"So little time left..." Yamaki frowned.

"Indeed." Gorou nodded. "Not a situation that I, or anybody else for that matter, particularly enjoys. So little time left and no way to really prepare for it, beyond, of course, getting ready to prepare."

"There's really nothing we can do?" Aishwarya asked.

"I'm afraid not, Curly." Gorou shook his head, sadly. "I've been spending most of my time learning about the Digital World, about Digimon and DigiGnomes and every other kind of Digital Lifeforms that exist, all in hope that when the D-Reaper comes I'd be able to understand it, and hopefully do something against it, but as far as things go... Well, I guess I'll find out in a week, won't I?"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to share what you found?" Babel asked, oddly hopeful.

"Of course!" Gorou's head shot up. "There isn't any room for half measures against the D-Reaper, and all of us together... Well, we'd stand a much better chance than just me alone." He smirked. "Besides, I know exactly how much you're interested in what I've discovered, Babel."

Babel smiled. "Can you blame me?"

"Guess not." Gorou leaned out of sight for a moment, before coming back up with a small, black box. "Now, let's see if this..." He trailed off, biting his tongue for a moment. He looked at something out of sight, and held the box up. "Do you guys mind carrying this through?"

Several simultaneous chirps came a moment later, four more DigiGnomes appearing inside the frame. "Helping!" "Helping!" "Helping!" "Helping!"

They grabbed the box, and then flew straight at the screen, passing through it, box in hand.

The DigiGnomes deposited the box on one of the tables, and then flew straight at the projected picture, crossing between worlds like there was a portal there.

There wasn't, by the way. It actually was just an image, the DigiGnomes just didn't care about silly things like physics.

"DigiGnomes. Wonderfully helpful creatures." Gorour smiled. "Anyway, that's one of my spare hard drives. It contains a lot of things, but mostly, it's my research notes, discoveries, theories... things like that. It... should be compatible with whatever it is that you're running, but let me know if it isn't. Things can occasionally get jumbled when crossing from side to side. Probably not with the DigiGnomes involved, but hey."

"Crossing from side to side?" Babel asked. "Wait, are you-"

"Your colleague is not in this world." I answered. "He is, as you probably guessed, currently residing within the Digital World."

Gorou nodded. "Bit of a doozy, but once I got used to it, it was pretty nice. The 'getting here' part, not so much, but the 'being here' thing is great."

"Getting there?" Daisy asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," I told Gorou. "But if I'm not mistaken, he was involved in a traffic accident which ended with his body being put in a semi-comatose state, and his consciousness projected across worlds. He has been there for over a decade."

"Hole in one." Gorou gave an odd smile. "I don't particularly have fond memories about the 'getting here' part." His eyes turned to me. "And I must say, you know a lot of things."

"I do." I nodded. "Probably more than I really should."

"Ignoring, for the moment, that what you just said about how his consciousness exists separately of his body and the immense philosophical, religious, and theoretical consequences and implications such a thing would have," Rob began. "How is such a thing even possible?"

"The DigiGnomes did it." Gorou answered, smiling just a bit wider. "Really, a lot of things that seem impossible have explanations that begin and end at 'The DigiGnomes did it'. They are very, very, very powerful creatures. The only reason why their very existence isn't utterly horrifying is because they also have the universal mindset of being as helpful as possible, to the betterment of others. They don't actually seem to be able to use the power they possess to the direct detriment of others, actually, although I'm not sure if that's because they're literally incapable, or if it's just something they refuse to do." He paused, pursing his lips. "Being cute helps too, I suppose."

The DigiGnomes trilled. "We're helping!"

I stared up at the sky, my eyes roaming over the stars.

So little time left.

One week. Seven Days. 168 hours. 10080 minutes. 604800 seconds.

Less than that, actually.

It was... disturbingly little time.

Less than a week before the D-Reaper arrives...

Less than a week before thousands of people die, Human and Digimon alike. Thousands.

At the bare minimum. The casualties could so worryingly easily climb much higher than that.

Attacking major population and network centres all around the world...

No.

Mere thousands would be nothing short of a miracle.

In all likelihood, there would be hundreds of thousands at the minimum.

I refrained from twitching, trying not to disturb the DigiGnome sleeping on my chest, using my body as its pillow. The adorable little thing had zonked right out only an hour or so ago, and I didn't have the heart to wake it up.

...

Oh, wow. That was a terrible fucking pun and it wasn't even intentional.

Nor-

shudder

I paused.

I cradled the DigiGnome against my chest as I sat up, depositing it inside a suddenly-existing pocket.

My head turned to the side, my eyes narrowed.

There, in the park, where Vikaralamon had been deleted, a Digimon was crossing over.

Exactly where Vikaralamon had been deleted.

Hmm.

I took a step, and promptly appeared inside the Digital Field, staring directly at the bio-emerging Di-

Antylamon.

Why the fuck is Antylamon here?!

"Another Deva..." I spoke out loud.

The thin, tall, humanoid bunny Digimon turned around, two red eyes regarding me with dispassionate interest.

"You are the entity that has expressed knowledge of the D-Reaper." Antylamon stated.

"I am." I answered.

How did they know about-

Indramon.

He must have let that information pass on.

"What of it?"

"I come on behalf of Sovereign Azulongmon." Ho? "My Lord requests your presence in an audience."

What.

What?