*** One Week Ago ***

Canem slowly opened his eyes. He scratched his long black hair and rubbed his brown eyes. An older woman poked her head in his room; she had shoulder-length black hair and green eyes.

"Canem, are you awake?" She asked. Noticing that he was, she smiled. "You've been sleeping a lot since you've come to visit, sleeping better now that you're home?"

The young man shrugged. "Probably, and all those sleepless nights while doing homework finally caught up to me. Is Dad still here?"

The woman sighed. "He left already, but he says he loves you and will see you tonight."

Canem frowned. "Thanks mom."

His mom winked and smiled at him. "But I know what'll perk you up; breakfast!" Canem's eyes widened and a grin appeared. He was obviously happy, as she knew he would be. He dashed past her and into the kitchen, looking forward to a home-cooked meal. His mother chuckled as she walked in past him.

*** Later That Day ***

Canem stepped out of his room, hastily putting on his blue jacket. He wore a white shirt and loose blue jeans already and began upturning everything around him to find his shoes. His mom had left for work ten minutes ago and soon he'd have to leave to catch the bus back to his apartment.

"Where could they be?" He asked himself. Walking into the living room he lay flat on the ground and peered under the couch, but no shoes were there. He began to get up when an odd beeping sound started; it seemed to be coming from outside the door next to him. He looked outside the window confused; a bright light floated several feet in the air and was blinking. He opened the door and stepped into the backyard, a garden that was practically a forest (his mother really was obsessed with plants) and slowly walked up to it. When he reached it he raised a hand to touch it, and a small electronic device appeared in his hand. He looked at it with a questioning expression on his face. The device was metal, with a golden cross on it, and easily fit into his hand, it was an oval shape and had four buttons on it. When he pressed one of them two straps popped out of its back and quickly wrapped around his wrist. Surprised he tried to take it off, but it wouldn't budge and none of the buttons responded.

"Great," Canem sighed. His attention was drawn to the light again, as it had grown significantly and was now bigger than him, which at six feet was fairly tall.

"What the...?" The light had a shadow appear in it, a figure that walked slowly and steadily towards him. Canem tried to back away, but he couldn't move his feet.

Looking down he could see that he'd managed to tangle his feet in some vines from one of the plants his mom grew. The figure was getting closer now and Canem couldn't pull himself free. He braced himself in a guard he learned from his sensei, well as best he could without falling over.

"Don't worry Canem," A voice said, it was a deep soothing sound and Canem calmed considerably. "I am Caligomon, your partner."

The figure walked out of the light and stepped in front of Canem. It was a fox-man, or at least that was the first thing that came to his mind. It looked like a creature from an anime he had watched in his youth, Digimon. What was its name again? Ren... Renamon. The only differences were that this one was covered in black fur where there was yellow and gray where Renamon had white. It also wore dark blue gloves, and instead of a yin yang sign on them there was a cross with a circle around it. Canem tried to back away in surprise, winding up tripping over the vine, which broke when he fell. He stared at Caligomon in shock, words barely forming in his mind.

"My...partner?" He asked stupidly. The black fox nodded and reached out a helping hand, which Canem grabbed. "You're a Digimon?"

Caligomon smiled, baring his fangs. "So this world knows about Digimon, that'll make things easier."

"Um... do you mind explaining what's going on here?" Canem asked. He realized his fear had vanished and in its stead was a growing sense of excitement. Granted, it had been a few years since he watched Digimon, but he had obsessed over it when it was around, fantasizing about getting drawn into the Digital World and going on adventures. Now he was meeting not only a real Digimon, but also one that was his partner! His inner child was jumping off the walls like a rubber ball with zero gravity in excitement.

"Of course Canem, but perhaps we should go inside?" Caligomon suggested, snapping Canem from his thoughts. Canem nodded and led Caligomon to his room, occasionally stealing glances at the Digimon. When they reached his room he sat on his bed and Caligomon leaned against the wall across from him.

"I, as you already know, am a Digimon," He began. "But what you don't know is the reason I'm here, or what that gadget you're wearing is for." Canem rubbed the device nervously. "That device is the Couno, it will cause me to fuse with you, making us both more powerful than either alone." Canem's eyes widened in surprise.

"Will we be able to separate?" Canem asked.

"No, but I will exist as a voice in your mind and you will have control of my powers," Caligomon explained. "You'll still possess your human form, but my abilities will be added to them. This method is preferable to being two separate beings as together we'll be far stronger than a normal Rookie like myself would be."

"So...you'll be like my guide?" Canem asked.

"As well as your power."

"But why?"

Caligomon sighed sadly. "A world you have not heard of is in great danger, and if this world dies so do the Digital and Real Worlds."

Canem's jaw dropped. "There's another world?"

"Yes, the three keep each other in balance," Caligomon continued. "The Dream World is in peril. You, and some others, must save it."

"What's the Dream World?"

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you what I don't know, and I don't know any more than that. When you find the other Fusion Warriors they can fill the gaps."

"So...why me?" Canem wondered aloud.

"I'm not exactly sure myself, but we'll find out from my superiors." Caligomon pointed to the Couno. "Now point that at me and say Human\Digimon Fusion Activate."

"Alright," Hoping he didn't say the words wrong, he pointed the Couno the best he could at Caligomon. "Human\Digimon Fusion Activate!"

A bright light shone from the Couno and surrounded Canem and Caligomon. Canem wove his hands through it, watching it wrap spiral around his hand.

"It's beautiful," He said in awe. The light intensified Canem was lifted off the ground with Caligomon. "What's going on?"

"We shall be as one!" Caligomon shouted. "Brace yourself!" They suddenly slammed into each other with enough force to knock Canem out.

Canem missed the bus that day.

*** Present ***

Canem slowly opened his eyes, having a strange sense of deja vu. Trying not to think about it, he rubbed his eyes and yawned, then lowered his hands and stood up. Then he froze. There were voices coming from further inside his apartment, in his kitchen. He silently blended into his wall, the DDNA of Caligomon allowing him to camouflage himself perfectly. He slid against it, making no sounds, and stopped when he could hear the people talking.

"Think it's time to wake him up?" One voice asked, a deep, silky-smooth male voice.

"Let him sleep in," Another male voice, one that sounded a little higher and softer said. "He did take a pretty decent beating."

"Yeah, it's a good thing you picked him up in time," The first said. "I doubt he could've taken much more from that Veedramon."

Then Canem felt like an idiot. These people were the ones who saved him yesterday. He became visible just outside the kitchen and then walked out to where his rescuers sat, each eating a bowl of cereal.

"Morning!" The brown-haired one with the soft voice greeted him cheerfully. The other, a blonde with green eyes, nodded to him and smiled a very open, friendly smile. Canem's "dining area" was a black, small fold-out table near the kitchen that had four folding chairs around it. He didn't really entertain much and was a little embarrassed by the cheap furniture he had, furniture that was essentially either bought really cheap or was about to be thrown out. The life of Canem as a student living on grants and working part-time wasn't exactly a rich one. Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Canem decided to actually greet his guests/rescuers.

"Good morn-" Canem interrupted himself with a yawn. Great, he couldn't even finish a greeting correctly. TKThe blonde one raised an eyebrow with an amused expression.

"Still tired?" He asked. Canem nodded, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle the yawn. Normally he was an "early to rise" kind of guy, but healing from the injuries he'd sustained yesterday was causing his body to be much more exhausted than usual.

"I'm guessing you want to hear the story about us," The brunette stated. Canem nodded and poured himself some cereal from the box he kept on the table. A very nice, sugary, if not in the least healthy, breakfast.

"That'd be nice. Who are you guys?" He asked.

"My name is Takato and we're, well...we're Digimon Tamers," The brown-haired man started to explain. "Well, TK is called a Digidestined, but it's pretty similar. We come from another dimension than you. Heh, actually me and him come from different dimensions from each other as well."

"I'm Takeru, or TK if you prefer," The golden-haired man held out his hand.

"TK..." Canem said, shaking the blonde man's hand. Something seemed familiar about him, but his mind wasn't quite awake enough yet to piece what it might be together. He turned to the other man. "And what was your name again?"

"Forgot already?!" The other man gave a mock look of hurt. Canem smiled sheepishly, he actually had just wanted to make sure he remembered it correctly. "My name is Takato," Takato said, holding out a hand that was quickly shaken by Canem. "I'm guessing you know about the Couno since you have a Caligomon's Digital DNA in you."

Are these guys Fusion Warriors as well? Canem thought, and then mentally winced at how dumb the thought was as it was pretty obvious from their abilities the day before that they were. To hide his red face, even though his guests had no idea why he'd be blushing, he went to the refrigerator to grab some orange juice to go with his cereal. He'd never been a big fan of milk and, despite the looks he'd often get for using juice with his cereal, he enjoyed orange juice with his sugar-frosted brand of breakfast.

{Be cautious with these two Canem, they have a great power within them.} Caligomon's voice rang in his head. Canem mentally did his best to raise an eyebrow as he poured orange juice into his cereal. Neither of his guests gave him any sort of judging look, which was almost weird to him.

{"Great power"? Gee Caligomon, thanks for pointing that out, them beating a Digimon that nearly killed me didn't make that obvious.} Canem thought as sarcastically as he could. He could practically feel Caligomon glaring at him.

Canem, with a spoonful of cereal almost in his mouth, realized his two new acquaintances were still waiting on some sort of response from him, so, after trying to remember what was last said to him, he quickly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fused with Caligomon. What about you two, who were your partners?"

"My partner is Patamon," TK said. "I got his wings and his attacks."

"Mine is Guilmon," Takato said. "I got his hazard signs, which give me some sort of armor or shield, and attacks."

Another flag spiked straight up in Canem's mind, but he wasn't really in the mood to try to figure out why quite yet. "So, how'd you guys know where I lived?" Canem asked curiously. TK and Takato exchanged sheepish looks.

"We went through your wallet," Takato said. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's ok," Canem said. "You didn't take anything, right?"

"No!" They both declared defensively at the same time and Canem grinned, he'd only been teasing them. During this conversation, as the sugary goodness of his cereal began to be digested, Canem's mind was beginning to slowly churn as it broke free of the cobwebs in his mind had appeared overnight. As this happened, he began to realize everything his guests had said and why everything sounded so familiar to him.

"Wait… random question, but have you two seen the Digimon show?" Canem asked.

Takato and TK exchanged confused looks.

"Yes," Takato said at the same time TK said "No."

"Um…" Canem tried to figure out his next move.

"What's wrong?" TK asked. He and Takato looked at Canem curiously.

"TK… Do you know a woman named Kari? Ever fight a Digimon Emperor?" Canem asked. TK looked surprised, but nodded. Canem's surprise and excitement increased. These two were not only people from another dimension, but they might actually be characters from the Digimon show!

"You two are characters from the Digimon show!" Canem explained.

TK gave Canem a nervous smile, not sure how to respond to that.

"That's a little too strange for me to believe," TK said. Takato, however, looked thoughtful.

"When you first met Demi-Devimon he told you that Matt didn't want to be your brother after he left," Canem said to TK, trying to think of a way to prove what he said. "And when Tai showed up you wanted him to be your brother instead."

TK's smile vanished and Canem turned to Takato.

"During the fight with Beelzemon you forced WarGrowlmon to digivolve and he became Megidramon," Canem continued, looking at Takato. "Eventually you regained your senses and fused with Guilmon to become Gallantmon."

Takato's expression darkened slightly. It had been years since that event, and while he had recovered a lot from it, it still wasn't a happy memory. Canem realized what he'd said and looked sheepish.

"I'm so sorry! That was incredibly thoughtless of me," Canem apologized, and Takato gave a small smile and shook his head, letting him know it was forgiven and forgotten. "It's just so weird, I mean I grew up watching you guys on television!" Canem realized something as he said that.

"Wait, so how did you guys get Cuono Digivices? I'm not sure how accurate the T.V. shows are in comparison to what actually happened in your worlds, but I thought that neither of your teams had those kinds of Digivices."

"That's true," TK nodded. "We originally had Digivices that used our emotions and wishes to help our partners Digivolve."

"And mine relied on Digimon Cards to power up our partners, though we could Digivolve with Calumon nearby," Takato stated. TK looked confused.

"Wait, we had different Digivices from each other as well?" He asked. Takato shrugged.

"Yeah, Digimon was a show in our world as well, it was huge. We had an incredibly popular card game based off of it, and our D-Arcs could scan them and power up our partners." Takato explained.

"Wow! Sounds like you guys were able to help out your partners more than we could!" TK said, impressed.

"Actually, they even were able to combine together and become a Mega-level by doing that," Canem said with excitement. "Gallantmon, especially Crimson Mode, was so cool!"

Takato blushed slightly. "Thing was, though, that we needed a Digimon named Calumon to be nearby. He was, essentially, the power of Digivolution, and without him we couldn't get past Rookie. At least you could power up your Digimon with your own light."

"True, but being able to combine with your Digimon and fight as one has to be the best way to go about it. I mean, we're doing it now, and I love that Patamon and I are actually working together as one now." TK smiled. "Weird that you both had shows of us but we didn't of you."

"Well, if it helps, it seems like it was only a loose telling of your teams story," Takato explained. "Actually, from what I've seen and what you've told me, it sounds like the shows we watched got some things wrong."

"Well, I hope so! That epilogue of season two was awful!" Canem interjected adamantly.

"I completely agree!" Takato exclaimed. "I mean, Matt became an astronaut?"

"And Davis had a really famous, international, noodle stand?" Canem stated with as much disgust as Takato.

"And they all had kids that were mini-clones and had the exact same Digimon?"

Their voices got louder and they started speaking faster with excitement as they bonded while bashing on something that TK, from what he was able to make out, found very sad and a bit insulting.

"Wait, guys, slow down," TK interrupted Canem and Takato's bonding moment. Both men realized what they were talking about, as well as around whom, and slowly sat down with slightly reddened faces.

"Sorry," They both said at the same time.

"So you both have seen our Digimon adventures in your worlds?" TK was confused and a bit worried about how much privacy he'd lost due to this. Takato and Canem nodded.

"Then what's this epilogue you're talking about?" TK asked, not knowing what he was getting himself into.

"Well..." Takato and Canem explained, doing a great job of telling the story together. Where one missed something, the other was able to jump in, but in a way that kept the story flowing, almost as if they'd practiced it before. Takeru, despite being slightly horrified at what he assumed was whoever had somehow gotten their stories attempt to close off the show, but since their world was real and the story wasn't over yet, they had no idea had to do so and just threw something together and hoped for the best.