Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own When the World's Not Ending, by Smartalec121 or any of their associated works.

Off the Beaten Path

Chapter: 15/ The Two Masters

Kenta looked over at the empty desk to his left. A worried frown creasing his brow, he anxiously turned to glance up at the clock. It was nearing noon and Takato still hadn't shown up for school.

Did something happen after the bio-emergence? he wondered, and not for the first time. His fingers ached to use his phone, but it had been confiscated by the teacher who did not care in the least that it had been issued to him by Hypnos for the purpose of maintaining contact with it and Takato. Bereft of his means of communication, he could only sit there and tap his pencil on his notebook anxiously, listening to the teacher as they droned on and on about math. Kenta bit his lip at the urge to just rush out of the room and down to the park where he was sure Takato would be.

He always goes to the park when something's bothering him.

He made up his mind. At the first ring of the bell, he would retrieve his cellphone and skip school for the rest of the day. For Takato's safety and his peace of mind, he would do that. There was no getting around it.

Or… Or I could just do that right now, he thought, glancing again at the clock. A full forty minutes of class remained. He didn't think he could sit still that long.

What if Takato's hurt or something? The longer I sit here, the worse off he'll be!

Nightmarish memories of Jeri came to mind, lying prostrate in her bed, her body cold. The day they heard the news of her death had been like a chilled bomb went off. Kenta never forgot the way Takato had clammed up. For the first time since becoming friends, Takato went silent in his grief and for the rest of that first week he didn't speak unless spoken to. Even then, it had been monotone. Automatic. The lights were on but no one was home. Eventually, he came back, but something changed in him. Since then, Kenta had the fear that Takato would end up like Jeri. That one day, he would go to his place and find only his corpse.

Kenta swallowed and he felt a cold sweat break out on his skin. It felt like a bubbling scream was building up inside him, threatening to tear loose from his lips.

"Pih?"

At the quiet, questioning whisper of his partner from his uniform's coat pocket, Kenta jerked. The image of a dead Takato vanished abruptly and all at once he was back in school. All eyes were on him, and Kenta realized he was standing.

"Is something the matter, Kitagawa?" the teacher asked, turning toward him. Kenta swallowed and his stomach made a churning, bubbly noise. He gripped the sides of his desk tightly.

"I-I'm not feeling very well," he stammered out, which was truthful enough an excuse as any to get out of class. The teacher frowned, but nodded.

"You do look rather pale," they said. "Well, more so than usual. Ayaka? Make sure Kenta gets to the nurse's office."

Kenta cringed. He quickly looked over in Ayaka's direction. She was already getting up from her seat and her expression, for a wonder, was unreadable. Confused, he looked over at Miki to gauge her friend's emotional weather. Miki looked concerned, but nothing that would tell him how carefully to step.

Nothing I can do except hope for the best, he thought. Maybe if I keep my mouth shut, she won't hit me.

After gathering up his things, he started down the aisle. A foot suddenly stuck out in front of him and with a surprised squawk, Kenta went sprawling to the floor. A chorus of laughter erupted.

"Owww…" Carefully, Kenta pulled himself up and blinked blearily. The room had become a colorful smudge in his vision, and people little more than animated pieces of featureless fuzz. His hand went to his face in realization.

"My glasses…" He paled and immediately began to clumsily grope around.

"Some hero," snickered the classmate above him. The one who had tripped him. "Blind as a bat if he trips."

"You want to shut your mouth?" This from Ayaka as MarineAngemon simultaneously emerged from his pocket. "Apologize to him."

"What? I had a muscle spasm! Nothing to apologize for."

"Pihpuhpuh," came MarineAngemon's adversarial response as his pink, blobby form floated over a short way. Kenta's face flushed

"MarineAngemon! You shouldn't call him that!"

"What?" The student was now incensed. "What did your freak show of a data byte call me?"

MarineAngemon floated back over to Kenta, holding his glasses in his tiny front arms. "Pih," he said, and the boy gratefully took them.

"Sorry," he said to the student, but they weren't having it. Grabbing hold of him by his arm, he roughly hauled Kenta up.

"I asked what it called me!"

"Katsuharu!" The teacher's voice had an edge of anger to their voice. The boy, light-haired with a long, almost wolfish face, glared back and forth between their teacher and Kenta before finally letting the Tamer go. Kenta hastily put his glasses on and scrambled out of the aisle. MarineAngemon flew swiftly behind him, pihpuhing all the way. Ayaka frowned slightly in the direction of Katsuharu before turning to watch Kenta hurriedly grab his phone from the teacher. Picking up her bag, she made her way down the aisle and followed the Tamer as he rushed out of the room.

"I know, but you shouldn't have said that!" she heard Kenta saying upon joining him in the hall. "You only made things worse! Now I'm definitely going to be dealing with him!"

"Puh!"

"No, you can't blow a heart at him! That'd be an even worse thing to do!"

"Pihpihpih!"

"I'm not…!" Becoming aware of Ayaka, he clammed up and gave MarineAngemon a meaningful look. Ayaka merely gazed at the pair, looking like she'd rather be anywhere but with them right now.

"You're going to ditch, aren't you?" she asked. Kenta blanched, confirming her suspicions.

"T-Takato…" he began. Ayaka tsked.

"Just shut up and go," she said. "Jeez… I can't believe that you two are still…" She shook her head. "Just…go. I'll wander the hall for a bit and tell the teacher I dropped you off at the nurses. Get in trouble by yourself and don't go dragging me into it."

"T-Thanks!" Adjusting his glasses, Kenta immediately took off. MarineAngemon hovered in place for a moment, gazing at Ayaka contemplatively. The copper-haired girl glared.

"What's that look for?" she asked icily. In response, MarineAngemon blew a pink heart at her and promptly flew after Kenta.

The heart floated over to Ayaka, who took a disgusted step back. Not to be denied, the heart followed after her. She waved a hand to brush it aside, causing it to pop. She cringed, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, her shoulders sagged a little.

"Stupid little fairy," she muttered. Adjusting her school bag, she wandered off in the direction of the nurse, feeling that whatever Kenta had, it had to be contagious enough for her to feel sour now.

###

Yamaki gazed down at Kuzuhamon from the Danger Room's observation window. His expression remained stone-like, but the slow, methodical clicking of his lighter opening and closing spoke of his anxieties. Riley stood next to him, watching his thumb work the mechanical lid.

"You're sure you want to go through with this?" she asked. She felt it was a pointless question to ask, especially since Yamaki was even now nodding like she expected him to, but she felt it necessary to give him a space to air his apprehensions before he went down to speak to the Mega digimon. Necessary as well even to give him an 'out,' though as the leader of Hypnos, he likely wouldn't take it.

"Not much choice now, is there?" Yamaki replied. Flicking his lighter closed a final time, he handed it to her. "This is a risk we need to take. We've been relying too much on those kids when we should be taking responsibility for ourselves as well."

Riley nodded hesitantly, not entirely sure if she agreed with him. Even for all of Hypnos' accomplishments and technological breakthroughs, there were just some things that only the Tamers could do and they couldn't. She could hear the frustration this caused him and she wondered how much of it was a consequence of Himiko Hata. After the Parasimon invasion from four years ago, the pressure she put on Yamaki over the digital world situation grew, and with it so did the number of her allies while Yamaki's core steadily shrank.

Yamaki drew out the digivice made for Sleipnir from his pocket. Riley's lips thinned.

"Sir?" she asked.

"Insurance," Yamaki replied. Riley didn't look happy either way.

"We don't know if it will work," she said.

"Yes, but she doesn't need to know that."

Riley resisted the urge to shake her head. Yamaki should have had at least one of the Tamers with him, even if it was Suzie. Sleipnir was an unknown variable in its current state, and after its failed test, completely unreliable.

Yet, she knew that Yamaki would insist either way.

"We should be taking responsibility for ourselves as well." Riley wanted to tell him how terrible an idea this was, but at this point, she knew it would be futile.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" she asked, giving Yamaki's lighter a tight squeeze. A small smile touched the corners of Yamaki's face at the personal tone to her voice. The years had brought many changes between them, one of which was the growing informality in how they spoke to one another professionally.

Just a tad bit unprofessional, she thought, a small blush rising in her cheeks, but she didn't flinch. Turning away, Yamaki started toward the room's exit.

"Meeting room environment," he said just before leaving. Turning to the control panel, Riley tapped in the sequence and at once the Danger Room's appearance altered, becoming a windowless room with a single, small table. She watched as Kuzuhamon looked about herself and Riley shuddered, wondering what she was thinking. Without visible eyes, she could only guess.

Probably nothing good, she thought.

###

Kuzuhamon turned her face up from the table as Yamaki entered through a plain, wooden door. Upon closing it behind him, the door vanished, leaving the two alone in the room without an exit.

Interesting… she thought, beginning to understand her predicament. The humans have advanced quite far to come up with something like this.

A micro-digital world, able to be freely programmed into whatever shape they wanted and out of whatever material, contained entirely in this one room. The extent of their ability to accomplish this she could only guess at, but she didn't find it difficult to believe that their surroundings were likely built out of Chrome Digizoid and would be capable of resisting her power. Gaiomon might be able to do it, and could likely dismiss the faux room by destroying the equipment involved in holding it together, but as she didn't know what the consequences of that could be, she wasn't willing to test that until there was no other option remaining.

"Gaiomon?"

"Yes?"

"Just checking to see if we could still communicate. The humans have a clever little trap for me should I become dangerous. Stand by."

She heard Gaiomon chuckle, but his presence remained uncontested. A good sign. She focused now on Yamaki and he allowed her time to take in his presence. He was plainly human. Taller than the Tamers and older, judging by the wear on his face, akin to digimon whose overwrite programs had become corrupted and worn down from time. In one hand he held some kind of device, similar to what she had seen with the Tamers. Did that mean he was a Tamer as well? And if so, where was his partner?

Could this room create such a creature? Interesting.

"Would you like a seat?" Yamaki asked, gesturing to her. A second later, a chair materialized in place for her. Kuzuhamon raised an eyebrow beneath her mask. Reaching out, she ran her gloved hand along its surface. It felt solid to the touch.

"I'll pass," she said, drawing her hand back. "I believe we should discuss the latest incursion."

"The D-Reaper agent," Yamaki said. Another chair materialized and he took it. "I believe dealing with such a threat is one thing we can both agree on without any argument."

"The Sovereign is searching for its source as we speak." She hesitated before adding, "One of my allies, Titamon, will be arriving here to aid in its destruction."

Yamaki's expression was as difficult to read as hers was no doubt to him. She doubted he was surprised by this revelation. Humans and digimon were similar enough, she found, that he would likely call for reinforcements if their situations were reversed.

"Help would be appreciated," he said. Setting the digivice on the table, he pressed a button. A holographic image of Titamon rose up from its screen and she watched as the man read off the information contained in it. "Though you are operating outside of your jurisdiction. And you have so far shown a disregard for the laws and people in this country."

"You speak of the battle between Gaiomon and Gallantmon. That was a mistake. We were concerned that the Hazard digimon was the source of the incursions, and we were sent to test him. Gaiomon was…regrettably overenthusiastic about doing so."

"And what guarantee do I have that Titamon won't be the same?"

Kuzuhamon resisted the urge to clench her fists.

"I cannot," she admitted. "Titamon is a believer and follows the commands of the Sovereign without question."
"And which sovereign do you follow? Zhuqiaomon?"

"Yes," Kuzuhamon nodded. Yamaki leaned back in his chair.

"You put us in a difficult position. Zhuqiaomon has anti-human sentiments, as I recall. Titamon will not question his orders?"

"The Sovereign places the safety of the digital world above his prejudices."

"I find that hard to believe, given past history. The lives of his previous servants, the Devas, were wasted in attacks on this world. The intention was to enslave humanity and use us to digivolve them. No attempt at peaceful communication was made."

Kuzuhamon frowned beneath her mask. She had heard of such things about her predecessors during her service. She couldn't deny them.

What assurances can I provide them?

None. She knew that without having to think further. Titamon would come and he would deal with the situation in whatever way he saw fit, regardless of the cost to himself or to the humans.

"I am sorry," she said. It seemed to be the only thing she could say. Yamaki met her gaze, his expression betraying nothing. Yet Kuzuhamon felt deep contemplation behind his attention. Not a political maneuvering, as sometimes occurred between other servants of the Sovereign, but a sense that he was weighing her character.

"Is what the Sovereign wants the same thing that you want?" he asked after a moment. Kuzuhamon felt a jolt in her core and this time she did clench her fist. For an instant, she remembered her aimless wandering in the digital world's wastelands – a place she came across before the light of digivolution changed her. She remembered thinking about how barren it looked and how very much it reminded her of her own life at that point in time. An empty purpose of one battle after the other and finding no satisfaction with it. It was strange to remember that now, but from it, she found that she had something of an assurance for Yamaki, at least as far as she was concerned.

"Once, I desired a human to be my Tamer," she said. "That was a long time ago though. Four of your years, if I am not mistaken." She felt Gaiomon's attention on her grow suddenly through their link.

"What changed?" Yamaki asked. Kuzuhamon lowered her head in introspection.

"I digivolved. The Keeper of the Light gave me strength, and the Sovereign called all to battle the Chaos. Afterward, there didn't seem to be any more need for a human."

Yet, her words sounded hollow to her. Even now, a more recent memory rose in her mind, where she watched the Tamers and their digimon play the card game with Rika. The Hazard looking upon his partner with eyes full of love, a sentiment shared by MarineAngemon toward his partner. She thought of Rika's story about her alternate self and how she was partnered with a Renamon.

What must it be like to care for a human and be cared for in turn? Does it feel like digivolving? Something else?

Kuzuhamon sighed. "My apologies. I do not believe I am assuring you of anything. I am not supposed to be discussing my mission with you, nor am I empowered to negotiate an alliance between our two sides. I cannot swear any of my comrades to anything."

"You may swear me," came Gaiomon's voice through their link. Kuzuhamon jerked at that. Noticing this, Yamaki raised an eyebrow.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Gaiomon says he will hold to whatever oath I bind him to." She frowned beneath her mask. "Are you certain of this? You are a God of Destruction, as am I."

There came an amused chuckle from the other Mega. "I swore my friendship to you long before I swore my service to the Sovereign. You are my bond of loyalty. My swords are yours."

Kuzuhamon felt deeply conflicted. Oaths with the Sovereign were not given lightly and she also knew that regardless of whatever promised, as long as she had Zhuqiaomon as her master, she could not promise anything.

She shook her head mentally. There was no point to going down this line of reasoning. She was a servant to the mighty Sovereign. What reason did she have thinking about what-ifs and maybes or even her own desires? She had her duty. That was all that mattered. It was all that should matter.

"I will speak to Titamon," she said. "I will need some time before we can continue."

Yamaki frowned slightly, but nodded. "Do you need anything, or…?"

"Only silence," she replied. "I will not leave, if that is your concern."

"Very well." Reaching into his coat pocket, he withdrew his phone. After a moment of tapping on it, the door reappeared behind him. "You only have to speak when you are ready to resume," he said. Getting up, he headed toward the door and then left through it. The exit vanished behind him, leaving Kuzuhamon alone with her thoughts and her mission. The room had a heavy weight to it that reminded her of the desert in the digital world.

All that's missing is the wind and the sand.

Upon summoning her silver staff, she closed her eyes and reached out to her connection with Titamon. She found him readily and her mind began to itch.

"Kuzuhamon," he said, and his voice felt like a volcanic loud billowing up. "Speak."

"Gaiomon and I have discovered the incursion. It is an alternate Chaos. This world's Gallantmon has destroyed one of its agents. The humans desire an alliance against it."

There came a sense of heat through their psychic link. Kuzuhamon interpreted it as amusement.

"The ants wish to join hands with titans, do they?"

"The Sovereign has done so in the past."

"There is the matter of the Sovereign's former servant, the Deva."

Another surge of heat, and with it another sense that felt like color. Blood red lightning blitzing across a pillar of smoke flashed through her mind.

"I…understand. They will not allow that though. What-What should I tell them?"

Thunder. Amusement. A giant contemplating the anthill standing in his path. Kuzuhamon shuddered.

"Agree to this alliance. I will be able to pass into their world without resistance. We will do our duty and defeat the Chaos. Say nothing about the Deva to them. Their ability to traverse worlds may be useful in this endeavor. Afterward, we shall see. That will be all."

Titamon's presence retreated, leaving Kuzuhamon trembling where she stood. Fear. Fear and loathing beat within her digi-core. Never had she encountered a digimon like Titamon before, and she wished with all her heart that she never met him to begin with.

Taking a deep breath to settle herself, she looked about her.

"I am ready to speak again," she said to the empty room.

###

Riley had a cup of coffee waiting for Yamaki as he reentered the observation room. Giving her a grateful nod, he accepted it.

"Well?" Riley asked after he had taken a sip. "What do you think?"

"She appears to be in a difficult situation herself," Yamaki replied. "A digimon that desired a human partner working for an even more powerful digimon who hates humans." He took another sip. "If it was just her, we would be able to work with her. But it's not just her. And she'll be having company coming here soon, whether we want them or not."

He took another sip from his coffee.

"Hata is not going to be happy about this."

"If we can't work with her, what do we do?"

Yamaki frowned. "A good question. We obviously can't keep her here. Even if she were alone, our power systems can't maintain the training facility forever. And even if we did, doing so would be seen as an act of war. Trouble that we can't afford."

Riley offered him a piece of Guilmon bread. Taking it with a 'thank you,' he proceeded to dunk it into his coffee.

"We need more options."

"What about that Net program we've been working on?"

"It's not as developed as Sleipnir." Yamaki sighed regretfully. "If things had gone differently, I would have been able to focus more on it."

Riley sympathized. With their fewer numbers, Hata's skepticism about the Tamers had sunken deeply into much of Yamaki's support structures. Consequently, they devoted their remaining resources either to the Tamers or to reinforcing the firewalls already in place and updating antiquated methods, such as Yuggoth and Juggernaut.

"Gone differently… Sure seems to be a theme lately," she said.

"Let's not focus on that." Yamaki took a bite out of the Guilmon bread. "Contact the Tamers and have them convene here after school. We'll all need to be ready in the days ahead."

"Yes sir."

Yamaki finished the remains of his Guilmon bread just in time for Kuzuhamon to call for him. He dusted off his hands. With nothing more to be said, he turned to rejoin the Mega to continue their negotiations.

###

Kenta was breathing heavily when he finally arrived at the foot of the stairs that led up to the concrete bunker. Planting his hands on his knees, he took a full minute to catch his breath. His lungs felt like they were burning as he gulped down great mouthfuls of air. No matter what, it didn't feel like he could get enough oxygen in them to meet their thunderous demands.

"Pih?" MarineAngemon asked, looking at him with eyes full of concern. Kenta shook his head, sending droplets of sweat flying around him.

"I'm-I'm fine," he wheezed. "I just…need to stop cutting out of gym class."

Resolving himself, he took a shaky first step toward the bunker, and then another one. Each one felt like it took every ounce of strength, but he knew that his body was lying to him. He had strength to spare still. He didn't see as much action as Takato, who took up the lion's share of fighting, but he could still sprint pretty well when he had to. Covering the full distance from the school to Chuo Park without stopping wasn't even a record for him, though it certainly came close.

Upon reaching the top, he looked about and quickly found Suzie and Lopmon seated in front of the gate. The girl looked up from her cellphone and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I-I'm looking for Takato!" he stammered out. His shaky legs finally gave out from underneath him and he fell flat on his butt. "Ow…"

"Well, I haven't seen him at all," Suzie said. Frowning, she got up and went over to him. "Are you all right? You look like you ran a marathon?"

"All the way…from school…" Kenta wheezed in response. "Takato… Wasn't at school today. H-How long…?"

"We've been here since we received the signal that the bio-emergence had been handled," Lopmon said, joining them. "So far, no one else has been here."

"That's…good." Kenta leaned back. At least he knew that Takato didn't get it into his head to go to the digital world. It didn't tell him where else he might be though.

"What's the big deal?" Suzie asked and for a wonder, genuine concern crept into her voice. "The fight's over, isn't it? Maybe he just went home instead of going to school."

Kenta fixed Suzie with a disbelieving expression. Suzie thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, okay. You're right. His mom would have boxed him up and mailed him to school first."

"Which is where you should be," Lopmon pointed out.

"I just got out of there when I got the call it was over. I didn't want to go back." Suzie crossed her arms. "Besides, I didn't want to sit through Ms. Asaji going over another lesson about how vegetables are like homework assignments. What am I? Five?"

"You do still act like it sometimes."

"Lopmon!"

Pulling out his cellphone, Kenta checked his messages. In the race to get here, he had forgotten to check for any new ones. A new unread one had appeared some minutes ago.

"Well, we have a meeting," he said after giving the message a once over. Backing out to his inbox, he checked for others. So far, there was nothing new beyond the last situation having been handled.

"Great. Like we don't have enough of those." Suzie kicked at the ground. Her concern appeared more prominent now. Digging out her own cellphone, she found the same message awaiting her. "Well, maybe Takato will be there. Could be he saw me and didn't want to deal with me. You know I give him a hard time. I wouldn't want to be around me either if I were in his shoes."

"Pihpih," said MarineAngemon, nodding his head. Kenta gave his partner a sharp look.

"Rude."

"Pih?"

"Whatever he said, I'm sure I deserved it. Don't beat him up about it." Suzie sighed. "Should we get going?"

"Yeah. I just…need a minute."

"Take whatever you need."

Leaning his head back, he gazed skyward. The vast expanse of blue, broken only by the rustling tree branches, was calm and serene without a single cloud in the sky. Only a single bird flew across it.

He blinked. Then frowned.

"Uh…?

"What's the matter?" Suzie asked with a slight frown. Glancing at him, she followed his gaze. "So what? It's a bird."

"Suzie. Its wings aren't flapping," said Lopmon.

Lopmon crystalized Kenta's focus, and more. Upon further inspection, they saw that its wings weren't even shaped like a bird's beyond its most basic design. The 'feathers' came down from its main appendages like a set of teeth and the whole thing appeared like a single structure. From this distance, further details were difficult to make out, but the thought passed through both human and digimon in an instant.

D-Reaper agent.

"That's… No way," Suzie said. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. Kenta adjusted his glasses, and for the moment, all thought about his exhaustion was absent. Swallowing, he turned to MarineAngemon.

"Can you get us a closer look, buddy?"

"Pih!" MarineAngemon nodded fiercely. With nothing more needing to be said, the fairy digimon flew up after the 'bird'. Kenta took out his digivice and at once a holographic circle rose up from its screen, giving him a view from his partner's perspective. Suzie dropped down next to him and Lopmon hopped onto his shoulder. All eyes were glued on the digivice, hearts and digi-core beating anxiously. MarineAngemon drew closer and details began to become clearer.

The face of the creature was distinctly owl-like, and like the wings, its design was at its most basic, containing only eyes and a beak, all surrounded by a flat, dish-like structure. Its wings were broad and more handlike in appearance, with yellow and orange, stylized 'eye' patterns. They were connected to a small, bulbous main body itself joined to a saw-like object at its waist that then ended in a jagged, taillike design that appeared rather unfinished.

A Seeker Agent.

"Oh crap," Kenta whispered. "This could be bad."

"There's no cable!" Suzie pointed out. "These things are wireless now?!"

"What's it doing?" Lopmon asked.

On the holographic image, it didn't seem to be doing much beyond flying, but what quickly became obvious was that it was making a beeline straight for the Shinjuku government building.

"It's looking for Hypnos!" Kenta said, his voice cracking with growing alarm. "MarineAngemon! Take it out!"

Hearing the boy through the connection of their digivice, MarineAngemon sent a flurry of pink hearts flying at the Seeker Agent. MarineAngemon was obviously trying to discourage its flight path and turn it into another direction where he could more safely attack it from without potentially harming Hypnos. The agent paid the hearts no mind and instead flew through them as though they weren't there. Kenta's mouth dropped open.

"W-Wha…? How…?! That should have worked! The D-Reaper doesn't like positive emotions! They scared off that Jeri copy before!"

"Just take it out with a regular attack!" Suzie snapped. "We'll figure out the problem later! We can't let it touch Hypnos!"

Taking Suzie's argument to heart, MarineAngemon once more sprayed a flurry of hearts at the Seeker Agent, this time with the intention of deleting it. The hearts popped on contact and the agent melted, dissolving into red liquid that rapidly evaporated into sparkling dust.

The two Tamers and Lopmon breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"M-MarineAngemon, are there any others around?" Kenta asked. On the holographic circle, MarineAngemon performed a quick survey of the sky, but saw nothing.

"Stay close to Hypnos, buddy," he said. Pocketing his digivice, he stood up. "Come on. We'd better get going. Takato's going to have to wait."

"No, you go on ahead and get to Hypnos. I'll look for him. What's the number of that dumb model girl? She might know where he is."

"Ah! Right! Here!" Quickly accessing his address book, he gave Suzie the number. "Keep in touch," he said before darting off. Suzie nodded. Taking a deep breath, she began to type a message to Rika Nonaka.

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