Here's another chapter!

This one's kinda short compared to others because we're using it as just a little bridge between points, but we DO use it to explore some decently important information.

You'll see what I mean soon enough.

Chilling Mysteries and Strange Revelations

When Oren agreed to join the Chosen Children, he was expecting a lot of things. Intricate plans to save the Digital World, knowledge of things that happen in Remnant that he might not have been aware of, or even a cross country tour to basically try and make the world a better place. The rabbit hole they'd revealed to him though...oh boy…

"So just to make sure I understand, there was once an entire civilization of humanity long ago, but because some crazy woman couldn't respect something as simple as 'the dead are supposed to be allowed to rest', and the so-called Brother Gods were apparently fallible enough to be fooled by some nice words...that entire civilization got wiped out, and because of even more shenanigans she's basically decided to make Remnant worse at every step she can. Does that about sum it all up?" Oren frowned.

"You forgot the part where Ozpin's soul is inside Oscar's head, but besides that, yeah, that's everything." Gyro said with an amused smirk.

"I think we were trying to not think too much on that part." Lopmon sighed.

"Yeah, that one's a bit much honestly." Terriermon added.

"I don't know whether to thank you for making it clear how much more work Remnant needs to become better, or wish I could go back to not knowing how much it seems our world was a Cosmic Plaything," Oren groaned.

"Hey, just be glad we actually HAVE a possible solution to the immortality problem," Pierce snorted.

"Yes, in most situations that WOULD be the biggest issue, even if strictly speaking one wouldn't need to KILL someone to be rid of them," Oren sighed.

"Yeah, good thing Patamon can just open up a Heaven's Gate and we can chuck her through it." Agumon said. He was very glad they'd figured out that part of the plan.

"So...what happens now? As much as I'd like to take back my Kingdom, or at the very least stop my evil twin from abusing it, clearly the situation on this side can't be ignored either," he asked.

"For now? We're gonna meet up with Lionheart. Gotta set the stage for our eventual trap," Blake said.

"At the same time, we should probably work on seeing if we can find out more about Nero. Maybe we can find a clue about what he's after if we find out about him," Weiss frowned.

"In that case, I think we discussed this last time, but some of us should certainly stay here to handle that." Tentomon said.

"Yeah, we talked about it, about half of us staying here to make him think there's not that many of us." Gabumon nodded.

"And the more uninformed we can keep him and by extension Salem, the more we can tear this all apart when the time is right," Yang smirked a bit.

"You're all really looking forward to that huh?" Oren asked with a sweatdrop.

"You have NO idea." Ruby said "She's literally trying to ruin the world because she's an overgrown child throwing a temper tantrum and she doesn't have her dad around to spank her."

"I would appreciate if you stopped comparing the world's issues to that please." Ozpin sighed as he took over Oscar just to say that.

"Don't count on that happening." Gomamon snorted.

Ozpin sighed, before letting Oscar take over again. "Yeah...all things considered I can see why he feels that way about how you're all treating this whole thing," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Well we ARE taking it seriously, but at the same time...when you've survived fighting against Ultimates...yeah…" Jaune sweat dropped.

"Let's just...decide who goes where for now," Qrow sighed.

"With everything going on I think it's safer if I stay here for now. I'll come home as soon as I can. Love you both," Oren said, ending the call he was making, to which he turned to the others, which consisted of Weiss, Ren, Blake, Aile, Pierce and Penny along with their partners...and saw them all blinking in surprise. "...what?"

"Uh...I think I speak for all of us when I ask how you told that to your parents with a straight face?" Pierce asked bewildered.

"Oh that? They've always known about the Digital World and me being the Digimon King," Oren shrugged.

"...and they're okay with that?" Blake blinked.

"Well…" Oren mused. "I guess you could say on some things mom and dad are a little TOO mellow," he chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, they barely batted an eye when two 'stuffed animals' helped themselves to some cookies," Terriermon laughed.

The group blinked slowly at him, before letting out sighs "And to think we were keeping so much stuff secret at the start." Patamon said.

"Well, nothing we can do about it." Wormmon said, shaking his head "For now we should try to find out as much as we can about Nero."

"Right. So, first things first, Oren, you have a birth certificate, right?" Weiss turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

Oren was silent for a moment "Uh… sort of?"

"And our job just got 10 times harder." Veemon sighed "Explain please."

"I was kind of… left at my parents' doorstep as a newborn." he explained with a shrug.

"Yeah, then after that they went and got everything registered, and the doctor was able to guess how many days old he was so they made him a birth certificate, just, you know, a very late one." Terriermon said.

"His parents told us the story a while back." Lopmon added with a shrug.

"...suddenly I'm not surprised your brother grew up into a psychopath," Aile said dryly.

Oren coughed a bit at that one. "I suppose I did dodge the bullet...assuming parenting was indeed a major part of why Nero ended up the way he is."

"Hm...perhaps we should try seeing if we can't find Nero's birth certificate. I mean...if Oren was just left on a doorstep, then maybe Nero lived at least in the same Kingdom, or was at least born there," Ren suggested.

"And I DO feel Nero is his name," Oren frowned. "He seemed to enjoy the irony that our names are functionally the reverse of each other."

"Okay, so look to see if we can't find someone named Nero born about 18 years ago, in Vale," Weiss frowned, working on getting access to the records. Eventually… "Got it. We have…" she started before her face fell.

Tentomon looked over her shoulder and gulped a bit. "Oh wow...there's a hundred hits…"

"Try specifying to Faunus," Blake suggested, which Weiss did.

"...that leaves 52 hits," Weiss said dryly.

"Okay, how about specifying to Wolf Faunus?" Oren suggested.

"The 52 ARE Wolf Faunuses," Weiss corrected. "Yes, there are 52 people born roughly in the same time frame, all named Nero and all are Wolf Faunuses."

"...how does that even happen?" Hawkmon blinked in surprise.

"I have NO idea." Weiss said with a twitching eyebrow.

"Alright, let's add my birthday then. I was born on June 1st." Oren said.

"Hopefully that narrows it down." Weiss muttered as she entered it, letting out a sigh of relief "Alright, three hits, that's a lot easier now, all in different hospitals too."

"Okay, let's bring them all up then," Patamon said, to which Weiss did just that.

Looking at pictures of each of them, the answer soon became clear...because of images of them that appeared later in life. "There he is," Oren said.

"Nero Colere?" Penny read the file with a raised eyebrow.

Pierce sighed "You've got to be kidding me with that name… that means Black Anger, a french term that describes a murderous rage."

"Not to mention Oren's adoptive name. Doesn't it mean 'Joyful' in that same language you told us?" Weiss frowned.

"It does. Seriously, it's like you two were BORN to be enemies or something…" Pierce said dryly.

"That's not a very comforting thought…" Oren frowned.

"Whether this is just a coincidence or not, the fact still remains he's openly stated himself to be our enemy," Lopmon frowned. "Now that we have his full name, do you think we can find his records?"

"Already working on it," Weiss said, but as she fished out information… "Oh my…"

"Oh my is a...very apt...way of putting it," Blake frowned. "Records of getting into fights at a young age, problematic behavior, signs of being brilliant but lazy…" she frowned as she went through the files.

"Yeah… that's the mild stuff." Weiss said with a wince as she scrolled down.

"Oh… gang activity… actual crimes too like robbery, arson, grand theft auto… and of course jaywalking is in there for the hell of it." Pierce finished with a sigh.

"...what kind of upbringing did he have?" Aile asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"I'll check," Weiss said, sounding a little unsure, but when she did… "...yes Oren, you DID dodge the bullet," she groaned.

Oren had to see this now. And when he did… "...yes, I really did," he said dryly. "A history of alcoholism, gambling and debts, violence, and more than a few arrests on their record…"

"I… I don't even have the right words for this." Ren said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"I bet even if they HAD kept you things wouldn't have been that better." Aile added.

"...I think I'll just be glad that I was adopted by my REAL parents," Oren said after a moment.

"Yang would agree with you fully on that one," Wormmon said.

"And trust me when I say biological family can be VERY overrated," Weiss sighed.

"Yeah...you'd know about that," Oren sweat dropped.

"Just keep smiling," Gyro reminded himself...and a little to the others.

"Easier said than done, but we did it well enough with Cinder's group," Yang said dryly.

"It's only because we have a plan that I'm staying calm. That and we actually managed to save a good chunk of the people he would have killed," Qrow growled.

"As much as we both want to put him in cuffs now Qrow, we need to keep playing our part." Ozpin said "We need him to think us fools so Cinder can be lured here, along with the rest of her group so we can capture them as we already did Hazel." he said, before looking to Gyro "As well, I'm glad you DID choose to capture most of them rather than execute."

"Well, if Cinder forces our hand, she WILL die, I'll make that clear. But the others? Yeah, we'll aim to catch them so they can serve their time in jail. They can outright rot in there." Gyro said with a frown.

Ozpin sighed "I understand. I'm just glad killing isn't your knee-jerk reaction."

"We had a LOT of therapy from Gennai." Jaune sighed "Speaking of him, I hope he's gonna be fine back in the Digital World."

"He DID say that Yggdrasil was working on trying to restore his Order, so with all of them there, they can try to gather information on what Nero's ground forces are doing for us, at the very least." Pyrrha said.

"The more help we can get the better," Huckmon frowned.

"For now, let's deal with the issues that are in front of us," Ruby sighed, earning nods of agreement.

"Let me do the talking first. Even if you got a handle on the situation, Leo's still more likely to talk to me," Qrow said as they soon entered Haven and made their way to where the Headmaster's Office was.

"Looks like he sent the students away on break at least." Agumon noticed as he looked around.

"That's good, less chances of someone getting accidentally hurt in the crossfire." Bemmon nodded sagely.

"Indeed." Ozpin said, before looking ahead "There's the office." he pointed out one of the buildings with his cane, before giving control back to Oscar, who collapsed the cane and hid it in his coat for now.

"Alright… everybody act natural… or, I guess casual would be a better way of putting it." Gyro said.

"Yeah… we'd jump him with natural." Keenan chuckled.

"Pffft...yeah, after surviving the Digital World under the control of evil Digimon, attacking the bad guy IS natural for us," Nora snorted.

"So yeah, casual it is," Salamon chuckled.

The group soon made their way through the empty hallways. "Creepy as heck when nobody is around," Agumon noted.

"Well...not nobody," Palmon said, noting some people WERE present, which was a change from canon, but not one that should change things much.

"Either some people wouldn't accept randomly leaving, or he's playing his ruse more smartly. Not sure which is better," Gyro frowned a bit.

"Won't change too much, but it is something to consider," Ruby frowned.

"Let's save figuring out the full changes for after we meet Leo," Qrow said, earning a few nods as they kept walking, and eventually reached the Headmaster's office. Without hesitation, Qrow pushed it open.

Standing right on the other side of the door was Leonardo Lionheart himself… though the group noted that he seemed a bit paler than usual for some reason, looking at them in surprise "Qrow? I didn't expect you here until a few more hours."

Qrow made an effort to shrug nonchalantly "We got here early."

"You should have told me then, I'd have at least been able to prepare something a bit more proper for a welcome," Lionheart said...notably NOT acting like the coward that was depicted in their information. "So...what can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, maybe you could start by telling us why there's so little staff at the school. You know we need plenty of people to guard the relics." Qrow said.

Lionheart gave him a surprised look, before looking at the teens behind Qrow "Qrow, you know that's secret."

"They already know everything. I filled them in." Qrow countered.

"You filled students in?" Lionheart asked him incredulously.

"Trust me, they can handle it." Qrow said.

"We're a lot stronger than you think." Gyro added simply.

"I see…" Lionheart said slowly, looking the group over "Well… come inside then, I suppose." he said, stepping back into his office.

The group walked in, though they all had their guard up. Things were...different...yet that didn't mean they'd change enough to relax by any means.

"So...if you're answering questions I guess the first thing would be asking how and why some of HER followers were posing as students from Haven," Qrow started.

"I've looked into that. It seems they were able to hack into the database and added themselves into the roster shortly before going to Beacon. I was not personally overseeing the exchange program, so they probably slipped in at that time," Lionheart said with a frown. "I'm just glad that for all their efforts, their plans were mostly thwarted."

"Yeah… we can thank those Foretellers for getting in their way and raining on their parade." Qrow said, playing the fool.

"Indeed." Lionheart nodded "So, you said you told these students about the relics? I assume that means you mentioned how the Maidens were involved?"

"Yeah. Each Maiden unlocks a Vault… except for Vale, you need all four to open that one." Qrow said.

"And nobody knows where the Spring Maiden is, yeah?" Jaune checked.

Lionheart sighed "Not a single clue. The same is true for the Summer Maiden actually, all we know is that she's most likely somewhere in Vacuo."

"Well, hey, that's good, yeah? If WE don't know, then what are the odds THEY'LL ever find out?" Nora pointed out.

"A good point young lady." Lionheart nodded "As it stands, we know she has Fall in her hands, and that Winter is safe in Atlas, under constant protection and guard by James."

"So even if she gets to Winter somehow, she can't get all the relics, just Creation." Rusty added.

"And even then I'm pretty sure only Ozpin knew how to use them, yeah?" Gyro checked.

Lionheart nodded "Yes, he didn't want to risk the information accidentally spreading. Until we find his next incarnation, there's not much we can do on that front though."

Thankfully, he didn't notice Oscar shuffle his feet a bit before Huckmon nudged him to calm him down.

"If they're so dangerous, can't really blame him. Still, with everything going on, there's gotta be something we can do," Ruby frowned. "Something we can do to strengthen the defenses for if/when whoever Salem sends comes to try and do what they almost did to Beacon."

"I'd like that, but there's actually not much I can do until I convince the council that I need Hunters at the school without revealing everything to them." Lionheart said with a sigh.

"So you're telling us to just sit here and wait?" Qrow frowned.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," Lionheart said, seemingly annoyed. "Even with the fact we avoided the worst in Beacon, the fact remains the world saw the chaos, and everyone has been afraid since then. If something like that nearly happened in Vale, then what happens if something similar happens in the other Kingdoms?"

"Things would get pretty bad." Agumon summed up simply.

"That's putting it mildly." Biyomon added with a sigh.

"Yes." Lionheart sighed "That's why instead Hunters are spread out all over the kingdom."

"And thus your forces are spread thin." Gyro said, though he kept it to himself, that that was probably something Lionheart wanted.

"So while I appreciate you all coming all the way here, I'm afraid there's very little you can actually do at this point in time," Lionheart said.

"Right…" Qrow said with a frown "Guess we'll head back then. Let us know when the situation changes." he said, before the group slowly filed out of Lionheart's office.

Once they were gone and the door was closed, Lionheart felt something in the back of his head, something he'd been feeling for the last few months now "What is it?"

'The Chosen of Love… and the boy with the green coat… something about those two… they both felt like they were hiding some kind of energy within themselves.'

Lionheart hummed at that, eyes narrowing in thought as he looked at the now closed door.

A short while later saw everyone gathered in their temporary base, both teams sharing what they'd found or managed to do so far.

"Well, at least you all found something," Gyro sighed. "Even if the fact that we might be dealing with a legit psychopath with control over an entire Kingdom's worth of brainwashed slaves...is pretty damn scary."

"I wouldn't sell what you all found short either," Pierce frowned. "I mean, obviously we were expecting things changing, but something seemed pretty off about Lionheart."

"In short, we've got things to consider on both sides," Rusty sighed. "So...which do we work on first?"

"Well...the situation here will be something we'll have to work on bit by bit, so I guess we should see what we can do against Nero first," Jaune frowned.

"It's our best option at this point, since we can't do anything here until Cinder arrives with her cronies. Though we could TRY to interrogate Hazel I guess since we've got him locked up in a cell down below." Gyro said thoughtfully.

Just as he thought that however, it seemed something else decided to happen, as the computer screen started to glow.

... With something slowly starting to push out of it.

Dun Dun DUUUUUUN!

Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves with the cliffhanger ending.

You won't be left hanging for long though.

As for everything else:

Nero... yeah, he's basically just an outright bastard.

And Lionheart... well, I think some of you may be guessing what's going on there, but for the sake of keeping it quiet, don't say it in reviews if you DID figure it out, for those who still don't get it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, because...

The Adventure Evolves