Digimon: Symbiosis (Remastered)

by Dragon Champion Zero

Everything changed the night the sky lit up. Now, with everything in two worlds laying on the line, they'll have to join together to survive and overcome - in the most literal sense possible.

14. Chapter 14: The Unyielding Thunder

Do so love when it doesn't let me upload a document because of a buggy security system. REALLY love it. Finally here, though!

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Chapter 14 - The Unyielding Thunder

—

"WOO! We kicked ass out there! Jetdramon is awesome!" Breezedramon was as excited as he'd ever been as he swooped into the open window.

"Breezedramon, I know you're excited, but for the love of all that's good and wholesome, PLEASE keep it down," groaned Skylar. "I swear, how you haven't been caught by everyone half a dozen times over…"

"Sorry, Sky, it's just such a rush! It's been too long since I felt the thrill of evolution! Getting powerful enough to anhigalitalimantilate your enemies, move around like speed itself…man, you don't know what you're missing until it's gone!"

"I never actually had it, so I wouldn't know. Can't deny it was pretty spectagulatar, though. Uh…" Skylar blinked, it felt like there was something he was forgetting or not noticing. "…Was I…supposed to be doing something back here?"

"Whaddaya mean?" asked Breezedramon.

"Just…sorry, feels like I'm forgetting something…ah! That's right! Benny found us out there, I wanted to see if he made it back all right!" Skylar wasn't sure that was what it was, but it was as good as anything. "Stay quiet in here, okay? I'd have you come with but he squeals every time he sees you."

"Yeah, sheesh, ever thought about a mouth plug for the kid?"

"Oh, man, if I could…" Skylar slipped out of the bedroom, keeping his eyes peeled for his parents or sister. More in case Benny didn't come back than anything else…if he was still out there, then Skylar wanted to go searching for him ASAP without any questions, because they'd all be furious at him. Not like I asked him to follow me, but they all seem to think I have to be responsible for him constantly…I mean, I guess I SHOULD be, but I kind of have my hands full saving them all from certain death and whatnot.

Benny's door was cracked open, so he made sure to push slowly, getting thankfully almost no sound from it. The first little push made it clear that Benny was sleeping on his bed, setting Skylar's mind at ease…and then when he opened a little wider, that ease vanished quite rapidly, as he suddenly became aware that Benny was not the ONLY one sleeping on Benny's bed.

…Breezedramon?

Oy! Skylar, what's up?

…Don't panic, and don't go nuts on me.

Sky, those are words that make me very disconbercentaninated.

I just don't want you to flip out when I tell you there's a Dorumon sleeping on Benny's bed.

"WHAT?!" Skylar winced as Breezedramon went from thought to voice far too quickly, and suddenly he heard the dragon scrambling out of his bedroom and flapping into view. "Oh, HELL no!"

The voice and commotion woke Dorumon up, the confused creature's eyes opening just in time to see Breezedramon swooping at her. "Wha-YAH!" She grabbed on as she was tackled, Breezedramon taking her off the bed and to the floor. There was a brief scrap between the two of them before Breezedramon was tossed away, though he landed on his feet, glaring down the Dorumon whose fangs were bared. "You! Idiot goofball dramon!"

"I won't let you touch a hair on his head!" Breezedramon hissed back.

"For god's sake, BE QUIET!" Both digimon were a bit rattled at Skylar's almost shouted whisper. "The whole house is gonna figure out you two are here!"

"Wha…" Of course, all the noise woke Benny up, who yawned and looked around sleepily. "Sky? Breezy? Doru? What's all going on?"

"…DORU?!" Skylar and Breezedramon looked back and forth between Benny and Dorumon, the latter of which was looking away in nervous embarrassment.

"Yeah! I found her today when you told me to go home, I kinda tripped over her! Oh, oh, I forgot! I wanted to get something! Just a moment!" Benny hopped off the bed and rushed out, utterly oblivious to everything that had been going on.

"…Well, well, well…" Breezedramon was giving Dorumon an evil grin. "For someone who was all set to turn us into dust for defending the humans, you sure as heck changed your tune pretty quickly, didn't you?"

"Go to hell!" Dorumon spat back. "I'm no lap dragon like you are! I'm just…you know…I need a place to lay low!"

"Right, and you just happened to decide to follow a little kid home."

"Screw you! It's not like that! I'm not some pet like you, you're practically domesticated!"

"I'm not domessicantorterateted! We just tore apart a bunch of guys out there! You're lucky I don't do the same to you!"

"I, ah…take it you two have met?" interrupted Skylar.

Breezedramon nodded. "Yeah, we did! She's one of that bunch that was with Shadowdramon and Crestmon! That nasty little hunting pack we scattered!"

"We'd've been just fine if we'd been able to evolve!" hissed Dorumon. "You just got lucky!"

"Lucky or not, you still have some explaining to do," stated Skylar. "You apparently attacked my friend here, which doesn't put me on great terms with you, but he can fight his own battles just fine. But…" the human leaned down, his glasses taking on a menacing glare that even made Dorumon flinch. "If you have even the slightest of malicious intent towards my little brother, then there won't be enough left of you for Breezedramon to kick around."

"Okay, okay, okay! Jeez, chill the hell out! Look, I…I'm not here to give the kid any trouble! I mean it, I was looking for a place to lie low, and he was right, he tripped over me, and then…jeez, how the hell does a little tiny human like that latch on so tight? And that squeal in my ears! And…well, he's just a little kid, clearly, he's not even a threat, why should I attack him?"

"Ah, I get it now." Skylar straightened up, grinning a bit. "You've got Cute Kid Syndrome. You're attached already, and as much as you don't want to be, you love the attention you get from him."

"I'm not attached! I'm not a pet! I'm just-"

"Found it!" Benny suddenly rushed back in, almost tackling Dorumon. The furry creature protested and squirmed a bit, but it didn't deter Benny at all, and before she knew it, Dorumon was hanging her head low, face burning bright enough to see through her fur as she had a giant bow tied around her neck. "Yay! It's so cuuuuuute! It looks perfect on you!"

Breezedramon couldn't help it - supposed to be quiet or not, he busted out in laughter, rolling on the floor as Dorumon was cuddled and snuggled by the boy. And, noticeably, despite her clear embarrassment, making no effort to really get away from him. Skylar was doing his best not to laugh, but the temptation was there for him, too. "Okay…well. This is more complicated than I was ready for. Benny, PLEASE tell me no one else knows about this."

"Big Sis does! She was the one who said Doru could come back with me as long as she was good!"

Skylar's blood ran cold at that. "…Benny. PLEASE tell me you're not saying Kirsten was out there at the same time you were."

"She was!" Benny exclaimed. "She and another girl were out there!"

"Wait…" Breezedramon's mirth had abated enough for the implications to register. "If she was out there…and right near us…"

"…If we weren't around Benny right now, I'd say exactly what I was thinking," finished Skylar. "Guh…we need to go talk to Kirsten."

"She left again," Benny said, looking up at Skylar innocently. "I got the bow from her room! But she's not in there."

"Oh, great. If she's not in here, then where is she?"

"Hopefully NOT going to tell everyone about us," Breezedramon said nervously. "And then who's the other girl?"

—

"They're actually letting Dad come home?" asked Reyn. "I thought it'd be chaos over there after those Airdramon came in."

Minerva nodded. "Hospital rules, he's been in too much lately. But he says it's not as much chaos as they thought, either, your friends took care of those creatures before they caused any real damage."

"Good thing they're on the ball quickly," remarked Salmandmon as he swallowed down the last bites of his third sandwich. "And lucky for us that Airdramon have no subtlety whatsoever. And not much in the way of smarts, either."

"Hey! Are you talking about me?" Wally had just entered, looking rather sour.

"Why? Did you want me to be?"

"Oh, can it." Reyn suppressed a snicker as Wally went to the fridge, grabbing a soda out. As he closed the door, he noticed Cayden, who was standing in front of the counter looking out the window. "What're you staring at out there, little dude? Better be careful, your eyes are gonna pop out of your head!"

Salmandmon let out an amused snort. "Guess biology wasn't your best subject."

Wally whipped his head around to glare at Salmandmon. "Okay, I'm getting REALLY tired of your yapping, you little freak creature! You forget which one of us is the bigger guy, here, huh?"

Another snort, much more derisive this time. "You seriously think you scare me even the slightest bit? I've faced down creatures more threatening than a thousand of you could ever dream of being, and WON. You're not even close to as tough as you think you are."

"Oh, you don't wanna try me! I could kick your ass from here to New York City!"

"You would get torched before you could lay a finger on him," Reyn said, rolling his eyes at his brother's brashness. "Do you really wanna be that guy that tried to bully something that could lay waste to him without a second thought?"

Wally rounded on Reyn, looking daggers at him. "Shut up, Reyn! I'm getting so sick of you, too! You and that creep and this whole freaky combining together business and everything being about you! You're not that special and you're not that important, and I wish you'd just go away for once!"

"Wallace Kessilik!" Minerva snapped harshly. "That was entirely uncalled for! Apologize!"

"Feh! Of course you take his side! Just like you always do!" He stomped out of the kitchen, Minerva heading off after him, no doubt to tell him off.

Salmandmon gave Reyn a confused look. "I really was just trying to make a joke…am I missing something?"

Reyn shook his head. "Not your fault. He's been way more irritable than usual lately…even what he said to me there is beyond what he'd ever normally say, even if I think he was thinking it. I think maybe this whole business is getting to him more than he's letting on…I guess we should probably try to avoid poking at him, though. I mean, I've got no problem making a few playful jokes, but it doesn't feel good when he's actually angry like this."

"Yeah. But it's getting on my nerves, too. Like, he should have a little respect for you. What you're doing is huge, answering a call way bigger than what you should have to, and he can't get over personal gripes?"

"I don't know, I'd like to figure out what's really eating at him, but we've got too much to think about right now." Reyn looked over at Cayden, who was still engrossed with something outside. "Uh, Cay, do you…see something out there?"

"I don't know…I thought I saw some bushes rustling out across the street."

Both Reyn and Salmandmon stood at alert. "You think it's a digimon?" asked Salmandmon.

"After Skullsatamon, I'm taking no chances," Reyn declared. "Let's go check it out."

"Right!" Salmandmon rushed to the door, holding it open for Reyn's much slower approach. "C'mon, get a move on, slowpoke! All that exercise is supposed to have been getting you in shape!"

"That's great, Salmandmon, let them all know we're coming out," Reyn replied, rolling his eyes. "I didn't realize we were trying to go for a higher degree of difficulty in monster combat."

"Snark."

"Hothead."

"And don't you forget it!" Salmandmon seemed plenty geared up for a fight, hopping around as they made their way towards a bush line across the street. The house there was empty, the residents having left until things had settled back down in the city - something that Reyn was rather surprised wasn't a more common decision. Perhaps some people had no real place to go, but more often it seemed like they were too stubborn to leave. It made things a little less convenient for them, more people staying meant more eyes that could spot them, but at least one of the nearest sets had split.

They saw the mentioned rustling as they got close. Okay, there's definitely something here, but can't tell if it's a digimon or something else, Salmandmon pathed.

Just seems like that means they'll be in for a nasty surprise.

Or we will. Be careful. They were on the far side of the road, just about to reach grass when suddenly something leapt out from the bushes, landing in front of them. And both of them immediately recognized it. "Talomon!"

"I'm not…gonna let you…take me down!" the raptor digimon hissed. It was heaving hard, looked like it was pretty beat up, but still was brandishing claws and fangs.

"I owe you for those gashes you left in my stomach," hissed Salmandmon. "Maybe now's a good time to pay you back, with interest!"

"Come near me and I'll give you a repeat!"

"All right, then." Salmandmon stayed in place, raising his hand. Talomon didn't notice what was going on until the heat had built to his side. "Blast Point!" The burst of heat threw Talomon to Reyn's left, sending him skidding along the grass. He growled and hacked, but stayed on his back, twitching.

"Hah, not so tough when he's the only one there, is he?" Salmandmon remarked with some satisfaction.

"Wild guess, but I think someone might've gotten to him before you did," observed Reyn.

"Oh, sure, downplay my enormous victory. I thought we were friends!"

"All right, all right." Reyn grinned in spite of himself. "We need to deal with Talomon, though. Or we need to give him a chance to go back, at least."

"Ah, fine." Salmandmon shrugged. "Guess we should-WHOA!" The brief bit of repartee had given Talomon time to recover, and he had stood up and lunged at them, jaws open and claws brandished.

Without even thinking about it, Reyn launched himself into a full-body tackle, slamming his larger body into Talomon shoulder-first, winding the raptor, and throwing him both down onto the grass again. He put his weight down on the reptile's limbs, keeping him pinned. "Sal! Grab some rope from the garage!"

"Ah! Right!" Salmandmon hurried back across the road, making his way to the Kessilik's garage. He was still in a bit of a whirl from what had just happened - namely, Reyn directly engaging an enemy digimon. He'd never expected the human to do that, especially considering what had happened the last time they'd encountered Talomon and his crew; it was much more dangerous for him to do so than Salmandmon himself and unless they were merged he had expected to be on protection duty all the time. Part of him wanted to tell the human off for being reckless…and yet, how could he not be impressed at the boldness? Sure, Talomon was quite a bit smaller, but still a serious threat.

The rope was easily located and retrieved, and as soon as Salmandmon was back, they went to work tying Talomon up. Mindful of the raptor's sharp implements on every limb, they made sure to thoroughly bind his wrists in front of him and his legs together, as well as tying his snout shut. Talomon didn't put up much resistance - he wasn't out cold, but there wasn't much fight left in him after the tackle.

Once he was secure, Reyn got off of Talomon, only to grab him by the neck and lift him up, making Talomon's eyes bulge out a bit. "Right…that was a sneaky little trick there, and if you thought that was a good idea, I'm gonna have to make you think again. You might not've gotten me before, but I still take it personally when you attack my friends. Lucky you, I'm merciful, right, Sal?" No response, making Reyn lose his focus and look down; the lizard was staring at him in awe. "…What?"

"You! Reyn! You're holding that guy up with one arm!"

"I…am?" Reyn did a double-take; he hadn't even realized it, but indeed, Talomon was suspended in the air only by the hand on his throat. And, what really started to sink in was that it wasn't even that hard. "Wait…how am I doing that?"

"That's what I wanna know!" exclaimed Salmandmon. "Wasn't that long ago you were struggling to carry me with both! And you just did that tackle, too…Reyn, you're getting stronger!"

"Whoa…well, I can't say that it wouldn't be a good thing, all things considered, but…weird that I don't really look or feel that different, doesn't it?"

"Well, maybe it's just because I'm pushing you to work out more! Didn't I tell you all that exercise would be good for you?"

Reyn smirked a bit. "Yeah, I'm sure you're forcing me to do a few minor exercises here and there is really having that much of an impact. Shouldn't we be focused on Talomon?"

"Oh, yeah, right." Salmandmon shook his head and looked up at the weakly squirming dino. "Okay, bud, here's how we roll. You want to go back? We're gonna let you go back - provided you ditch Emperius for good and stop going after people like evil monsters. You gonna go quietly?"

Movement from Talomon. It was hard to tell, but it looked like he was shaking his head no.

"…Well, that's too bad. Looks like we're gonna have to get tough with you. Maybe we're not supposed to kill you, but I could give you a few nasty burn scars in payback for your trying to kill me. Maybe that'll teach you a lesson…"

"Salmandmon…" Reyn was trying to voice his disapproval, but Talomon thrashed a bit in his hand, frantically trying to shake his head and protest. "Hm. I think he's trying to tell us something."

"I'm not unbinding his jaw while you're holding him."

"Wasn't thinking that either. Could we tie him to a tree?"

"That should work. He doesn't have any range beyond his mouth, so if we're away a bit we should be fine." Salmandmon hurried to the garage for more rope while Reyn brought him back across the street to their yard, his eyes lingering on the patch of sickly brown grass where Skullsatamon's attack had hit. Talomon may not have been as much of a threat, but someone this close to his house, he had to take that personally…too many people were counting on him to keep them safe.

Once they had what they needed, they made quick work of the job. Talomon was pushed against a tree, and the rope was tied around him a few times, keeping him securely in place; Salmandmon made sure one loop went around the raptor's neck, limiting how much he could move his head so that he couldn't chew through any of his bonds. Only when they were certain he wasn't going anywhere did Salmandmon carefully approach the rope binding Talomon's mouth. "Bite, and I'll make you WISH I'd kill you," the lizard warned as he loosened the rope; Talomon's eyes spiked with fear, and he kept his jaw tightly shut until Salmandmon was farther away. "Right, then. Reconsidering your refusal?"

"I…I…can't…" Talomon was heaving even harder now, looking to be in considerable pain, unable to get more than a few words out at a time. "I…I tried to already…and…it didn't work…"

"Didn't work?" Reyn asked. "Oh, wait, that's right…that's the same thing that happened with Shadowdramon and Crestmon, isn't it?"

"Oh…right." Salmandmon huffed a bit, a touch annoyed with himself for not thinking that. Jeez, now I probably sound a bit TOO nasty. "So you can't go back, then. Great. Why didn't you go hunt someone down to take you back, then?"

"I…was trying to. I…couldn't find…anyone…"

"Seriously? I thought for sure there were digimon popping through and then leaving without us seeing them." Reyn rubbed his head. "You just couldn't find them, and none of the ones we found survived long enough to take you?"

"Yeah…" Talomon glowered a little. "So it's your fault."

"So sorry for trying to defend our world from psychopaths trying to kill us. No one asked you to come after us, you know. And you haven't done a bang-up job of proving yourself, clearly."

"Pah…that's none of…your business. Don't think…just because…you caught me…when I wasn't…at my best…means you're…ready for anything. You don't…know a thing about…what you…haah, might be up against."

"Actually, he's well aware of it," remarked Salmandmon tersely. "Even if I wasn't telling him, he's been seeing into our world for years. And even if he wasn't seeing into our world, it wasn't that long ago that we obliterated Skullsatamon after he decided to try to attack us."

Talomon's eyes widened. "You…no way. Sk…Skullsatamon? That menace? He's…"

"Some of us might be a little tougher than you thought, huh?" Reyn knew he couldn't really gloat about that as a personal victory, but Talomon didn't have to know that. "Right, then. If you can't go back, then we're gonna have to bring you to jail. We've already got a couple of your buddies in there, so at least you'll have company."

"Tch…you could just…let me go…and I promise I won't…dice you to ribbons…"

"He's a bold one," remarked Salmandmon. "Stupid, but bold. We're gonna have to talk with Isaac, aren't we?"

"He's got bindings ready for the ones we didn't catch," said Reyn. "Maybe if we tell him it's an emergency he won't be late getting them to us."

"Pfft. And you get on our case for making cracks about it."

"I'm not making a crack, it's a legit thought. I'm well aware Isaac's got, uh, punctuality issues, I just don't like everyone razzing him for it constantly, it doesn't help anything."

"Eh, I think a good razzing can-" Salmandmon didn't finish his thought, though, as he was caught off-guard by a sudden rush of footsteps. Cayden blew right past the two of them, kneeling down in front of Talomon with stars in his eyes. "Ack! Get away from him!"

"Cayden!" Reyn snapped. "Stay back! He's dangerous!"

"Whoa…so cool…" Cayden wasn't listening, just staring starry-eyed at Talomon.

Which, apparently, was making the previously-menacing dinosaur oddly uncomfortable. "Ngh…back off, kid…I bite…"

"Bite him and I'll make you wish Salmandmon would make you wish he'd kill you," warned Reyn.

"Well, get him…away from me…" Talomon tried to jerk away in his bonds, sliding against the tree a bit - then let out a sharp cry and slumped down, breathing even harder. "Ngh…agh…haagh…"

"What the heck was that?" asked Salmandmon.

"REYN! HE'S BLEEDING!" Cayden's terrified squeal suddenly got both their attentions. They rushed over, and noticed a rather large amount of blood on the trunk of the tree and staining the ground where Talomon was sitting.

"Holy crap! Where the hell did all this blood come from?" Salmandmon hurriedly undid part of the rope, then recoiled as the raptor slumped forward - three large gashes were clawed into Talomon's back, all of which looked like they'd partly healed and been reopened again. "Gah! I never saw this!"

"We were focused on him threatening us, I wasn't even thinking about how badly he might be hurt!" Reyn exclaimed. "We gotta get him inside!"

Salmandmon jerked his head up at Reyn. "Wh-you want to RESCUE him?!"

"We gotta!" cried Cayden, jumping up and rushing back to the house. "Mom! MOM!"

"Oh, for crying out loud…gah, now we gotta do the noble thing, I guess…"

"Less decrying, more untying," Reyn insisted. "I don't care if he's a jerk, he's at our mercy so he still deserves to be treated humanely. What happens to him afterwards is for the future to decide."

"Rrrf. Your dad's creed, I remember that…" And as much as it didn't seem wise, one that he'd never been able to convince himself not to practice…now he just needed to hope that it wouldn't come back to literally bite them.

—

It took Elecmon several moments to even realize that he WAS awake, and in fact even capable of being awake. Somehow, he'd been so certain of his demise just before going under that it took effort to convince his brain that, yes, he was in fact still alive. Though, locked up in an unknown location, arms and legs cuffed together, and with a pounding headache was not the best form of alive, and didn't fill him with the utmost confidence that he would remain that way.

"Oh, good, you're finally coming around." Elecmon jerked his head towards the voice, and immediately wished he hadn't, as the pain redoubled briefly, and only slowly ebbed away as he clenched his eyes closed. Slowly they opened again, and he was able to look through blurred vision at the form of the human sitting on a chair nearby, looking far too relaxed and casual for the digimon's comfort. "Hope you're comfy…or, well, not really, I'd much prefer if you weren't, it'll make what comes next a little easier."

Something about the way she was speaking was very unnerving to Elecmon, but he tried not to show it, instead doing his best weary glare at her. "You're…making a really…big mistake, human. You don't…have any idea what I'm capable of…"

"Oh?" Ashley leaned forward, grinning down at him in a very disconcerting way for Elecmon. "Well, let's see about that. Elecmon. 'Rookie' digimon. Capable of loosing electric blasts…most of the time, anyway. Part of some crazy nutso eugenicist group from a world that until recently hadn't ever made contact with ours, if what I've been hearing is accurate. Am I right, or am I right?"

Elecmon could do nothing but blink at her for a few seconds. "That's not…agh, there's…no way you could know about me. This world doesn't know about us."

"I have an insider source. You might know about Dinobot?"

"Dino…ugh. You must mean that damned Datacarnomon. Of course he'd be filling you in…well, if you know what I can do, you should know that you can't keep me contained like this, human." He started trying to charge up his Super Thunder Strike, but almost immediately it fizzled out, leaving him suddenly aware that he was just about completely helpless. "…What?"

"Oh, good, that collar does work as it's supposed to. I was gonna be annoyed if he was wrong about that." Ashley rose up and walked around in front of Elecmon, kneeling down in front of him. "So, here's how things are gonna go, fuzzy. My name's Ashley, and I'm gonna be your captor tonight. But it doesn't have to stay that way, if you're nice and cooperative."

Elecmon growled and winced. "I don't like where this is going…don't patronize me, human, if you're gonna kill me, do it already. Prolonging the torture isn't going to change anything, I'm not that key to Emperius's plans."

"Oh, believe me, I have no intention of killing you. That doesn't fit the math."

"…The…math? What in blazes are you talking about?"

Ashley smirked. "I'm talking about the math, of course. See, I like to think I've got a pretty good head on my shoulders. The math's pretty straightforward. Sure, taking you out is minus one for them, but there's a better way of boosting us…after all, why just take one from the other side when you can take one from them and add one to ours?"

"You…you think I'm gonna turn on Emperius?! You're crazy! First off, they'd kill me for even thinking about that, and second, why would I want to jump ship when they're doing what they need to do for our world's good?"

The emphatic denial didn't seem to faze the human one bit, and that had Elecmon starting to sweat a bit. People who were so cool under pressure always knew what they were doing…and he didn't know what he himself was doing, much less the one holding him captive. "You know, I kinda figured you'd say something like that. But I'm pretty sure I can get you to crack."

"Tch…what are you gonna do? Torture me? Try to hypnotize me?"

"Nope. I'm just gonna utterly obliterate you with nothing but words."

"…Words. Are all you humans so pitiful? What are words gonna do to me?"

"Oh, you poor creature, you really don't know what you're in for, do you?" Ashley ruffled Elecmon's head fur, stunning him and making him feel completely and utterly patronized. It felt so humiliating, inspiring no fear in a human like this…she should have been terrified of something like him, and yet HE was the one feeling out of sorts. "So, let's get started then, if you think you can handle it. This 'Emperius' group, why don't you tell me what YOU think it's all about."

"Pft. Like you're gonna see anything my way, I know you've already been poisoned by that robot."

"Humor me. Not like it could hurt you, the worst I could do is not buy in, right?"

Annoyingly, there was no disputing the logic of that statement. Elecmon was reluctant to talk anyway, suspecting something was going on, but with no idea what it could be, there didn't seem to be much reason not to. "Emperius is all about strengthening our kind. Making us more capable and less reliant on the weak. Those who can't fight can't be counted on when it really matters…they bring us down, soften us up for others who could destroy us. Other people don't get that, they think we're just random indiscriminate killers, but they don't get that we need strength if we want to survive! There's too many stories about people who got caught up with the weak and perished for it…it's a burden and distraction that will ruin us in the end if we don't do something about it."

"Hm. So, you're just trying to find the people who are really good at fighting and make a world that focuses only on being really good at fighting?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Elecmon's voice rose a bit - was he actually going to convince a human that they were right? She certainly seemed to be focused on him. "Emphasizing battle prowess, training those with the talent to express it, and getting the burdens of the world out of the way! The fighters should rule, they should be the ones who get to outlast the others! They'll be the best adapted to survive in the new world, and we'll all be the better for it!"

Ashley rubbed her chin contemplatively as she absorbed that. "So that's what it's about, huh? Narrowing the focus of society towards that one direction, battle capacity and nothing else. And by doing that, you think you're going to make sure you all survive far longer than you would otherwise, huh?"

"Of course. Once Emperius realizes their dreams, there won't be any force in the world that can defeat us!"

"…So, tell me. What are you going to eat?"

The question came so out of left field that Elecmon couldn't even process it right away. "…Huh?"

"What are you going to eat? You've got all these battle digimon, but it sure doesn't sound like you have any farmers or anything. Who's producing the food that you all are supposed to eat? I can't imagine your society can sustain itself on just foraging, not when they have a whole lot of training to do in order to keep up with the baseline of 'deserving to live' and all that. How do you keep eating?"

"That…uh…I…don't know what you're talking about. There'd be…surely there'd be people who'd…"

"Why would they? They can't do that and still work on making themselves top-notch fighters. That's a pretty full-time job, I'd wager, it can't be easy to just get to that point, and then there's all the work maintaining once you get there. So that's an open question. Here's another one: who's going to build all the housing for you guys?"

"What…what are you talking about?" Elecmon's voice trembled a bit even as he tried to sound defiant; it was an irrelevant question, wasn't it? So why was it latching onto his brain like that? "We have plenty of housing, we'd…we'd clear out a lot of it by getting rid of the digimon who weren't capable…"

"Hm, maybe I'd buy that, but you wouldn't have it for terribly long…no one's gonna be around to do all the upkeep and maintenance. They're gonna be so busy being fighters, who would want to learn how to do all that, much less dedicate themselves to it? You're just gonna keep moving around after it all falls apart, hoping that the elements haven't taken the places you want to live in the next location…and the longer it is, the less likely that it won't already be degrading. Seems to me that that's not sustainable."

"That…uh…that's not…that's got nothing to do with anything…"

Ashley snickered quietly. "You don't sound too confident about that. Here's another question for you. You're an electric boy, right? You think electricity's important to your lifestyle?"

"Of course I do," snorted Elecmon. "We aren't savages. We might even be more modern than YOU are."

"I'll take your word for both of those statements. So where does all that electricity come from in your world, then?"

"Wh…where it always comes from. Power plants and generators."

"Really. Who's working at those plants? Who's making those generators? The guys who don't know anything but fighting?"

Elecmon was quiet; he didn't have a good answer for that one, either. He was trying to think back to the people at Emperius who worked on the facilities…on the one hand, they had them, surely, that had to count for something…but on the other hand, they weren't exactly the 'strong' ones, and were commonly derided by the war battalions and considered expendable. If the war battalions were considered the 'real' worthy ones of Emperius…would they even be around?

"And that's just one aspect of 'modern' living. Who's gonna take care of those facilities? Who's going to take care of the roads, the lighting, the piping, the electric infrastructure? Maybe you can get away with running them on autopilot for a little while, but something's going to go wrong eventually, and then who's going to be able to fix it? And that's just with normal operation, we're not even getting into what happens if there's a fire, a flood, an earthquake, a volcano, a hurricane or tornado…hell, given what I've seen about you guys, maybe a kaiju attack even. Who's fixing up after those things happen? Who's taking time out of their very busy day of fighting to work on it…who'd even know how to, if all they've learned is how to put the pointy end of the stick through the squishy target?"

"S-stop that…" Elecmon was looking away, shutting his eyes. Like he was trying to block out what was going on…but Ashley was ruthless, and not giving him the chance.

"Answer me this question, then. Who's going to take care of the injuries? Who's going to take care of the diseases? Who's going to care for your warriors when they suffer wounds in battle, or even just injure themselves during their arduous days of training? Who's going to create the medicines to keep them healthy and cure or prevent diseases, or treat them when there's nothing they can do but try to outlast them? That's all really specialized stuff, it's not something that can just be done at a moment's notice…hell, learning medicine is crazy hard for humans, and we're all WAY more similar than you guys all are, it's gotta be crazy complicated for you guys. Do you really think they can do that AND still be worthy fighters?"

"Shut…shut up…" Elecmon was trembling madly now, struggling in his bonds like he was trying to get away, his eyes tearing up even as he tried to fight it.

"So…let me see if I've got this straight. Your 'ideal' society is one where your super powerful apex warriors are basically just sitting there in crumbling houses with nothing that really works…maybe out in the open would actually be better for them, would keep them from having to move around too much and spend more energy they can't regain because they're starving to death, just trying to hold out until the next disease claims them or they suffer an injury that hinders them enough in battle that they're a liability that needs to be slaughtered before they drag the rest of you down. And this is what you think is the mark of a society that can survive over all the others? It sounds to me more like the kind of society that would be the end of these digimon as you know it-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" The breakdown was in full swing now, Elecmon's eyes watering madly and tears staining his fur as he desperately tried to keep from outright sobbing, shivering fiercely as he was overcome with emotion. Ashley did finally quiet down, watching him as he fought to compose himself…Elecmon couldn't have felt more humiliated, getting played so hard by a human like this, but the raw terror within him didn't given him any chance to avoid the embarrassment.

Finally, after what felt like a good couple of minutes, Ashley spoke up again. "You know, I wasn't expecting you to react THAT strongly to that. Interesting response…what's behind it, I wonder? I get the feeling like perhaps you've been in a good bit of denial about what you're doing…so what drove you to it in the first place?"

"…You…you wouldn't understand." It came out choked, devoid of much in the way of real resolution behind it. "If…if we don't…we might…we might all be dead anyway…but…but if that's all it amounts to…there's…there's no hope for us! We might as well all die as it is!"

That wasn't what Ashley expected to hear at all. Not just the words, but the tone…for a creature from a completely different world, it was remarkable how familiar the emotions were. And this was tainted with nothing less than bald fear and despair…emotions which she was quite certain were the key to achieving her goals.

—

It was into the evening before Talomon finally woke up, though with as much talking as was going on, it was a surprise it wasn't sooner.

"Seriously, Cayden, get away from him. He's one of the dangerous ones, and those claws you see are super-sharp. Sal's had enough personal experience with them to tell you all about it."

"Yeah, if he can cut through me like it was nothing, you'll be even more at risk."

"But he's hurt! I don't wanna leave him alone! And you two were being mean to him!" Cayden remained stubbornly seated next to Talomon, who was on the same makeshift bed Salmandmon had been treated on after his unfortunate arrival.

"Cayden, honey, Reyn and Salmandmon know what they're doing." Minerva was gently trying to get Cayden to comply as well, with no more success. "I'm sure whatever they were doing with this, uh, Talomon here, they were acting in everyone's best interest."

"Ah! He's awake!" Cayden realized before any of them, leaning over Talomon and getting into the very confused raptor's face. "Are you okay? What hurt you so bad?"

"Wha…what the…" Talomon tried to move away, but Cayden held him still. "Oof, gedoff, kid, didn't I tell you that I bite?"

"You're still hurt! You need to not move or you might hurt yourself again!"

"I'll do what I…agh…" Talomon tried to push back, but then winced and laid back, panting a bit. "Goddamn…the hell, why…does my back feel so tight?"

"Because it has three huge gouges in it," remarked Salmandmon, sounding a bit annoyed. "Which you should watch it, because I'm not averse to finishing what whatever got you started if you cross any lines."

"Oy, don't go undoing all of our hard work, now," warned Treylor.

Talomon eyed the man warily. "Hard work? What did you do to me?"

"We patched up your back. Those were some nasty lacerations, I'm surprised you were even able to walk, they barely missed your spine. We had to break out the surgical staples on top of the stitches."

"And I'd thought I'd seen the peak of medical savagery with the stitches," Salmandmon said with a shudder. "Next chance I get I'm bringing a whole-ass pallet of QuicKnit over here."

"…the…you…that…y-you mean…LITERAL staples?" Talomon suddenly looked a bit faint.

"Oh, get over yourself, you poke people with much sharper stuff on a regular basis, I'm sure. You're lucky we treated you at all the way you went after us, it's a mercy you don't really deserve."

"Hmph. I didn't ask for your help, lizard, I don't need help from humans. Or touches!" Talomon growled a bit as Cayden rubbed over him. "What is your DEAL, kid?"

"Of course this had to happen," sighed Reyn. "Cay, seriously, I know you're excited about seeing a 'real dinosaur,' but he's seriously dangerous, you need to get back."

"But he's hurt! He needs someone to help him feel better!"

"No, I don't! I'm just fine!"

"Okay, enough, enough, enough." Reyn shook his head, getting frustrated with everything. "You know what? This isn't my job. Mom and Dad can deal with it. I've got a more important question: what was it that nearly killed you? Because that sure as heck wasn't done by a dog, and we don't have any bigger animals around here."

"…Oh, jeez." That was very suddenly and unpleasantly occurring to Salmandmon, too. "Okay, out with it, buddy. Who came through?"

"Rrgh…" Talomon looked away. "What makes you think it wasn't one of you merging weirdos?"

"Because they wouldn't have let you get away," replied Salmandmon tersely. "And you wouldn't have run away. Considering you were halfway to dead and you still tried to take us head-on. So it had to be someone who came through…wait…" Another thought was dawning on the lizard now, his eyes widening. "…You were betrayed. Someone from Emperius came through and tried to off you."

"Sh…shut up…it was probably a mistake…" Talomon's voice wasn't remotely convincing.

"That much physical damage wasn't a mistake, that was a swipe that was meant to be lethal. And-"

"And it was to your back," Reyn jumped in. "If you'd been fighting back, or trying to engage it in any way, it would have been to your front. Which means you were already running. Which means you both knew you had no chance and you knew you couldn't save yourself by talking."

"Ugh…did anyone ever tell you two how annoying you are?" Talomon folded his arms, trying to look away from everyone. "I don't feel like talking about it, all right?"

"I'm not giving you that choice," replied Salmandmon sharply. "If there's something attacking out there, we need to take it on NOW. Especially something as savage as what came after you, because if YOU were running away, I don't like the sound of that."

"Fat chance. I'm not gonna betray them…"

"You're well past that point, if they sent someone to destroy you already. They must've thought you weren't coming back because you'd gone renegade on them already. I highly doubt they're gonna be standing outside with flowers and get-well cards…they're probably still hunting for you, which means telling us what's going on will probably be to YOUR benefit as well."

"…That…no. I, I can't…it was a mistake. They…just need to hear me explain…"

"Why didn't you try to explain it to your attacker?" asked Reyn. "Or did you, and they didn't listen?"

"It's not like that…they…it wasn't something that could…"

"Not something that could listen to you? If they sent something that couldn't listen to you, that means they weren't interested in listening to anything you had to say in the first place. Are you really gonna keep trying to hitch your wagon to someone like that? Is hating us really that important to you?"

"J-just shut up!" Talomon snapped, eyes shut tight, almost tearing up - whether because of pain or something else wasn't clear. "I said I don't want to talk about it! Why don't you just piss off and leave me alone?!"

Salmandmon was not about to do that, and was about to do quite the opposite when he saw Cayden brush his hands along the sides of Talomon's face, making the raptor's eyes shoot open again. "Please…tell them, Talomon. Otherwise that guy will come after you again…"

"Ngh…s-stupid kid…why would you even care?"

"Because…I don't want to see you get hurt anymore." Cayden's voice was full of earnest sadness. "You're really cool and neat…and I don't wanna see you disappear like those other monsters. They were bad guys, but you're not."

We might have differing opinions on that, thought Salmandmon, wincing as he watched the boy's fingers rub very close to those jaws that bore such razor-sharp fangs. But, incredibly, Talomon wasn't responding aggressively…in fact, he seemed to be dropping his resistance entirely. Oh, come on, you can't tell me this is what's working…

But it was. Talomon looked over at them with weary eyes. "Fine…I guess it doesn't matter anymore. You want to know? You're gonna wish you didn't." The raptor took a deep breath. "…They apparently finished the Ashinkaimon project. You want to lose your life against it, be my guest."

"The…Ashinkaimon project?" It meant nothing to Reyn, but as he looked down to Salmandmon to ask, he was caught off-guard by the lizard trembling where he stood.

"No…there's no way…they didn't…"

"Sal? What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way! We need to get out there NOW!"

"Reyn…Salmandmon…I don't know what's going on, but…please be careful…" Minerva spoke up, sounding very worried.

"We'll be as careful as we can afford to be," promised Salmandmon - words that put precisely none of them at ease.

—

When she finally got the story out of Elecmon, it was very much NOT what Ashley was expecting.

"You don't get it…there are these…creatures out there. We don't know what they are, or why they exist, or why they pop up sometimes when we least expect it…they're aberrations that don't make any sense to us. They destroy things…they wreck everything in sight when they appear, kill countless digimon, leave barren, haunted wrecks in their wake. And fighting them, it takes…EVERYTHING we have. The best-case scenario is that we throw thousands of our strongest at them and lose many to most of them in beating it…and that's even not certain to be enough. Some of these need to be defeated by godlike digimon, because anything less just…doesn't do it. And if we're too weak…if we can't find a way to fight against these things, these monsters that suddenly appear and just start…destroying and killing and all that…i-it will be the end of the digital world, digimon will be gone, and…" Elecmon choked up. "I just…I can't handle it. It's stuff that fills my nightmares, makes me dread sleeping…"

"So you ignored the problems with Emperius's ideal world because the alternative scares you too much," concluded Ashley. "But you know, an apocalypse born of your own making isn't any less an apocalypse than one caused by some eldritch abomination. Dead is dead is dead. Trying to pretend it won't happen doesn't make it not happen."

"…I…we'd…I just…thought we'd…figure it out, somehow."

"No one's figuring it out in a society where battle prowess is all that matters. Where you have to constantly jockey for position because eventually someone's going to move the cutoff line and someone's going to pay the price for it. It wouldn't just be battle, either, it doesn't matter whether you replaced that with something else, once you get down to a society that's too fixated on one thing, it loses any ability to adjust to things that can't be solved with that one fixation. So yeah, you're not getting anywhere with that."

Elecmon shook his head. "That…but there'd have to be ways. I mean…that's part of the reason we came over here, we can strengthen our world by using some of the things you have, we could use it to solve other problems…"

"Hm, about that." Ashley leaned in, with a look in her eyes that Elecmon wasn't so sure he liked. "Let me see if I've got this right. The thing that keeps you up at night is the fear of strange creatures showing up and destroying everything, right?"

"Mmph. Yes. You don't have to make it sound so pathetic…"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of that. I'd say it's a pretty valid fear."

"…You would? Others think I'm being stupid."

"Of course, I'd say it's very valid! After all…that's exactly what we're going through right now. Creatures from another world with intention to destroy us all, lay waste to everything we've done and erase our existence as a species. Those beasts that you're afraid of? You're them."

Elecmon's eyes widened at that. Another thing he hadn't ever really thought about…and now that it was on his mind, he really didn't like to. "That…don't say that! We're not, we're not the same, we're…we're just trying to protect ourselves!"

"Oh, come on, invading someone else to protect yourselves against something completely unrelated? You think that's going to make anyone feel better?" Ashley moved behind Elecmon, getting up close to one of those big ears of his. "You can imagine how it feels, right? Seeing one of those creatures you're so terrified of, watching it lay waste to everything, and there's nothing you can do about it?"

"Ssstop…"

"Of course you can. You probably feel that every time you have one of those nightmares, don't you? Well…imagine that, compounded eight BILLION times. Eight BILLION lives feeling that exact same way, watching their world be obliterated right before their eyes, knowing they're next and they can't stop it, feeling nothing but that dreadful despair of hopelessness as everyone and everything they know and love is taken from them for no reason-"

"SSSSTOOOOOOP!" Once again Elecmon was losing it, his composure gone as he cried freely, slumping forward as he was completely overwhelmed. Ashley moved back again, watching the breakdown and processing it. He's clearly not lacking for empathy…hard to imagine he got wrapped up in something like this. But I guess when you live with an existential terror like that, you have to practice a lot of denial. Hm, but that also means there's an opening…I think I know how to bring him around.

Once again, she went around to the front, bringing a finger under Elecmon's chin as the creature's sobs finally abated. She looked directly into those watery eyes, cool and unflinching. "It doesn't have to be that way, don't you think?"

"…Wh…what…do you mean?"

"I think you can figure it out. If we have something that you think you can use…why does it have to be an 'us or them' situation? What makes you think that you couldn't get our help? Surely there's something you could offer us, I'm pretty sure you guys have all sorts of ideas that we couldn't even dream up over here. No one's world ends, and you don't have to screw yourselves over trying to get something that wouldn't even do you much good in the end anyway."

"That…mmnh…" Elecmon squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying to shake his head quickly. "Why…why would you care? It's…it's not like we'd matter to you. Why would…you ever help us? Why should I think you really care about OUR world?" It was a rather threadbare counter even to his own ears, but he was at a loss for much else to salvage anything from this.

"Why?" Ashley brushed a hand along Elecmon's face. "Because, I can imagine your plight, and I wouldn't want to see you suffer like that any more than I'd want to see anyone else suffer. Because that's how it's supposed to be. You know that, don't you?"

"I…what? I don't…"

"Sure ya do! It's the first foundational rule of all functioning societies. 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 'Do not do to others what you know has hurt yourself.' 'Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.' 'Choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou chooses for thyself.' 'Just as sorrow or pain is not desirable to you, so it is to all which breathe, exist, live, or have any essence of life.' 'What we choose is always the better, and nothing can be better for us unless it is better for all.' C'mon, tell me yours, I know you guys have to have at least one."

It came out almost before Elecmon even thought about it. "Give respect and empathy freely, if that is what you seek to receive, for what you give out is all that can be returned to you."

Ashley grinned widely. "See? At the core, we really aren't that different. So what is it that you really want? To go back to some psycho death cult that you know is gonna bring about the same ruin that you fear at least twice over? Or to help out the people who are trying to avert the same fate you're trying to avert, and who would return your help with their own? What makes the most sense to you?"

One thing was for sure: Elecmon would never doubt the idea of being obliterated with words ever again. He couldn't remember ever feeling as wrecked as he did now, not even after his worst physical beatdowns. His carefully-constructed framework of justification was in utter ruins, leaving him with an ugly feeling of disgust…there really didn't seem to be much to debate anymore in his head. "At this point...I doubt they'd even let me come back. They aren't forgiving of failures, and I doubt they ever really cared about me anyway…so it's not really much of a choice, is it?"

"Elecmon…let me tell you something." Ashley's expression became serious as she laid her hand on his shoulder. "It is ALWAYS a choice. Even the most ugly, horrible scenario in the world, where no sane person should ever decide something else…there are people who always find a way to not make a real choice, or to do the wrong thing, or to do nothing and sit there like they're helpless as the world burns around them. Even when they know what the consequences are, they can't bring themselves to do what they need to do. To actually stand up and say you will, and actually do it…that's always a choice that people make. Sometimes the hardest one they ever make, even when it seems like a no-brainer to anyone outside looking in. But they're the ones who stand in the way of the stuff of your nightmares. So I mean it when I say make your choice…I can only tell you what I think is right, not what you actually will do. Only you can say that."

Elecmon was quiet for several seconds. It felt like a lot, making all those convincing arguments and then leaving it to his decision…but then again, the fact that he was still wrestling with it even after all that sort of vindicated her, didn't it? But…she was right. He couldn't choose to be the monster of his nightmares. He couldn't rebuild that broken dome of ignorance about what he knew would come of a world that knew nothing but battle. And even though the right path meant facing down the same people he'd fought alongside, ones who he knew full well what they were capable of…for continued existence, it was worth taking. "I…I'll do it. I'll fight on your side. It's the right choice to make…even as tough as it is."

Ashley smiled, a much warmer expression than before. "Welcome to the plus one, Elecmon. It might not sound like much now, but it never sounds like much until it is. Let me go tell my bro, so we can get these restraints off of you." She got up and left the room, leaving Elecmon alone for the moment. Getting the restraints off already…he could scarcely believe she trusted him that much, after all he'd talked about. But then again, already he felt different…just making the choice, he felt calmer, more in control than he had been in a long time. Had he always known he'd been making the wrong choice, and just been so deeply in denial that he couldn't acknowledge it? He never thought he'd feel happy to have been beaten by a human, but clearly a lot of things were happening that he'd never thought would happen…maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

Ashley returned a few moments later, alone but with an odd tool in her hand. "Welp. Seems little bro and Dinobot must've seen something that spooked them, because they aren't in. But I can at least get you free…he thinks he's so cute trying to hide this stuff."

"Gone?" Elecmon shivered a bit as Ashley unlocked the collar, his electricity coming back to him properly. "Do you, uh, think we should go find out where?"

"Nah, let's play it safe and make sure he doesn't get the wrong idea." Ashey got all of Elecmon's limbs freed and tossed the equipment off into the corner. "While we're waiting, though, maybe we can talk out some of these nightmares and stories that've got you all in a lather? I find talking these kinds of things out makes them seem less scary, and can help you process them and deal with them better. That and a few cookies could probably put you in a better state of mind."

"A-heh…well…I can't really say no to cookies, can I?" Not on his protesting stomach, for sure…but Elecmon had a feeling that, if talking had done this much for him already, it could only be more helpful to keep doing so. Especially with this girl, she was clearly a Mega-level talker as far as he was concerned…

—

The door opened without that much effort, and Kirsten slipped inside. Good lord…they chose a heck of a place to make their hideout. Right in the middle of the city, too…I'm surprised no one ever figured out something was going on here.

She took a look around, the emptiness of the place somewhat creeping her out. Sky said they were in here somewhere…I'm sure they have to be close by. I just need to find…oh! She tried the door behind the counter and found the entrance to the basement. Of course…they'd go where they were least likely to be discovered.

Down she went, and she had to marvel at everything, not least of which were the banks of supplies stashed away. No, yeah, they've been using this place for a while…oh, my. And the big door there… She stepped closer, trying to remain quiet…and she could hear voices coming from behind it. They sounded pretty agitated, she strained to hear what they were saying.

"Come ON, you pathetic wretch! Why don't you at least TRY?"

"What's the point?! Break out just to die pathetically?"

"It's better than staying in here and rotting away to nothing! Come on, even with these damn collars on, I know you're strong enough to at least try to get that damned door open!"

"Maybe I don't want to! Maybe I'd rather wait for them to let me go back home! I know you're going stir crazy and all, but I just want to get back to our world and never hear another word about Emperius ever again!"

"Gah, I knew I shouldn't've taken you along! But no, they said I had to make you prove yourself! You've proven yourself, all right, as a useless lump! What good is that strength you have if you won't use it for anything?!"

"I don't want to use it on just anything, and not just because someone told me to!" Kirsten heard a bit of a thump. "That doesn't make it any worth to me either! I just want to be done with this nightmare! And like it or not, they're the only ones who MIGHT be able to make that happen!"

That was enough for Kirsten, who opened up the door just as one of the voices was talking. "Only because you won't…oh, for crying out loud. Maybe you'll get your wish now…huh?"

She hadn't really known what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. Kirsten's eyes went nice and wide as she looked down at the two creatures, one a dark-scaled dragon creature, the other a miniature bipedal triceratops. Wow…I know it's silly to think this, but they're actually kinda adorable, at least if you get past the trying-to-kill-us-all part.

"Who…who are you?" the triceratopsian one asked nervously.

"Uh…I'm…a friend."

The dragon snorted. "Yeah, right. We don't have friends here, especially not among humans. If you're just snooping around, go take a hike. We've got enough problems without getting annoyed by random strangers."

"Don't mind him, he's just being a jerk," the dinosaur said tensely. "I'll take anything that doesn't want us dead as a friend at this point."

Kirsten blinked for a bit, then shook her head hard. "Okay, I wasn't as ready for this as I thought I was. But still." She stepped over to the dinosaur, kneeling down next to him. "What's your name?"

"Uh? It's…Crestmon. The other guy over there is Shadowdramon, but he probably won't tell you if you ask him, because he's in a mood."

"I've just about had it with you." Shadowdramon threw up his hands.

"Crestmon, Shadowdramon…well, my name's Kirsten. And I'm not just here to be here." She looked at the collar carefully. "Wild…I've never seen anything like this before…one sec."

"Huh?" Crestmon just stared blankly at Kirsten as she stood back up and headed out, leaving the door open. Even Shadowdramon was getting a bit curious now, watching and waiting until she stepped back in with something in her hand. And it only got more bizarre from there as she slipped something into Crestmon's collar…after fiddling with it for a second, the device disengaged, and Crestmon's eyes widened as he felt strength flowing back into him. "Whoa…w-wait, what's going on?"

"Well…I'm letting you guys out of here."

"Huh? Why?"

"Who are you and what in the world is your deal?" asked Shadowdramon in disbelief as Kirsten knelt in front of him - his initial instinct to get a pot shot off on the human had vanished in an instant.

"Well…let's just say I know a certain someone who's part of the people who kept you in here. And…I don't think it's right to shut you up like that." The collar came off of Shadowdramon, and the dragon stretched his body and wings, murring a bit as he finally felt the limiters get removed. "If they're going to keep you in here, they should be trying to help you, not just locking you away because it's inconvenient."

"They were trying to help us," Crestmon insisted. "Just…the kind of help we need is a bit hard to get…"

"The kind of help YOU need," countered Shadowdramon. "I'm perfectly fine getting back out there and getting back in the fight. You can go pound sand for all I care."

Kirsten looked over at Shadowdramon. "You want to fight them? Why?"

"Why not? They're strong! I can't get stronger if I don't battle stronger people! Ah!" Shadowdramon suddenly dashed out, hurrying towards the blade leaned against the wall in the main room. "Thank goodness! I thought those jerks mighta done something to it!"

"Shadowdramon…" Kirsten stepped out of the makeshift jail, followed by Crestmon. "Do you…think you could find someone else to fight? I'm glad you think they're worthy opponents and all, but…we kind of need them."

"Tch, you don't get it. I've fought loads of digimon before, it's hard to learn all that much more from them. But these are new creatures entirely! Guys I've never seen before!" The excitement was evident in Shadowdramon's eyes. "Fighting against them would be an entirely new experience! I could learn so much from those fights, and that'd make me stronger than ever! And that'd get me closer to being one of the strongest warriors ever!"

"Huh…why do you need to be that much stronger?"

"Whaddaya mean? Who doesn't want to be stronger?"

"I'm fine where I am, thanks," drawled Crestmon.

Shadowdramon rolled his eyes. "Besides wussy lizards, I mean."

Kirsten still wasn't quite getting it. "Okay…so you just 'want' to be stronger? Why?"

"Weren't you listening? Why wouldn't anyone want to be stronger? Who doesn't hear stories about legendary warriors and the things they took on and not want to be one of them, standing up against the fiercest challenges that ever existed? You can't just get there by doing nothing, though! No one ever became legendary without striving for it every step of the way!"

"Uh…well, I…guess everyone has their ambitions." Though yours certainly isn't one I'd like to have, Kirsten thought, finding the dragon incredibly weird. "What are you going to do with it, though?"

"Huh?" Now Shadowdramon was looking at her blankly.

"Well…I mean, if you're trying to get stronger…you're…trying to use it for something, right?"

"…Uh…"

"…You're not…telling me you're just getting stronger without having any idea what you're doing with it?"

"That…I mean…look, that's something I can figure out later! I mean, it's not like legendary warriors know what they're training for most of the time!"

"You…really think that?"

Shadowdramon was suddenly looking unsure of himself. "I, I mean, why would they? They didn't know who their enemies were until they fought them. Well, most of the time…er…well, some of them knew some of their enemies, but they had plenty they weren't preparing for…th-that's all beside the point! You can't just wait until something comes along to try to get stronger, otherwise you're not ready for anything!"

"You don't actually have any idea what you're doing, do you?" groaned Crestmon. "I knew it was a mistake for you to be in charge…"

"Hey, don't you start on me," hissed Shadowdramon in annoyance. "At least I'm doing something! You were just content to sit there until the mountains turned to dust!"

"Aren't there other people you could go against?" asked Kirsten. "Like…there's monsters appearing all over the place…I'm sure my, uh, our defenders could use a lot of help."

"What? Go against Emperius? I can't do that!" declared Shadowdramon defiantly. "Their whole thing is about making people stronger! That's my dream, if I went against them it would be like throwing my dream away! Look, you're a human, you humans are pretty weak, you wouldn't understand."

"I'm trying to understand, I promise. But…" Kirsten wracked her brain trying to think of something - she didn't want to let them go just to have them go after Skylar and the others, and Crestmon seemed more than happy not to do anything like that, but she needed to figure out this Shadowdramon. I wish Ashley were here, she talks rings around anyone… "How does Emperius make you stronger?"

"Well, they're all about gathering all the most powerful digimon from all around, and not letting the weak ones make a mess of everything. And they have lots of battles against unworthy digimon who refuse to recognize their superiority. All that experience is what ensures that I'll become stronger, and I'll be one of the ones they know will be among the greatest!"

"…That…sounds pretty terrible to me."

Shadowdramon shrugged. "Well, like I said, you're a human, you wouldn't understand."

"But it doesn't really make sense, does it?"

Another blank look in Kirsten's direction. "What do you mean? It makes perfect sense. I just said, you can't get stronger without fighting."

"But…if Emperius has all the allegedly most powerful digimon out there, then…wouldn't that make all the digimon you fight weaker than them? And what do you get out of fighting people who are weaker than you? I mean, I don't know this stuff that well, I'll admit, but…I always thought the way to get better was to challenge people who were better, not worse."

"That…uh…well, I mean…" The dragon looked a bit out of sorts now. "Uh…yeah, that's…that's how it's supposed to work…but, I mean, there are a lot of strong digimon fighting Emperius, too, aren't there? It gives me lots of battles!"

"But if you fought on the other side, wouldn't you get just as many battles? And against digimon who, uh, at least, say they're stronger?" It wasn't comfortable flying by the seat of her pants, but whatever thread she had against Shadowdramon, she needed to try to improvise off of it.

"I…I guess…"

"I mean, I would think that, at least. And if all Emperius wants to do it beat weaker people…I mean…do you really think you'd learn much fighting against humans and all?"

Shadowdramon rubbed his head. "I…uh, well, not really, you all seem pretty weak, really. But that's part of the point, too, we're trying to keep the weak from holding us back, right?"

A thought suddenly occurred to Kirsten. "Shadowdramon…I'm not gonna know any of these legendary warriors you idolize…but, uh, what were some of the things they did?"

"Huh? Well, one of them fought against an entire army pretty much by herself, driving them back from her homeland! And another took on a force of extreme evil that was trying to swallow a whole continent! He was one of the strongest that I've ever heard about, I don't even know how he got there, but I really want to reach that level! And then there were the digimon that took on the demon kings hundreds of years ago, when the demon digimon were trying to turn the whole of Tetraquaz into a corrupted wasteland and multiply to spread to the other lands! Man, they say that the battles were so fierce you could see them from across the ocean!"

"I see…" Kirsten didn't know what any of that was about, but what she could see were the stars in Shadowdramon's eyes as he talked about his idols. "When they were taking on all of these challenges, Shadowdramon, what were they trying to accomplish? Why were they trying to stop all these nasties?"

"…Why? I mean…they were…all…uh…trying to, uh, keep these things from attacking…all over the place, I guess? I mean, uh…"

"They were trying to protect people, right? Even people they didn't know?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, they weren't, like, just attacking for the hell of it, I guess."

Kirsten nodded. "And the people they were trying to protect…were they stronger people than they were, or weaker people?"

"Well…" Shadowdramon hesitated. "I mean…if they were stronger people, they would have been out there fighting themselves, right?"

"That, uh, would make sense to me, I think. So…if those heroes of yours were fighting to protect weaker people, rather than fighting to destroy them…wouldn't it make more sense for you to do the same thing? If following their example is what you want to do, I mean…"

She could see the gears starting to turn in Shadowdramon's head…suddenly the dragon began to tremble, hands going to his head. "Oh…oh, no…no, it, it can't…I…h-have I…all the time…I've been…I've been one of the bad guys?! No, I…how could I…"

"H-hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!" Kirsten quickly put a hand on Shadowdramon's shoulder. "Uh, listen, don't…don't flip out on me, okay? Look, you're, uh, I don't…think you're a bad guy, just…maybe didn't think everything through. But, listen, there's…I don't know your stories very well, but I know ours over here, and we have plenty of stories where people who start out on the wrong side, they realize what they're doing and they turn around and start doing the right thing, and they're just as much heroes as anyone else. You're not, uh…you can still choose to do the right, uh, thing, right?"

"I…you really think so?"

"Yeah, of course!" Don't give him any other reason to think otherwise, I think I've got him coming around. WOW, I can't believe I managed to pull that out of my ass. "It's not at all too late to turn things around, and you'd be doing something just as impressive as any of them, protecting an entire world from destruction."

"That…yes! That's what I need to be doing!" Shadowdramon clenched his fists. "That's why they all did it! They were strong for the sake of those who couldn't fight for themselves! Gah, why didn't I see it sooner? I have to make up for what I've done…"

"Wow…" Crestmon was just staring at the two of them. "I've NEVER seen him like that before. How did you do that?"

"Uh…just some quick thinking, that's all." And a healthy amount of BSing, Kirsten thought nervously as she looked over at Crestmon. "I'm going to guess you're not doing anything other than trying to find your way the heck out of here, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much…I don't know that I'm gonna have much luck, though. But I've got to try."

"Well, I won't stop you. Just, uh, promise me you won't go after any of them?"

Crestmon shook his head rapidly. "Uh-uh, no way! I don't have a death wish!"

Kirsten nodded, smiling. "Thanks. Let's get out of here, this place is creepy, especially considering it's almost night." She started to move, but hadn't taken two steps before she felt something grab her hand and pull her back. "Ah?! Shadowdramon!"

"Don't go anywhere!" The dragon's voice was sharp, and the note of fear in it was immediately putting Kirsten on edge.

"Wh…what?"

"I…I feel something up there." Shadowdramon's voice shook a bit. "It's faint, but…if I can feel it, that means it's too close. There's a great evil up there…a monster that even most of Emperius trembles at, but those who made it think it will be one of their greatest weapons…"

"Made it? They…they made a creature?"

"Oh, gods…" Crestmon paled. "Don't tell me..."

Shadowdramon nodded. "They sent Ashinkaimon. We have to stay here until I can't feel its presence anymore…if it so much as sniffs one of us, it'll be on us and that's a death sentence. And I don't know how to beat it…only the ones who made it know its weaknesses, and they haven't told."

"Will it…will it come down here?" asked Kirsten fearfully.

"I don't know. But out of its senses is the safest we're going to be."

—

It was supposed to be a quiet evening in. That was what Iris and Shockavimon had planned on - the attack earlier had taken a bit out of them, and getting rested up sounded like a good idea. And yet, as with so many things of late, 'going to plan' just didn't seem to be in the cards.

"…Shockavimon." Iris had been trying to work on a crafted stand for Derek's phone, but that niggling feeling in the back of her head just would not let her focus. "Are you…feeling the same thing I'm feeling?"

Shockavimon sighed. "Damnation. I was really hoping that was just paranoia."

"We need to go out and see if we can see what's going on, don't we?"

"Are you sure we can't try contacting Isaac to see if they can see something?"

Iris shook her head. "It might be one of those digimon you ran into from that group you fought…you said they had, uh, some kind of signal jammer or something. If they can't see them…"

"Oh, yeah, that's right. If it's one of them, then they won't be able to find them…and we don't want to leave them running around freely." The avian hopped to her feet. "Guess it's time to get searching. You can stay in if you want, it might be easier for me to see from above, and if it's just the one I should be able to take them - I'm definitely a match for a lone Rookie."

Iris thought about that for a moment, but shook her head. "No, I'd rather be out there. Just in case…there's been too many unexpected things happening."

"You might run into some interference."

"Don't I know it. You go out ahead, I'll catch up."

Shockavimon nodded, before taking off out the window. Iris took a deep breath, then stood up and exited her room, trying to head down the stairs as quietly as possible…but she doubted it would be that easy. And sure enough, Heather was in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner, with no way to pass by her unnoticed. "Iris? You aren't planning on going out again?"

"I, uh…I just needed some fresh air." GREAT effort there, Iris. I know lying is hard, but telling a GOOD lie would at least take some of the pressure off.

Predictably, it did not mollify Heather, who frowned at her with a clearly distressed look on her face. "Iris…I don't want to pry into anything, but…mm, I'm just…concerned. I know you and your father have clashed on being stuck inside the house, and, well, I get why you might not enjoy that, but…it's dangerous out there. We keep hearing about these attacks…you were just out there during one of them, I thought we'd just talked about this." Of course they had, over dinner, and that was going to make it even harder to get past her. Iris was trying to keep her expression even, even as she was cursing how this was going. "I'm getting more scared every day, I…I'm worried about your father enough, I'm just scared that he's going to get caught up in one of these attacks and…it's really…hard to have to worry about you at the same time. You're going out so much, when it's so dangerous out there…"

Boy, if you KNEW what I was doing, you might never do anything but worry again, Iris thought grimly. But as much as it pained her, seeing Heather's anxious expression…she couldn't help but think back to the Skullsatamon attack. An ambush that had been targeting Reyn and his family…there was a chance, however remote, that this was the same thing. And if she DIDN'T do something, Heather might not be around to worry about her anymore…

Maybe…oh, jeez. This is a HUGE gambit…but it might be the only thing that gets me out there tonight. I hope I can pull THIS one off… Steeling herself, Iris took a deep breath. "Mom…I…I have to tell you something. I…" She paused, her legitimate nervousness making it easier to show the reluctance. "You can't tell anyone this…the reason I've been going out so often, is…I met one. One of the monsters."

Heather gasped in shock. "Y-you…what?!"

"Mom, please! It's okay. You…you know that yellow electric bird they talked about? I met her…before everyone knew about her." Using Boltfalkemon as her alibi was a dangerous move, but it was the only one she could sell. "I felt her electricity…you know I've always had kind of a, uh, an affinity for that. It was a shock when I saw what it was, but…she's different from the other monsters. She…I don't know why, but she vowed to protect me…she said I reminded her of someone. She hasn't told me much of anything about what's going on, but…I've been going out to meet with her to make sure that you and Dad are safe. I didn't want to tell you, because I was afraid you'd freak out…"

"I…y-yes, I'd say I'm doing a little bit of that right now…" Heather leaned back against the counter, a hand on her chest. "You've…been meeting with this…bird creature? You…you say she's…protecting us?"

Iris nodded. "And I'm…sort of feeling her out there now. And when I do, that usually means she has a message for me…it could be about something she saw or something she thinks or hears is coming. And if there's something that's coming to attack Dad because he's trying to stop them, they might…try to come here. If that's the case, I want to know so that I can tell you and we can get out of here before that happens."

"Mercy me…how in the world did everything get to this…" Rubbing her head, Heather finally nodded. "I…feel like I'm so far behind on all of this…Iris…if that's what this is all about…if we might be in danger if you don't hear from her…I guess…it wouldn't be a good idea to stop you. But…I don't like the thought of you coming face-to-face with this creature on your own…I…I don't think I'm ready, but…I want to…see her for myself…to see if…I can really trust her. I know she hasn't hurt you yet, but…"

"I'll…I'll make sure you get to meet her at some point." You're definitely not going to like it when you do, but you'll know you can trust her, at least. "I promise I'll try to be as safe as possible, I'm worried about all these monsters, too…I feel like I can trust her, but she's warned me that there's a lot of bad ones. I'll be back once I know what's going on."

"All right…please, Iris…be careful. I…well…just…please be careful."

"I promise, Mom." Careful as I can be doing what I'm doing…it'll be a disaster if I don't. She made her way outside, slowly exhaling as she tried to settle her heart down. It was a shaky story, one that was going to probably blow up pretty quickly, but at this point, she couldn't pretend anymore that she could keep up the pretense much longer. The whole truth was going to have to come out soon, at least to her parents - it was the only way she'd be able to keep doing this. Whether from there or from another place where she'd have to escape to…her first backup was the Kessiliks' place, since they already knew, but she worried about inviting more danger onto them.

That was going to have to be a consideration for later, though; right now, there was business. Shockavimon, I made my way out…I might've gotten us into a tight spot for later, though.

How bad is it? came the pathed response.

I made up a story about knowing Boltfalkemon. Not that we were her, but…

Oof. Well, things are getting to the point where I think the secret's not going to be able to last anyway. We've been too exposed too often. We'll figure out a way to break it to her in the coming days. I haven't seen anything so far, but I've still got that feeling…

Right, same here. I'll take a look around... Iris headed off, choosing a direction that felt like it was going farther from Shockavimon. A somewhat risky play, but without knowing what was going on, she felt like finding the problem was the best first course of action.

It wasn't coming quickly, though…the somewhat dusky sky was making her a bit nervous too, she didn't want to be out here in the middle of the night trying to chase that ugly feeling. Better if Derek could do that…but she hadn't heard anything from Derek since they'd parted ways that afternoon, and if something had happened that prevented him from connecting with Blackcanismon…she shook her head, trying to cast that thought away. Things were already dicey enough without her making assumptions…

She had sort of lost track of where she was going, letting the feelings guide her. But they were getting stronger…and more disturbing. Something about this feeling was unsettling her badly… Shockavimon, I think I'm getting close to something…and I don't like it.

I'm on my way over.

Thanks. Iris took a breath and shuddered; she should have stayed still, but something was urging her on. Whatever it was, she needed to know, before things got out of hand…why she felt so compelled was beyond her, but she stepped up her pace. She realized where she was now - Eglin Park, the place forever etched into her mind as the moment the world turned from off-kilter to totally upside-down. And she was feeling it bad now, something was HERE, something that made her skin crawl…

And then she saw it.

Some fifteen yards in front of her was a creature straight out from a nightmare. A grotesque lower body with four spindly legs splayed out like a table, reminiscent of a large bug of some kind in appearance, with wicked black talons tipping each of the two-forward-one-backward digits on each one. Its upper body rested square in the center of where those legs met, the torso and four arms matted in gnarled dark fur, each three-digit hand bearing those same noxious claws that almost seemed to drip darkness as well as a disgusting fleshy black pit in the center of the palm. The head was vile, a jaw that hung slackly open with curled fangs that dripped sickly yellow drool, three eyes that looked like hybrids of bug eyes and lizard eyes, three horns curling upwards and towards each other off the top sides and back of its head, and a maw that seemed to be an endless void of darkness within. It was unlike anything Iris had ever seen before, and unlike anything she ever WISHED to see…and it was looking at her right then, making her gasp and cry out loudly.

But that wasn't the only thing…there was another creature there, pinned under one of the creature's feet, shaking and mewling. A feline…she thought it was a normal cat at first, but no, it was too big, and that fur on its collar and cuffs…she remembered Shockavimon mentioning that a Felismon was one of the ones who got away, this had to be her. And upon the cry, she jerked her head towards Iris…and as scary as the creature was, seeing that look of mortal terror in the feline's eyes was almost worse. "Please! H-help me! PLEA-AAGH!"

Iris could do nothing as the creature reached down and snatched Felismon up with its hands, claws digging into her and making her screech out. It had broken its gaze from Iris for that moment, but now looked at her again as it lifted Felismon. "CONSUME…" It had an awful voice, guttural and hissing, just hearing it made Iris feel like bugs were crawling all over her skin. And because somehow it hadn't been abominable enough, its torso opened up, like the universe's most ghastly Venus Flytrap…and then Iris screamed outright, along with Felismon, as the cat was shoved inside the cavity, which snapped shut before the creature even pulled out its hand, which it did so without apparent injury.

"IRIS!" Shockavimon finally swooped down just as the creature had nothing else to focus its attention on. "We gotta merge! NOW!"

"Shockavimon! It…it just…"

"NOW!" The intensity of the panic in Shockavimon's voice snapped Iris out of it. She practically threw herself at the bird, allowing them to come together and take the form of Boltfalkemon once more.

But Boltfalkemon wasn't any more comfortable with what she was seeing than either of her components were, as she stepped back from the creature under its nightmarish gaze. She knew what it was, from what Shockavimon had known…the terrifying creature known as Ashinkaimon. The product of some deranged minds at Emperius, it was a synthetic demon digimon, intended to be used as a nigh-indestructible force of death and despair…they had learned about the project about a year before Craniummon's death, and had disrupted its progress several times before taking out that previous Emperius head, which they had thought had brought it to an end. Clearly, they were wrong…and that was REALLY bad, because despite having some information on what it was and how it was made, what they didn't know was how to actually destroy one. There was some ill-defined mechanism that allegedly made it exceptionally durable, and its withering attacks would make it harder to actually do anything against it.

But she had to try. Something like this…it was a direr threat to the city than just about anything else that had been thrown at them, it was ruthless and mindless, simplistic, an animal to be directed towards maximum chaos and carnage. And it was in a heavily populated area…there was a chance it had killed people already. If she could do something to stop it…maybe there were weaknesses in it that weren't there in the prior attempts. She had to try…she spread her wings, letting them glow with electricity. "Spark Wave!" A flap forward, and she send the multitude of electric shots right at Ashinkaimon…

Ashinkaimon scuttled forward a bit, ignoring the attack entirely. Every single one of the projectiles hit their mark, and yet Ashinkaimon didn't even notice them. It spread its four arms, the pits glowing with a dangerous blackness. "PERISH…" Boltfalkemon braced herself defensively as black tendrils spread from the pits and coalesced in front of Ashinkaimon, almost like a hole floating in the middle of space. Whatever was meant to come from that was NOT something she wanted to encounter, but trying to dash to the side, Ashinkaimon was tracking her, its body twisting and swiveling on its torso without a hint of distress, ensuring that hole could follow her wherever she went. She skidded to a stop, panting a bit, staring down that hole…her only chance was that it had to stop when it fired off, maybe she could quickly dive away from it…

"TORMENT WAVE…" Suddenly, a violent wave of dark energy erupted from the hole. Boltfalkemon tried to jump aside, but there was never a chance - the wave was too large for her to escape, enveloping her as she crashed to the ground. She screeched loudly as pain erupted through her, pain unlike anything she'd ever felt in any of her lives, every part of her feeling like it was being stabbed and stung with fiery toxic needles. As the attack ceased, she writhed on the ground, still in raw agony…the end of the attack had made it less acutely horrible but the effects were lingering, she couldn't even move without it feeling like torment. What a…cruel attack…

"CONSUME…" She blinked through tear-blurred eyes to see Ashinkaimon slowly scuttling towards her…its legs didn't seem to be very well-designed for locomotion, its motions fairly slow, but all the more menacing for it. She tried to move, to even roll over, but every motion made her body scream in agony…she couldn't do it, even with every bit of terror trying to drive her, it was too much…

"SAUR BLASTER!" A powerful beam soared over her, slamming into Ashinkaimon and driving him back several yards, the creature's talons dragging through the dirt; the grass seemed to be withering around where they had clawed through. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity, multiple sets of footsteps around, the heavier ones belonging to Mecharexmon as he took position near Boltfalkemon. "Goddamn, those assholes actually did it! How the hell did that not even scratch it?!"

"Boltfalkemon!" With effort, Boltfalkemon turned her head as Blazereptimon rushed over to her. "Are you all right?"

"Nnn…no…d-don't…let…th-the…Tor…ment…Wave…h-hit you…" Even speaking felt like torture…the pain was starting to retreat, but only excruciatingly slowly.

"We'll see what we can do…" Blazereptimon rose up and launched a Solar Wave at Ashinkaimon, who didn't even react to it. "Rrgh…Rex, can you find a weak point?!"

"I'm trying! This thing seems freaking impossible!"

"PERISH…" Ashinkaimon raised its arms again, the ominous blackness starting to form. Boltfalkemon wanted to cry out to them, to warn them about that, but she still could barely even move…

"Go to hell, you construct freak!" roared Mecharexmon. "Swarm Missiles!" The missiles launched out from Mecharexmon's shoulder hatch, crashing into Ashinkaimon's hands; while there was no obvious signs of damage, the blackness was arrested and the pits stopped glowing. "Burner! See if you can try to get to those spots on its hands! I can't get a bead on them, but maybe there's something to that!"

"Gah, I don't have a good technique for that…" Blazereptimon growled. "Let's try something else…" He raised his hand up, and the area around Ashinkaimon suddenly got very hot, a ring of furious flame contracting around Ashinkaimon. "Maybe enough power will hit everything! Incendiary Ring!" The blazing ring contracted into Ashinkaimon and suddenly there was a blast of powerful heat that flared over the demonic construct. Yet, it amounted to nothing, Ashinkaimon was as unaffected as ever. "Goddammit! HOW?!"

"Burner! When it attacks again, try using that to disrupt the attack, I can aim for those pits!"

"Right! Get ready, it's…huh?" Ashinkaimon raised its arms again, but then dropped them unexpectedly…and then its jaw dropped as well, extending almost all the way down to the ground in a grotesque stretch that looked almost impossible.

"PERISH…" An eerie glow formed in that abhorrently-open maw, spreading and widening and flaring over the whole space in front of them. "VEIL OF ABOMINATION…"

Mecharexmon and Blazereptimon suddenly seized up, and then collapsed onto a knee each. "Wh…what…what's going on? I…I can't move…" growled Blazereptimon, body shaking as he tried and failed to rise. "How the…hell?"

"I…I don't know, it's…" Mecharexmon was just as frozen, nothing seemed to be working on his body and he was getting internal danger warnings out the wazoo. "C-crap…d-drain technique…we're…gonna be history…if we don't get out…"

It was proving far easier said than done - the Veil of Abomination had effectively rendered them helpless, and even if Ashinkaimon was locked in place, it was leeching off of them, ensuring that it would be the only one escaping this encounter alive. All their efforts were coming to naught, their weakening bodies getting slowly less capable of fighting…

Except for one. Boltfalkemon blinked, and slowly rose up. For some reason…she was feeling better. The pain was gone, inexplicably, and she wasn't feeling any drain from Ashinkaimon. How…how am I not being affected? No, that…that's not important, what's important is, how can I stop it? If the attacks of the stronger two weren't effective, nothing she could do could anywhere close to damaging…but she had to do SOMETHING, or Mecharexmon and Blazereptimon would be finished.

What can I do? I…I can't do anything to stop it…I don't even know how to deal with this thing! I need to get away, I need to escape, I… She had taken a step back already, when she caught sight of Blazereptimon collapsing forward, trying desperately to break away or unleash an attack. Completely helpless…and Mecharexmon was trying to fire, but his cannon wasn't even responding, it was already perilously close to the end. She clenched her beak and shook her heard hard, trying to throw away the fear. …n-no…I can't…I can't just leave them. I'm the only one who can act now…I won't…I won't give up now. Not when so much is on the line…if I can't do it like this…I just…have to be better! She steeled her gaze at the abomination as she felt a sudden rush of energy. I will not surrender to you…for their sake, I will beat you, Ashinkaimon!

The yellow glow around Boltfalkemon surged and twisted, flaring up in that dead space. Her form become taller, her wingspan wider, the feathers off the back of her head longer and curling. A breastplate formed over her body, bracers over her forearms, a sash around her neck, and on her back, and a dueling spear, one with a slashing flat blade at one end and a stabbing point on the other, formed and attached to the new armor. The seal marks now glowed on her shoulders, and her entire body crackled with electric energy. With a flourish, she cast off an electric wave, glaring at Ashinkaimon.

And as she glared, she saw it. Deep inside the darkness of the creature's mouth…almost impossible for any ordinary eye to see, but the eagle eyes of Ionfalkemon were more than capable. Unbelievable…a pocket space! How did they manage to do something like this…doesn't matter now, I can see something in there. It's time to beat this thing!

She snatched the spear off her back and rushed forth - INTO Ashinkaimon's black maw. She could feel the pressure all around her as she sank into that extradimensional space, the raw darkness extremely disorienting…she kept her eyes focused on that spot within, flying towards it even as waves of energy buffeted her, never letting herself be deterred. Ionfalkemon could feel everything being drawn towards that core, and something else pulsing out of it. It triggered a memory of a force field design someone at the KOL had been working on... That's it. That's how its body blocks damage - that core emits a field that draws the energy into the void space where it can be dissipated. It's probably also where all that absorbed energy is going, so it can fuel that effect…

Suddenly she had to pull back as something whipped in front of her. Spectral images of Ashinkaimon's head were howling around her now, clearly recognizing her as a threat. "Awfully late for the welcoming committee…" she hissed as her wings lit up dangerously. "Let me show you what I think of that! Dervish Bolt!"

Powerful bolts of electricity flashed from Ionfalkemon's wings, splitting and converging and chaining at their whim. They blasted through the specters, dissipating them into nothingness. Nothing more than energy signatures, they were probably more attack than foe, but she didn't want to be slowed by more of them, there wasn't time to waste, the others needed her to finish this fast…

As she got near the core, she saw something else. A figure floating in the darkness, slowly being pulled towards the core. "Felismon!" The feline digimon was unresponsive, but that didn't mean she wasn't still alive…she rushed towards her, grabbing and trying to pull her, but despite the forceful efforts of her wings, it was like she was locked in place, and only dragging Ionfalkemon towards the core. Only by stopping it would she maybe have a chance.

Then I'd better make this count. She grabbed her spear and held it aloft, making the weapon glow brightly, crackling and snapping with arcs of raw electric power. She cocked her arm, locked in on that small yet insidious core, and then hurled the weapon at it. "Shock Spear!" The spear flew true, even as those specters tried to impede it they were obliterated in its wake, and without fail, the spear pierced the core, then exploded in electricity, shattering it completely.

Immediately, that draw on Felismon was broken - but Ionfalkemon didn't have time to waste, as light was expanding from the core and the space was starting to unravel. She shot back towards the small gap in the space that she could see leading back to the world, pumping her wings with all the fervor she could muster as the roar of destabilizing space grew louder behind her. The entire world around her was rumbling, shaking, getting harder to see as it rattled all around her, her beak clenched hard as she willed herself to keep going and escape the madness…

Suddenly things opened up, and she flung herself through that opening, breaking back into the world she knew, crashing and tumbling on the ground - painful, but not nearly so much as what she'd already been through that night. When she finally came to a stop, she had just enough time to look back around and see beams of light piercing through Ashinkaimon's body…with a harrowing noise, it exploded from within, ripped apart messily before evaporating into data. The nightmare within a nightmare was finally over.

Slowly, Blazereptimon and Mecharexmon were rising again; they looked quite fatigued, but otherwise unharmed. "That…was…absolutely insane," muttered Blazereptimon as he looked at Ionfalkemon in awe. "What the holy hell just happened?! I saw you just…fly INSIDE that freaking thing!"

"I saw what it was hiding inside," replied Ionfalkemon, feeling oddly calm after all this. "A pocket space with a force orb nestled within."

"Jesus hell," growled Mecharexmon. "Those assholes are WAY too creative. Trying to hit that from outside would've been almost impossible…of course, they'd want to make it so that if you actually managed to figure out how to break their toy, it'd be a feat to survive it. Whoever came up with this thing, I want to personally unload my entire arsenal on them before they can do worse."

"I wouldn't stop you," agreed Blazereptimon. "That was a menace beyond words. But…I don't get something. How weren't you affected by that draining attack, uh…"

"Ionfalkemon. Thanks for asking, by the way."

"Sorry, a bit distracted by narrowly escaping death yet again. But seriously, how? I couldn't move a freaking inch from that thing…"

"I don't…actually know." Ionfalkemon shook her head. "It was weird, I thought it should affect me just as much, especially considering how I was almost immobile from that Torment Wave…but it was like the Veil of Abomination just…wiped that out."

"…Hm." Mecharexmon looked over at the space where Ashinkaimon had been. "I wonder…tch, I can't pick up any stray data signature. Guess it's gonna just have to be a guess then…it might be because it actually DID annul the effect of that attack, in order to prevent it from absorbing it itself. Draining you after incapacitating you might have caused it to absorb the noxious energy, which might have caused it to have to stop using the drain…so it erased that to prevent it from being undermined by its own techniques. But once it did that, it must not have been able to latch onto you for absorption…maybe because it can only latch on in the initial launch."

"What kinda bone-headed oversight is THAT?" harrumphed Blazereptimon.

"One I'm glad for. I don't think…well, no, I won't go that far, but I'll say, it's possible Ashinkaimon wasn't truly complete, or wasn't fully tested. We might have just had a run-in with something more like a prototype…"

"That's a thought that won't get me sleeping well," shuddered Ionfalkemon. "We need to make sure they can't make more of them. This is a fiend no world needs."

"Agreed. Also, when did you get a cat?"

"Call it a rescue. But we need to make sure it actually gets rescued. Ashinkaimon was feeding off of her…I can tell her heart's still beating and her brain's still firing, but she feels far too weak."

"My place, then?" surmised Blazereptimon.

"Yeah, if that's possible."

"It's gonna be crowded. We had a run-in with Talomon…that's how we found out about Ashinkaimon. He was one of the victims as well, got gashed pretty badly."

"I wondered how you were already out here," remarked Mecharexmon. "And we can account for Elecmon, too. Assuming that there's anything left of him after Ashley gets done with him."

"That leaves Dorumon and Goblimon…" Blazereptimon bowed his head. "Who may or may not have already been killed by Ashinkaimon. I don't know how we're going to find out considering we couldn't trace them…"

"We can figure that out later," declared Ionfalkemon. "We need to get Felismon some care, right now."

"Right. Rex, can you check and make sure our 'guests' are all right? And maybe ask them if they know anything more about what was going on with Ashinkaimon. If I can get a bit of reassurance that there aren't more than one of those in existence or ex-existence on either world, I'd sleep a lot better."

"You and me both. I'll take care of it."

—

"…It's gone."

Kirsten looked up at Shadowdramon, feeling herself finally start to relax after who knew how long. "Are you sure? It left?"

"…No. It vanished, suddenly." Shadowdramon took a deep breath. "Which means…someone must've beaten it."

"No way," Crestmon exclaimed dubiously. "I thought that thing couldn't BE beaten."

"There's always a way. I don't know what it is, though."

"Are you sure it didn't just…go back?"

"Ashinkaimon's not smart enough to understand that. It's programmed to just attack and destroy, a mindless weapon to be ordered simply. Even if it had the possibility, it wouldn't understand the concept."

"This thing sounds like a nightmare," shuddered Kirsten.

Shadowdramon nodded grimly. "That was the goal. A living weapon so wicked that its very name would inspire terror." He looked down and away. "…I should have known from something like that…"

"All that matters is that you know now," Kirsten insisted. "…I know. Maybe you'll feel a bit better if you're around someone who's on the right side for a bit. Do you think you could come to my place and we could talk with my brother and Breezedramon?"

"Your…brother?" Crestmon's eyes widened. "So that's how you found out!"

"Yeah, though he doesn't know it yet. But I think if he's heard you want to help, he'll be more than happy to accept it."

"I…well, I guess I don't have anything else in mind," admitted Shadowdramon. "Maybe, can you tell me about some of those stories you were talking about?"

"Oh, uh, sure, I'm sure I can find something. Or my brother can, he can find just about anything, really. Can we go now? I really don't wanna be down here any longer."

"Oh, right. I don't sense anything else…that doesn't mean there's nothing out there I can't sense, but we're probably as not in danger as we're going to be."

"Good enough." Kirsten was quite relieved to be climbing back up the steps, even if the darkness was making her nervous; the sun was almost all the way down now, and she was going to have to get home under the night sky. In a city currently sporting an unknown quantity of creatures that are definitely not friendly…at least there are a couple who are nearby.

"Jeez…I didn't realize how dark it was outside." Apparently she wasn't the only nervous one, as Crestmon didn't seem all that at ease himself as they reached the ground floor and headed towards the door. "I sure hope I find a place to hunker down soon, I don't want to be wandering around much when I can't see well."

"The darkness is nothing to be afraid of," insisted Shadowdramon, with a bit of affront.

"Yeah, easy for you to say, mister 'all my senses are better at night.' You'd better use those, if they sent freaking Ashinkaimon who knows if they sent other guys."

"Probably not, Ashinkaimon was unpredictable, I doubt they'd risk…wait!" This time, Shadowdramon's voice came just as he door opened, and a huge figure stepped in, banging his head on the doorway with a loud "OW!". A light suddenly shone around him, revealing the titanic form of Mecharexmon rubbing his head, and illuminating the three of them.

Mecharexmon started and stepped back as he caught sight of Kirsten and the two digimon, almost knocking his head on the doorway again. "Rah! What the hell?!"

Kirsten flinched at the deep, shocked voice. For a moment she was frozen…and then she remembered what Ashley had been telling her, and suddenly made the connection. "I…Isaac?!"

Even though the cyborg's eyes were hidden behind a visor, the way he reacted was all too obvious an 'eyes popping out' expression. His jaw dropped, and he stood there silently for a good few seconds…and then he raised his hands. "Uh-uh. Nope. Not doing this. I've dealt with enough crap tonight, this is too much. Whatever the heck you're doing, do it, and leave me out of it, thanks." And with that, Mecharexmon backstepped out of the doorway and stomped off, before the sound of his footsteps disappeared with a weird sound.

"…That was…not what I was expecting," Shadowdramon said slowly. "I…guess he must have been fighting Ashinkaimon?"

Kirsten let out a sigh. "…Yeah, you know, I think now's a good time to NOT be asking questions and TO be getting the heck out of here."

—

"Mom, it's okay! I'm fine! Please, settle down…yes, there was an…incident out there. But I'm not hurt, it was…it was Reyn who was in trouble. No, no, don't-he's fine! Listen, you can talk to him, here!" Iris thrust the phone in Reyn's direction, the boy taking it reluctantly. This was not what he had been expecting from all this…

"Hi, Mrs. Conover…" At least the genuine weariness would sell the story. "No, I'm fine, I, uh, just got…caught up in something I wasn't ready for. Uh, no, I mean, not…I, uh, met a different one. Fire lizard thing. He's actually pretty cool. I…listen, I trust him as far as I trust myself, and I mean that. You know how I am, I'm not someone who gets close to people real easily, right? …Yeah, I can vouch for that. My house was…attacked not that long ago. It's because my parents are doctors, they want to target the ones that can help the most…we're all fine, but I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty scary. …I mean, they WANT to, but, well, there's a lot of distrust around, you know? I can't exactly blame people, either…yeah, okay. I promise. Here, let me get you back to Iris…" Reyn rolled his eyes as he handed the phone back, mouthing don't I have enough people I'm freaking out already?

Iris held back a giggle as she took the phone back. "Are you feeling better, Mom? Good…no, I mean, I don't think I want to either. I can spend the night here…Mom, if they went after one house, it's not like they won't go after any others. I'm just as safe here as there…no, I promise, I won't be going anywhere else tonight. Yes, I'll thank her for keeping me safe next time I see her. Yeah, mom…no, don't let Dad know yet, I…I'm not sure how he's going to react, it needs to be…just a different environment. All right, I can agree to that. I'll be back tomorrow…love you, Mom. G'bye." She hung up her phone and let out a sigh. "Well, this is going about as well as I expected…"

"I coulda told you that, that was similar to the lie I tried to tell before everything came out here," remarked Reyn. "Mom and Dad didn't even really buy it, she's gonna pick up on it sooner or later."

"I know. It's just…right now, if I blow that up, Dad's gonna be in a super awkward position. There's no way he can pretend to be pursuing us if he knows I'm one of the us he's pursuing, and they're gonna get suspicious if he tries to ease off."

"You know, this all would be a lot easier if we could just make ourselves known," grumbled Salmandmon; the smaller lizard was in a chair, slugging down water from a plastic bottle, and looking pretty wiped out and annoyed. "This whole 'hiding from everyone' thing is starting to really cheese me off. You can't fight a war like this, we get all these digimon appearing and hanging around for hell knows how long, and we just gotta hope we stumble on them before they send everything to pot."

"You have any ideas, o master tactician?" Shockavimon asked.

"Oy, watch it, I'm already in a bad mood."

"Join the club. Ashinkaimon was about the last thing I ever wanted to see over here. I'd've sooner taken Cranuimmon redux. None of the plans we saw ever talked about that…thing it did with Felismon…"

"Yeah…and they're spending an awful lot of time on her." Salmandmon cast his gaze out into the living room, where Treylor and Minerva were both working on ministering to the feline; nearby, Talomon couldn't tear his gaze away from her, looking more out of sorts than ever, clinging to Cayden who hadn't left his side. "I don't want to think about what else that thing could've done, what it did to us was bad enough."

"Does…this sort of thing happen often?" asked Iris nervously. "Just, creating brand new digimon?"

"Not often, and for good reason. Synthetic digimon are…pretty much inherently unstable. We don't know how to create stable forms, conflicting data tends to try to attack each other when forced to share the same flesh. There's people legitimately trying to study it, but…I don't think it's a good idea."

"And the people who DO do it are almost always trying to make weapons," added Shockavimon grimly. "The ultimate beast, hard to destroy and easy to make destroy, that's always the goal. Ashinkaimon was just one example of that…I'm not surprised it would be Emperius, of course. But that one might've been the worst I've seen, because of just how nasty its abilities are…it takes a depraved mind to think of things like what it could do. That's why we were so aggressive in trying to ensure that project never got anywhere…"

"Until we thought Emperius was down, at least…" Salmandmon crushed the bottle in his hand. "We shouldn't have gotten complacent. Even if we were being misled, we should've pursued the remnants more aggressively. Given them no chance to regain ground…we could've at least found their base, their real one."

"Their real one?" Reyn asked.

"We thought we had found Emperius's base a couple months after Craniummon's demise. There HAD been people there, and it was big enough to be a central military complex, but it was all but abandoned. Seems like it might've been a dummy decoy, set up to mislead us…I didn't buy it at the time, it seemed like an awful lot of work for that and they weren't tricky like that, but now that we've seen Emperius getting too damn clever, I'm pretty sure I was wrong. They WERE there, and they moved somewhere else, buying them time to regroup. And if I'd pushed that harder instead of thinking it was just that we'd gotten them to the point where they couldn't hold up anymore…"

"It's not your fault, Sal," Shockavimon said gently. "Nearly everyone thought the same thing…there were only a few people who weren't sure, and even then, they weren't sure it wasn't, either."

"Yeah…" Salmandmon huffed. "But you were one of them. And I should've listened to you…you're good at picking up on things, and you were intel for the Kaiser, you were used to noticing things that didn't make sense. If I'd listened to you, maybe this whole thing never would've gotten this far…"

"Or, maybe you make about four people who thought something rather than three," remarked Reyn. "It sounds like you had the right read for what you knew…you can't beat yourself up for not knowing something you wouldn't have any reason to know about. Plus, you had guys in charge there who would've made the decisions anyway, it wasn't your burden to bear."

"…Yeah, I guess." The lizard hardly sounded convinced.

"It doesn't matter much now, though, does it?" Iris added with a sense of finality. "We can't fix whatever happened in the past, shouldas or not. We're here where we are now, we just need to do what we can. And there's one thing we can take heart in…we BEAT Ashinkaimon. And we know how to beat them even if they do have others. We're holding our ground in spite of everything…if things ever DO get more favorable for us, we'll be in even better shape to take them on."

"I've rarely heard you so…driven, Iris," remarked Reyn.

"Well, I might be riding the high of taking that creepo down a bit. WAY too much like an oversized bug for my liking."

"And there it is," the boy laughed.

"She's right, though," agreed Shockavimon. "We've come this far in spite of long odds. If those odds start tilting towards us, it can only be good news. We really do need to figure out what happened to Dorumon and Goblimon, though…if Ashinkaimon did take them down, then we need confirmation, and if they didn't, we need to know where they ended up so that they don't cause us more trouble, because we definitely don't need Emperius to have more help than they have already…"

"Agreed," noted Salmandmon. "I wonder where they could be if they survived…"

—

He was SUPPOSED to be preparing for an interrogation…but Emil was so preoccupied, he couldn't think straight. Back and forth, flipping between his pages of notes from everything that had been told to him. It was ever more clear, the more he looked at it, that he didn't have the full story, that something was definitely missing. And more and more he felt certain that whatever it was, it was grievously important that he find out before they made some kind of catastrophic error.

The monsters…their behavior doesn't scan. Some of them have very clearly been nothing but dangerous. Others have come and gone without leaving much of a trace of anything. And now we're getting word of some of them assisting in some way. If this isn't a case of them all being uniformly on the same side, then what's going on? Why do they seem to just pop in and pop out wherever they please?

And another thing was bothering him, too - the inability to find any of these monsters unless they wanted to be found. The verifiable reports of accurate sightings were so meager he couldn't believe it. Creatures that were hiding out in the city shouldn't have been so well-hidden, not with everything that could be used to capture pictures and video these days. Were they wrong and their 'constant monsters' weren't so constant after all? Sure, they'd been seen multiple times, but did that really mean they were staying there?

Lots of questions, not many answers. Maybe the creature they had captured would shed some light, but Emil wondered if that was really the case. Surely it wouldn't talk about all the secrets…and he wasn't sure how they were going to get information out of it if it didn't want to volunteer it. Threats and intimidation felt a bit lacking when talking about invading monsters…

"Agent Conover?" Emil looked up, and saw Tony Rivier at the doorway. "I just received some new information…do you have a moment?"

"Maybe…I haven't been notified that the creature's awake yet. What do you have for me?"

"It's an unusual report, but it's corroborated by video footage from a doorbell camera. I can send you the video after we've talked, but I wanted to catch you before, just in case it turned out to be important." Tony looked incredibly nervous, as he often did. "Because I think it is, but I don't know what the hell's going on anymore."

"That makes all of us. What does the video show?"

"Well, the video shows one of the monsters. The red lizard one. And I think it's from the day where they reported that fight between it and another creature, because it was bleeding and looked to be pretty beat up. It doesn't stay on the camera long, but it's clear enough that it's that creature."

"Really…I'll want to know where that camera is, because that could be useful in tracing where it went. We're having such a hard time tracking these things…"

"Y-yes, but sir, there's more. I went through the whole video, and…something else showed up. Just minutes before the creature you mentioned ran across, there was…another thing. A similar creature, but smaller, crossed the path of the camera."

Emil blinked. This was news to him. "Similar but smaller? You mean it was like that red lizard, but just…how small are we talking?"

Tony looked away a bit, seeming anxious. "It was…uhm…about to waist height of the human it was walking with, sir."

Emil nearly fell over at that. Talk about your buried ledes! "Human?! You're telling me the monster was walking WITH a human?! No attacks or anything?"

"N-no, sir! No attacks! It didn't even seem unfriendly! It looked like they were talking with each other…there's no audio so I don't know anything about what was being said, but there was no sign of aggression or anything."

"Good lord. This just keeps getting more bizarre." Emil slumped back in his seat, hands on his head. "But smaller forms…I wonder…maybe that's how they're hiding. We don't notice them because they change shape, or size, or something like that. Ugh…just what we need, shapeshifting. Tony, can you tell me anything about the person you saw in that video? I doubt it'll help much now, but maybe I can look through the database and see if it matches anyone on file."

Tony shook his head. "You can try, but I doubt it will, I don't think this was an adult. I'd say probably 15 or 16 years old, something around average height and build. He was wearing a red shirt and jeans. Oh, and his hair, it's probably the brightest red I've ever seen. Actually impressive, it gives the lizard's color a run for its money."

"Hm…thanks, Tony. Send me the video, I'll have to review it after I'm done." The other agent nodded and exited, and Emil leaned back, closing his eyes.

Mid-teens, average build, bright red hair…it could almost be the Kessilik's boy. In fact…I wonder if it just might be. I think something's starting to come together…there's a parallel to draw here. Derek was seen in the company of an unusual creature, too. I wonder if this is the same deal? They've been harder to find because they've been in shapes that aren't what we're looking for…and not all just hiding in one spot, but…actually WITH people. If this creature IS with Reyn…hm. Dr. Kessilik said something earlier…about not all the monsters being that bad…wait. Could he have been saying that because he knew? Maybe he's actually aware of this thing…

A buzz from his phone. Emil looked down; it was a text from Elliot saying they were ready. He picked up his phone and notebook and stood up, taking a deep breath and gathering himself. It's something. Elliot will HAVE to be interested in this…but we'll have to be careful if there are minors involved. Weird that these monsters would gravitate towards them…maybe we'll find out more. But it gives us something to think about. Look for signs of those monsters around humans, rather than just in random places. Anything that indicates there might be one-

It suddenly hit like a truck just as Emil was stepped out of his door, causing him to freeze almost dead in place.

…Like a garish…yellow…feather.

One thing was certain…it was going to be VERY hard not to be distracted during this interrogation.

—

Elliot was as ready as he could be…which wasn't as ready as he wanted to be, but the only way he could be more ready was if the thorn in his ass could be pulled out. Sadly, Lexis Redford was a stubborn one.

"I don't see why this needed to be done here," huffed the federal agent in annoyance. "I could have taken him to the police station and gotten this done sooner."

"Wouldn't want to risk breaking the one-way mirror," replied Elliot shortly.

"Oh, please, that's not even a good excuse."

"And I don't answer to you, so I don't need to give you a better one. And on that note, Agent Redford, I lead these proceedings. You will control yourself in there, or you'll be out."

"You can't cut me out of this! This is a matter of national security-"

"I'm VERY much not in the mood for games, Redford," Elliot snapped, cutting him off. "I've had enough to deal with today. If you think it's that goddamn important that you be in there personally, then stay in line and I won't have to boot you. DON'T push me."

Agent Redford did not look happy, but simply huffed and said, "Very well. But do your job right, Agent Katran."

"I always do." The sound of footsteps made him turn, catching sight of Emil walking over. "Emil. Is something wrong? You weren't as quick here as I expected."

"Just…new information, trying to process it all. We can…talk about it after." Emil would have liked to talk about it before, but the prying eyes and ears of Agent Redford had him deciding that to be less than a great idea. "And I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous. Face-to-face with one of these creatures for the first time…I wish I knew what to expect. He's, uh, secure in there, right?"

"He was tied up good. Can't move at all, according to the agents who did it. They went to extra lengths, because apparently he's a strong little bastard. Had a club that he swung around like it was nothing that one of our agents could barely manage two-handed. Didn't look that heavy, but I suppose you can't underestimate these things."

"We're all here, so let's get to it," Redford said impatiently.

"Control yourself, Agent. Right, let's go." Elliot pushed open the door, letting the three of them in before shutting and locking it securely. Across from them, sitting in a chair isolated from the three humans, was the monster they had captured - something that looked like a mixture between a goblin and an orc, wearing a leather vest and loincloth. Its expression was fierce and wild, it certainly didn't seem happy to be locked up the way it was.

"Creature. If you have one, state your name for the record," ordered Elliot.

"Do your worst to me, human scum," replied the creature sharply. "You'll all get what's coming to you. Emperius will see to your destruction! The Purification will be made real!"

"Your fanatical ramblings are duly noted. NAME."

The creature snorted. "Pathetic. Have me at your mercy and all you do is whine for my name? Goblimon. Speak it with the reverence it deserves, scum." This was definitely not the friendliness the lizard had apparently had, Emil was noting - something that was only fueling his suspicions.

Elliot was under no such distractions. "Goblimon. Creative, I suppose, for something that looks like you. Now, let's get to the next step. What are you?"

"Your future masters and conquerors. You'll see soon enough, human refuse!"

"Masters and conquerors. We'll see about that. Why are you here? What are you trying to accomplish with your attacks?"

"Heh heh heh…" Goblimon gave a savage, toothy smirk towards them. "Pathetic humans…so weak, so feeble, so unworthy of life. You couldn't ever HOPE to understand, you'll never have the power that we do. Emperius is destined to rule over all! Our future has been carved in stone, the strong shall rule over the weak, and judge their worthiness to live! The powerful will rise above all, to direct the world as it should be, to create a society where the rule of power is absolute! And those who are of so little worth as to be nothing more than a disease are to be wiped away, and all will be purified from their taint!"

"Scum-sucking bottom-feeder," growled Redford.

"I thought I'd heard it bad from some of those fascist lunatics," muttered Emil. "This is all that on steroids…it's terrifying someone might have the power to make creatures like this."

"So you serve some kind of higher authority…what's their angle?" asked Elliot, with a definite bite of anger but still mostly controlled. "And why this game of appear and disappear? You claim to have the power to do what you want, so why haven't you done your worst? If this is some kind of terror attack, what's the point?!"

"Fool! Emperius only seeks power! We do things only because they strengthen our rule, and allow us to crush those who try to interfere with our destiny! And there's power in your world…you worthless humans have the keys to our absolute power in your hands! Once you've been reduced to nothing, no one will stop us from conquering all and everything! The divine right of Emperius will be unchallenged by all!"

"For a thing that looks like he should talk in grunts and unga-bunga-speak, it's awfully damn chatty," sniped Redford. "This is a waste of time. It's telling us nothing."

"…I don't think that's true." Something was starting to turn in Emil's head. The way he talks…it doesn't line up with our thoughts. A hacker just spontaneously generating these things, or making them be summoned by other monsters, wouldn't bother with some kind of attribution…particularly if they wanted to remain discreet. And what could they be seeking 'in our world' that they wouldn't already have access to? In our world…wait…what…what does THAT mean? This thing…this thing has an organization, and it has to exist somewhere… Those feelings were just getting stronger that he was inching closer to the truth, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. "No, it's…it's telling us a hell of a lot, without even trying."

"What are you talking about?"

"How many are there of you things?" Elliot was ignoring the chatter behind him, though he was getting a bit irritated with it. "In this 'Emperius' cult of yours?"

"You think I know? Hahaha! There are more than you'll ever need to know! Once they come, you'll have no chance! And their numbers will only grow, and grow, until all are with us and none stand against us!"

"Khh. Well, I can't say any number it would've given would've made me feel any better, to be honest," remarked Elliot brusquely. "It's worse than I ever thought, though…violent beasts is one thing, but violent, crazy, fanatic genocidal beasts is a few too many adjectives for my liking."

"Mine, either," agreed Emil. "But…there's more to it, isn't there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been listening to what he's saying, haven't you?" Emil stepped forward. "Goblimon, was it? You've been talking a lot about how power and rule are your destiny, you'll crush everything that stands in your way and make everyone submit to you…that means that there must be some who don't agree with you, aren't there?"

Goblimon looked stunned for a moment, and he wasn't the only one. Elliot looked over at his partner sharply, but it was Redford who had the outburst. "What the HELL are you on, Conover?! It just told us what the monsters are doing, trying to destroy us all!"

"He told us what HE was doing. But think about it…what would they need from 'our world' that they wouldn't already have if they were being formed over here? And if they really have power that would be overwhelming to us, why would they need more? If they clearly don't think we can stand up to them, someone else has to be…and if not us, then what else could it be but other monsters?"

"Emil, I don't know what the hell kind of crazy ideas you've-" Elliot's statement was cut short with a booming, wild laugh from Goblimon, almost rocking the chair he was on back onto the ground.

"Fools! Fools and heretics! They think that they can stand up to Emperius's destiny! What, are you pathetic humans looking for a savior? They'll all fall to us! No one can save you! No one can help you! Your world will be ours! The Purification will come, and you'll wish you had a fraction of the power that we had, that one of you might be deemed worthy! Those miserable wretches that cower in the shadows, trying to oppose us, will die before your eyes…the glorious despair you'll give us will be our greatest triumph yet! Ahahahaha!"

"So, it's true…" Emil's muted response belied the sudden swell underneath. These aren't random creations…this is an invading force from another world. And the ones here haven't been summoning them, they've been trying to STOP them. "This changes everything…"

"This changes NOTHING!" roared Agent Redford. "Conover! You have a lot of explaining to do! I won't stand for this nuttery!"

"I don't know what you've been doing with your time, Emil, but you're going to have to explain yourself!" Elliot snarled. "What are you talking about? How does this change anything?!"

"You haven't seen my notes, Elliot. There's a lot more to this story than we ever thought. We need to talk…I think we've gotten as much out of this guy as it's worth getting, and I'm getting tired of hearing him gab on about killing us all."

"Yes, we DEFINITELY need to talk…" Elliot didn't sound like he was thinking on the same page as Emil, but Emil was sure he could bring him around. At least, until they were out the door, and ran smack dab into one of the administrative assistants who was looking frantically for them.

"Agent Katran! Agent Conover! Rudy needs you, right now!"

Elliot's face somehow got even more dour. "Of course he does…because we needed more on our plate."

"I have a call to make," Redford said stiffly. "But rest assured, someone will be hearing about this craziness of yours, Conover."

"I'm sure they will, Redford." The promise in those words was one that seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else around. But Emil had a thought now…all they needed to do was get through this one report by Rudy without everything blowing up. Surely they could manage that, right?

---

I wish I could possess the power to talk someone into submission. Sadly, despite numerous efforts, it rarely results in more than detente at best.

Some enemies become allies in this chapter. That's consistent with the previous version. What's changed, as usual, is that there's a bit more complexity to it. As well as a couple additional faces, of course. There's also more reason behind it, though not all the reasons will be clearly elucidated this moment. But this also helps establish that not everyone in Emperius is just a mindless fanatic, some of them have reasons, albeit erroneous ones. This has meaning that will matter later.

Not that there aren't still fanatics, of course. The original version of this also had an Emperius fanatic that wasn't fanatical enough. I think I MIGHT have taken care of that. I also changed things up pretty significantly in the process of discovery leading up to this.

Speaking of significantly changed, the Ashinkaimon battle. The 'pocket space' thing was…something I don't even know how or why I came up with it, but I liked it the moment I did. Don't ask me how you'd make something like this, it takes a demented mind.

Custom mon behind-the-scenes: Inventing a monstrous aberration is harder than it sounds. Especially considering that it has to be a monstrous aberration to folks who are very used to a diverse populace. At least the story of its 'invention' means I can be pretty freeform with the design. Said design seems pretty overpowered in a lot of ways, but it's not like I'd expect Emperius to hold back any if they didn't have to. The name "Ashinkaimon" is bastardized Japanese, but I forget what the translation was meant to be. I'm pretty sure 'demon' was in there somewhere but that's as much as my memory allows.