Character

"You think you're gonna be alright?" 2LT Joseph asked.

"I don't know."

"Can you try to get up?"

"Lemme see." He tried to stand up. "Ow- No, no, no."

"What's wrong?"

"It's definitely sprained." One of the lieutenant's soldiers, PFC Lewis, had fell from the top of one of the obstacles on an obstacle course 3rd Platoon was training on.

"How bad is it?" The platoon medic just arrived.

"It's sprained." the private responded.

"He can't put any weight on it, Doc."

"Alright. I'll take you to the hospital. Tighten your laces as tight as you can." He turned to the lieutenant, "Sir, can you assign me a stretcher detail?" The lieutenant turned to the squad leader.

"Sergeant, get me four men for stretcher detail. When they get Lewis into Doc's vehicle, return to the course and continue training."

"Yes, sir." The sergeant went back to his squad. The private winced as he pulled his laces tight.

"You're gonna be fine, Lewis, just relax." SFC Harrison said.

"Do these kind of things happen often?" the lieutenant quietly asked his platoon sergeant.

"Accidents will happen, L-T. More than you'd think. You can try to mitigate them, but anytime we do training that we don't do often, something like this is bound to crop up."

"Well, I just don't like seeing our men get hurt."

"War is hell, sir. Men get hurt all the time. In theater, anything you can walk away from is a blessing."


"You think you're gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine. A little shaken up, but I'll be good."

"Anything you can walk away from is a blessing, corporal."

"Yeah, I guess so." The corporal scratched his head. "Veemon."

"Yeah…"

"Veemon!" CPL Ku stood up.

"Ji-woo!" Veemon slid off the chair and ran to the corporal. The corporal kneeled down and hugged him.

"Are you alright?"

"No, I don't like it here."

"Me neither, buddy."

"Alright, then let's get out of here." the lieutenant said. The alarms changed tones, becoming longer, breaking up the heartwarming reunion.

"What's that?" the corporal asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good." The lieutenant looked to his partner, and saw the technician they had captured. "Ask him." He pointed at the man.

"What do the alarms mean?" The corporal walked up to the man. "What do they mean?!" The man fidgeted in discomfort, but stayed silent. Kyubimon growled. The corporal grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "You piece of shit! What do they mean?"

"They mean the portal is open."

"What portal?"

"The one to the real world. The counterattack has begun. We will stand victorious while the American imperialists are crushed along with traitors like yourself!"

"Fuck you, you swine!" The corporal raised the butt of his rifle and struck the man in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down.

"Ku! What the hell?!" The lieutenant grabbed the corporal's rifle as he raised it to strike the man again.

"He deserves it, sir! The bastard deserves it." The corporal lowered his rifle.

"What did he say?"

"He said the counterattack has begun. They opened a portal to the real world." The lieutnenant's eyes widened.

"Where?" he asked. The corporal turned to the man.

"Where?" The man spat at the corporal's feet.

"Where?!" The corporal kicked the man in his shin, the man cried out.

"Corporal! Stop!"

"In the main laboratory."

"Take us there!" CPL Ku turned to 2LT Joseph. "He's going to take us to the portal."

"Alright." The lieutenant turned to the man. "Time to go." He slung his rifle and helped the man up off the ground. "Let's go!"

"Go!" CPL Ku pointed his rifle at the man. The man limped his way out of the door, the rest of the group followed.

"Michael?" Kyubimon whispered to her partner, finally finding an opportunity to speak.

"Yes, Rena— I mean Kyubimon?"

"What are we going to do?' He looked at her with visible confusion. "I mean, when we get to the portal."

"We'll go through it. Hopefully it will take us to the real world."

"Is… I… umm… Will…" She struggled to find words.

"What's wrong?" He stopped and turned to her, looking her in the eyes.

"It's just… I've never been to the real world. I don't know if… I… uh…" She looked down to the floor.

"You're nervous." She blushed

"No, I…" she mumbled.

"Hey, look here." She looked back into his eyes. "You're nervous, aren't you?" She nodded. "That's okay. It's okay to be nervous. I'm nervous, too. I don't know what to expect, I don't know where we'll end up. But that's fine. Do you know why?" She shook her head. "It's fine because we'll be there together. And there's no place I'd rather be than at your side, ready for anything."

"Really?" Tears formed at the base of her eyes.

"Yeah, really." He pulled her in and hugged her tight. Tears fell from her eyes. "I love you, Kyubimon." Kyubimon began to glow brightly, dedigivolving back into Renamon. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in tight.

"I love you too, Michael." she struggled to say, almost to choked up to speak. They pulled back, looking each other in the eyes. Slowly, they brought their heads together. Their eyes closed, their lips touched, parting for one another to share a much more intimate embrace. Their tongues reached out and found one another, the sweet taste of a first kiss. It was as if the whole world dissolved around them, nothing else existed but each other. Their hearts beat together as one.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they released one another. The world slowly came back to them: the sound of sirens, the smell of gunpowder, the bright flashing lights of the alarm system. The lieutenant looked at his partner with sadness in his eyes.

"We have to go."