into a trap and for us not to all scatter to the winds trying to locate his signal when there are obviously people," the girl pointed to Oikawa on the tv dramatically, "who have associates knowledgeable about the working functions of a Digivice!"

Yolei was panting by now, heaving angry breaths through her nose as she glowered at Izzy before finally hitting the bulls mark right between the eyes. "You were too ashamed to admit your email account got hacked into, weren't you?"

"W-w-what?" Izzy laughed nervously. "No, I—"

"You have no excuse because you didn't write that yet it is from your account with your name on it!" Yolei shouted and people were steering around her, giving her wide berth now. "You sent us on what could have been a wild goose chase with no warning, and it then it was! We might have found Tai sooner if we had kept our search in the last surroundings we knew he was in! Instead we expanded out into Tokyo because we thought he went all noble and tried to disassociate himself from us for our safety and now look!"

She gestured to the tv again just in time for them all to hear Oikawa.

"You didn't send that message and you owed it to us to tell us!" The anger was fading from Yolei's face. Now she just looked disappointed. "Tai is your friend. It could have ended up a lot worse than an interview with the enemy. All because of some hurt pride…"

"No one hacks my email account, ok. NOBODY!" Izzy burst out in a livid rage.

There was a long pause as everyone stared and Izzy, looking both appropriately shocked and remorseful, composed himself.

"I… I'm sorry," he said, shoulders slumping. "I figured… well, Tai was probably with whoever that was at that point and I thought we could catch them if we followed his Digivice signal. I just never assumed it was Oikawa because… well, what would he want with Tai and who could have expected this?"

"Nefarious evil scheme to invoke panic working," Davis muttered casting shifty eyes about the crowd.

"Oh, I am a terrible friend!" Izzy exclaimed gripping his hair in fistfuls again.

"Izzy…" Sora started to cajole.

"And turns out I'm just as average as the rest of you!" Izzy howled, clearly dismal at handling failure well. "Common as the everyday person who just lets his email account have a password so mundane he practically gift-wraps it and hands it over to some anonymous stranger online!"

"Ok, we're all just going to ignore that indirect insult not aimed at us but which stings nonetheless," Matt said, taking out his phone and trying to contact his dad again. It was ringing.

"Let's also ignore how Oikawa happened to know which email account was Izzy's out of all the millions in Japan," Sora said. "I just want to know what he said to Tai to convince him to do this interview."

"Of course!" Izzy cried happily, lifting wild, bloodshot eyes to the tv. "He wouldn't think of doing something this stupid by himself! I mean he's got the attention span of a gnat, he doesn't really think things all the way through, but an idea of this magnitude, of this sheer, gigantic idiocy certainly would never fly into his head all on its own! Oikawa must have convinced him this for the greater good of the human race or some other kind of heroic babble he admires and he swallowed it like candy, haha!"

"Sora, give him something stronger than Tylenol, please," Matt said. Izzy having a nervous breakdown in public was not something he desired to see. On the other end, his dad's phone was still ringing. It was odd it didn't just go to voice mail.

"I'm telling you all, Oily-kawa's a creep and he's holding something over Taichi-sempai's head!" Davis protested. "It's the only way Taichi-sempai would agree to go along with his evil plan! He's either being threatened or blackmailed!"

Ken let out a dry, bitter laugh. "You'll find Oikawa can be very persuasive when he wants to be."

That sort of statement in that dark tone, along with an expression on Ken's face that was eerily reminiscent of his days as the Digimon Emperor, certainly warranted an explanation, but before Matt could get around to asking, his dad finally picked up.

"Matt, oh thank god," Hirokai Ishida hissed before he could even answer. "Where are you? Are you close? Tell me you're close by, please."

"Dad, we're outside—all of us—right across the street in front of the Aqua City shopping mall," Matt said. "I take it you are aware then of what my good friend Tai has been up to recently?"

"Great kid, good intentions, moral conscience too high, and puts too much faith in justice and truth," Hiroaki finished wryly. "Can't you hang out with some kids your own age who want to deface public property or play with matches or something?"

"No, I'm just going to blame you for ruining my life like every other kid does," Matt deadpanned. "It's your fault, Dad. I never wanted to go to that summer camp and make all these weird friends in the first place."

Hirokai's voice dropped to a mere hush. "I don't have much time to talk, Matt. I'm under surveillance. That's why I didn't answer you sooner. My boss knows that I know Tai because he's my son's friend. Should've put away all those damning family photos on the desk as soon as the earlier news flash broke. I wasn't here for that one though. That was prerecorded without my knowledge—I'll have to look into that. Anyway, the big man only let me out of his sight because he's a bit preoccupied checking his computer for alien portals popping up—" Hirokai turned what sounded like a chuckle into a hacking cough. "I'm about to do something to stop this interview. The atmosphere in here isn't good."

"You're not going to do anything dangerous, are you?"

"No one will know it was me. They won't even see it coming," Hiroaki sounded quite smug. "Just please tell me some of you kids have your partners with you."

"Joe's swinging by everyone's house to pick up the ones left behind, but the younger kids have theirs," Matt said, giving the team a speculative glance over.

Wormmon and DemiVeemon's eyes could be seen peering out of Davis' duffel bag. There was a small bulge down the front of Cody's coat where Upamon was hiding. T.K.'s backpack was wriggling on its own which meant that Patamon was probably inside. Gatomon and Hawkmon were off to one side trying their best to act like your common everyday bird and cat—and they were both failing miserably at it by overacting their part. They looked like toy robots going through programmed motions. And Agumon…

Agumon hadn't moved one inch and stood stiffly in the same spot. The folds of skin over his eyes furrowed deeper as he continue to stare straight ahead at the Fuji TV Station.

Matt couldn't help pity him. He must feel so helpless and worried right now.

"Listen, this building's power is about to go off the grid. That should be a good-sized distraction," Hiroaki shared his plan. "I'll have Tai on the rooftop give five or ten minutes…" there was a brief pause before he continued warily, "And I don't know if Hannibal Lector here is a friend of yours, but you'd best take him along with you too."

"Oikawa is not our friend," Matt refuted firmly.

"What's going on?" T.K. whispered, leaning in close.

Matt shook his head and waved him off. Their dad was still talking.

"Well, friend or no, you're going to have to get him out of here. You don't want him falling into the wrong hands with the type of knowledge he's been spouting," Hirokai said. "You can pick both of them up on the roof and cart them off somewhere that I have no idea of and can say so honestly when questioned later. Just please, try and keep a low profile. Nerves are high and people are on edge and I don't want anyone of you kids getting hurt. Use one of your monster friends that has a… less monstrous form."

There was an impatient inquiring voice in the background and Hiroki cursed under his breath before hissing, "The old crocodile is making his rounds again. I've got to go. Don't contact me for awhile, and none of you kids plan on going home after this. I'm certain the government has already started following the links in the chain that make up their person of interest's social life."

Matt felt a cold chill shoot down his spine. He should have made that obvious connection earlier: that anyone who was close friends with Tai would immediately fall under the same close scrutiny and suspicion. But as jarring as that realization was, he couldn't allow his mind to linger on it too long. Right now, they needed to focus on getting Tai out of the hornet's nest.

"You have a small window of a few short minutes once the lights go out," Hiroaki said rushed. "Make it count."

"Dad," Matt said, his throat feeling tight all of a sudden.

"Look after your brother."

Then the call disconnected.

Matt took a deep breath before pressing the "end call" button. He didn't know why he was feeling doubt right now that they couldn't pull this off when his dad so clearly believed in them.

"Why'd you say Oikawa's name?" T.K. asked.

"Yeah, about that," Matt said grimacing. "We're going have to include him in this rescue mission too."

"Who gonna rescue jerkface say what now?" Davis repeated incredulously.

"No, he's right. We can't let the government take him into custody," Izzy said. Other than his hair sticking up together in uneven tufts from all his previous hair-clutching, he looked as if he had managed to calm down. "He knows too much. We don't need the government uncovering all the secrets about Digimon and the Digital World. They're not ready to understand or appreciate that kind of knowledge, nor how our two worlds are tied together in a complex, fragile existence."

"Someone should have had this conversation with Tai before," Sora sighed.

"To be fair, he was only trying to convince everyone Digimon aren't a threat…," Izzy said. "Which I suppose you can't do very well without unveiling further background information on the subject at hand. Argh!" Izzy was in danger of going prematurely bald by the amount of hair clutching he was doing today. "This sort of scenario is just like proof-reading one of his bogus essays: all words, firing off bullet-points, and no foreseeable, solid conclusion! And he always panics and procrastinates until the last minute before starting to write without even researching the required topic! I should have seen him trying to pull this kind of stunt weeks ago!"

"Izzy, I know it's hard, but focus, please," Matt said. "You can scream in his face as much as you want later, but first we need a plan. Dad says he can have Tai and Oikawa on the roof once he shuts the building's power off. We don't have much time." He looked up at the sky which was turning a dusky grey-blue shade of twilight. "He said to keep a low profile and to use one of our partners with a 'less monstrous form'."

"So no Imperialdramon?" Davis asked in a forlorn voice.

"When you think about it, in his Paladin Mode, he looks like an evil Transformer," Ken said truthfully. His gaze hardened as he looked back at the tv. "If what Oikawa is aiming for is mass panic, we'll have played right into his hands using him."

"I think what we all need right now is a dash of hope."

Everyone looked at T.K. who was smiling as he slipped his backpack off his shoulders and unzipped it. Patamon poked his head out, his ears twitching in anticipation.

"You need my help?" Patamon asked.

"We need you to fly up there," T.K. explained pointing at the darkening clouds that were fading into the night sky. "And be ready on stand-by for Angemon. Tai and Oikawa are going to be on the roof and we they'll need a pick up." He looked up at everyone. "The police will be less likely to shoot at something that looks like an angel, won't they?"

"It will definitely make them hesitate, that's for sure," Izzy said.

"That's not enough though," Matt said frowning. "They'll still shoot in the end probably. And if Angemon is carrying Tai and Oikawa, he can't defend himself. You need backup."

"Gatomon is an angel too," Kari said stepping forward. There were shadows under her eyes from worrying. "She can be Angemon's shield if it comes to that."

"And you still have the rest of us if things get ugly," Yolei proclaimed laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Panic or no panic, we'll get Tai back with no casualties, I promise."

Kari bit her bottom lip and nodded, her brown eyes sparking determinedly.

"How soon you want me to fly up there?" Patamon asked.

On tv, Oikawa spoke.

"Perhaps now, because these portals keep sporadically opening and these monsters do not all disappear in one day's time, it is harder to sweep over the evidence of their existence and claim something else happened in their place."

"Ar-re you s-saying… these aliens wiped our brains before?" came Tomoya-san's frantic response.

The tension that had been brewing in the crowd finally boiled over as the uneasy chatter exploded into full-bodied panicked clamoring, some people even clutching at others demanding to know if they too were suddenly having half-forgotten, disturbing memories returning.

"Now. Now, would be good," T.K. said paling. "Don't digivolve until you see Tai. Go!"

With a flapping of his ear-wings, Patamon took off, his small body easily lost in the cover of darkness that the night cast. T.K. held his breath, but no one in the crowd was looking at the sky at the moment. Their eyes were still fixated on the interview.

The interview that was all too quickly cut short as the picture on screen fizzled into static and the Fuji TV Station across the street went pitch black.

"Dad cut the power," Matt murmured, his heartbeat elevating. He was probably in the process of dragging Tai out by the ear hopefully.

Maybe everything would actually go according to plan for once.

"Matt! Matt!" a familiar, husky voice called out above the noise of the crowd.

Matt whirled to his right. Gabumon was barreling towards him with no disguise to hide his beastly form. People screamed, throwing themselves backwards out of his way.

"Gabumon, what—" Something was wrong. He could see it in his partner's wide, crimson eyes.

Behind Gabumon, a little ways, he caught a glimpse of Joe being pushed to and fro as he tried to fight against the current of the crowd, which was flowing in the opposite direction of the monster in their midst. That soon changed as it became evident there were more creatures running underfoot. The crowd split in half as people scattering in fear, allowing Gomamon and Palmon a clear passage through. Overhead, Tentomon and Biyomon were making a straight beeline directly towards where the rest of the Digidestined were all gathered. Joe caught Matt's eye and pointed upwards, his mouth forming words that were snatched away by the roar of the crowd.

The children looked up as one. BlackWarGreymon soared through the night sky, silent as a shark in water, moonlight gleaming off his silver armor, and deadly intent apparent as he summoned a red-hot ball of energy in both claws.

The target was obvious and Matt's heart leapt into his throat as the Mega drew in close, the ball of energy pulsing and growing larger. His dad and Tai were in there—no!

BlackWarGreymon flung both arms over his head, lining up the building in sights of his Terra Destroyer and took aim…

"Gabumon!" Matt shouted without a second thought.

The world around him exploded into a flash of bright blue color that glowed and hummed with a powerful energy. And when the radiance finally dimmed enough for his vision to clear, a monstrous wolf donned in metallic armor all over its body was dashing on huge, heavy-clawed paws across the road, clearing the top of the monorail line in one mighty leap, and had launched itself into the night sky with the aid of its wing thrusters.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon roared, expelling a blast of frigid, icy breath that spiraled through the air like a frozen tsunami wave.

BlackWarGreymon was slammed into the side of the tv station from the brutal force of the attack, limbs and torso locked into place by the large sheet of ice that had solidified over him like a crystalline cage.

Matt's relief was short-lived.

"It's the aliens! They're here!"

"Get away from those kids!"

"They're alien sympathizers!"

The panic in the crowd was shifting to fear and distrust. The Digidestined found themselves facing a wall of people, many of which had linked arms with each other, all with resentful expressions on their face. Facing an angry mob and hard-pressed with the police at their back, Matt could see visibly see their chances of trying to keep a low profile dwindle away into nothing.

"What do we do?" Sora cried. "That ice isn't going to hold him for long!"

They couldn't hear it breaking, but they could see the tiny pieces of ice shards glittering in the moonlight as they fell to the ground below. BlackWarGreymon roared his displeasure as he strained against his frozen bindings.

A distant buzzing reached their ears, growing steadily louder at every passing second. The children turned their heads towards Tokyo Bay where the sound was stemming from. Helicopters, too many to count, but a great deal of them by the number of blinking lights in the night sky, bore down upon them. There were still far out—still hadn't reached Rainbow Bridge yet—but they were coming.

"The knights are here," Ken stated almost calmly.

"We have another problem!" Mimi pointed to the police force across the street, which had split their numbers in half and were making their way towards them, guns drawn and ready.

"I'll handle this!" Gatomon growled, the white light of digivolution enveloping her.

The police stopped dead in their tracks, an awed hush fell over the crowd, as white feathers filled the air and the angel hovered over their heads, an iridescent rainbow halo crowning her head and falling off her shoulders.

"Please, there is no need to resort to violence," Angewomon said, spreading her arms out in a placating manner. "I understand your frustrations at the sudden appearance of my kind and how we have disrupted your lives. For those who have suffered injuries or losses on our account, we express our sincere repentance. We are strangers in a strange land, but I assure you, we mean no one any harm in this world."

Angewomon spoke with calm, authoritative ease, words of truth spilling over her tongue. The rainbow aura wrapped around her was raining down a soft, shimmering glow upon the crowd below, washing over everyone in a gentle wave that emanated peace.

For a moment, she held everyone spellbound, all doubts and contempt wiped clean from their minds.

BlackWarGreymon exploded from his containment—ice shattered in the air, frozen shards sliced outwards in a wide spray of crystal needles. The Mega had reached MetalGarurumon before they even hit the ground. With one mighty blow of his claws scoring a direct hit under the wolf's chin—the only true vulnerable spot not protected by armor, MetalGarurumon went sailing backwards through the air in a horizontal line.

BlackWarGreymon was not finished. Hell knew no fury as a Digimon's vengeance struck short. Seizing MetalGarurumon by the back paws, the Mega spun him into a cycle of vicious circles that quickly transformed into a dark, threatening funnel cloud. MetalGarurumon was engulfed by the Black Tornado and lost from sight for a precious, few seconds. Then abruptly as it had begun, the attack came to a screeching halt. MetalGarurumon was released and still going at the same speed as the Black Tornado's winds, he slammed bodily into Angewomon. The two Digimon plummeted earthbound heavily, crashing into the monorail line, which heaved a mighty shudder before starting to collapse, raining down chunks of cement and twisted metal. People screamed and ran, ducking for cover from the falling debris.

"Angewomon!" Kari shouted, her heart catching in her chest. She started to run towards the destruction—and Agumon darted in front her, blocking her path.

"Give it to me!" he demanded. His green eyes were wide and dilated. His small chest was heaving rapidly.

"What?" Kari asked. Her mind was clouded with worry over her partner, but Agumon refused to move out of her way, refused to let go of her gaze, staring her down with unblinking eyes like a snake before it strikes its prey.

"Give it to me," he demanded once more, holding out one claw. "The Digivice—Tai's and mine—give it to me. Now."

Kari was faintly aware of the others pressing around her, of their confusion and anxiety, because the Self-Defense Forces were at their back, the police were at their front, they still hadn't been able to extract Tai from the building, BlackWarGreymon was here—why was he here?—Angewomon, she couldn't see any sign of Angewomon… and why did it matter if Agumon wanted Tai's Digivice all of sudden?

It didn't.

She took her brother's Digivice out of her coat pocket and placed it in Agumon's upturned claw.

Agumon drew it close to his chest and curled his other claw around it. Closing his eyes, he lifted his head towards the Fuji TV Station and inhaled deeply. The skin on his forehead creased as he frowned slightly, then smoothed back into place as he relaxed. Still as a statue, the small dinosaur looked like he was mediating.

Overhead, a familiar red glow sparked between BlackWarGreymon's claws.

Green eyes snapped open sharply. Nostrils flared wildly in excitement. "There!" Agumon cried joyfully at something only he could see.

The Digidestined were bathed in golden luminance and wrapped in a warm heat that draped around them like a heavy blanket. Fingers of fire touched their minds briefly—not burning, but a soothing sensation like the state of drowsiness before succumbing to sleep.

Then the light faded and they were thrust back into the coldness of winter and the dark spell of night.

And high in the air, WarGreymon was exchanging blow for blow with BlackWarGreymon.

"What… just happened?" Davis croaked, his eyes bugging out.

"Is that even possible?" Izzy breathed out as he bent over and picked up Tai's Digivice off the ground where it lay.

The mood of euphoria was broken by a small, pitiful mewl. Kari's head jerked towards the sound in time to see a bruised and battered Gatomon, her white fur painted grey from the dust of the debris, stagger out from the wreckage that once had been the monorail line. She only made it a few steps before she collapsed.

Kari rushed over to her partner, gathering her gently in her arms and cradling her head in her hands. "Gatomon?"

"I think I lost one of my nine lives," Gatomon coughed, though her tail was lashing to and fro weakly to show she still had some fighting spirit left in her.

There was a clattering of cement rubble as it shifted underfoot and then Gabumon appeared from the swirl of the debris cloud, looking as haggard and grimy as Gatomon, although there was a rather green tinge to his pallor. His steps were sluggish and unbalanced as if he were a small child dizzy from his first experience on a Tilt-A-Whirl.

Matt started towards him, but Gabumon made a frantic waving motion with one claw before doubling over and heaving up the contents of his stomach. "Ooooh," he groaned mournfully. "I'm so sorry, Matt. That omelet you made for breakfast was really good too!"

Matt walked over and rubbed the fur on his back comfortingly. "I'll make you as many as you want, buddy. You did good. Rest now."

Above their heads, BlackWarGreymon shoved his adversary forcefully into the mid-center wall of the Fuji TV Station, roaring his frustrations to the sky. The building cracked and shuddered dangerously at the impact.

"War… Greymon," Gabumon said, blinking slowly at the sight. "Did we rescue Tai, Matt?"

"No," Matt frowned, an unsettling feeling sweeping over him.

"Patamon hasn't digivolved yet. Shouldn't Dad have gotten Tai to the roof by now?" T.K. asked, echoing Matt's concerns. "What's going on up there?"

A deafening whrrrrrrrr-ing of helicopter blades split the air, diverting everyone's attention to the Self-Defense Forces that had finally reached their destination. A loud cacophony of rapid firing followed shortly after, aimed at the two skirmishing Digimon who had made the Fuji TV Station their own personal battleground. The shots didn't hit their intended mark. The Megas were far too swift, dodging the explosive shells with nimble ease as if they were nothing more than a mere agitation, their focus fixed solely on each other.

"They're in too close proximity!" Izzy shouted glancing in trepidation at the helicopters that were swarming the sky. "And they're probably hair-triggered from being under pressure and under orders. Those guys will shoot down anything that moves up there, holy celestial being or not!"

"Angemon will need back up!" T.K. cried.

The children froze as a heavy beam from one of the helicopter's searchlights roved over them, continued on a ways, then came swinging back and locked them in place with its condemning brightness.

"CIVILIANS," blasted a voice from a megahorn. "BACK AWAY FROM THE ALIENS."

"What—" Cody began, placing a protective hand on Upamon's head and pushing him back down his coat a ways.

"They want to shoot them!" Yolei shrieked angrily, bending over and pulling Hawkmon to her chest tightly.

"BACK AWAY FROM THE ALIENS, CIVILIANS," the order came again more harshly. "YOU ARE IN DANGER!"

"How long do you think we have until they catch on that we're on their side?" Sora asked, placing herself between Biyomon and the searchlight.

"I think they're getting an update right now," Joe said pointing to a police officer several yards away barking something into his heavy-duty walkie-talkie.

No more warnings issued from the helicopter above them. There was a thick, ominous silence in which the children could only imagine what kind of information was being relayed. Their only consolation was that it was just this one helicopter that was held them in its sights. The rest of the fleet was preoccupied with the two battling Megas.

A horrible, wrathful cry erupted from BlackWarGreymon suddenly as he shot past WarGreymon, ignoring him completely, and streaked up towards the hachitama—no, not the hachitama, the support beam to its left. BlackWarGreymon flew towards it claws outstretched like he was going to tear straight through the steel and rip it to shreds.

It was night, the moon had drifted behind partly behind clouds, and it was dark. The Fuji TV Station was still a good distance away and the power was still shut off so there were no lights to illuminate the exterior and allow them a visual aide.

But somehow they knew, even as WarGreymon intercepted his opponent and locked claws with him, as the two wrestled, plunging through the air before crashing into one of the lower levels of the building, the children knew who had at last made it to the roof.

"CIVILIANS, BACK AWAY FROM THE ALIENS OR WE WILL TAKE OFFENSIVE ACTION. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING," blared the voice from the megahorn over their heads.

"Screw this low profile plan—it's a lost cause!" Davis cursed.

Ken stepped up beside him, eyes hooded and dark. "I agree."

"You mean…?"

Ken held up his digivice. "We need to draw the helicopters away from the tv station anyway."

"I'm with you, Ken!" Wormmon declared.

"Me too!" piped DemiVeemon before leveling up to Veemon.

"Alright, let's do this!" Davis cried.

The helicopter above them swerved to the left roughly when the pilot jerked the controls in alarm as Paildramon rose up before it.

"This way, boys!" Paildramon taunted, zipping in a circle around it before taking off through the sky to dive into the midst of the other helicopters that were suspended in the air, gathered around the broken window BlackWarGreymon and WarGreymon had disappeared through.

The Self-Defense Forces scattered in surprise before locking aim on this new threat and opening fire from the autocannon and machine guns mounted on their sides. Paildramon weaved and ducked effortlessly, leading them in merry chase across the night sky.

"Oh, oh, he missed one!" Mimi cried, grabbing hold of Sora's arm.

The Digidestined turned their heads back towards the hachitama to see one lone helicopter swing in close, hovering a few feet above the support beam. Its body was smaller than the rest, it didn't possess any bulky weapons—it didn't look military at all.

oOo

BlackWarGreymon burst through the broken window like an armored bat out of hell. A cold fury burned within him edged thickly with self-loathing. He would not be thwarted from his goal, not here, not when Oikawa was so tantalizing close within reach. He would destroy him, the creator of his existence, eradicate him—the one to which he owed all his flaws—from this world, and then at last he would be free.

Oikawa was stepping into one of those interfering metal machines that allowed humans to fly. The man dared to call him a mistake, an abomination to his creative intellect, a blight on the name of Digimon, and the pathetic human did not even possess a pair of wings himself.

It would be his undoing.

With a triumphant roar, BlackWarGreymon rose up to meet the metal machine head on, lifting his arms above his head and igniting his Terra Destroyer. It sparked between his claws like molten lava and the greedy, pulsing hum of it lifted his spirits.

No more interruptions. He was going to end Oikawa and no one was going to stop him.

"Hand of Fate!"

The scalding brilliance of the attack blinded him for a few seconds—struck him square in his chest and propelled him backwards. He tumbled through empty space with no sense of direction—where was up, where was down—and his vision was seared golden.

A bellow of rage ripped ragged from BlackWarGreymon's throat as he recovered from his sudden fall—the gift of flight restored to him again—and shook his head furiously trying to see past the heavy veil of dazzling spots that filled his gaze.

Oikawa and the metal machine were gone. He swiveled his head every which way trying to find them—they couldn't have gone far. But the sky was refilling with more of the blasted things, zero-ing their useless yellow beams of light on him. BlackWarGreymon flexed both his claws. He would cleave every single one of these machines in half until he found the right one.

The first one to get close in range had the tail end shorn clean off. It went spiraling downward, trailing an acrid cloud of smoke. Paildramon, that soft-hearted weakling, dove nose-first after it, wrapped strong claws around it and gently set it down upon the ground.

BlackWarGreymon scoffed contemptuously. Rescuing your enemies. Pathetic.

After that incident, none of the metal machines seemed to want to get too close. Grouping together, they launched a synchronized attack, firing rockets from their underbellies. Foolish humans, when would they realize their puny attacks were beneath him? BlackWarGreymon swerved to the left. The rockets shot past… did a turn-around and came straight back at him.

He zig-zagged and the missiles kept following him—truly annoying. So the humans wanted to blow something up? He would give them something to blow up.

He halted mid-flight directly in front of the giant silver sphere placed atop of the building the humans seemed so keen on guarding. The missiles streaked towards him… he waited. Just a little bit more and then he would fly up and they would smash into the giant orb behind him. He was sure the damage would be sufficient enough to allow him time to get away. Perhaps the entire building would collapse. He still had to find Oikawa.

Just a little bit more…

Something flew past him in a white and blue blur, scattering glowing feathers in their wake. BlackWarGreymon watched as the angel Digimon flung out his staff, expelling an energy beam from the tip. The missiles detonated before they reached their intended target, but the violent backlash of the explosion was still felt as it rippled through the air in a plume of white smoke and a smoldering wave of heat.

The angel Digimon took the brunt of it, plunging earthbound, wings askew, just a falling star whose brightness would soon wink out of existence.

BlackWarGreymon sliced through the smoke-cloud, feeling the fiery heat wash over him, matching his mood. If these fools had deterred him long enough for Oikawa to slip away… again… they would pay dearly.

He had to veer sharply to avoid the second barrage the flying machines fired at him as soon as his form cleared the smoke. He had to give the humans some credit—they were quite tenacious in their stupidity.

These weren't missiles like before. The humans had learned their lesson of that. These were explosive shells from that missed their mark and slammed into the lower portion of the support beam that Oikawa had been on earlier.

The beam creaked and groaned as the explosives tore through the steel structure. And then with a protesting shriek, it started to sag and crumble inward on itself.

BlackWarGreymon almost flew away, almost didn't take notice of the slight figure lying face down on top of the beam's surface. Almost.

It was that boy, that Agumon's partner. He had been inside that talking square box along with Oikawa. And now he was here, discarded once his usefulness had run its course, something they both had in common.

One side of the beam detached itself from the support column and swung haphazardly out into empty space with an ominous creaking. The boy's body rolled precariously close to the edge, limbs sprawled out like a ragdoll.

BlackWarGeymon turned, perfectly content to leave the human to meet his doomed fate. It was more than he deserved putting his trust blindly in Oikawa. Oikawa, who it seemed, had escaped from him once more.

He paused and looked back at the motionless figure with a calculating, narrowed gaze as a plan unfolded.

oOo

"Angemon! Angemon!" T.K. cried, shoving his way through the panic-filled crowd, trying to reach his partner. It had been something out of his worst nightmares watching him get caught in that blast and fall to the ground like that. And he couldn't see him! Where was he?

"T.K.!" there was a firm hand gripping him by the arm, hauling him back, away from the Fuji TV Station's grounds. He struggled against it. Why wouldn't they let him go?

"Dammit, T.K.!" Matt swore, shaking him. "Stop! There's a full squad of police over there and we're the kids who just unleashed their alien army on innocent civilians and a news station! They'll fill you full of holes at first glance!"

"But Angemon…" T.K. said, hating how his voice cracked down the middle.

"He's survived worse than this. He'll be fine." Matt heard the bluntness in his tone, saw T.K.'s eyes widen with hurt, but he had no time for niceties. They had to get out of here.

"Come on, come on, we're going," he said, dragging his brother by the arm back to the group.

"What happened up there?" Kari's face was pinched and pale. "Where's WarGreymon? Where's Tai?"

WarGreymon had never emerged from the window he and BlackWarGreymon had crashed through. BlackWarGreymon had tried to obliterate the helicopter that had flown near the support beam. Then he had tried to destroy the entire brigade of helicopters and almost caused them to blow up the hachitama before Angemon had stopped him. And now… now it was hard to make out anything up in the sky. The air around the Fuji TV Station was covered in thick layers of smog from all the Self Defense Forces' strike tactics.

"We need to leave," Matt said. He looked around at the Digidestined's resigned faces. "Right now, the Self-Defense Forces are still focused on BlackWarGreymon. I guarantee, they'll remember we're still here soon enough. And I don't think they'll give us a warning this time."

"But Tai—" Kari protested.

"We'll use Imperialdramon," Davis said. Beside him, Ken nodded. "We'll be safe inside his shield and he can beam up any lost member of our team!"

Matt noted it was a wonderful opportunity for Davis to say that they should have just used Imperialdramon from the start. It would have saved them a lot of grief and hassle. But to the boy's great tact, the words never came out of his mouth. Maybe the thought hadn't crossed his mind yet. They had tried after all, they had tried to do the right thing so as not to frighten or overwhelm people, and they had failed.

Davis and Ken had their D-3s half-way to their mouths, ready to use it as a means of communication between them and Paildramom, who was somewhere above the smog-bank, playing decoy for the Self-Defense Forces. Their attempt to contact him was cut short by a dark shape descending through the swirling clouds of smog to fly directly where the children all stood, and hovering only a few feet above their heads, so they all could get a clear view of the precious burden he carried.

Kari cried out at the sight of her brother, tucked under the crook of BlackWarGreymon's elbow. Tai's face was ashen white, his eyes were closed, and his arms dangled limply over the front of one massive arm encased in silver armor. She called his name but he did not respond. He was deathly still. He didn't even look like he was breathing.

"You children have gotten in the way of my destiny for the last time," BlackWarGreymon rumbled dangerously.

"What did you do to him, you big, iron rust bucket?!" Davis shouted angrily. "Let him go!"

"You should be thanking me. I could have let him fall off the beam to his death," BlackWarGreymon allowed himself a thin smirk as the children blanched at his words. "As it is, I'll be taking him as compensation until you help me achieve what is sorely owed to me."

"No, you'll release him now," Ken spoke coolly, his grip tightening around his D-3.

BlackWarGreymon's eyes narrowed in disdain. "Don't be presumptuous. You children could not even stomach the thought of knocking a few of those flying machines out of the way to save your friend in time. Every time you've engaged me, it's never been with the pure instinct to destroy. You couldn't even destroy those Digimon at the foot of that mountain. You are weak, undisciplined, and unbalanced as a whole. Stop fooling yourselves playing hero."

"Okay, you can shut up now," Davis snapped before shouting into his D-3. "Paildramon, digivolve and come down here! We have a pest problem to take care of!"

BlackWarGreymon's gaze slid past the children to something beyond them in the sky. "You have other problems to attend to." He kicked off, soaring to greater heights, calling down. "Don't bother following. We'll be in touch." Then he was gone, just a black streak disappearing into the night, and Tai was gone with him.

Kari called out in despair, her tiny frame trembling. Yolei wrapped her arms around her friend and murmured something low that seemed to calm her.

A million curses streamed through Matt's head, half of them aimed at himself, because Tai had been right there, right in front of him, and he hadn't been able to do anything. None of them had. Half of their partners were effectively wiped out and devoid of energy from their little mishap earlier, and he realized to his chagrin, that the younger kids' partners couldn't DNA Digivolve because of that fact.

He didn't have time to brood long. A low rumble began in the air that quickly transformed into a ferocious mechanical roar reverberating all across the sky.

"Are those fighter jets?" Sora emitted a strangled squawk, squinting at the black dots in the distance.

"Wow, today is officially the worst day ever," Mimi declared hugging Palmon close.

"Imperialdramon, where the hell are you?" Davis hissed.

It really counted against them that they were so focused on this new threat, that they completely missed the Digimon that came up from behind them and landed heavily on the ground. They whirled around, ready for another fight and were instead greeted with a familiar face.

"WarGreymon!" Kari exclaimed, some of the worry on her face lightening.

The Mega was resting with one knee bent. His gold armor now sported a myriad of scratches and dents, and his chest plate rose and fell perhaps a bit too swiftly, indicating he was winded, but other than that, he appeared perfectly fine.

"Is everyone alright?" WarGreymon asked. The question came out flat, sounding as if he were distracted by something. His eyes were staring into space, half-vacant and hooded.

"No, everyone is not alright!" Davis spat, pushing himself to the forefront. "BlackWarGreymon just freaking flew off with Taichi-sempai!" The boy pointed emphatically in the direction BlackWarGreymon had disappeared in, fully expecting WarGreymon to give chase.

WarGreymon nodded as if he had just been told the grass was green. "Then he is safe," was all he had to contribute before taking wing and flying back into the layers of smog that were beginning to settle.

"What… the fuck?!" Davis yelled, eyes scrunched and red-faced.

The turbine of the jet fighters resonated in the air as a cool whine accompanied by a fiery crackle. The symphony swelled, growing louder as the jets drew closer.

"No, he's right! Tai is a lot safer than we are at this moment!" Izzy shouted. "We need to get out of here!"

"Imperialdramon!" Ken urged on his D-3 one more time.

The blue energy beam pierced through the smog-bank, shining down on the children below and drawing them all into its light. The blue burst into white and then faded and they found themselves standing inside the protective shield on Imperialdramon's back.

Lying still on the transparent floor was…

"Angemon!" T.K. cried rushing over. Kneeling down beside his partner, he stroked the tousled white feathers softly, trying to gain a reaction, but it appeared as if Angemon was still out cold.

"Sorry we took so long," Imperialdramon's voice sounded inside the shield. "Had to keep those flying machines away from him. WarGreymon told us it was time to leave."

"WarGreymon…?"

The Digidestined blinked, looking around before they spotted him at the very far end of the shield, standing stiffly in place, head raised upward and eyes closed, looking the very image of a meditating statue. Somehow, they all knew that even if they called his name he would not reply.

"Where to?" Imperialdramon asked them.

There was a general shooting of uncertain glances between the children, a long, heavy pause where they tried to think of what to do next or where to go and came up with nothing.

Davis swallowed hard, feeling lost, even with his partners and teammates alongside him.

"I don't know."

To Be Continued…

A/N: Me writing this chapter: what's a different way to describe something collapsing? How many synonyms are there for debris? Did I write the building shaking in this exact line a couple of chapters ago? How else are you supposed to describe an impact? Holy shit, I sure do explode things and crumble buildings a lot. It's a good thing I'm not in law enforcement or anything military, lol.

Like I said before, this chapter took up 25 pages and I was like ok, that's it, I'm freaking cutting this from the other half because then it would've been twice as long. Anyhoo, I didn't expect the different POV's to exceed this length, but apparently the Digidestined are a bunch of worrywarts and insisted their story be told. And BlackWarGreymon is a Drama Queen, that too.

I could go on at length here about how I wrote the kids as I did, but honestly, if you have any questions, I'm over on tumblr and you can ask me there. I'll just remind everyone that when it comes to Tai, Izzy is prone to lose his cool. A lot. And that's not me talking, that's canon. Izzy drops his guard down and Tai pushes his buttons, haha.

You all still are wondering about things. More will be revealed next chapter which I am issuing myself a deadline of two weeks. Like I said, I have half of it written already. I just got sidetracked by this chapter which I felt was important to show, because as much as I enjoy writing Tai, Digimon Adventure is about all the kids. This story is just from his perspective,

If you're wondering wtf is going on with WarGreymon and why he's acting out of sorts at the end, he's doing something, shhh! No, really, I will reveal next chapter and then ya'll wish you hadn't found out.

Once again, I had help from my beta, Rainbow09. We were talking about numerous things in this chapter, one of which: Tai's choice in going to the news station. Words of wisdom from Ray, yay! "We all have times in life we know something feels off but we are sort of forced to take the risk against our will. Sometimes it's because life sucks (lol) and some other times it's simply because we want to believe. Sometimes it's both. Was it brave? Was it reckless? All we know is without risks we will never know the answer. A bad choice doesn't always offer exclusively bad outcomes. Sometimes, good things we didn't expect to happen do happen as well."

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please review and share your favorite scenes and thoughts. I loved hearing what you likes best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. I like knowing what my readers think and feel. Again, any questions, I'm over on tumblr to chat!