Act 1: Beating Heart

Segment 2: New Year, New Life

Chapter 2-11: Shop Until You Drop

The park was bustling with people. Of course it was. The sakura were in full bloom, and people had the day off for the vernal equinox. Yuuka had to pull a rather reluctant Ryuta around. "You seem a bit bothered," she remarked.

"There's a lot of people here." He was flicking his gaze from person to person.

"I didn't realize you hated crowds," she admitted.

"That time I was in Marui Kinshicho, I was only there because I had to be there."

She snorted. "So, you're perfectly fine being around a dragon, but you hate strangers. Who would have thought?" It was amusing enough, but he was starting to want to flee. She led him to somewhere a bit more secluded. He seemed to relax a bit. "Laid low and feeble by people."

"I don't remember agreeing to be called out today."

"Does that mean if I dragged you into Olinas right now…"

He sighed. "Let's not do that." It was a genuine complaint.

"Thought so." She giggled. "Yet somehow you ended up in an incredibly crowded city named Tokyo."

"Not by my choice."

She pointed her phone camera around. "See that, Falcomon?"

"Whoa! Are all of these sakura?" Falcomon gasped.

"Indeed they are!"

"Wow… so pink," it wondered. "It reminds me of the purple flower blooms in the Digital World. Hey, if we ever get a chance, I should show you!" Ryuta pulled his own phone. Amedramon was napping, again. Was this really worth waking up Amedramon for? The dragon always slept really weirdly, like its natural clock was longer than a normal day-night cycle. He slipped his phone back in his pocket. Maybe he could show Amedramon in the evening.

A pair of hands grabbed Ryuta from behind. "Aagh!" he yelled, jumping into the air. He scampered away and turned to find out who it was.

Takaharu had to take a seat on the ground. He was laughing too hard, along with Kazuhiko, Satsuki, and Asuka. "That," he managed to gasp, "that was, oh man, that was – haaa! – great!"

"For fuck's sake, Drake wannabe, did you really have to do that?!" Ryuta demanded.

"Yes, yes I did," Takaharu wheezed.

"Who or what is Drake?" Yuuka asked.

"Don't worry about it, just some Canadian," Ryuta replied.

"Oh, okay."

Ryuta rolled his eyes in disgust. "Do you mind, guys?"

"Mind what?" Kazuhiko asked.

"Leaving us alone for today."

Asuka elbowed Satsuki. "He finally admitted it," Asuka snorted.

Ryuta gestured. "Yeah, it's been pretty obvious, hasn't it!"

"Yuuka," purred Satsuki, "I hope dragon boy here isn't giving you a hard time."

Ryuta groaned. They had started calling him dragon boy after Takaharu named him that in his contact list. Yuuka hid her mirth. "Not at all. I guess the four of you are on your way to Olinas."

"Yep!" exclaimed Asuka. "Just walking around, though. Eh… I hope we don't run into another Junction today. Satsuki, I guess you're all okay now?"

"Mostly, yeah," she nodded. "Still a bit stiff. Hey, Yuuka, Ryuta, are you coming inside or are you going to walk around the park for a bit longer?"

"We might be outside until the crowds dissipate a bit."

Satsuki glanced at her phone. "It'll be a few hours before that happens, you know."

Yuuka shrugged. "I know."

"Okay, then. Stay warm guys! It's pretty windy today." Satsuki and Kazuhiko walked off, chatting to one another.

Takaharu slumped. "Guess you and I are out of luck this spring, eh, Asuka?"

Asuka snorted. "I'm not even trying right now, Takaharu. It's just you."

"I shouldn't have asked…" he groaned.

Ryuta sniffed. "Maybe if you weren't so annoying-"

"Okay, okay, I'm gone, bye!" Takaharu jogged away with Asuka before Ryuta could scold him any further. Yuuka and Ryuta watched them escape into the mall.

"I also didn't know you were so jumpy," Yuuka commented. Ryuta grunted. "Hey, Ryuta, didn't you say you needed to pick something up from in there anyway?"

He blinked. Did he? "Ah, right, I did."

"What is it?"

"Just a box of crystals."

Yuuka pulled a confused face. "I didn't realize you were into the witchery stuff. Do you actually buy these for healing properties?"

"No, not at all. It's for Amedramon."

"Wait, what?"

Ryuta shrugged. "It keeps its scales and claws in good shape."

"That… that sounds expensive. Like, really expensive. You're not buying full-carat jewelry, right?"

"No, just wholesale raw material. It's still pricey though." He grimaced. This dragon was seriously painful on his wallet.

The four Tamers were in a restaurant enjoying an early dinner, to avoid crowds. The Digimon were hiding as well as they could, squeezed into the booth up against the wall. It was working well enough, it seemed, as people walked past them without noticing, though they had given their Digimon their coats to wear as cloaks so they could hide underneath them if needed.

"Can't believe this is working," Satsuki whispered. "Gabumon, how are you doing?"

"Just fine," it replied, trying its best not to be seen. It was hiding underneath her coat as best it could, though its horn was getting in the way. "I'm enjoying this, frankly."

"Monodramon, you good?" Kazuhiko asked.

It took a slurp from a cup. "Yep!"

"Phew." He did the same. "So, guys, where after?"

"I dunno, movie?" Takaharu suggested. "Could go downstairs, too."

"Meh, we've been in a few arcades the last week," Kazuhiko replied. "Plus, I kind of like having these guys out here."

"And I really want to stay out here!" replied Monodramon.

"Yeah, I know," said Takaharu. "Not sure, it's not like I've got anything to buy, but I don't exactly want to head home any time soon. Are the rest of you done looking around yourselves?"

Satsuki nodded. "Didn't have much myself to look at. Movie it is, I guess. Should give us some privacy for a while, too."

"What if something comes up?" asked Lomamon.

Takaharu shrugged. "Amedramon and Falcomon are around here somewhere. I'm sure Amedramon would pick up on one if there was one here. Besides, we can always leave the theatre early."

"Okay then! Sounds good to me!" The Digimon slipped back into hiding, and the Tamers paid for their meals, then headed up to the cinema.

"Anything you guys wanted to watch?" asked Takaharu.

"We… we could watch that Digimon movie that came out last year," Kazuhiko snickered. "I wonder what the Digimon would think. They're rerunning it for this holiday. I actually missed it last year."

"Wait, what? Really?" inquired Monodramon. "Is there a Monodramon in it?"

"Nah, not this one. But there is a Gabumon in it."

"Aw… what about the rest of us?"

"Takaharu, do you remember if the 02 characters are in it?" asked Kazuhiko.

"Uh, I think they are?" They walked past the poster. "Oh yeah, they're right in the back."

"Okay, so Hawkmon would be there too."

"Then I hope it portrays us well!" it announced. Asuka imagined Hawkmon was fluffing its feathers self-importantly.

Satsuki suppressed a laugh. "Asuka, Hawkmon and the character Hawkmon seem pretty similar, don't they?"

Asuka was still finishing a bottle of water and almost choked on it. "Oh my god, you're right!"

"Good! It ought to be!" Hawkmon replied.

Takaharu said to the others, "Hey, I'll pay for all of us, just send me a transfer after or something. Should I get four seats or eight?"

"Uh…" started Satsuki. "Maybe get eight, and we can sit on the edges, so the Digimon can be in the middle."

"Makes sense to me." While he went to get tickets, Kazuhiko glanced around.

"Hey, Satsuki," he said, looking in the direction of the theatre, "look, it's the two of them."

"Who? Oh, dragon boy and his princess."

Kazuhiko snorted. "Should we bother them?"

Satsuki folded her arms. "Eh… nah. I think we've messed with them enough today."

"But they're going in the same theatre as we'll be in."

"I mean, it would be funny, but I don't exactly want to get my nose bitten off by Ryuta."

He sighed. He kind of wanted to pester them just to see what would happen, but not indoors. "Yeah, sure."

Takaharu returned with the tickets. "Hey, gottem, guys! Managed to get a decent height too, since it's been a month since it came out, so there was a good amount of space left."

"Really? Even with the holiday today?" wondered Asuka.

"Yeah, it was a lucky find."

"Nice!" The four of them walked into the dimly-lit theatre and looked up. "Oh, Yuuka! Hey!"

"I didn't see you four in the lobby," Yuuka replied.

"We didn't see you either! Wow, you're sitting really low. The higher rows were available, you know."

"I didn't want to bother a lot of people in case we had to run," explained Ryuta.

Asuka gave Ryuta a look. "You know, for someone who has no idea what to do after university, you think about a lot of backup plans."

"Different kind of planning, I guess."

"Well, not gonna bother you two anymore. See you guys after the movie!"

"Yeah, sure."

The four of them continued up the stairs. "Ah," she mused, "Yuuka really brought out Ryuta's softer side. I knew she would," she smirked.

"Oh dear," said Satsuki. "Does that mean he's going to revert to being grumpy and aloof when he goes off on his own?" she worried sarcastically.

"Probably. I feel bad for his university roommates already," Asuka laughed.

"I heard that!" Ryuta yelled. The other four laughed and settled into their seats. Before the lights dimmed to dark, the Digimon emerged and settled in as well.

Lomamon sniffled. It was all fictional, but it was pretty sad. "Takaharu…"

Takaharu was leaking tears himself. "Yeah, Lomamon?"

"This isn't going to happen to us some day, right?"

He wiped his face dry. "God, I hope not. I don't think so. It's not like we have Digivices or anything either. Besides," he added, "they come back, eventually, somehow. Isn't that right, Kazu?"

Kazu and Satsuki were leaned on each other, with Monodramon and Gabumon in their arms. "Yeah, somehow," he choked out.

Gabumon had its face pressed into Satsuki's shoulder. "Satsuki…"

"It's just fiction, Gabumon," she crooned. She was the least affected out of all eight of them. Even Hawkmon had been weeping. "And Takaharu's right, we're not in the same universe as they would be, anyway. It's not the same."

"Good! I don't want to disappear!"

"And I don't want you to. But, Kazuhiko, does this mean I'm supposed to start learning to ride a motorcycle? I forgot Yamato does that."

Kazuhiko looked back in shock. "Eh? Uh, if you want to, you can."

"Nah, that seems too dangerous for me," Satsuki replied.

Asuka frowned. "Guys? Did Yuuka and Ryuta leave early?" She pointed down the aisles. The two of them were indeed already gone. "Crap, my phone was on silent, and I turned the vibration off. Did anyone else notice anything?"

• • • • • • •

Sumida Tamers

Ishida Yuuka
Amedramon picked up on something
Hopefully we don't miss much!
If you get this, please meet up in the lobby
Ryuta and I will leave in six minutes
17:44

• • • • • • •

Asuka pulled down the clock on her phone. It was a few minutes past the eighteenth hour. "Ah, crap, they're long gone!"

Takaharu shot up out of his seat, clutching Lomamon in his arms. "Maybe we can catch up to them! Did they say where it was?"

• • • • • • •

Sumida Tamers

Ishida Yuuka
Rear of Yamada. Please hurry. We need backup
17:57

• • • • • • •

Yuuka shook her head. It was ten minutes to the eighteenth hour and nobody else was there. "I think it's just the two of us, Ryuta."

"Can't be helped. Amedramon, where is this leading you?" he asked, lifting his mic to his mouth and his phone up. "Point us."

"Turn left. A bit more. Yeah, about that direction's the strongest."

"The other side of the mall? Okay then." They started walking towards the other end. It was joined to another building. "Getting stronger?"

"Yeah, keep going. I think it's quite a ways away."

"Hm." His walking pace got faster. "I don't want to run indoors, though. There's way too many people for that."

Yuuka murmured, "It seems nobody has seen or noticed, so far, at least. That's good."

"For now." His lips were pressed flat. "Amedramon, I'm going to put my phone back in my pocket. People are staring. Let me know if something changes."

"Okay." Amedramon's views went dark. It really wished things didn't have to be this way. Maybe Ryuta could wear a camera on his shirt? Nah, that would be too creepy. "Oh, guys, go down a bit."

"Down, got it." They descended an escalator. "Again?"

"Yeah."

"Right." Ryuta led Yuuka down the next set of escalators. "What about here?"

"Seems about it. Keep going forward."

"Falcomon," Yuuka asked into her phone, "are you sensing anything?"

"I… oh, yes, I do," Falcomon replied.

"Really?" asked Yuuka. "Then it must be close."

"Amedramon, is it close?" Ryuta asked.

"Not really. Why?"

He turned to Yuuka. "Amedramon says it's still a long way away. That's not normal."

Yuuka blinked. "This could be big, then."

Ryuta grimaced and rubbed his eyes. "Just great. Let's go find out. We might need to wait for backup then." They kept walking and dodging crowds of people. Even though the sun was starting to lower in the sky, there were still tons of people milling about the mall on this holiday. However, when they reached the massive electronics store, the crowds thinned. It seemed most people had finished shopping and were on to other activities in the day. It suited Ryuta just fine – if they were going to run into a Junction today, better that than having too many witnesses.

They looked around the store. Nothing seemed off at first glance – no shimmering, no panicked customers, no alien blobs. "Amedramon? Where next?" He pulled out his phone again.

"Somewhere off to your right, I think."

"Understood." They walked towards the back of the store.

After several paces and winding between aisles, Ryuta halted. "I think I see it." There was a shimmering mid-air, spanning multiple aisles. If someone hadn't been careful, they would have walked right into it. This could be bad. What if some customers had walked in by accident? If it was anything like the one Satsuki and Kazuhiko described a few days ago…

"We gotta go in, Yuuka."

"We aren't going to wait for backup?"

"I want to check, first, if people are inside. We should get them out as quickly as we can if there are."

"Right." Yuuka walked into the shimmering air first – but unlike before, she didn't disappear into the space. Ryuta's eyes widened. This was itself abnormal. Even Amedramon had noticed.

"Ryuta, that's not what should happen!" it exclaimed.

"I know! It's like… it's like it's taken over what should be here! Yuuka!"

"What?" she turned around. "Something the matter?"

"Come back this way, I need to show you something."

"Okay." She walked back out of the abnormal Junction. "What did you see?"

"See where that shimmering is? That's supposed to be the boundary, and normally things will disappear when it crosses the surface, but…" he explained as he walked in. A shimmer passed between him and Yuuka. "See that?"

Her eyes widened. "I did. How?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe this is what happens when they get too large. The difference between real and virtual starts to disappear."

"Oh, god. Does that mean… can you get signal in there?"

He looked at his phone. The signal was fainter than it should be. "Only just. I think that's the only hint that something is wrong." He looked back up. "This is bad. If there's anyone stuck inside here, they wouldn't be able to message anyone. I… I want to get in there, but if we need backup, we can't ask for it unless we run back out."

"Let's tell them, then." She started tapping at her phone while Ryuta walked back out of the abnormal Junction. "Yamada… come now…" She flicked her head up. At least no customers were coming. "Sent it. Let's wait, I guess."

"Yeah," Ryuta replied, tapping his foot. He fiddled with a product display while they waited, impatient. He had the package of gems in his messenger bag, and decided it might be best to make sure Amedramon's scales were in good condition. He looked around. Nobody there. "Amedramon?"

"Yeah?"

"It's empty for now. You can come out."

"Oh! Sweet!" The dragon appeared in the aisle. "Should I keep quiet?"

"Yeah." Ryuta grabbed his keys and tore the tape to the box open, then pulled out a golf-ball sized quartz crystal. "Here, picked this up today."

"Aw, thanks, Ryuta!" Amedramon took the quartz crystal from his hand and crunched down on it. It winced. That was too loud. "Oops, sorry. That was really loud."

"Meh, it sounds like someone eating chips. Just be quick about it."

"Right." It kept crunching on the crystal. Yuuka watched it eat with awe. Crystals were pretty tough and rigid. The fact that it could bite right through one… she would not want to have her fingers in there. It swallowed the milky-white fragments and snorted. "All done. Should I go back in?"

He looked about. There were a few other customers walking around some distance away. He hoped they would stay over there. "Not yet. Come on, guys…" he muttered. It might take them another few minutes to make it.

Several minutes passed, uncomfortably. A familiar red streak of hair appeared down the aisle. "Ryuta!" Asuka waved. "Guys, this way!" She led the other three towards the two Tamers.

"Took you guys long enough," Ryuta commented. "Check this out. See that?" The air shimmered again. "Remember where that was." He stepped forward.

"I don't get it," replied Takaharu. "This is the abnormal Junction, right?"

"You shouldn't be able to see me, right? That's what happened before."

The other four Tamers stood there dumbly. "Oh!" Takaharu exclaimed, then covered his mouth. Someone was looking. They glared, wondering what was up, then went back to staring at products. "Ah, too loud. I get it! I wonder… from what angle can and can't I see you then?"

"Now's not the time for that," Ryuta chided. "Signal in here gets really low. There could easily be shoppers in here who got lost."

"You didn't go in there yourself?"

"I don't know how deep this place goes," he admitted. "This was safer."

"No, you're right. C'mon, everyone, we gotta get in here then!" The six Tamers advanced deeper, the six Digimon walking alongside them.

Amedramon growled. "This is really bad. There are hundreds of them. I can sense them, far away."

"Really? I don't see anything. Wait. Guys?" Takaharu looked around. "Does Yamada go this deep?"

"No. No, it doesn't. The entire building isn't this deep," Satsuki replied. "You were right, Ryuta. The entire store is messed up."

"Shit. For how long… twenty minutes, maybe? Goddamn." He shook his head. "Amedramon, lead the way."

"Right!" It continued to jog forward on all fours, followed behind by the other Digimon and then the Tamers. "Ah… this place is getting creepy," it muttered. The store shelves were indeed getting very weird. The products and product labels were smearing into each other or turning into garbled text, like the world itself was glitching out. "I hate it."

Ryuta grunted. "I hate it too, but we have to terminate this heart." Amedramon suddenly stopped in front of him. "Oh, shit." A middle-aged man was lying on the ground, seemingly knocked out.

Asuka rushed forward. She had first aid and basic medical training, so she would be able to tell what this person needed. She put a hand in front of the person's nose. "Still breathing." She pulled the person's eyelids open. "Just unconscious, for now. Should we get them out of here?"

The other five Tamers looked at each other. "Should we?" repeated Kazuhiko.

"It makes sense to, but…" Yuuka started. "We'd be out a person every time we came across another one."

"No," Ryuta asserted. "We close this Junction and all of us will be spit back out, including these people. We have to rush."

"Ryuta! We can't leave them like this!" exclaimed Takaharu.

"And you want to carry them one by one back out?"

"Takaharu, he's right," added Satsuki. "That's what happens to us, that's what will happen to them. Everything so far that's real in a Junction gets shoved back out."

He sighed. They were correct. "Just worried people will see what happens and think it was us."

"We can deal with that later," Satsuki replied. "Let's press on."

Asuka got up. "I hope you guys are right on that." The six of them continued with the Digimon ahead of them. They passed by another two shoppers, also unconscious. The glitched shelves were starting to fade in colour and lose detail. They must be close.

Amedramon growled again. "You hear that? I do."

Falcomon flew up, feathers brushing the fluorescent-lit ceiling. "I see them! Oh, gods, there's so many!"

Hawkmon was also in the air. "Everyone, there are more people unconscious in there!"

Ryuta roared. "Fucking hell, then, what are we waiting for?" He ran forward alongside Amedramon.

The others stood there, stunned by the abrupt change in his demeanor. Satsuki was the first to snap out of her shock. "Gabumon – no, Garurumon!"

Garurumon howled and jumped between the Junction-fabricated aisles, landing and crushing alien amoeboid being after being. "Fox Fire!" It was able to clear out a number of them at once.

From above, Falcomon produced ninja stars. "Shuririnken!" The metal stars flashed through the air. A few struck their targets, but some black and blue blobs flicked them away. "What – guys, look out, those ones are fast!"

They lashed out. They had nothing special, but their arms ended in long whips. One lashed out and grabbed Lomamon before it could react. "Aaah!" it screamed, and scratched at the tough material binding its legs together. "Get off me!"

"Lomamon, hold still!" Hawkmon flung its headband feather at the black whip, slicing it open. Lomamon ripped the ligature off and tossed it away. The feather zipped through the air and returned to Hawkmon's hand.

"I owe you one!"

"We'll discuss repayment later! Look lively, all of you! That includes you, Tamers!" It divebombed a blob that was reaching out for Kazuhiko. "Get back, foul creature!" It shrieked as it dissolved under Hawkmon's claws.

"Whoa! Sheesh, that was close. Monodramon!" It was getting surrounded. "Monodramon! Your back! Gah, Garurumon, help!"

"On it!" It jumped off an aisle for leverage and landed right next to Monodramon.

"Good to see ya!"

"Be more careful, Monodramon!"

"Hey, you're here – now let's get this done!" It led with its fist. "Eat this – Beat Knuckle!" An amoeboid squelched under its punch, followed by another, and then another. "Yaaa!" As another one approached, it bit down on it. The blob seized, shuddered, and dissolved.

Garurumon followed behind. "Fox Fire!" The amoeboids shrieked and wailed in the flames – but a few of them survived. "Aaagh!" Garurumon roared in frustration. The remaining blobs suddenly reached to each other. "What are they doing?"

Ryuta's attention was drawn to them. The four or so amoeboids' body patterns began to shift and change. Their bodies became viscous and flowed from one to another. "What the hell…" he wondered out loud. What were they transferring? Resistance?

The amoeboids that remained were no longer just black with a single large coloured dot on their heads, but patterned. Their bodies shifted. The red one had club hands, the white one had sword hands, the green one some kind of long-range cannon, and the blue one whips – but now they were all bearing all four types of colours on their faces. Their hands turned into human-like hands with three fingers. They stumbled as they grew a half-metre and their single leg split into two.

Ryuta winced. They were like bacteria, with their ability to exchange information so quickly. No… not quite like bacteria. "They're like plasmids," he said.

"Is that what we're calling these things? Plasmids?" Takaharu asked, backed up to Ryuta, as Lomamon slashed another one apart, while Amedramon leapt down on one and cut it and half.

"I guess!" He yelled. "Amedramon – get back!" More of the amoeboid being were starting to link up, as though they had communicated what to do to evolve to each other. Multiple Plasmids had reached out with their whip arms for Amedramon.

Ryuta lunged forward and raced to get there first. "I'll fuck you up!" he yelled, and grabbed the whip arm, and pulled the Plasmid toward him, then punched it right in the face. It wasn't enough. He pummelled it over and over, screaming in bloodthirsty fury, until it was knocked to the ground. He stomped on it. It screamed and flailed, then dissolved.

"Rrrh… nnh…" His chest heaved with his deep breaths. He was suddenly launched away by another Plasmid that had slapped him with its whip arm. He grunted as he landed on a fake product display.

"Ryuta!" Amedramon yelled. It ran over to protect him from another attack. The Plasmid raised a club arm to punch them down. "Get off us!" It swung its body around, whipping the Plasmid around the chest, sending it away. "Quartz Flare!" A blue-white fireball formed in its maw. It reared back and launched it at the Plasmid, striking it in the face. It screamed and dissolved. "Ryuta, are you okay?"

He wiped a spot of blood from his lip. "I'll be fine."

Yuuka watched him from a distance. When he got intense, he got really intense. "Yuuka, eyes up!" Falcomon dived to stop a blade from landing on Yuuka's head. "Stay sharp! He'll be okay. Fuujin no Jutsu!" Multiple Plasmids shrieked and dissolved under the cutting wind by Falcomon.

"R-right!" She couldn't help but worry about him. This was going to get him in trouble at some point, wasn't it?

Multiple orbs of goo landed around Lomamon. "Quit shelling me!" it complained, and pointed its tail at the distant Plasmid. "Here, a snack from me, Stripe Fire!" The crimson quill struck the Plasmid in the shoulder. "Another one!" This time, the quill pierced the Plasmid's chest. It melted and dissolved. "How are we doing, guys?"

Garurumon looked around. "Still a lot! I don't see the heart, either!"

"Aaah, we've got to be smarter about this!"

Kazuhiko pushed his glasses up. Smarter about it? Sure. Why not? They were just going after raw numbers, but if the heart could keep up production, then it wouldn't matter. "Amedramon, where's the heart?"

"Deep in the back! Why?"

He thought intently for a moment. "Falcomon, Hawkmon, you can fly – go after it! Everyone else, cover them! Tamers, stick with your Digimon!"

Takaharu agreed. "Form up everyone!" The six Tamers joined into a tight circle. Plasmids surrounded them on all sides, with cannonballs being lobbed at them from afar.

"Fox Fire!" Garurumon burned them away.

"Fuujin no Jutsu!" Falcomon destroyed the remainder. "Let's do this, Hawkmon!"

"Mmhm! Cover us, everyone!" The two of them flew in the air while the other four Digimon cut back any intruding Plasmids and shot down any incoming missiles.

"Looks like it's working, guys!" They slowly made progress to a place that was looking corrupted, with black veins seeping through the floor, which was transitioning from the virtualized tile to the light bridge they would have expected to see.

"The heart is almost in reaching distance. Just a bit more," Hawkmon encouraged. "Aah!" A particularly large Plasmid, looming over all of them, formed when multiple Plasmids suddenly fused together. "Oh, that's different."

"Hawkmon, get down!" Asuka yelled. It did so, but it left Falcomon exposed as the giant Plasmid raised its club hands and swung down.

Falcomon yelped and landed roughly in front of Yuuka. "Falcomon, oh no!" she exclaimed, and went to pick up Falcomon. It moaned. "Are you awake?"

"Ugh… just bare…ly…"

Ryuta's fists clenched. "Amedramon," he snarled. "You know what to do." He had noticed its body was starting to split and expose some wireframe.

It growled, its tail whipping back and forth. It paced forward at the giant Plasmid, which was much larger than it was. "Everyone. Stand back." Its body suddenly burst open and grew in size. The Tamers shielded their eyes.

"Just how big-" Satsuki started, until she saw the giant silvery-blue dragon standing before her. It was even larger than Garurumon – by a lot. It was so tall, it barely even fit in the abnormal Junction. Its chest and torso was possibly the height and length of a cube truck, never mind the rest of its head, neck, tail, or wingspan. Its chest plates were somewhere between white and a few other colours, like it couldn't figure out what to be. Finally, it settled on a colour somewhere between blue and violet.

"Ryuta."

"Vanadramon." Ryuta put a hand on its rump.

"Let's do this." The Plasmid turned its hands to blades and swung at Vanadramon, who gripped it in its maw, and twisted. The giant Plasmid stumbled to the ground, not expecting Vanadramon to have such strength. Its chest plates filled with the colour of emeralds as it roared and chewed through the blade, shattering it immediately. It spat the black blade out and raised a paw. "Facet Carve!" The tips of its claws glowed with energy, and it tore the giant Plasmid from featureless head to torso, which then melted and dissolved.

The others stared in awe. Even the Plasmids stared in awe. Vanadramon raced forward, going right for the heart. "And let's end this!" it exclaimed. It spun around on its front paws and whipped around. "Ionic Crush!" Its giant crimson vanadite club tail smashed into the beating heart, which was almost its size. It exploded in a giant burst of black goo. The space began to tremble and flash. Vanadramon raced back as quickly as it could, then devolved to Amedramon. "Guys, hide before we get sent back!" It disappeared into Ryuta's phone.

"Right, we should do that!" Lomamon yelped, and disappeared, along with the rest. The walls cracked and the virtual fluorescent lights exploded and went dark as the fake product displays turned to wireframes, then disappeared, and so did the space.

The six Tamers found themselves thrown to a heap in the back of Yamada, next to some products on display. Takaharu looked up. "Geez, so we were right in the back of the store already," he remarked. "All of that stuff was fake." He looked about. There they were – the five customers that they'd seen inside. "Ah…"

Asuka got up and went to check on them. "They're the same. Unconscious, but alive." She got up from them. "So… what now?"

"Do we run?" Yuuka asked.

"We'll be on camera. It'll look more suspicious if we do," replied Kazuhiko. He shook his head. "Let's just call for medical assistance and say we found them that way."

"We'll be on camera?" Ryuta wondered out loud.

"Yeah, dude! Don't tell me getting thrown around made you dumber."

He was silent for a moment, then looked up. One of them was pointed right at them. "We… might not be."

"What?!"

"That abnormal Junction messed with wireless data, right? Who's to say it didn't mess with wired data, too?"

Yuuka looked up as well. "Hey, do any of you remember if the electronics in the area were working when you came in?"

They looked around. The TVs in the distance were working, but the ones nearest them were not. A store employee was going around resetting the displays. "Sheesh, finally, they're working again. That was weird," he muttered.

"See?" said Ryuta. "Those cameras may not even be working right now. But I don't disagree. Let's call for ambulances and say we found them that way."

"S-sure thing," stammered Takaharu. "I hope this goes well." He jogged off to the store employee in the distance. The other five Tamers stood around in case something came by so they could explain their half-truth.

The employee rushed over. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. "All five of them?"

Takaharu shrugged. "We're not sure what happened either, we just found them that way."

The employee nodded. "I'll use the store's phone, it has an address on it. The rest of you should probably head home. I-I don't want you guys getting in trouble by association."

"Sure thing. Guys, let's go." The six of them were relieved and walked back to the store entrance. Olinas' upper levels were still buzzing with people looking to get into restaurants or the cinema.

They milled about for a while until Ryuta noticed a lot of eyes were on him. "What's up, guys?"

Asuka and Kazuhiko diverted their gaze. Takaharu laughed nervously while Satsuki fiddled with her purse strap. Yuuka put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Just fine, why?"

She seemed relieved. "You got sent flying earlier."

He blinked at her. "That's not what you're asking about, is it?" She didn't respond.

"Ryuta," interrupted Takaharu, "are you sure you're fine?"

Ryuta exhaled. "Why does this still surprise you all?" he growled. "I see someone in danger. I go protect them. How mysterious is that?"

"Dude, it wasn't just that… you seemed out for blood."

"Amedramon was about to get hit!"

"And you needed to get struck like that? Ryuta, I can see the swollenness right underneath your shirt collar!"

Ryuta looked down and peeked under his shirt. It was quite red, and it would probably bruise tomorrow. He shrugged. "That's what happens sometimes. You're saying you wouldn't put yourself on the line for your Partner?" he challenged.

"I…" Takaharu trailed off. Ryuta raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't?"

"Of course I would!"

"Then get off my case."

"I'm not trying to get on anybody's nerves!"

"And you're doing that exactly right now!"

Yuuka pushed right between them and reprimanded them. "You two, not in the middle of the mall!" she hissed. People were giving them looks as they walked by.

"Ah… sorry about that," Takaharu apologized. "Ryuta, wait!" He was already walking off and had swung his coat back over his shoulders.

Yuuka sighed and shook her head. This wasn't the first time. "I'll go calm him down. Or try to, at least." She jogged away to catch up with him.

The remaining four Tamers stared as they disappeared into the crowd of shoppers. Kazuhiko whistled. "We got a badass on our hands."

"Why are all these kinds of people so frustrating?" Takaharu growled.

Satsuki lifted her phone up. Gabumon was snoozing, apparently tired out from the battle. She put it back down. Now Gabumon and Amedramon were both capable of evolving to Champion level, and she was getting a good idea as to why. "At least I think we can tell why Amedramon and Ryuta are so close."

"What do you mean?"

She crossed her arms. "They're almost the same person."

"Amedramon is a lot more playful than he is."

She snorted. Only she and Asuka would know. After all, Yuuka texted them from time to time with some silly photos.

Takaharu gave Satsuki a look of suspicion. "What do you know about him that we don't?"

"If only Yuuka trusted you with these things." Takaharu groaned. Satsuki giggled and continued, "You know what? Let me show you this one." She pulled her phone out and opened her messaging app, then went down to Yuuka's direct messages and scrolled to a video Yuuka had sent a week before the end of school, when Ryuta and Amedramon were on the rooftop in the morning.

Takaharu looked over, with Kazuhiko trying his best to get a good angle of her phone. The video played.

"Ryuta!" Amedramon danced excitedly. Yuuka could be heard giggling behind the phone. The dragon pranced around the rooftop garden. Ryuta came into the frame.

"Aaahh!" Ryuta chased after it. Amedramon panted as it zoomed past Yuuka, followed by Ryuta. "Why are you so fast?"

"Gotta keep up slowpoke!" Amedramon circled back around Yuuka, still being pursued by Ryuta. Then Amedramon bounced off a planter and changed course, but Ryuta had figured it would. He caught up.

"Raahr!" he playfully growled and grabbed Amedramon. The dragon clawed at the air as he picked it up. "You're mine now," he growled. Amedramon giggled and pawed at Ryuta as he snuggled its purple chest. Amedramon's wings flared and wrapped around Ryuta's body in a tight hug. "Now there's no running from me! Oh my god, Amedramon, you're still heavy."

Amedramon was busy trying to wriggle out of his hands and eventually succeeded on getting onto his back, like it liked to do. Ryuta held Amedramon's thighs to support it. The two of them turned to the camera.

Falcomon could be heard out of frame. "Ryuta, it looks like you have Amedramon's wings," it laughed.

"Hey, Amedramon, when you evolve, are you going to be big enough to carry me on your back?" he asked.

"Yeah! I'll take you wherever you want to go!" it replied.

"Awww, that was cute," said Kazuhiko.

"If only he was like that more often around us, y'know?" Takaharu muttered.

"What, you want him to chase you around?" Satsuki laughed.

"No! I meant – gah, you know what I mean!"

"Oh, you want Ryuta to cuddle you in his arms. They are pretty impressive, I'm not going to lie," she murmured, and gently kicked Kazuhiko in the calf.

"Ow!" Kazuhiko complained. "H-hey, you know I'm busy with stuff!"

She looked away. "Mmhm, you are. Right." She grabbed Kazuhiko's forearms. "Do I intimidate you?" Kazuhiko gulped. Satsuki was hilariously taller than he was – not just because she was so much taller than average but also because he was a bit short. His tiny nerdy frame didn't help either. She snorted and laughed. Asuka had to sit down and breathe.

Takaharu rolled his eyes. He was kind of jealous of the four of them. "Sheesh, okay, we get it, you're dating."

"Ah, Takaharu, you're no fun," Satsuki replied.

Takaharu yawned. "And it's only, what, eight at night? I'm already tired." He glanced at his phone. Lomamon was already napping. "Guess the Digimon are too."

Asuka pulled out her phone as well. Hawkmon was apparently sleeping while sitting up. It was kind of impressive. "Yeah, we've all been running around a lot today."

Takaharu looked serious. "You're bothered, Takaharu," Kazuhiko commented.

"I am."

"By the abnormal Junction?"

"Yep." He scratched his elbow and looked back in the direction they'd come from. His phone vibrated. "Looks like it made the news."

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Yamada Denki closed as shoppers discovered unconscious; cause unknown

NNK News | Published 2021.03.20 20:04

Yamada Denki in Olinas Core, in Sumida, has been closed to shoppers for the remainder of the day as police investigate a potential assault on five shoppers in the rear of the store. Their injures have been described as non-serious and they are in stable condition. However, security cameras in the store were not functional during the time of the incident. The store owner is apologizing for the mistake and says many electronics in the area were malfunctioning during that time.

"Customers should be assured we will continue to respect any returns or exchanges for defective products they may have purchased today," he said. "We will do our best to improve our security measures in the future."

Police are asking any eyewitnesses to come forward anonymously.

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"Any mention of us?" asked Asuka.

"None, thank goodness," Takaharu replied. Asuka relaxed. "Still shouldn't hang around for too long. Besides, I need a shower."

"Yeah, same. That was a lot more running than I've done in a long time," confessed Kazuhiko.

"Kazuhiko?" asked Satsuki.

"Eh?"

"We're going to bike the whole length of the Kyunaka River tomorrow."

"Wha- so soon?!"

Satsuki snickered along with Asuka, who commented, "Kazu, you need the exercise!"

He whined. "Do we have to…"

"Just say it's for Monodramon," Satsuki replied.

"Fiiiine."

Satsuki wasn't done. "And then after that, we're going to do the rest of the Arakawa River, and then we can circle around to Kiba Park-"

"One step at a time, please!" he complained.

"We could even get down to Big Sight, if you're daring enough."

"No! I'm not!" He could already feel his legs burning and cramping up.