A.N.: Holy crap, thirty chapters! I am super excited to have reached another milestone, and again, I am enormously grateful to everyone reading this. This is turning into a wild ride, and I'm happy there are so many of you coming along with me! I hope you're still enjoying the story!

Monday, 12:44pm

Ken was jolted awake by a hard landing onto rocks and stone, and found himself lying out in the open beneath a starlit sky. He opened his eyes just in time to see a huge black shape swoop overhead, screeching with fury. Moments later, Ikkakumon launched an attack at it, which missed by scant inches and went crashing into the rock face nearby. A rain of debris fell down, landing with a clatter and sending up great clouds of dust.

He flung his arms over his face just in time to shield himself from the pebbles and rock shards which peppered the ground. The dustcloud enveloped him; grit found its way into his eyes, mouth and nose. Coughing and spluttering, he rolled onto his side, halting sharply as he heard a cry of protest. Wormmon? What was going on?

Ken grabbed his partner and held the little digimon close as Ikkakumon attacked again. He looked around for Jou, and found him lying sprawled on the ground a short distance away, clutching at his leg. Everything was utterly bewildering, but one thing seemed clear - they were in serious trouble. Clutching Wormmon tightly, he scrambled over to Jou, keeping an eye on the battle overhead. The flying creature was simply too fast for Ikkakumon to hit.

More screeches sounded, some distance away, and Ken looked up in horror to see another two giant bats flying closer. No wonder Jou had been worried. Without being able to evolve, Gomamon wouldn't have stood a chance. But… he had evolved. Although they must have been pulled across at the same time, Ikkakumon had already been fighting when Ken had landed.

The sensation of having missed something - lost out on precious moments that gave context - was not a pleasant one. He had enough blank patches in his memory as it was. Filling this one in would have to wait though, because as he reached Jou he realised that there was no way the older boy could move quickly enough for them to escape.

"Wormmon, I need you to evolve, fast," he said. "We have to get rid of those things, and Ikkakumon's barely holding off one, let alone three."

He remembered about the brightness just too late to cover his eyes, and found himself blinking away an afterglow as Stingmon took to the air. Half-blinded, he turned to Jou, who hardly seemed to have noticed him at all.

"Can you move?" he asked, despite knowing the answer. What he really wanted was for Jou to respond.

For a moment he worried that Jou was in too much shock to have heard him, and then the older boy shook his head. Ken just about saw the grimace on Jou's face past the spots on his vision.

"Broken," Jou gasped. "Ikkakumon…is he okay?"

Ken nodded, then realised that Jou had his eyes screwed tightly shut with pain.

"He's fine," he said, coughing up more dust. "Stingmon's there too."

An inhuman screech rent the air, and one of the bats crashed to the ground nearby. One down, two remaining. Ken looked around anxiously - they were caught out in the open, with no real way of defending themselves while their partners were fighting.

Even as he watched, one of the bats pulled up sharply to avoid Stingmon's attack. His partner lurched, but couldn't turn in time to avoid the rock face. Stingmon landed with enough force that Ken winced. More debris rained down as the digimon launched himself at the bats again.

"We have to get out of here," Ken said.

Jou nodded, but made no other signs that he'd heard him. Given the pain he had to be in from his ankle, Ken suspected he was too delirious to fully understand what was going on.

They were stranded on what looked like a mountain gully, a few hundred metres from its highest point. No lights shone out from the valley below - whatever this place was, it looked about as far from civilisation as anyone could get. Ken wished he knew more about first aid - Jou certainly didn't look in any sort of state where he could advise the best course of action.

"Ken, look out!" Stingmon cried, landed close by.

He flinched, and pivoted around just in time to see his partner grab one of the bats and throw it against the rock face. It hit with a sickening crack and fell down, twitching. The third bat screeched loudly, and took to the skies. It swerved in the air, dodging Ikkakumon's attack, and fled.

Ken shielded his eyes as both digimon devolved. He was too stunned by the whole turn of events to react when Gomamon ran over, crying Jou's name. The world seemed to skip a little, and the next thing he was aware of was Wormmon pressing into his arm, asking him if he was okay. He flinched.

"I…I'm fine," he said. "Just a little…where are we?"

Gomamon looked around. "Jou wanted to go up there and see if we could find out," he said. "And then those…things appeared."

The batlike creatures remained where they had fallen. The one which Stingmon had thrown into the rock face was still moving a little. Ken swallowed hard. These weren't digimon, to disappear into reconfigurable data upon defeat. They were flesh-and-blood animals, leaving bodies behind. One of them was still alive and in pain. He felt sick.

He got to his feet, unsure whether he wanted to take a closer look at the thing, or if he wanted to try and reach the highest point of the gully and look out. The rusty iron tang of blood hung in the air, making him dizzy. The one thought that kept running through his head - against all logic - was that they needed to find the others. But how?

"Ken," Wormmon said. "I think you should sit down. You look like you're about to fall over."

He stared at his partner, frozen with indecision. His thoughts seemed to be arriving in slow motion - that or the world had somehow sped up. It was impossible to shake the feeling that he needed to decide what to do quickly, but the only things he could focus on weren't helping at all.

"Shock," Jou said, his voice tight with pain. "Ken, sit. Now."

His body seemed to respond to the command without the intervention of his brain; knees folding to dump him on the ground once more. He stared blankly at his partner.

"I…I don't know what to do," he said.

Jou eased himself into a sitting position and straightened his glasses as best he could - the frame had twisted slightly.

"It's okay," the older boy said, although Ken could tell by his tone of voice that it wasn't. "We're safe for the moment, so…nng… we have time to stop and think. Just…breathe slowly. Focus on something - a rock, or…count stars out loud."

Unerringly, Ken found his eyes drawn to the twitching body by the rock face. Its movements were more sluggish and laboured than they had been at first - it had to be succumbing to whatever injuries it had sustained. His breath hitched in his throat. They'd killed it.

"Hey, what's that?" Gomamon asked.

Numbly, Ken looked to where the little digimon was pointing. Further down the slope, there was a light coming from one of the crevices in the walls of the gully. As he watched, it grew brighter and brighter.

"I told you there was a light, Jou!"

"What's making it?" Wormmon asked.

Ken couldn't think of an answer to that. Apparently, nor could Jou. They watched in silence as the light grew brighter, filling the whole crevice before emerging from it in the form of a lantern. The carrier was an unnaturally short and stocky person, who was followed by several companions.

"Gomamon…"

"I'm ready, Jou. Ha, I bet they're no match for me!"

"Halt! Who goes there!" one of the strangers cried.

"Hey, look," said another. "There's two o' them damned Olitiau! Hoi! Were it you wot dun for 'em?"

"Yeah, and we can take you on too if you threaten our partners!" Gomamon cried. "Right, Wormmon?"

"Of course! I won't let anyone hurt Ken."

Ken's eyes widened. "No, wait!" he cried. "We don't want to hurt anyone!"

There was a short silence. "Who in the name of the Fates are you?" the lantern-bearer said, walking closer.

As the short man approached, Ken made out a gnarled, scarred face framed by greying hair and a thick, bushy beard. His face was set in a deep frown, but it seemed to be a confused rather than an angry one.

He could almost be a…a…dwarf.

A short, desperate laugh bubbled up inside him, and before he knew what was happening, tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"It's shock," he heard Jou say in a strained voice. "He…well, we both need assistance. We're Chosen Children, and these are our partners."

This isn't happening, he told himself, as the strangers introduced themselves. I didn't go from translating a prophecy to being stuck in an alternate world in the space of a minute. Any moment now, I'm going to wake up, and this will all be a strange, stress-induced dream.

He didn't wake up. Not as a dwarf helped him to his feet and Wormmon leapt into his arms. Not as he watched someone strap Jou's ankle into a splint and the older boy's eyes rolled back into his head. Not as a stretcher was brought out of a cave and Jou was carried inside, with Gomamon sat on his chest, watching everyone warily. Not as he made his own way into the cave, and found the steps down into the mountain were lit by small, old-fashioned lightbulbs. After a while, the walking began to blur in his mind; step after step merged into a dream, until time skipped once more and he found himself sitting with Wormmon in a comfortable chair beside a bed, where Jou lay asleep. Gomamon sat by his partner.

Ken blinked. It was real. All of it. Not a dream, which meant he had to deal with the fact he was stranded in another world, and worry about everything else later. He could do that, couldn't he?

"My…my D-Terminal," he said to himself, fishing around in his pockets. "I should tell the others I'm okay."

Wormmon smiled up at him. "Take all the time you need, Ken. I'm sure they'll understand."

Ken hugged his partner. At least he was stranded in good company.

Monday, 12:44pm

"Ken, look out!" Miyako shrieked. Black shapes were flickering around Jou, but by the time the words made it out of her mouth it was too late. Wormmon dived onto his partner just as the clouds billowed up and swallowed them. A moment later all three were gone.

Seconds ticked by in silence. Miyako had a feeling that everyone was just as shocked as she felt.

"Another fear gate," she said at last. "That has to be what it was, right? Jou was so worried about Gomamon that it pulled him back."

Daisuke nodded. "But, they're totally gone this time. That means they have all their stuff with them, right?"

She nodded. "We won't know for sure until they either come back or message us, but I would think so. Now we just have to hope they do come back. I don't really want to have to explain to Mrs Ichijouji that Ken isn't just pretending to be missing any more."

Mrs Takaishi shook her head. "We won't ask you to," she said. "I know you're all doing everything you can. The least we can do is take on the burden of sharing news, right Yuuko?"

Mrs Yagami opened her mouth to speak, but they never found out what she was going to say because she was cut off by the sound of Mimi screaming hysterically.

Miyako raced for the door to Hikari's room, feeling her stomach knot as she saw Mrs Yagami get there first and blanch. She realised why a moment later. Mimi knelt on the floor, clutching Palmon in her arms. Blood dripped from several parallel scratches across her back and arms, and she was filthy.

"Oh shit!" Daisuke said.

The screams subsided, turning instead to choked sobs.

"It's okay Mimi," Mrs Yagami said, her voice wavering. "You're safe now." She walked over and knelt by the girl, touching her lightly on the shoulder. Mimi flinched and gasped, then turned to look at the small group watching her.

"There were so many," she said, her voice hoarse. "Palmon tried…but she couldn't stop them all. I… I was so scared."

"What were they, Mimi?" Miyako asked. "Not the soldiers from before?"

Mimi shook her head, wincing. As she sat up they saw a long scratch down one side of her face. Palmon lay limp in her arms. Mimi's eyes were filled with tears, but the obvious fear on her face was fading.

"They were… like wolves, only with spikes all over their backs that rattled. You have to get Palmon to the digital world," Mimi said firmly, looking at Miyako. "She's badly hurt, and I want Gennai to make sure she's okay. I…I want to go too, but that's not a good idea right now, is it?"

Miyako shook her head. "We don't know what would happen. But I'll get Daisuke to take her, right now," she said. "I think I need to stay here and make some calls. We're gonna need more help with this."

Mimi straightened, and Mrs Yagami helped her sit up. Palmon didn't so much as flinch when Mimi held her out for Miyako to take.

"I've got the gate all ready," Daisuke called from the other room. "I'm just letting Gennai know we're coming. Me and V-mon will make sure she's safe."

Miyako was shaken. She bit the inside of her lip to ground herself before gathering Palmon into her arms. Mimi had to be terrified for her partner to even consider letting the digimon out of her sight, especially in this battered state. Mrs Takaishi stepped in as Miyako moved away, wiping some of the dust and tears from Mimi's face with a handkerchief.

She carried Palmon carefully into the living room, where Daisuke had already grabbed a towel. He and Chibimon waited by the laptop.

"We can carry her better in this," he explained. "When we get back, I'll get V-mon to evolve and we'll fly straight to Gennai. I told him we're on the way and he reckons she'll be alright once he's had a look at her."

Miyako nodded, side-stepping out of the way of Mrs Ygami as she rushed past and headed into the kitchen. By the time the woman returned with what looked like half the contents of her medical cupboard, Daisuke, Chibimon and Palmon had gone.

She sat down at the laptop, feeling oddly detached. They'd expected midday to bring chaos, sure. They hadn't expected all of this. Poromon flew over and settled into her lap.

"Miyako, are you okay?"

She looked down at her partner, and forced a smile to her face. "I'm fine," she said. "I just…need to work out what to do. Right now, I'm the only one left who knows what's going on, and that's a lot of pressure to handle. I can't afford to mess this up."

"You won't," Poromon said. "I believe in you, Miyako."

Smiling, she hugged Poromon tightly. "Thanks. I needed that," she said, taking a deep breath. She looked at the laptop, reading and re-reading the words she and Ken had translated. They'd made significantly faster progress on the back of a good night's sleep.

::…when the balance tips here, so shall it everywhere, until the time of a great merging of worlds.

In this time, darkness shall fall across the land in waves. As a result, children of the parent world shall journey from their homes and redress this imbalance. After restoring the Digital world, the Chosen Children will be pulled across the boundaries between worlds where they are thinnest, to a world-::

It was maddening, really. So far, everything they'd translated had come too late to be of any use. And with Ken out of the picture, she couldn't help but feel the chances of her actually learning anything useful in time were remote. She ground her teeth. No. We're going to work this out, she thought.

But of course, even the translation would have to wait for now. It was more important to get everyone on the same page. She tapped out a message to Taichi, then sighed. There was no sense pretending they could carry on juggling real-world commitments alongside saving the world this time.

::Iori. We're going to need you full-time on this one. I'll call your apartment and tell your mother and grandfather what's going on, but you need to head straight to the digital world as soon as you can. The problems are spreading there, and we need as many people as we can to investigate on that side of things. Let me know when you get there, and whatever you do, don't come back to the real world until I say. Daisuke will explain everything else.::

She sat back, letting her partner settle onto her lap again.

"I feel so alone, Poromon," she said. "Do you think Koushiro ever feels like there's too much pressure on him, when we all go off to fight and he has to stay behind and watch? How does he do it? I feel…I feel like I should be out there, fixing things. Not sat here twiddling my thumbs and…and wasting my time on this stupid prophecy!"

She waved irritably at the laptop, then got to her feet and started pacing back and forth holding Poromon in her arms. How long had she been cooped up indoors now? More than a day, that was for certain. If she didn't get some fresh air soon, she was going to go nuts. She wasn't Koushiro, after all. He coped well with staying put and being the strategist - if this experience was teaching her anything, it was that she did not.

"Why didn't I get pulled over instead of Ken?" she muttered. "He'd have been better at this than me."

"But Ken has a crest," her partner pointed out. "If you had gone, after tonight there would be no one here."

She sighed. "I know, Poromon. But knowing I'm doing something important doesn't mean I have to like it."

Monday, 13:10pm

Takeru woke from dreams about dungeons, mountains, and shadowy corridors, to find himself in what had to be a hospital bed. It was in a room with five others, all made up with clinical neatness. He blinked, wondering when this development had happened. It took him a moment to remember that they'd been told something about healers' quarters during their meeting with the Elders. Everything in his memory went a little blurry after that. The corridors in his dreams seemed to be an extension of the ones they had been more or less dragged through.

"Takeru! You're finally awake!" Patamon cried, leaping up from somewhere beside him to hover in front of his face.

Takeru tried to grin, and winced as the movement tugged on various parts of his face. Come to think of it, his whole head felt strange, as though it were fixed in place. What was going on?

His hands turned out to be thoroughly bandaged and almost useless, but he lifted an arm to his head anyway to try and work out what was going on.

"You're not meant to touch them," Patamon said, taking hold of his hand and pulling it back down. "They covered up all the burns with bandages, so now you have to rest and get better."

"Who's 'they'?" he asked, trying not to wince as his partner landed on his stomach. Patamon was not a large digimon - there was no way that ought to hurt.

"All the healers," Patamon replied, face contorting with worry. "They had to use an awful lot, but they said you'd be better again soon."

Takeru sighed, and looked down at his arms. He couldn't see so much as a square centimetre of skin. "Well I sure as anything hope they're right," he said. "I can't do anything like this."

He looked up. "Where is everyone?"

Patamon took to the air. "Ithel gave us somewhere to stay while Koushiro's wrist gets better, so he and Taichi are there now," he said. "I think Taichi said something about Koushiro finding lots of old books, so he went to help carry them because Koushiro can't."

Takeru nodded, and sat up gingerly. Everything ached, and the wound on his shoulder stung like anything - but that was hardly new. "Do you know which way it is from here?" he asked.

Patamon nodded, and then shook his head, landing on the bed beside him. "You have to stay here," he said. "The healer told me you need to rest."

He sighed. "I can rest in those rooms you mentioned, can't I?"

Patamon nodded again, more slowly this time.

"Yeeees, but you need to see one of those healers first. Koushiro couldn't walk until they gave him that drink again."

"Well, he was really tired, right? I don't feel that worn out. I'll be fine, Patamon. Don't worry."

He levered himself to the edge of the bed, trying not to make it obvious that he was struggling to move. Patamon hovered nearby.

"I'm not sure you're meant to do this, Takeru…"

"I don't see the point in sitting here by myself when Taichi and Koushiro might know more about what's going on," he said, nudging the covers out of the way with the back of his hand. "I'm not going to overdo it, I just want to find out where everyone is."

Takeru swung his legs out from beneath the covers, and blinked.

His legs were a mess of bruises and grazes, with a large dressing bandaged around the cut on his left thigh. Both his knees were red raw. And he could see as much because someone appeared to have cut most of his trousers away. What remained would barely pass for shorts.

"Uhh, Patamon, what happened to my clothes?"

Patamon landed on a cabinet beside him and shrugged. "The healer said they got in the way, and they didn't have time to take them off."

Takeru gaped at his partner. "What?" he cried, outraged.

"It looked really serious, Takeru," Patamon said. "I think they were more worried about making sure you were okay."

He sighed. His shirt was missing too, apparently so that his shoulder could be re-bandaged. To judge from how little of his own skin was visible even after that, he knew Patamon had a point. Even so, it left him with something of a dilemma.

"That's all very well," he said, "But what am I supposed to do now? I can't go around looking like this."

"The healers and Taichi said you're meant to stay there," his partner pointed out. "So why does it matter?"

Takeru ground his teeth with frustration, and then winced as the movement set off a painful throbbing in his head. There were some concepts which digimon never seemed to fully understand, and the various reasons people had for desiring clothes were one of them. He didn't blame Patamon for that of course, but he did wish that someone had thought ahead to when he would wake up.

"Patamon, what happens when I have rested, and need to move around?"

"Oh, they have clothes they're getting for you for when we go see the Grand Council," Patamon said, shrugging. "But Taichi said they wouldn't be bringing those until morning."

Takeru frowned, despite the tugging of the dressings on his face. "When is morning? What time is it now?"

Patamon looked around thoughtfully. "I'm not sure," he said slowly. "Taichi and Koushiro have been gone quite a long time, but it's the middle of the night here so there aren't very many people around."

"Do you know where they went?" Takeru asked. "Where that room is?"

Patamon nodded. "I'll go tell them you're awake! I'm sure Taichi will want to tell you…something," he said, and flew out of the room.

Takeru pulled his legs back under the covers. It was a struggle to shuffle back into the middle of the bed. His attempt to get out of bed had made the sheets underneath him bunch up, and without the full use of his hands he had no way to straighten them again. Moving was also a lot more hard work than he expected it to be. He was out of breath by the time he managed to get back to where he had started.

He leant back and winced as something rubbed his shoulder. So far, the morning - if it was morning - was not off to a good start. He was sore, hungry, thirsty - and now he was uncomfortable too.

With nothing else to do, he sat back up and tried to listen out for Patamon, or anyone else who might walk by. It was maddening to be stuck there and not know how long he'd been asleep or what he'd missed. And he could no longer even lie back and relax, because every time he moved something hurt. What if there had been news?

He was about ready to give up on dignity altogether and go in search of someone as he was, when he heard movement. Footsteps, and voices speaking softly. A few seconds later, Taichi walked into the room. Patamon flew in behind him and landed on the end of the bed.

"Glad to see you're up," Taichi said. "How are you feeling?"

Takeru sighed. "If I say I'm fine, will you believe me?"

Taichi grinned. "Not a chance. There's a mirror on the cabinet beside you. Have you seen yourself?"

For an answer, Takeru scowled and held up his arms. "I'll need someone to get rid of all this first."

Taichi's face fell. He sighed, and looked away.

"What?" Takeru asked. "What's wrong?"

Taichi shook his head and sat down in the nearest chair. "It's nothing," he said, sighing again. "You looked a heck of a lot like Yamato just then, is all."

He knew it was probably pointless, but he had to ask: "Has there been any word from him? Or news from the others?"

Taichi didn't meet his eyes. "Not yet. And it's all been a bit…chaotic, so we're still waiting to hear how everyone's doing. Hikari is on her way back with some batteries though, so at least we won't have to ration your D-Terminal any more when she gets here."

Takeru blinked. "Huh? On her way back? How long was I asleep?"

Taichi grimaced. "Right, I forgot you missed that part. It's been about… well, gotta be a good twelve hours or so. Hikari sent a message when she got back to the real world to say she was safe. She's got Tentomon with her now, so we'll all have our partners when we're ready to leave."

"I don't think Takeru was awake for that part," Patamon said. "They made him sleep so they could get the poison, remember?"

Takeru flinched, and yelped as the movement tugged on his shoulder. "The what?" He stared at Taichi. "What's going on?"

The older boy sighed. "You're fine. The creature that attacked you - it was apparently a goblin or something. There's a lot of them in the forest, so the doctors here - sorry, healers - are good at fixing up the wounds. But, they shoot poisoned arrows which stop wounds from healing. That's why it kept opening up even after Jou sorted you out. They flushed it all out so it'll heal properly now though. So don't worry. Everything's fine."

It was far from the most convincing tone of voice Takeru had ever heard, but then if Hikari was still out there, he couldn't say he blamed Taichi for being worried. Still. There was an awful lot missing from what he was being told.

"So, what's this about going somewhere?" he asked. "And…I can't stay here, Taichi. Patamon said you and Koushiro are working on stuff in a room we've been given?"

Taichi shook his head. "Koushiro's asleep," he said. "He overdid it, even after the healers told him he was run down. You've both been through a lot, Takeru. You're better off staying where you are until the rest of the doctors wake up."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, that's what Koushiro said, right before he practically fell asleep on top of a pile of books." There was a smile on Taichi's face, but it didn't meet his eyes.

Takeru frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there."

Taichi sighed. "It can wait, okay? It's nothing you need to worry about right now. Just focus on getting better. We're going to be here for a few days at least, so there's no rush. I'll let you know if I hear anything about Yamato, but until the doctors wake up and give you the all-clear, you're staying in this bed. If we need to make a move sooner than planned, it's no good you being worn out from over-exerting yourself."

There was no mistaking the look on Taichi's face this time. He didn't plan on budging until he got the answer he wanted. Sometimes, Takeru mused, it was as though he had two overprotective older brothers.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay put," he said. "But I don't see what's stopping you from filling me in on what I've missed. Like you said. We're not going anywhere."

Patamon hopped over to the side of the bed where Taichi was sitting, and gave the older boy a stern look. To Takeru's surpise, Taichi sighed, and nodded.

"I guess there's no hiding it, really," he said heavily. "Right. It's…not great..."

A.N.: Phew! So, I originally intended for Takeru's section to be in the last chapter, before all that chaos with Jou happened. Honestly, I had even gotten as far as planning where Ken was going to end up when he got pulled over at midnight, and then suddenly he was going along with Jou. Minor plot derailment seems to be an ongoing feature of this story...

I also wanted to take a moment to explain why I had Ken be the only one to end up with an acute stress reaction over what's going on. I've read a few fics where Ken is this super fragile person because of what he's experienced*, and honestly...that's not how I interpret his character. He and all the others are pretty darn resilient, and they've faced a heck of a lot of dangerous situations and become relatively desensitised to Weird Stuff Happening.

BUT. Whereas all the others made their initial trip to the other world in the form of a dream/nightmare - which sorta softens the blow a little - Ken's first experience is through being teleported into the middle of a fight, without any warning at all. It's a far more physically traumatic event, and for a teenage boy who has been through some particularly traumatic situations to keep his cool through all of that...no. Does not compute. People don't work that way. Bodies need a moment to process, and if they don't get it, they tend to override the brain and start making their feelings more obvious.

I'm probably not saying anything people don't already know here, but stress responses, seizures, and panic attacks are something kinda close to my heart. (And my brain. Part of the reason this chapter took so long to write is that I had a run of keeling over this week.) I would hate for anyone to think I was trivialising them, or just trotting them out because it's an expected trope for a character. Fiction does demand a certain amount of additional emotional resilience from characters to ensure that the plot actually happens, but I think it's important to acknowledge some more realistic responses as well. And, you know, anyone is susceptible to a stress reaction from physical trauma.

*DISCLAIMER: I've also read plenty where he isn't, but, you know. You remember what bugs you more than what doesn't.