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.

23. Chapter 23: Phase Shift Preparations

Although things haven't been going fantastically this month I'm going to persist. So let's keep this going.

---

Chapter 23 - Phase Shift Preparations

—

It wasn't unusual for Reyn to wake up feeling like he wished he could have slept for another two hours. It WAS unusual for him to wake up before 9 AM and not immediately try to make that happen. As well as, in recent days, waking up before Salmandmon did. Then again, the lizard had an advantage…he was using Reyn as a bed, while Reyn was using a less-than-comfortable cot in an empty office in the BICI. None of them had even considered heading back to their homes after the previous day, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, a government office building was not the most effective substitute hotel.

Reyn almost didn't want to wake the dozing reptile on him, especially because he looked rather cute snuggled up to him. Still, that presented problems for him trying to rise, so he gently shook his partner. "Oy, lizard breath. Up and at 'em."

It took a few seconds and one evaded swipe from Salmandmon's hand, but eventually the lizard yawned and blinked. "Reyn? You're up before me? You feeling all right?"

"Har har. I should be asking you, it's definitely earlier than usual for me but you still normally get up well before I do. Also, I kinda need to actually get up for it to count, and that's hard to do with you laying on me."

"Mmph. I s'pose so." It was with clear reluctance that Salmandmon pushed himself off of Reyn and got to his feet on the ground, stretching and yawning again. "Whoo…I haven't felt this beat getting up in forever. I must be out of practice with marathon life-or-death struggles."

"At least your snark engine is still running fine," remarked Reyn. "At least I HOPE that's snark…"

"Only half. Trust me, you'd rather not know. Oof…" Salmandmon took a few steps around, and it was clear he was stiff; Reyn didn't feel much better, his body wasn't liking even just standing and walking. "I wonder how the others are doing…if we're all in fantastic shape like this, that could be less than ideal."

"Only one way to know…let's go find 'em." That turned out to not be terribly difficult, as he had no sooner opened the door than he almost ran smack into Isaac. "Oof! Hey, there's only supposed to be one door here."

"You're not supposed to run into any of them." Isaac sounded pretty bushed as well, confirming that it wasn't just the two of them. "We're trying to get together in one of the meeting rooms. Everyone feels kinda like crap but we gotta talk about a few things, and lord knows Emperius likes to be as inconvenient as possible, so…"

"Yeah, I get it. Talk about it now while there's no crisis going on. Anyone know what all is going on around here now?"

"So far, a whole lot of no idea. Herrera's talking with some army honchos trying to figure out their plan of action, but that's all private stuff. Most of the digimon are holed up in a couple of staff rooms, wondering what they're gonna be doing. 'Cept for Commandramon, he's getting examined by Rudy to make sure he's totally free of that nastiness from the DFB."

"Fingers crossed for that," agreed Salmandmon. "A'right, let's get going. Hey, where's Data?"

"He said he was still warming up, he'll meet us there."

The lizard snorted. "That'll be a first. That guy being late for a meeting. Hope you're not rubbing off on him."

"Oh, hush. We didn't even set a time, you can't be late if you don't have a meeting time."

"Sure you can be, if everyone's waiting on you," remarked Reyn. "So let's not be the ones to do that."

—

As it turned out, Reyn, Salmandmon, and Isaac were close to the last ones there - the others had already gathered, each looking to be in various states of fatigue. Datacarnomon clanked up a minute later, though, bringing up the rear. "Oy, sorry, hope you all weren't waiting long. I don't think I've ever needed that long to warm up…"

"I'd really hoped you'd be rubbing off on Isaac, not the other way around," Skylar grumbled.

"Ey, watch it. This is impromptu, you need to give me an actual deadline for me to put something in my scheduler." He took a seat between Isaac and Reyn, looking up at the red-haired boy. "You okay? You look halfway to dead. I'm starting to see why you don't like getting up early."

"I don't think that's QUITE the reason…" Reyn paused after saying that. "Well, it's probably at least part of it, if I'm being honest. I still feel exhausted, but other than that, yeah, I'm fine. Not sure Sal is, though, he didn't even get up before me and do a zillion push-ups or whatever."

"I do, in fact, have my own limits," grumped Salmandmon. "And damn, did yesterday ever push them. I've been through some stuff, but I think that might've been the most taxing day of my life."

"I think we pretty much all feel the same way," agreed Shockavimon, her voice less weary but not by much. "Physically and emotionally draining…and who knows how much respite we've got?"

"Maybe a bit more than we think," Datacarnomon chimed in. "We dealt a serious blow to Emperius…that may not have been nearly the balance of their forces, but we're looking at somewhere in the realm of a couple hundred casualties, and that's not even counting all of the Numemon swarm, since they were apparently more, uh, mercenary. They have to be licking their wounds, and that's going to make them think twice about mounting another offensive so soon - especially because their forces are going to be demoralized."

"And President Herrera's taken control of things on the human side, so at the very least, we shouldn't be getting attacked on THAT end anymore," added Skylar.

"Actually impressed that she actually came and did something," grunted Isaac. "Pols usually like to stay as far back from the actual danger as possible."

"Never a micrometer of give from you, huh?" sighed Derek.

"Hey, I mean it! It's cool that she jumped in. Even if it took weeks for that to happen."

"Blame Wheeler, he was doing a lot more damage than we even knew," said Reyn. "At least the bad guys on this end have been roped in…"

"…Which means it's time to hear about the bad guys on the other end," continued Salmandmon. "Havocravenmon…hm. That name sounds a little bit familiar…I think I heard it mentioned once as one of Craniummon's lieutenants. If he's taken over the whole shebang, then that must be the case…but no one we ever talked to really brought him up that much. Craniummon did most of the work, so I guess those around him weren't as notable. We might want to talk to some of the turncoats about him, get more insider information…"

"Or we could just ask BC," piped up Breezedramon.

"Well, we're going to do that, too. BC, you seemed like you knew him?"

"Tangentially," replied the canine. "Certainly not intimately, within any degree of definition. We merely experienced coexistence within my municipality of origin, Moonlighton on the Twilight Peninsula. Havocravenmon was a figure of marginal significance, not especially influential in general affairs, but notable rather in behavioral terms."

"That's still worthwhile information. Tell us everything you know. And BC? You know the rule. Explanations mean simple language."

Blackcanismon let out a long-suffering sigh. "Simplistic linguistics is so dreadfully dull and dismal. It dispenses unnaturality and discomfort into my domain."

"And we need to NOT be confused all the time," countered Iris. "You can be creative again after we've gotten all we need to know."

"Hnnn…if I must…" Blackcanismon sighed, and started on - his speech down to a somewhat more 'normal' style, which seemed unusually awkward coming from the furry sesquipedalian.

"A brief background…I was born and raised in the Twilight Peninsula. It's a place where many creatures with an affinity for darkness reside. Moonlighton is the largest city, and the one closest to the border, which means it both gets the most interaction between non-dark and dark digimon, and is where the largest number of dark digimon taking refuge from the world of light come to settle. The experience of a new arrival is not unusual, and Moonlighton welcomes everyone…even if they are, ahm, of a sketchier nature. Though they always try to modulate behavior towards peaceful coexistence."

"It was shortly after I reached adulthood that there arrived an individual named Corvimon. He was a refugee, and he was…troublesome, at the start. Filled with anger and bitterness, not very personable. He spoke of numerous exiles, cities and towns he was expelled from over a period of several years, rarely lasting more than a year in any one. He portrayed it as due to prejudice over his element…which, I do not doubt that was true, he spoke of hostility and suspicion that I have heard countless stories of from other refugees. However, he was…also not above speaking, with pride even, about fights he himself started as well. The more I heard of him, the more it seemed that he did not exactly tend to make the best case for himself, and I cannot really say whether his exiles were more unjustified than justified."

"Over the years in Moonlighton, his overt behavior seemed to calm down. He didn't tend to start fights there, and I think being in a place where his element didn't matter helped him rein in some of his baser impulses. But…he never truly expelled that bitterness. It was obvious the way he looked at those who were visiting that were not dark-aligned, he avoided engaging them even if they were allies and spoke disdainfully about them. Though he tended not to say too much, as he seemed aware that it made many of us uncomfortable."

"After a time, he chose to evolve to Ravenmon. Subsequent to that, his behavior took a…troublesome turn. He began to talk more about the unfairness of the world, a subject we are all familiar with, but when doing so, he started to make more entreaties towards us about being less passive and accepting of it…he asked why we should sit by when others of our kind were mistreated, and why we didn't push harder back. It didn't seem to sit well with him that we were indeed trying to help, by trying to change the perceptions of dark digimon, by providing a safe place for them to live, by being a municipal ambassador for those who had open minds and hearts…none of this seemed sufficient to him. He wasn't actively causing trouble, but he never relented from his insistence that we should be showing more force. Those who tried to talk him down from it always said that they couldn't really make any argument that satisfied him."

"I should stress that these were not necessarily signs that he couldn't understand…make no mistake, Ravenmon was incredibly intelligent in his own way. A voracious reader, who seemed especially interested in strategy and tactics, and loved to make plans upon plans, to what end none of us ever really knew. I would hesitate to go as far as to call him a tactical genius, but he studied the blunders of past battles and loved to talk about how history could have changed if they had made different decisions. And he had a sense of…practicality, or maybe you'd call it groundedness, he wasn't particularly fanciful or whimsical, he always insisted that every plan had to have a concrete path to being achievable or it was worthless. I never read any of his plans, but those who had said that they were extremely detailed in process, and left very little room for uncertainty in how they would be achieved. Not to say that they were foolproof, but they were clearly well thought-out."

"Soon after the formation of Emperius, it was noticed that Ravenmon was taking a lot of interest in them. His mentions of them to others were sparing - many in Moonlighton were immediately hostile to Emperius, particularly because of how it threatened to tarnish our image further, given the distressing proportion of dark digimon involved especially early on. But he was one of those who had a lot of interest in their activities, and it was almost like he was keeping dossiers on them. And he also started to make more concerned efforts at empowerment, where he hadn't before…it wasn't long after his evolution to Havocravenmon that he took his leave of Moonlighton, and while no one had spoken to him directly, the rumors that he had gone to join were quite frequent. At the time, I paid them little attention, as I did not have a particularly positive view of him, and had my own matters to deal with…but it seems that they were correct after all."

"…Hm. Well…" Salmandmon tried to process everything he'd heard. "That's definitely a backdrop…I think we're definitely going to need to hear more from the guys who know what he's done since he took over. But I think we've got an idea about who we're up against…a guy with a grudge against the world and an army of fanatics he can use to try to act against it. And he sounds a lot smarter than Craniummon was, too…"

"Indubitably so," agreed Blackcansimon, looking more relaxed as he slipped back into his normal. "Havocravenmon's intelligence cannot be underestimated. Failure to apply adequate gravity to his capacities would undeniably be a consequential blunder."

"Great," sighed Derek. "We can't count on him to be an idiot. Usually that's the best thing we can hope for from a villain."

"But just because he's not an idiot doesn't mean he's infallible," pointed out Shockavimon. "Don't forget, we've managed to outdo him at every turn over here. He's miscalculated a number of times."

"Problem is, every miscalculation gets him closer to the right one," countered Skylar. "We can't afford to let him figure out what he CAN do to get the edge on us, because then that's it. But how are we supposed to fight an enemy like that from an entire plane of existence away?"

"We don't," said Iris. "We go fight them face-to-face." All eyes turned towards Iris, who looked around at them in confusion. "What?"

"Since when are YOU the one suggesting something like that?" asked Isaac incredulously. "Miss 'I don't know if I can handle this?' Man, I woulda bet on Reyn being the one to suggest it, not you!"

"I…" Iris paused. It was suddenly catching up to her that that WAS unusual. "Uh…sorry. I don't know what came over me. It just felt…you know, like the right thing to do."

"Hey, I'm all for that kinda boldness," Shockavimon said. "Even if it does have one monumental problem attached to it."

"Yeah," sighed Datacarnomon. "How are we actually gonna do that? It'd take actually getting a PTM built over here, and there's no way that's gonna happen. It could be years before we're able to grasp the appropriate data sequence, and that's even IF we were experts, which we're not."

"What are you talking about?" asked Reyn. "We've got a data sequence."

"We…what? Since when?"

"Wh-did you seriously forget? Commandramon? The return charge?" Reyn's asperity was quickly quelled when he saw a sea of blank faces in front of him. "…Uh. Did I not tell you guys already?"

"…Breezedramon." Skylar was getting that glasses-shining menacing look again. "You have my permission to launch a Wind Sphere at his face."

"On it."

"Kindly refrain from assaults upon our comrades, if you please," said Blackcanismon before Breezedramon could go too far. "Deserving as they potentially may be. Certainly, such critical information should have been disseminated significantly prior to the current momentary existence."

"Guys, look, I'm sorry, but yesterday was freaking chaos." Reyn was looking suitably embarrassed nonetheless. "So much was going on, and we had other things on our mind, even when there was a bit of down time. I mean, we had to make sure he survived in the first place, right?"

"Oh, yeah, that totally excuses forgetting completely game-changing information," Isaac shot back testily. "If I have to get chewed on constantly for being late, you get to take your lumps here."

"What I want to know is why Sal wasn't jumping in to help out," Datacarnomon said, somewhat tensely, as Salmandmon's face began to glow. "Don't tell me you thought you'd already spoken up, too?"

"N-no way, not at all," Salmandmon replied nervously. "I didn't even realize I'd forgotten…I mean, Reyn's right, it was crazy yesterday, we were kind of jumping from one thing to the other way too quickly. Stuff like that doesn't usually slip my mind, though…"

"Okay, let's relax," Shockavimon jumped in. "I mean, yesterday was a rough day for all of us, it's not like we weren't all a little out of sorts. We were fighting for hours, people were facing life-and-death threats to themselves and their families, not to mention some of us having to make a daring and, may I say, disgusting escape. I don't know that any of us would have done any better under those circumstances."

"I'd be okay with saying that if that wasn't Reyn we were talking about," grumbled Isaac. "This is typical for him."

"It's not for Sal, though!" Breezedramon exclaimed. "Maybe they both need a Wind Sphere to the face?"

"I'm not stopping you," said Skylar.

"…Wait a second." Attention turned back to Iris, a look of dawning recognition in her face. "That's it…that's what's been off lately. I thought I was imagining things at times, or that it was just…you know, easily explained…"

"No, we DON'T know," replied Derek. "Care to illuminate us?"

"We've been…changing. Not much…and not quickly, slowly enough that I don't think any of us really realized it until now. But there's been some…uh…changes involving us, getting a little closer together." A thought occurred to Iris. "Derek, what's the word?"

"Convergence." Derek spoke it quickly, then blinked. "Wait, why'd you ask me? I'm not the wordsmith here."

"No. But Blackcanismon is. And…you've been starting to use a few more larger words here and there, when it's not really necessary. Just casually, and you weren't really prone to doing so before."

"…Perchance, are you suggesting a confluence of significant characteristics of our personalities?" asked Blackcanismon, his eyes widening a bit. "Observation of such a phenomenon surely would be automatic!"

Iris shook her head. "It wouldn't have to be, not if it was something that came on gradually. And it's not necessarily just the significant things, but those would be the easiest to notice. Like, say, Isaac starting to make bets here and there, when I would never have imagined that before. Or Reyn actually starting to exercise a bit."

"Hey, Sal's been pushing me into it," protested Reyn.

"You were doing it yesterday without me saying anything," pointed out Salmandmon.

"That, uh…I mean…"

"When did I make a bet?" asked Isaac.

"You tried to make one with me a couple days ago!" Reyn exclaimed.

"No way. I don't do that! Bets are suckers' games."

"Yeah, you did, it was about finding a digimon appearing somewhere," agreed Salmandmon. "I didn't even think anything of it, I never knew that wasn't your thing…"

"It's not just one way, either," Shockavimon said. "I'm starting to get it. Data starting to have issues with promptness, Sal spacing on important info, BC being more tense…we're picking up a bit on the humans as well. It must be affecting us, too…I'm, uh…I'm not sure how, though. It's like it's hard to imagine…"

"Hey, hey, Shocky!" Breezedramon piped up. "Roachmon!"

"Ugh! Did you have to mention that…slimy…weirdo?" Shockavimon blinked. "What…when did I…I never had THAT much reaction to bugs…"

"…You know, Iris…" Isaac was looking at her curiously. "I DID find it kinda odd that you were telling Data to start pot-shotting pigeons yesterday. You're not usually that aggressive…"

"I guess…you're probably right." Iris was hoping they wouldn't start questioning why it was specifically birds that had triggered that - that was perhaps not something she wanted brought up to the rest of the group. "And then there's Skylar…who's been…flubbing longer words here and there."

"Preposterous," Skylar replied immediately. "I've done no such thing."

"You have! And you've gotten testy about it a couple times, too. Like, not to the point where it's been routine or super hard to understand, but definitely some flubbage."

"No way! You're just trying to find something! I haven't changed at all!"

"You think you're the only one getting away with no changes?" snorted Isaac. "I haven't really been paying attention, but you know Iris picks up on things. If she says you're doing it, I believe it."

Skylar just glared at him. "You're just saying that to start something with me!"

"Sky, settle down," Reyn said. "It's not like it's that big a deal. I had…no idea anything was happening like that, though. I guess it's because we're so close together that stuff flows over…a little bit of us going to the other side, like that…uh, what's that sciency term for something like that?"

Breezedramon looked up. "Osmosis?" Immediately all eyes turned towards him, wide as saucers. "…What?"

"When the hell did YOU learn a term like that?!" asked Datacarnomon, aghast.

"What's so weird? I was reading one of Sky's big books. Figured it made sense to try to learn some stuff about how this world works, no need to get so behowlerwiderated about it."

"Holy crap, Breezy's reading for fun." Salmandmon smacked his head. "He might actually be taking this seriously, or the world might be ending, one of the two."

"Hey! Of course I'm taking this seriously!" Breezedramon leapt up, looking genuinely offended. "I don't want anything bad to happen over here any more than you do! Don't think I'm just joking around over here!"

"All right, all right, all right, sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I apologize. Still…you have to admit, your snout in a book is not a common thing."

"Well, I gotta do something at night! I can't be flying around bouncing off the walls like some kinda purplementalmutual motion machine! Besides, I don't wanna distract Sky when he's doing stuff."

"You…that…" Skylar was starting to shake a bit. "You're…you think I'm…mangling my words like this goofball?"

"Hey! Excuse me, this 'goofball' is the reason you can make gigantonormous tornadoes with your mind!"

"Yes, that's very true, but you're still our goofball, Breezy," said Shockavimon, causing Breezedramon to huff and fold his arms.

"This is too much for me to process right now…" Datacarnomon rubbed his head. "Then again, I WAS wondering why it felt easier to rein in my impulses than usual…transference. Damn. I never even noticed…what's weird is that I still don't FEEL like I've changed, even though it was pointed out. I mean, I can see everyone else's just fine, but my mind's telling me that nothing's happened, nothing's unusual with me…"

"Perhaps a cognitive defense mechanism?" suggested Blackcanismon.

"Yeah, maybe. Something to keep us from getting worried about things. Or…I guess it's possible that our brains don't recognize it because…technically, we're part-time the same person. It doesn't make a distinction between us…"

"There's also that whole DNA overlap thing," suggested Iris.

"Yeah, but DNA's only got a limited effect on personality…still…mph. I'm gonna need a lot more time to process this all. Ugh, you know, this would actually be EASIER with an organic brain…"

"I'm ready to talk about something else," Reyn said suddenly, and quite insistently, getting everyone's attention with the rapid swerve. "Okay, so, no thanks to me I know, but now we're all on the same page. Commandramon's got a charge we can use to build that machine thing, and HE at least already knows because we were talking about it with him after we learned about it. So that means we have a chance to actually confront Emperius on OUR terms for once. But I can't imagine it would be anywhere near as easy to do as it is to say."

"You're seriously just gonna ignore everything we've been talking about?" asked Isaac.

"Right now, I need to think about something else, because that stuff makes my head hurt. And this WAS supposed to be about making plans and figuring things out, right?"

"I'm game to move on," agreed Skylar quickly. "Even if I don't like the idea of facing the full might of Emperius, we need to be thinking about our approach. We can't forget about defense here either, Emperius isn't likely to stop attacking, even if they may need to collect themselves."

"And there's also the fact that we just nearly got antithintantilinathilated by some of them, too!" added Breezedramon. "We're still not ready to stand up to the worst Emperius has to offer!"

"That's true, too…but that also means it's extra risky to attack them ourselves, right?" Derek pointed out.

Salmandmon had his eyes closed, having listened to everything…all of it was mostly confirming something he'd been starting to think about already. "…Then we need to get stronger. And that makes it all the more important that we go over there. Because I have to think that that goes towards both of those goals - putting Emperius on the defensive and giving US more tools to go on the offensive."

"Ah!" Shockavimon exclaimed. "Sal, you're thinking of the Elemental Catalysts, aren't you?"

"Exactly. Those are the best keys I know of to advancing further. And we should all have ideas where to find them, because we all had to use them at some point ourselves. In theory, it shouldn't be too difficult a challenge…of course, when have things ever been that easy for us?"

"I think we need a bit of catch-up here," said Isaac. "Elemental Catalysts?"

"They're nodes of immense power that exist in our world," explained Datacarnomon. "And they're one of the biggest mysteries of our world - no one even really knows what they are or where they came from. There's a number of them of every 'element,' and that's a loose term to use because it's not all traditional elements, there are ones that are metal-oriented to guys like me for example. Sometimes new ones are found…there's a theory that the numbers are tied to the number of digimon in the world that can use them, but I don't know how that would even come about."

"What we DO know is that they're extremely useful," added Shockavimon. "An Elemental Catalyst is basically the best way to make the jump to the next level. Technically, you could call it a shortcut, since the usual alternative is a LOT of training and strengthening, but not everyone has the luxury of spending that much time empowering themselves the natural way, and really it's not seen as cheating or anything, especially since you still need to put in your own effort to make use of that power. And you can only get a permanent boost once, everything after that is only temporary. It's usually used by Champion-level digimon to reach Ultimate, but sometimes by Ultimates to reach that top natural Mega level. Even for those of us who can switch freely, it's still almost necessary to use one to unlock the higher stages."

"I see what you're saying," Isaac replied with a nod. "You're thinking we can use them to get to a higher level than we already have, which would theoretically make us more capable of standing up to someone like Marsmon or Suijinmon. But couldn't we just generate them like I have some of this stuff already?"

"Not Catalysts," said Datacarnomon with a shake of his head. "I wouldn't even know where to start. They aren't anything like a digimon or a normal digital object. We could theoretically try to make some kind of analogue, but we'd be starting from scratch, and who knows how long it would take to create something that was even fractionally as functional? It could be months, even years…so much more complicated than a mechanical attachment or device."

"And that wouldn't serve the purpose of putting Emperius on the defensive, either," added Salmandmon. "Maybe the opposite, it would give them all the chances they want to redouble their forces and their efforts. And I really don't want to give them months of freedom to cause more mayhem over there if we can do something to get at them."

"Then it sounds like what we have to do," asserted Iris. "Go over there, find the Catalysts, get stronger, and find a way to disrupt Emperius. But if they know we're over there, then they might see this world as fair game…"

"We'll just have to make sure they're ready to mount their own defense," Derek remarked thoughtfully. "Now that we've finally got the human side on the same page, they can get ready to actually stand up for themselves. They have the DFBs, too, which hopefully will be totally adjusted to be less of a disgusting torture device and more of an actual weapon. But they're still going to need some priming for what they'll be up against, it'll be enemies like they've never actually seen before…"

"Okay, so…we've got things to do," concluded Reyn. "Talk to the ex-Emperius digimon about Havocravenmon, work on getting one of those PTM machines set up with Commandramon's charge, coordinate with the President and military leadership about defense while we're gone…and make preparations for a serious journey."

"I already know what I'LL be doing," said Isaac. "Andrexmon'll probably be necessary to make a lot of the PTM stuff. And it's probably gonna take a lot of energy, too…looking forward to being constantly exhausted."

"We can probably use that scan module to get some information about Commandramon's energy signature," added Datacarnomon. "We'll have to try to make use of what resources we have to make things easier on us."

"Don't get too quick, guys, we still need to figure out a lot of things regarding that thing," Salmandmon jumped in. "Like where we're putting it, for one thing. You're gonna have to do at least some construction in-place, so nothing's going to get started until a proper spot's been found."

"Oh, yeah…well, we're gonna need some help with that, too."

"Dad and Elliot will probably be useful for that," suggested Iris. "They know Braun pretty darn well, so they might have some ideas for a place that'll work."

"Does it feel weird to anyone else to be looping so many people in on this whole matter after having had to keep it a secret for so long?" asked Skylar.

"I'm more than happy to take THAT weird feeling," declared Shockavimon. "C'mon, there's at least one thing we can do quickly, and that's get to chatting about Havocravenmon. I want to know as much about this guy as possible, so we stand the best chance of skewering that tainted chicken."

"Somehow I had a feeling you'd be chomping at the bit to get at him," snickered Salmandmon. "They'll need to know what's going on too, so they can prepare to head back themselves. Let's call a meeting…but after we've had some breakfast, I need to eat a mountain of food after yesterday."

"Try to save some for the rest of us!" Breezedramon yapped.

"Oh, fine, maybe I'll let you guys go first…"

—

Breakfast was a less rushed affair than their previous meals - the silence over the city allowed them a bit of respite and a chance to actually get something organized. Although the city's populace was a bit significantly reduced due to the evacuation, enough people were around to get something going, and several businesses put together something for gratitude towards the folks that had managed to keep them safe through both a rogue military incursion and the most frantic monster attack they'd seen so far. And all of them were taking advantage, the previous day's events had given them plenty of appetite as they worked to recharge. For the most part, moods were a bit lighter, as well, despite the knowledge of what was coming…with one notable exception.

"…What do you mean?"

"I mean just what I said," Reyn told Skylar. "Breezedramon doesn't seem like himself. You should talk to him and see if you can figure out what's wrong."

Skylar just blinked at the redhead. "What makes you think anything's wrong? He's probably just tired like the rest of us."

"I don't get that feeling. Just talk to him, Skylar. We all need to be focused, and if something's on his mind, he's not going to be."

Skylar didn't really get it, but Reyn didn't just say things like that for no reason. So as they were eating, he pulled Breezedramon into a corner, away from the others. The small dragon did seem a little bit out of sorts, though Skylar didn't know if it was really something to make a big deal out of. Still… "You doing okay, Breezy?"

Breezedramon let out a little sigh. "Yeah, I guess…"

…Hm, maybe not. That didn't sound normal. I wonder… "You sure? You got a bit loud earlier on…do we have to have a chat with the others about teasing you?"

"…It's not that…well, not…for the most part, anyway." Breezedramon shook his head. "I don't mind them teasing me…I mean, we all tease each other, it's not that big a deal. I mean, we needle Sal over being a fitness nut and a firebug and his fungus stuff, BC over his long-wordness thing, Data over his betting thing, Shocky over being kinda uptight sometimes, and I know I get a lot of it over the 'Breezy-speak' stuff and not being very bookish. And I don't mind any of that, it helps to take off the edge, you know? A bit of teasing that we all decide is in-bounds and stuff like that, it helps relax us." Breezedramon took in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "But…there's one thing that always bugs me, and that's when someone thinks I don't take things seriously."

Skylar cocked his head. "Eh? Really? You always came off as liking being the lighthearted one to me."

"Yeah, but that's not the same thing! Just because I'm trying to keep spirits up and that, it doesn't mean that I don't know how serious and important stuff is! And it doesn't mean I'm not treating it like a serious thing! I mean, look at what we've been doing here, I'm trying to be my usual way still, but I still know how much all this is really a matter of life and death! And I don't want anyone thinking that I don't understand, that I don't think it's important…"

It was starting to become a bit clearer to Skylar. "That was it, wasn't it? When you get snippy with Sal, it was because he said something about you finally being serious or something like that."

"Yeah. And…I know he didn't really mean it like that. I mean, he backed off right away, and he apomolatramagilized for it while we were in the breakfast line. It's just…one of those things that means more to me than most other things, and it's one of the things that I…kinda worry about whether they really believe me when I say I am taking things seriously. Because that already happened once before…and it really messed things up for me."

"It did? What happened?"

"…Well, I guess…I don't really like telling the story, but it is kinda important. Let's try not to have to tell it more than once, though…"

~~~9 years ago~~~

I didn't grow up the way a lot of others did. My early life was…rough. I barely even remember my mom…she died of an illness when I was really, really young. And then my dad…he couldn't deal with it, and just left me behind after a while. So I was pretty much raised by the folks of Kalarest, on the Pinion Cliffs along the south coast of Northern Tetraquaz. A city up in the heights, mostly for digimon that spent a lot of time in the air, so it was a place with a lot of people of my type. It wasn't easy for a long time, feeling like I didn't have a real family, but over time, I got to feel more like I had family among everyone in Kalarest. It was something I really valued.

My best friend growing up was Falcomon. He was actually similar in how his life went, he lost both his parents too. He'd more or less been adopted by Swanmon, she was like his mother, and she was really good to me as well…I think she wanted us to spend time together, so we could rely on each other to support each other through thick and thin. I thought that was what we were going to do, too.

And then…it happened. Swanmon very suddenly passed away. She was sick, she'd been hiding it but she knew her time was limited, from what others said. She had been urging me to be a good friend to Falcomon in the days leading up to that…and he was taking it super hard. I kind of was, too, but not as hard as he was. And I could tell he wasn't himself in the days after that…so I did what I always tried to do. I tried to be the happy, cheery one. It was a good thing to try to cheer up a sad friend, right? So I tried…but it didn't go well. He didn't seem to be getting any happier. And then one day…

"C'mon, Falcomon! We just need to get your mind off of things for a while! Get you thinking about happy stuff, like the time we outraced those Flymon, or goofed off during that scavamaharangeriater hunt and still managed to beat everyone! Maybe we need to do another one of those, it'll help distract you a bit!"

"…I don't want to do that, Breezedramon." Falcomon wasn't responding nearly as well to my cheering as he usually did. "Sorry…I just…I need some time to myself. You go have fun."

I didn't want to do that, I wanted to make Falcomon happy again. "Aw, but it's not any fun without you! Hey, you wanna hear a couple funny jokes? I think I can get a laugh out of you! I've been missing that laugh for a while, I wanna hear it again!"

"Breezedramon, please…"

"C'mon, one joke! What digimon is a Minidamenitacatikamachitamon most afraid of? A Swallowmon! Get it, because it's inside Atamabanamedantadekamahetakimon's mouth the whole time?"

"…Go away."

"Huh?"

"I said GO AWAY!" Falcomon just shouted out at me, angrier than I'd ever seen him. "How do you not GET IT?! Swanmon was my mother and she just died! I still don't even know how to deal with that! She was the one person in the world I was closest to and now I don't even have her anymore! And you're over here laughing and cracking jokes like a goofball, like it doesn't even matter to you!"

"Wh-what? It matters to me! I'm just-"

"You're just nothing! You're trying to act like nothing's wrong, like nothing ever happened, like everyone's gotta be happy just so you can have everything back to normal for you! It's never going to be normal for me ever again, but what the hell does that matter if you're happy?! Just because you can't take anything seriously ever doesn't mean no one else ever does! Not everyone lives in ignorant joy like you do!"

I was shocked to hear this, and really hurt as well. I saw a sad friend and I just wanted to try to make him happy…but hearing him say things like that…it really hurt. And what he said next hurt most of all.

"You're not my friend, Breezedramon! No one's your friend! All you do is annoy people, you don't care about any of them, even after they've done so much for you! You don't listen to anyone, you just try to act like nothing's wrong all the time when some of us have problems in our lives and we just want to try to figure out our way around them! You wanna make us happy? Then go away and leave us all alone!"

Those were the last words he would say to me…I left him in tears, I don't think I'd ever felt as bad as I did at that moment. But it was going to get worse, too, because I went to some of the other digimon around Kalarest, trying to find out if I was really as horrible as Falcomon said I was. And…well, they didn't say it the way he did, but…all of them backed up what he told me, more or less. That they sometimes wanted to avoid me because I couldn't be serious about anything. That they didn't really like that I didn't seem to care about them or their issues. That I wasn't…sensitive. I felt like total trash after I'd heard a few of them talk about me…I didn't understand what I'd been doing that was so wrong, but I knew I had been.

I really did want them to be happy. So…I did what Falcomon wanted me to do. I left. No goodbyes, not even a look back because it hurt too much…I just flew off, on my own, nothing but awful feelings to keep me company. Wondering if I'd ever make anyone happy again.

~~~Present Day~~~

"Breezedramon…" Skylar had moved over to holding the dragon as he sniffled a bit. "I'm sorry…I had no idea there was something like that behind all that…"

"It's okay. I…I guess I need to remind myself about that sometimes." The little dragon took in and let out a shaky breath. "I lost the closest thing I had to a family, and my best friend, because they didn't think I took any of their problems seriously. They didn't feel like I cared about them. And…that's why it's important to me that they don't think the same way about me."

"…that's why you don't like being called a goofball, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I know the way I can act…I really do want people to be happy. I want to bring joy to their lives, even through dark times. But…I want them to know that I care, too. And…well, I know they don't mean it that way, but it's hard to hear the word 'goofball' and not have that come to mind. I'm trying to get less sensitive to that, but, well, it's not easy."

Skylar nodded. "I can't really do anything about what other people say, but…I'll try not to call you that anymore. I'm sorry…I didn't know it had that such a bad connection to you."

"It's okay, Sky…I mean, I didn't tell you, I can't expect you to know all that." Breezedramon took another deep breath to calm himself down. "I don't like rememerarembering that, though. That day, and the days after, when I started to wonder if the world would be better off without me, if I couldn't do anything for anyone…it was hard to wake up and keep flying, I'm not really sure how I did it…if it hadn't been for Data, I don't know that I would've made it."

"Data?"

"Yeah…I was just flying, and I saw him getting attacked by a couple digimon. I figured it didn't really matter if I went down, but I didn't want to just let them beat up on someone else, so…it probably wasn't the smartest move, but I dive-bombed 'em. And they turned out to be kinda cowards because they buggered off in a flash. And then I checked on him, and we started talking…and he said something like he didn't deserve to be saved, because of something he'd done, and he was an awful person…and I just…said I was an awful person too, so maybe we deserved each other. And that was how the two of us basically became insemaparphermerable."

Skylar bowed his head a bit. "I noticed you two liked to talk to each other when Isaac and I were, uh, trying to do our letter thing. I wasn't really paying much attention to what you were saying, but…well, it did seem like you two were close."

"Yeah. Data…he's basically done so much for me. He helped me get my happy back, when I thought it was gone for good…he needed cheering up, and I helped him do that. But…he also helped teach me what it was that I was doing wrong, too. That it's not enough to just try to cheer people up, I need to help them with their problems if I really want to help them be happy again. I started to really get why Falcomon was so upset, and why others kinda backed up what he said…I was basically ignoring all their problems, I didn't really understand why they were sad, and that made it so trying to make them happy was…not really helping them." Breezedramon let out a quiet sigh. "Data's done so much for me…he probably saved my life. And I really don't feel like I've done enough for him…I've helped make him happy, I guess, but I haven't really been able to help fix the problems he's had."

"I don't know if he'd say the same thing, but…even if you aren't convinced of that…you still have time. And…if we can do this thing we're talking about…you'll have even more of it."

"Yeah…you're right. We gotta do this…so that I have time to really repay him for everything he's done. And…well, that's just one debt I owe, too."

"You're not talking about me, are you?"

"Of course I am! I mean, maybe it wasn't the same thing as what happened with Falcomon, but I destambintombatulambotized your life hugely! It'll probably never be the same again! And all this because we couldn't stop Emperius before…all of us owe you, big time, and we're gonna do everything we can to repay you, whatever that is!"

Now it was Skylar's turn to sigh as he embraced the dragon. "It's gonna be a pain convincing you that you're doing us just as big a favor as we are to you, isn't it?"

"Trust me, if you think I'M gonna be hard to convince, Sal's basically gonna make a religion out of it."

About what Skylar expected. But maybe with time they'd figure out how to get that message across…if they actually pulled it off. So much at stake, and most of all, he didn't want Breezedramon to lose that happiness he cherished and wanted to spread - as much as he could be an oddball sometimes, as much as he could sometimes miss what people were really saying, Skylar really did appreciate that determined joy Breezedramon brought…it really did help take the edge off of the worst moments and the intense stress of the whole situation. He wanted to repay Breezedramon for all he'd done to help him through this mess…making sure he survived would have to be the biggest thing he could do.

—

"Havocravenmon? Hoo, boy, where to begin…"

It was probably the most unusual conference the conference room had ever seen, where humans were well outnumbered by creatures from another world. Commandramon, Talomon, Felismon, Elecmon, Dorumon, Crestmon, Shadowdramon, Strikedramon, Leomon, Gharialmon, Surfimon, and Paledramon…it felt a bit surreal to Reyn looking at all of them, seeing that many who'd come over to their side, and actually helped them out during the whole mess the previous day. It was a decided departure from having to see digimon all as enemies…but something he would have to get used to, because if he was going to be in THEIR world, the number of non-enemies was going to vastly exceed the number of enemies. Hopefully.

"I was actually shocked that a flat-out fanatic like Craniummon would pick someone as seemingly…level-headed as Havocravenmon to be his second-in-command," stated Leomon. "And when he took over…the atmosphere changed. And not for the better, in terms of the rest of the world…once he got the chance to put his plans into action, Emperius got a great deal more dangerous."

"He never went to the front lines like Craniummon did," Talomon reported. "If he ever needed to get involved in something dangerous, he would do this weird duplication thing…he called it a 'shadow clone.' Basically letting him do what he wanted without actually taking any risks. But he wasn't a front-line guy, he didn't seem to have any…pride in combat or anything like that."

"He surrounded himself with people who were much more front-line, though," added Crestmon. "His five generals - Blackwargreymon, Kuzuhamon, Zeedramon, Carcharomon, and NegaDuftmon. They stand in for him at the front, and they're much more battle-hardened. A mix of personalities, too…that was one reason my brother didn't get picked, Havocravenmon said he was too much like someone who was already there."

"Havocravenmon is a much more frightening foe than Craniummon ever was," said Surfimon grimly. "Craniummon was just so fanatical and crazy that it sort of made him predictable in a way, and it was easy to see him as just a nutjob. But Havocravenmon challenges you. He's been trying to sway people to his way of thinking with words as much as actions, pushing people to defend their morals and positions…not everyone's been strong-minded enough to resist. And he doesn't use threats and intimidation nearly as much as his predecessor, which makes him seem more…agreeable."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't carry a brutality within him, though." Shadowdramon spoke with a deep tension in his voice. "His ruthlessness is much less bombastic, he schemes and he strikes precisely. He takes advantage of the dark temptations in people to swing them to his side and blind them to what he really wants to achieve. Machination is his prime…he doesn't make shows of blowing up cities, he subverts them from within and feasts on them as they tear themselves apart."

"But he has a weakness," Elecmon volunteered. "Emperius isn't united under him. There's some factions in there that don't like him, and that's outside of the usual unwilling conscripts. Some of them don't like that he's not as blindly convinced of their inevitable success as Craniummon was, they take it as a personal failing that he's trying to plan rather than just attacking. And there are others who don't think he's as strong as Craniummon, and want to follow someone stronger. It's probably not something where someone's actively planning to off him, but there's the potential for some chaos if things start going poorly for them."

"He's been working on a lot of plans, though," chimed in Felismon. "Rumor has it he's trying to build something big, but no one's seen anything of it except for a select few that won't say anything. He's already changed up a lot, so I think he's got a lot of things he's working on behind the scenes to try to make Emperius even less likely to be stopped. And he knows how to manipulate a lot of the people there…even the ones who just want to attack stuff, he gets them attacking the right stuff to achieve his goals. A lot more controlled than Craniummon ever was."

"And who knows how far his reach is, too?" Paledramon added. "If he was in touch with the Frigid Souls and the Order of the Flame both, he's probably playing other groups off of each other as well. Maybe trying to see who emerges the victor and getting potential obstacles out of the way at the same time…it would make sense, I doubt he actually cares about either of us, just what we can do for him…"

"Hearing all of this is…quite disconcerting," said Derek darkly. "Havocravenmon sounds like he's very dangerous, and makes Emperius a lot more dangerous. Combine this with what BC knows of his background…"

"Yeah…" Salmandmon sighed. "A vengeful wannabe tyrant with an army at his beck and call that he knows how to use. And he sounds like he knows how to USE people…but he probably considers them expendable resources to get what he wants. I hate guys like that, who are monsters who know how to put up good images. One reason we have to get at him and throw him off his game."

"There's no way you guys'll be able to do that just by yourselves," insisted Dorumon. "Havocravenmon knows they aren't well-liked, he's taken a lot of precautions. Like, even WE don't know where Emperius's base is, and we spend a lot of time there. He set up a system where every deployment goes out and comes in through the Transfer Point System, but it's not marked on any of the maps and there's an encrypted algorithm that we get imbued with to access it, so we couldn't just tell anyone the way to get in. I don't know how he keeps everything hidden from view, but we've NEVER had an intruder in this base, and it's been like two years. You'd think SOMEONE would stumble onto it randomly."

"So we're up against a lot before we even get to the numbers game," groused Shockavimon. "Dammit, I hate to say I miss Craniummon, but…"

"Getting to him is going to be a lot harder than it sounded at first," agreed Reyn. "But…if he's got his talons in all sorts of schemes all around, maybe the best chance we have is to disrupt some of those. If we can't get to him directly, get to him indirectly and make him come to us."

"Yeah! Get him all fluspertanterated and discombumburtamulamberterated!" Breezedramon declared boldly. "Then he'll start making mistakes! Those kinds of guys always lose their cool when their carefully-crafted plans get blown up! That's why you can't ever get too over-planned, sometimes you just gotta wing it!"

"You guys have been a big help," said Iris with a smile. "It's pretty scary hearing what kind of enemy we're dealing with when he sounds pretty challenging, but at least knowing things about him gives us something to work with. He probably knows enough about us that we needed something to get back to even ground."

"I wish there was more we could do," sighed Commandramon. "Information is good, but with how numerous Emperius is, more fighters would be better. But I just don't have enough experience yet to do more than take some shots at their most grunty of grunts."

"That's understandable," said Skylar. "I'm pretty nervous about the disparities myself, but I'm hoping that while we're over there we can find something that will help us level the playing field a bit, more than just by getting stronger ourselves. I have to think that digimon would have a better idea of how to fight digimon than humans do."

"I'm sort of partial to that idea myself." All heads turned towards the doorway, where President Herrera was standing, arms folded, looking over the whole group. "…I've always said diversity was something we should embrace, but this is a level I definitely did not have in mind. It's quite a sight."

"Eh? Who're you, lady?" asked Gharialmon blankly.

"This individual would be most properly identified as the administrator in authority of the particular region of this terrestria," remarked Blackcanismon with a hint of annoyance. "Therefore, a modest uptick in your personal decorum would be immensely appropriate."

"Oh…uh…" the gator digimon got a very nervous and awkward look on his face, as did a number of the others. "Ah…er, yeah…s-sorry about, uh…going after all y'all…and all that…"

Herrera gave a slight nod. "I appreciate that, though the fact that you're here I presume means you're already on the better side of our young heroes than most of the others who have come to try to cause trouble for us…I've gotten the impression that they don't tend to last very long if they're determined to see an end to us."

"Especially not lately," agreed Reyn. "Sorry, I didn't notice you'd arrived…"

"It's fine, I wanted to hear a bit anyway. And it sounds like you're making plans for a journey of your own…"

Reyn gulped a bit; this was a conversation that was going to have to happen at some point, but he wasn't sure he was ready for it just then, they hadn't even settled a lot of details. "Uh…yeah, that's…the plan, though it's not…totally settled on everything yet. We think we're going to need more than defense if we're going to truly stop Emperius…and there's other reasons why we think we need to be the ones to go over there."

The president bowed her head, expression contemplative. "…I understand the idea. There's only so much you can do when you're fighting off a siege, and the attackers have a lot of advantages. We've got troops on the move, some of them arriving today, more coming over the next couple of days…but there's a lot of uncertainty among them. They've seen the reports, they know they're up against something that's unlike any enemy they've faced before, but that doesn't help them know what precisely they're up against. That's one of the advantages you have that we don't…at the same time, that's what makes you most suitable to actually try to disrupt Emperius's plans from that end, which might be vital to our survival."

"Yeah, that's an issue…" Datacarnomon admitted. "I could try to provide dossiers of everything I know, but I don't suppose that's the same as guidance in the moment."

"Unfortunately true. We have weapons, and we have the will to fight, but we're lacking in knowledge. It's a world too different from ours, even when we see something we have no idea what it could do to us. There's no one better to provide that guidance than a native of that world, but you're needed for another duty…but…" Herrera opened her eyes again, a knowing glint in them. "If I'm not mistaken, there are a few people in this room that aren't otherwise occupied, are they?"

"Whoa, hey, wait a second!" Talomon leapt up. "You want US to help you? Hold up, I just got out of being someone's cannon fodder, I don't wanna just jump back in!"

"Speak for yourself," Commandramon huffed. "I'd consider it an honor to join a division led by the commander-in-chief over here!"

"Commandramon, was it?" Herrera gave the little military dino a smile. "I very much appreciate your eagerness. But this isn't merely a conscription. I'm not asking you to join our forces…I'm asking you to lead them."

"Lead them?" Everyone did a double-take at that, including all the symbiotes. Isaac was the first one to voice the obvious (to the humans) issue. "Would any of them even go for that? Being led by a digimon rather than one of their own?"

"If they can't, they wouldn't be suitable for the task," the president declared resolutely. "And I think it's not only useful, it might be necessary. The knowledge we need isn't just to knowing what we're up against, but how to combat it. The tactics we're used to using might be completely ineffective against unfamiliar foes like these. But people who know what they are, who are used to fighting against them, they'll know how to approach the battle to avoid what the foe can throw at us and the best way to take advantage of their vulnerabilities. Tactical knowledge, that's something that's hard to gain without being directed, especially in a coordinated effort. They need to not risk being overridden by an officer who wants to think he knows better, but that would be difficult to do, unless they had the rank to be in that position in the first place."

"And you'd trust us, even though we were with the enemy?" asked Elecmon nervously.

"The way I see it, you've already gained the trust of people who would know better than I do. I doubt I'd be seeing any of you here if you hadn't already abandoned your allegiance to them. And your inside knowledge could prove even more valuable - not just knowing how they fight as creatures but how they think as a group, which is almost just as important. Of course, any of that would have to be predicated on your consent…anyone who doesn't want to, I wouldn't think it wise to force them. But if there is anyone who would help us, it would give us that much more chance of mounting our own effective defense, giving these folks confidence that they can leave things in our hands."

"Count me in," said Leomon immediately, the lion man standing up and clenching a fist. "They destroyed my home in the name of forcing us to serve them…I refuse to let that happen to the people over here, not without giving it my all. Whatever I can do, I shall put my heart and soul into it."

"Well, if he's in, no way I'm not in, either," agreed Strikedramon. "I've been wanting to get back at them for a while myself, what better way than denying them the prize they want so badly?"

"The idea of a leadership role makes me a bit nervous…" Commandramon took a deep breath. "But any way I can help, that's what I wanted to do from the start. Especially on the field of battle, against a foe that needs to be driven back at all costs. You have my commitment!"

"Yeah, I was either gonna be fighting over here or over there, but I think I can do a lot more over here," Surfimon added determinedly. "Especially after hearing a case like that, hard to argue with that logic. If we can keep Emperius occupied like that, the digital world side's gonna have it a lot easier!"

"This is…a chance for me to undo my mistakes from the past." Shadowdramon gave a bow, almost a genuflect. "I would be honored to be allowed the chance for redemption."

"Laying it on a bit thick, ain'tcha?" asked Elecmon with a snort. "A simple 'yes' is all you needed."

Shadowdramon gave Elecmon a sidelong look. "If it carries that little meaning for you, then your presence is unnecessary. I have to imagine they'll be easier to lead than YOU lot."

"Tch. Maybe I'll just have to show you how it's done, then. I made a choice, and I'm standing by it. Since I'm probably just gonna be hunted down if I go back over there anyway, why not? Better to be getting others to help me fight back than trying to do it all on my own."

"That's a good point…we've already pretty much abandoned Emperius, and there's always that list of 'traitors' that they keep up in the main rooms, with bounties and everything." Dorumon shook her head. "I thought I'd just go back and try to find someplace to hide, but I don't like the thought of living in fear like that…over here, we can even be more of the hunters than the hunted, they'll be out of their element. All right, I'll do it."

"You know, on top of all the other good reasons, humans aren't as bad as I thought they were," said Felismon. "You hear all sorts of weird stories over there, even though no one really knows what they're like, but Emperius tried to sell them as nasty and vicious on top of being worthless. But the only ones I've seen being mean to me were, well, the ones who had a reason to be. More of the folks in Emperius treated me way worse…I know who I'd rather throw my lot in with."

"You're seriously doing this?" asked Talomon in annoyance.

"Don't tell me you don't feel the same way. You were ready to lay it all on the line for Cayden."

"…Yeah, well…that's…urg…l-look, I wasn't…expecting anyone to actually care about me, okay? Not like anyone did over there, even before Emperius…"

Felismon snickered a bit. "Yeah, you barely even cared about yourself. 'As long as I can breathe, I'll just attack, regardless of whether I can survive.' Maybe you should stick around, humans might be a good influence on you."

Talomon glowered at the cat digimon, then folded his arms and huffed as he looked away. "I wasn't gonna go anywhere. I might even prefer this world over that one. Which means I gotta defend him…defend it. DON'T." The raptor ignored Felismon as she cackled over his slip of the tongue, looking over at Crestmon. "I don't suppose we gotta ask you, you didn't even want to be here in the first place."

"…No. I'm staying."

"Huh? Since when did you get a backbone?"

Crestmon shook his head. "Whatever hunting might've happened to you guys, it'll happen a hundred times harder for me. HE won't be satisfied until I'm dead, probably in the most brutal and painful way imaginable…and I'm tired of letting him rule over my life. If he wants to get me, he's going to have to fight for it, and I want to make sure it's as hard a fight as he could ever imagine."

Paledramon had been quiet the whole time, and didn't exactly look any more at ease than when the talk had all started. With most of the group decided, though, he let out a sigh. "I guess I should've known it wouldn't be that easy…Kalarnos Glacier isn't going to be any more welcoming to me than Emperius would be, I bet, not with Zerodramon in charge…nngh, I promised Cryspaledramon I'd be resolute and wouldn't give in to them. If I can help defend people here…I'm sure she'd be proud of me."

"Dag nab, feelin' the pressure from all y'all." Gharialmon rubbed his head. "Well, I ain't able to say much that'd change how things stood, y'all made some mighty fine points. Guess it can't be as bad as havin' ta lead a buncha bloodthirsty ornery Numemon."

It was a lot more agreement than Reyn would have dared hope for before it was suggested. Some of it made sense - after all, a few of these ones were always on their side - but hearing even their former foes being determined to aid them…it was quite the turnaround. After feeling like we were fighting alone for so long, it's a weird feeling knowing that that's not true anymore. But weird in a very good way.

The president nodded. "Then I'll need to make some arrangements and ensure that all of you are given the proper respect and authority to make this happen. If you don't mind, I'd like you to come with me so that we can meet with some of the leadership here, and get everyone on the same page. Unless you still have business to attend to…"

"I think we've gotten what we were looking for," stated Reyn. "And we have some other business to attend to as well…because a few other people are going to have to know about what we're doing, too…"

"Oh, jeez…" Isaac groaned. "You're talking about our families, aren't you? I already know how this is gonna go over…"

"I know, but it's not like we can sneak out and leave them with no idea…they'll figure it out, and it'll just make it a whole lot worse if we try to avoid it."

"And don't let them be doing it on their own," Salmandmon added. "I know we've been hiding from them for the most part, but they deserve to know the full score at this point, and they won't be getting that without US there. Try to do what you can to soften the blow, and make sure you let them know that you'll put your lives on the line for their kids."

"Boy, you know how to turn the screws when you want to," groaned Shockavimon.

"I suspect his preferential idiom would be 'turning up the heat," Blackcanismon returned with a hint of cheekiness.

"Don't start on idioms, we've had enough debate over those already…"

—

"So…that's what's going to happen. As soon as the machine's built and ready to go, we're going to be going to the digital world. Once we're there, we're going to be out of contact…and I don't really know when we're going to be back. A lot of it depends on what happens over there, and, well, none of us really know what that's going to be."

Emil took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as Iris finished her statement. "Oof…I'm not going to lie…every part of the father in me wants to beg you not to go. Even the part that knows everything you said makes sense…"

Beside Emil, Heather was clearly struggling to keep from crying, and the tears in her eyes suggested she was only somewhat succeeding. "Iris…I…I don't know what to say…I wish I'd known what was going on before…and now to hear you're leaving for this…other world, where you're…I…"

Iris bowed her head. "I know, Mom. I…can't say I'd feel any better if it was me standing there hearing it, either. This isn't some sleepover, or even an exchange trip…I'm going somewhere knowing my life's at stake. But…if I didn't do this, my life would be in just as much danger eventually, and without me being as ready for it as I could be. And not just mine, either…I'm not going to lie, I'm scared, but I'm even more scared of what would happen if I didn't do this."

"I just…I wish there was something I could do…it's…hard knowing my little girl's going to be all on her own over there, with these…creatures that can do things I could hardly even imagine…"

"Mrs. Conover…" Shockavimon put a wing over her chest. "I know it's not an easy thing, and there's nothing I can say to truly make it better. But Iris can make lightning bolts with her mind…she can stand up to most of us over there just on that alone. And with me with her, she can make even bigger ones. And she's not going to be alone…I'm going to be there every step of the way, and our friends will be with us as well. And I know we're going to find other allies over there, there's plenty of people who don't like Emperius any more than we do. It's going to be an ordeal, but we're not going to be fighting alone over there."

Emil drew Heather towards him, putting his arms around her to comfort her. "I hope it's going to be less trouble for you than over here was…I wish we'd figured out the truth earlier, and made it easier for you to do what you needed to do. I feel like I've done so little…"

"Dad…you've done a lot more than you think." Iris gave them a soft smile. "But…if you really want to do something for me…then all that nervous energy you're gonna have that's gonna drive you crazy because you want to protect me but you can't? Put it into protecting everyone else over here. Whatever you can do to help with this defense, that's the best thing you can do. Because everything we're doing over there isn't gonna mean much if we don't have a world to return to."

"I guess if that's what I can do, then I'm going to have to put my all into it," agreed Emil. "We'll hold down the fort here, we won't let them gain an inch if we can help it." He pulled Iris towards them, bringing her into a group hug with them. "Knowing what you're doing, I know there's not much point in telling you to stay out of danger…so…when you're in danger, give them all the hell you can until you're not."

"Thanks, Dad." Iris gave a kiss to both her parents, her own eyes misting up. "We still have a few days before it happens…I'm going to do everything I can to be as ready as possible. I'm not going to ask you not to worry about me, because I know better than that…but…I don't wake you to make yourselves sick over me…if I'm in your thoughts, please try to keep it hopeful."

"We're going to be back," vowed Shockavimon. "I'll do everything I can in my power to make it happen. So always keep hope in your hearts. There were times that that was all that kept me going, and because of that, we're in better shape than we have been since we got to this world. As rough as it's been, this is pretty much a miracle result so far…as long as we cling tight onto that hope, we can make more miracles happen."

"Shockavimon, I…" Emil's breath hitched a bit, causing him to pause and take a deep one before continuing. "I'm counting on you…we're all counting on you, to protect Iris as best you can. But...I think you'll do it better than I have. You've gotten her this far…I know she'll be in good hands with you."

"I swear it on my life," the bird replied with a slow nod. "Just as I know this world will be in good hands with you. We both have our duties, and we'll see them through to the end, no matter what they throw at us." Seeing Iris's parents like that, it only made her more determined to see hers through - it was a reminder to her of the personal stakes, not just the broader ones. It was rare that she ever got to see the families of those she fought alongside or even fought to protect, and even knowing that the impact spread didn't drive it home like seeing it…she refused to let herself be the one to destroy them by failing.

—

Derek didn't like the looks he was getting as he told them what was going on. But it wasn't like he expected anything less…at least this time it wasn't anger, but he wasn't finding fear any better.

"So it's true…I thought I heard someone talking about that before…" Elliot was rubbing his head, while Myra was sitting weeping beside him. "I don't suppose there's any point in trying to talk you out of it."

"We're well past that point, Dad…for a lot of reasons."

"Yes, I suppose that's true…" Elliot certainly didn't seem happy about it. "Still…no way to contact you, no way to know how you're doing…this is…pretty much where my worst nightmares always seem to go. All this past time, my fears have been…largely unjustified, I suppose…but this time…"

Derek nodded grimly. "This time, it's different, yeah. There's actual danger, and…probably a lot of it. I don't even know how much. But…keeping me back wouldn't protect me. It'd just be delaying the inevitable…if we want to have a chance of beating these guys, we can't just wait for them to come to us when they're ready. We need to actually push back, and right now, we're the ones who can do that, and the ones who have to do that if we want to be capable of meeting the challenge."

"Why…why…" Myra bawled into her hands. "Why does it have to be you…Derek…my sweet child…"

Seeing her like this made Derek's heart ache. "Mom…I know…it's hard…but, it has to be me because…I can hold my own there. All my life, I've had things about me even I didn't understand. Now I do…this is something that I was meant for. I don't know when that decision was made or why, but…this is how it is, and with how much is at stake…"

"Derek…I…I don't…I don't want you to go…I don't know…how I'll ever sleep knowing you're over there, knowing you're in danger…"

Derek fell silent, struggling to find the words to say. Blackcanismon had intended to stay back and let Derek approach this, but he could sense that he needed to step in now, so he stepped forward slowly, keeping his head bowed low. "Madame Katran…" The woman flinched in surprise - this was the first time she'd actually heard Blackcanismon talk, even though she'd been briefed on him earlier. "I have expent countless hours immersed in the study of linguistics. I eviscerated myriad archaic texts on communication, extracting words from arcane sources, all in relentless pursuit of the apex of communication, the capability to achieve appropriate conveyance regardless of the situation. Nevertheless…I have inevitably been compelled to yield to the inexorable insufficiencies of speech to accommodate every necessity. Nary a word I've investigated could provide appropriate apology for the intolerable cruelty I have been forced to inflict upon you. And more abhorrently still, I reacted to your visceral anguish, the excruciating malady ever-present in your existence, with unacceptable callousness. I cannot possibly beseech enough forgivenesses from you…and even requesting so would be obesely premature."

"You…I don't…" It was almost a whisper from Myra.

"My only alternative…is accepting my responsibility in this misfortune, and indebting myself to you. With only my devotion towards you and yours to offer as collateral…no alternate offering would be sufficient or appropriate. I henceforth avow restitution, to be conferred in the security of your child and my continued efforts to provide support upon the resolution of this conflict." Blackcanismon looked up with those starry eyes, firmly looking into Myra's saturated ones. "Myra…Madame Katran…I owe you…a debt beyond any I've ever known. And I WILL repay it to you…with your son's safety and beyond. That is my vow."

There was no response for a moment…then, without warning, Myra seemed to slump from her seat onto her knees on the floor, throwing her arms around Blackcansimon and sobbing freely into his fur. Derek initially moved to intervene, but a poke from Blackcanismon's mind deterred him - the canine was letting it happen, and he decided it wasn't wise to try to interrupt. Eventually, after a minute or two of choked bawling, Myra finally seemed to calm down; she lightened her hold on on Blackcanismon, still trembling and teary but no longer crying freely. "You…please…bring him back…as soon as you can…and…yourself, too…"

"Upon my honor," replied Blackcanismon, with a depth of earnestness that seemed almost as endless as the darkness of his fur.

"…It's hard to believe…" said Elliot, quietly enough that Derek wasn't sure he was talking to him, "that I ever thought he was…just another strange creature that needed to be removed."

Derek didn't respond, but inside, he was feeling himself settle down a little bit. Their acceptance of Blackcanismon was something he never would have thought possible just a few weeks ago, even this was a huge change from what had been. I need to do my best, too…after all this, I don't want this chance to really feel like I have a family to be lost because I couldn't come back to do my part.

—

"No. Absolutely not."

Of course they were going to respond like that. Isaac did his best to try to keep his cool, but it wasn't easy as he stared down the severe looks of his father and mother. Bad enough he was trying to keep his modified arm covered with a shirt - he was going to have to tell them about it, but he wanted to take it one step at a time. "Maybe you don't understand. I'm not asking for permission here, I'm telling you what's happening. This isn't a case where you can just say no."

"Of course we can," Alphonse insisted sharply. "We are your parents! We can forbid you going out and doing nonsense, and we absolutely will!"

"Going to a world of dangerous creatures and fighting against them? There's no way we'd ever let you do that!" snapped Lilith. "You're far too young for that sort of thing!"

Isaac clenched his teeth. Just once in my life, I wish they wouldn't make things difficult. At least one person wasn't doing so - Ashley was standing behind and off to the side, with a look in her eyes like she knew exactly who the winner of this was going to be, and she clearly wasn't banking on the parents. He didn't want to have to call for support, but Isaac wasn't sure he was going to have many options. "Sorry, but this is non-negotiable. It's kind of a whole 'the world is literally at stake' deal. And there's no way you're going to get more say in it than I do."

"You don't talk to us like that!" Alphonse bristled. "If you think you're just going to go off on wild and crazy shenanigans without a care in the world, you'd better think again! You're staying right here where it's safe!"

"It's not safe! Have you SEEN what's going on out there?!"

"It has to be safer than that place where they're all coming from!" Lilith insisted. "Forget it! You're not going to go ANYWHERE!"

Isaac had had enough by this point. He suddenly flung the shirt off and slammed his metal arm down on the table - not a painless gesture, but that satisfying loud bang got both of his parents to jump and stare at least as he glowered at them. "I'd LOVE to see you try to stop me. Then I'll get to show you just what I'm capable of!"

"What…what…what in…what in the world IS that?!" gasped Lilith.

"You know how you said I spent so much time around machines that you thought someday I'd turn into one? Well, you were half right. And I promise you, what you can see is only a fraction of what I can do with it. You want to test me? You aren't going to win. There's too damn much at stake for me to let you two stand in the way!"

There was a rather unpleasant dead silence for a few seconds, one that was starting to get rather unnerving to Datacarnomon. It was pretty clear that the two parents were still not willing to yield, and he wasn't sure what to say to them - heck, HE didn't feel totally comfortable with the whole situation, he wasn't surprised that they didn't either. Still, he was much more averse to Isaac's threats of breaking out - leaving on bad terms only invited trouble down the road. "Mr. And Mrs. Wherrels, if you'll allow me to explain-"

"I think you've caused enough trouble," Alphonse said brusquely. "I can't believe I bought that line that you were just a shell or something. What have you been doing to our son?"

"That…is a complicated question that you are clearly not in the mood for the right answer to. L-listen, Ike…he's one of the very few humans who stand a chance of facing down what's threatening our worlds. I didn't go hunting him down for that purpose, on the contrary, I was hoping he wouldn't get involved at all, but we didn't get the choice of making that happen. He's done a lot so far to help us, and we need that now more than ever."

"Why do you need him?" demanded Lilith. "Go find someone else! Someone older and better suited for this!"

"It…doesn't work that way. I didn't just CHOOSE him, it's…there's a complicated connection between us-"

"So break it! Break and and make it with someone else! Not Isaac! He doesn't have to go!"

"OH MY GOD, you guys!" Ashley suddenly burst out, startling both Alphonse and Lilith and making them swing around to look at her. "You sound insane! Haven't you figured it out by now?! This is a billion times bigger than you two! What makes you think you have anything to say about this other than 'good luck and stay safe?' Seriously, did that damned freaky dragon thing literally ATTACKING OUR HOUSE not wake you up that Isaac's already neck deep in this crap?!"

"That…that was…" Alphonse had suddenly gotten very shaky, as his attempts to deflect fell apart this time.

"Malicedramon was after ME," agreed Isaac, trying not to let on how grateful he was for the opening Ashley had made. "You might think you can protect me by keeping me home, but it's way too late for that, they'll just start coming after me there. And that puts all of you at risk, and trust me, you are WAY less prepared for that than I am."

"No, that…that can't…" Lilith stuttered a bit, her expression getting uncomfortably pale. "Not again…it can't…it can't happen again…"

"…What do you mean, it can't happen again?" Isaac saw his mother start and then withdraw, and his gaze narrowed. "I swear, if you're gonna tell me you know about ANOTHER monster incident…"

"It sure as heck wasn't US if there was one," chimed in Datacarnomon. "I guarantee beyond a doubt we were the first ones through from our world. I mean, not by as much as we wanted, but still."

"It's not…it's not that…" Alphonse looked pretty shaken as he pulled Lilith close. "It's…it's complicated. You shouldn't stress your mother out like that…"

"This isn't nothing," Ashley insisted. "What are you so worried about happening again? Nothing's ever happened to him, Isaac's as boring as it gets. Or at least he was before Dinobot got to him anyway."

"…It…wasn't…" Neither of them had seen their father so out of sorts in years, not to mention their mother on the verge of a breakdown. Alphonse seemed to be wrestling with it, but the pressure from both kids seemed to make him finally crack. "It's…we didn't…want him to…to…end up…like your brother."

Ashley and Isaac sat in stunned silence for a few seconds before exclaiming in tandem. "WHAT brother?!"

"…You…never knew him. He…he was an accident…back when…when we were in high school. We didn't…we weren't ready, we didn't plan it…it was…we made a mistake and it was…" Alphonse took a deep breath and shook his head. "We…chose to give him up for adoption…and we got lucky, there was…there was a couple who could take him. It was…hard, but it was for the best, neither of us was ready to parent, and we didn't…have the support we needed. But…we stayed in touch with the family. We wanted to…be there, when the time came for him to know the truth, if he wanted to know us. We talked with the parents a lot, and saw him now and then, but he didn't know us as anything but family friends."

"He…he got into trouble a lot…" sniffled Lilith, struggling to compose herself. "And…his adoptive parents…they…they were kind to him, but…they didn't…they weren't good…at trying to watch him and supervise him…they didn't understand that he needed to be…he needed some control, some boundaries in his life…but they just…let him do whatever…and…and he…"

"He was trying to do a skateboard stunt near…some pit or something." Alphonse's voice was trembling now as well. "He wasn't supposed to be there, but he and a bunch of friends went anyway…that's what we heard…and he…he fell off, and fell down, and…it was…they…they said it was…a severe head injury…he…he was…only fifteen…"

Isaac's gut churned. Oh, crap…that…that had to have been THAT day… One of his earliest remaining memories, coming down the stairs when he was just around five years old and seeing his parents both wailing like he'd never seen them before or since. He never knew why, the sight of it had scared him back into his room, and he'd never been able to ask why…he vaguely remembered that they were in very shaky moods for days afterwards, enough that he had been deterred from talking to them about it.

"We…we couldn't let that happen to you…" It was a struggle for Lilith to even talk now. "We couldn't…you were our son just like he was, if you went the same way…we just…we thought, if we just…did a better job…gave you boundaries, made sure you didn't do…anything stupid like that…that was all we wanted…someday you'd be past all that, and then…"

"Jesus…THAT'S what this has all been about?" asked Ashley shakily. "But then you just let me go off and do whatever all the time?"

"We…we weren't really worried about you…doing anything like that," muttered Alphonse. "Girls don't really get into that sort of trouble like that-"

"Oh, come on, are you serious? Okay, maybe there are fewer girl skateboarders out there, but hello? Sexual assault? Do you have any idea how many of my classmates had a guy do stuff to them they didn't want? We can get into trouble just as much, even if less of it is our own making!"

"Ash, maybe save this for another time?" asked Isaac. "Not that you're wrong, but…"

Ashley cooled down, realizing their parents might not have been in the best state for that conversation. "…Yeah, okay. Sorry."

"Mr. And Mrs. Wherrels…" Datacarnomon cautiously ventured forth again. "First…my sincerest condolences for your loss. I know it must have had a huge impact on you, and I can entirely understand that you wouldn't want such a thing to happen again. But…you have to realize, your other son is not the same person as Ike. Even genetically he could have been a fair bit different, but the environment he was raised in was also entirely distinct…there are all sorts of reasons things would go differently beyond just what you allowed and forbid. And…well, look, I know Ike better than you know, and he was never a person who did things that dangerous. He…never enjoyed being that kind of risk taker, and I would know what someone who DID enjoy it would be like. Even when he was doing ostensibly dangerous things, like welding or wiring, he got assistance from people who could do it safely…VERY safely, for them. The point is, Ike's been very responsible all on his own…I think you should be able to see him for who he IS, not who you fear he might be."

"But…you want him to go…off fighting monsters with you…" Lilith choked out.

"It's not a matter of wanting anything, ma'am. I didn't make this choice, and I wouldn't have chosen this path if I'd been allowed to make it. Ike and I are doing this because it's what we have to do. Your son has…an innate connection with me that neither of us were aware of until just weeks ago, one that makes us capable of doing things beyond even MY imagination. And…you have to understand this as well, this isn't some silly stunt to show off. This is, quite literally, a matter of life and death, for everyone in this world and, to be honest, everyone in mine as well. If there was ever a good reason to put oneself in danger, this is it. And I don't say this lightly, because I don't WANT Ike to be in danger…but there's no point in denying that he already is just by the fact of what we can do together. And if he's going to be in danger, I want him to be as suited to fight it off as he possibly can be. That's one of the reasons we're going over there, to make sure that fewer things can actually threaten him."

Finally, it seemed to be sinking into the two of them just how far over their head everything was. "I…I never…realized how…dire it all was…" said Alphonse in his quietest voice yet. "…There's really no other way?"

"If there was another way, I wouldn't be saying this to you," replied Isaac. "And trust me, if there was a way to program it that I could come up with in short order, I'd definitely be doing that. But there isn't, so we have to do what we can. Otherwise, all of us are in danger, not just me."

"I don't want you to have to experience that pain of loss again," asserted Datacarnomon. "Anything I can do to make sure Ike comes back, I'll do it. You have my word on that."

"Isaac…I…" Lilith started crying again, and Alphonse looked like he was getting rather teary as well. "I'm sorry…we never wanted you to…resent us…we just…wanted to keep you safe…"

"It's all right, Mom…I get it. And, well, you did, I guess, at least…except from people getting on my ass all the time because I'm always late for stuff."

"Don't go blaming that all on them, little bro," said Ashley. "But don't be late getting back, either…that one's kind of important."

"Yeah, I know." It might have sounded a bit dismissive, but Isaac meant it more than he ever did, and as his eyes met Datacarnomon's, he knew his partner would hold him to that one. Frustrating though it was, he knew their concerns had always been well-intentioned…perhaps it would have been better to speak up before. That was a conversation they could still have, though, as long as he was around to have it. And that meant he had to prepare himself as much as he possibly could, because there was no turning back once they were on their way…everything he would make for that arm of his would be dedicated to making sure his parents didn't find themselves in broken anguish like he'd seen them all those years ago…and hopefully no one else would have to, either.

—

"Noooo! Don't go, Sky!" Bad enough that he had to try to tell his parents about what was going on, Skylar wasn't ready to have to deal with Benny losing his cool as well. And things already weren't going well.

"Benny, please, I need you to get off of my leg. I kind of need it."

"Noooo! I don't want you to go anywhere!" The boy was bawling a lot harder than Skylar knew how to handle - he never was good with crying children, and he'd especially never been good with crying Benny. Kirsten was trying to calm him down, though it wasn't working terribly well this time.

Across the table, Corrine was crying somewhat as well, though much less boisterously. She was doing better physically, her wound thankfully not severe, but she was still supposed to be taking it easy. "I'm sorry…I know I'm not making this easier, I just…you're sure you have to do this? The thought of you over there, when you're being hunted by these things…"

"Trust me, those aren't pleasant prospects to me, either," sighed Skylar, trying to speak up a bit over his little brother's wails. "Unfortunately, the truth is, I'm rather being hunted over here as well, and my options for fending them off aren't any better over here than over there. Not to mention we're apparently not likely to be the only ones Emperius is causing trouble for…if things get worse over there, things get worse over here. Going over with so few of us isn't ideal, but we can't spare anything else over here while they're trying to cause us trouble."

"We're gonna do our best to put them down on that side!" insisted Breezedramon. "Our group's been fighting them for years, they might have hit a bad spell but they're still gonna be trying their best! If we can offer more help to them, maybe we can be an impertimtermintepenitent to their invasion over here and even take them down!"

"I…I see…" Corrine swallowed; Skylar could tell she still wasn't quite sure what to make of Breezedramon. She wasn't hostile to him, just seemed not to really be sure how to talk to him. Still, all things considered, she was taking things relatively well…unlike a certain someone else.

"Is all this production really necessary?" Marcus was leaning against the window of their room, looking outwards and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge what was going on. "Nothing's happening! This is all some…crazy weird movie scene we just got roped into. And I'd really rather not be part of it! Why can't we just go back home and forget all this nonsense?"

"Marcus Jascalt!" Corrine, even through tears, managed to sound sharp with him. "Stop this right now! Your son is about to go off headfirst into danger!"

"No, he's not! He's coming home with us, and everything's going to settle down, and we're going to be nice and normal again. No more of any of what all this is supposed to be, I don't know what sort of clown business is going on in this city but we're NOT going to be wrapped up in it!"

"Holy crap, Dad, you REALLY need to stop!" Kirsten snapped, clearly getting frustrated between Marcus and Benny. "You wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for him and the other digimon! They were about to take our heads off!"

Marcus still didn't even look back. "It's…it's all just made up! Some story that they're trying to pull over our heads! You shouldn't be buying into such nonsense, it'll all be shown to be just some ridiculous TV special soon enough! We're going to just be a normal family like we always have been, and I'm not going to hear-"

Breezedramon had had enough. Without warning, he hopped up onto the table and tossed a Wind Sphere at the back of Marcus's head. The attack smacked relatively lightly against him, but enough for the human to whip around, staring wide-eyed at the glaring dragon.

"Breezedramon!" Skylar cried out.

"Relax. That was SUPER dialed back, just enough to knock a little sense into him." Breezedramon met those shocked eyes resolutely. "You know how they say you're supposed to pinch yourself if you think you're dreaming? Consider that your pinch! And guess what, I'm still here!"

"You…you…you…you…you're not real! You can't be real! You can't be!"

"Sheeze. Here's where Sal would say 'denial sounds like a scream.' You not wanting me to be real doesn't mean I'm gonna just vanish like that! And it's not gonna stop Emperius from coming over and jacking you all up HARD if we don't do something! Trust me, if that stopped them, we wouldn't be having this chat right now! The least you can do is actually accept what's going on and prepare yourself for it!"

Marcus put his hands on his head, sinking down slowly against the wall. "No…I can't…it's…it's not…it can't be like this…it was supposed to be normal…nothing…no crazy, no weirdness, no chaos, nothing falling apart…it has to be normal, it has to be normal!"

"Are you SURE you didn't overdo that?" Skylar asked through clenched teeth.

"I did just the right amount!" the dragon protested. "You can't think that's NORMAL?"

"Well, it's not like he usually is…but he hasn't been like himself lately. It's like every time another event happens he gets even more insistent that it's all normal."

"…There's a reason for that." Their eyes turned to Corrine, whose expression was still filled with sorrow, but a different sort, as she moved slowly to try to help Marcus settle down. "Skylar, Kirsten…I know you've asked this about this before, and I'm sorry you didn't get a real answer then. But…your father has been…no-contact with the rest of his family for…well, since before we were married."

"No-contact?" Skylar hadn't heard the term, but it didn't take a lot to figure out what it meant. "Why?"

"Because…they're…not stable. They never have been. Whenever they're in the picture, there's a lot of screaming, a lot of arguing, a lot of…very bizarre and abusive behavior. Any time they were involved in anything, it was a nightmare…I became his refuge from them, and you can guess how much they liked that. They tried to make our lives miserable…Marcus was…almost to the point of ending it all, and it took everything I had to pull him back from the brink. We decided that moving away and cutting them out of our lives entirely was the only option that would keep them from blighting our lives any further. And that was…an ordeal in its own right."

"Yowza…" remarked Breezedramon. "And I thought OUR kind could be nuts."

"That's why we have nothing to do with anyone from his side," agreed Corrine with a nod. "It's not…something we let on, but our marital name, it isn't his. We were going to use mine, but he feared they might hunt us down through them, so we came up with our own together. I never let on that it wasn't the usual tradition so that no one would ask questions about it…"

"THAT'S why I couldn't find anything for my genealogy project!" gasped Kirsten; she was holding Benny close, having finally gotten him to calm down. "I thought I was going mad! See, Skylar, I TOLD you I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"In my defense, that was way down on the list of likely causes," Skylar insisted.

Corrine shook her head, sighing. "I'm sorry…I should have said something then, but…I wasn't sure Marcus would be okay with that. It's still something that affects him a lot to this day. It's why he's very…insistent on everything being normal. He doesn't want there to be any chance of things going that way with us…I've told him that it's not going to happen, but it's harder to convince someone who's got scars like that. When things aren't very calm, mundane, and normal…that's when it hits worst."

Suddenly it came to Skylar in a rush. "Wait…is THAT why we moved here?! Why he suddenly said he wanted to go to the city after years of saying he'd never do that?"

"…Marcus wasn't…comfortable with the way you were around the storms. He'd always insisted that we'd rebuild if something happened, but that was before he noticed how excited tornadoes made you…and he needed to get away from that. A place where tornadoes don't happen, he figured that would do it…I told him he was being silly, but I didn't…necessarily enjoy living out in small-town country, so I didn't fight him on it. I just…told him that he couldn't tell you that, because I didn't want you to think it was your fault. Because it wasn't…it was because of him, not you, his…desperation for the comfort of normal."

"…Why can't it just be that way all the time?" Finally Marcus spoke again, though it was in a very meek voice, unlike anything Skylar had heard from his father. "Why does it always have to go…crazy? Why can't it just be normal? Why can't anything be normal?"

Breezedramon rubbed his head. "Look, dude…I get you might want things to be normal, that makes sense! I mean, normal means a lot different to me than it does to you probably, but still, it's a safe place! I'd love things to be normal! But you can't make them normal by just ignoring things when they aren't! Like, if I tried to pretend everything was normal for me right now, I'd get skewered by any number of nasty guys, and then nothing would be normal for me ever again! Normal doesn't mean ya let a guy disemberbomubowdlerate you because you don't wanna think he has a knife! When things stop being normal, you gotta do something to make them normal again, not just pretend they never got outta that way! And that's what we're trying to do here - we're trying to make things normal again!"

"That's right," agreed Skylar. "I can't pretend that I wouldn't prefer normal myself…ever since all this started up, life's gotten crazier than I could ever have imagined it, and there are times I would have given anything for it all never to have happened and I'd wake up in my bed on a quiet day where there wasn't anything for me to worry about. But, that's not going to happen…not unless we make it happen. And that's what this is all about, trying to bring peace back to our lives."

"And I think it's going to require a bit more than that…" Corrine shook her head. "I've been telling him for years that he needs to get some real therapy for this…but I don't know that it'll matter much unless you do what you need to do. As hard as it is…I understand."

"Nooooo!" Benny suddenly pulled from Kirsten again, latching once more onto Skylar's leg. "Don't go! I don't wanna lose youuuu!"

"Benny…" Skylar was getting a bit tired of all this; this wasn't supposed to be this complicated. But whether he wanted it to be or not didn't seem to matter…he had to do something. "Listen, buddy, I have to go. I have to do this. But, I'll be back. I'm not sure when, but I will be, I promise."

Benny looked up at him with bleary eyes. "You promise? You really really promise?"

"Sure. You know what, I'll double-promise. That's a promise of a promise. You can't break those."

"That's right, he can't! I'll make sure of it!" Breezedramon agreed - not quite sure what he was agreeing to, but sensing that anything that settled the boy down would be a good thing.

Benny seemed to accept this. "Okay…please…Sky…don't be gone too long…I don't wanna miss you…"

"I won't be gone any longer than I have to," Skylar tried to assure him. "And when I'm back, soon you'll forget that I was ever away. Maybe even Breezedramon will be back if he wants to be."

Breezedramon nodded in a hurry. "Yeah, I will be! No way I'm gonna be leaving Sky all on his own! He needs someone to pull him outta his room from time to time, he's gonna get so pale you can see through him!"

The white-haired body gave the dragon a look. "…Thanks, Breezedramon."

"Skylar…" Marcus was finally looking at him, albeit with a hollow gaze, still very obviously not feeling okay with everything, and only just now starting to process it all. "I…I don't want to lose you…I've lost too many…please…try to be safe over there. And you…d…dragon…please…look out for him…"

"You've got my own double-promise on that," Breezedramon said with a nod. All of everything that had been happening here, a lot of it had gone over his head…but there was a reason for that, perhaps. Maybe this was just the family dynamic that he had been missing all his life, that lack of connection to someone who had been a part of his life from start to finish, who meant more than anyone else in the world to him…he wasn't sure what it was, but he wanted to be part of it, and the only way he could do that was to make sure Skylar returned to them, and they had their wishes fulfilled. It was on him to make sure Skylar made it through all right, for too many reasons…he wasn't going to let anyone think he wasn't going to take THAT seriously.

—

Grim resignation. Reyn had seen it in their faces before, the day he had revealed the full scope of what they were doing…he knew that his parents were good at putting up a tough front, but there was no way it wasn't going to eat them up inside. "I'm not gonna say don't worry about me…I know you're going to, whether I say it or not. But, it's something I have to do."

"…I was dreading that this was going to happen," sighed Treylor heavily. "Even as far back as when you told us all what was going on…I just…had this feeling that it couldn't just stay this way. That I was going to hear something about what you were going to be doing…and then when you told us about what you actually WERE doing…"

"Reyn…" Minerva was struggling to keep it together, but doing her best. "I'm not going to try to stop you…but…I wouldn't feel…like a good mother if I didn't at least ask…if this is what you really want to do…"

"Mom, you've been amazing, all through this. You and Dad. You've helped us a ton, and you honestly made things easier for us than just about anyone else in this whole world. I don't want you to feel like you've ever NOT done enough. There's just…a lot to do here. And some of it can't be done here. And I'm not gonna say I'm not scared, a little, but, if we don't…"

"…Then it only gets worse. Ohh…Reyn…so much is being put on your shoulders…"

"Far too much is," agreed Salmandmon. "I can never get it out of my head how much has been put on him and his friends. Already we owe them more than I think we can ever repay, and if we can finally put Emperius to bed for good, our entire world will owe them an eternal debt. And I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with having to call on him to do this for us…but we haven't the option of trying to find other alternatives. Not with the pressure on us as much as it is. Not with everything having gone screwy over and over again…and as much as I wish I could just let Reyn go back to living a peaceful life, if it has to be this way, there's no one I'd rather have at my side."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Treylor. "Do you need any help preparing? Do you need supplies? We have first-aid supplies, at least…"

Salmandmon tried not to react to that - what any digimon would say if they saw the kind of stuff humans used for 'medicine', and he knew this was only scratching the surface. "I, uh…appreciate the offer, but don't worry about that. We're not going to go on a wilderness jaunt or anything…we'll likely be spending most of the time in places where we've got food, shelter, places to get mended if needed…it's probably best if we travel light."

"I'm trusting Sal on this, he knows things a lot better than I will," agreed Reyn. "It's gonna be weird, but we'll figure things out. And part of the goal is to get stronger, so that we aren't in as much danger…once we've gotten that done, then we'll have a better chance of getting out of all of this without losing any limbs. Except maybe a tail, I haven't asked Sal about that one yet."

"Oy, I'm keeping my tail firmly attached," Salmandmon hissed.

Treylor shook his head, a thin, wry smile reaching his lips. "I'm glad, I guess, that you can keep a bit of humor about you…though I wasn't expecting you two to keep your cool so well, given all the fire you make."

Reyn gave a little laugh. "I guess I get it from you. Maybe I'm not to the dad jokes yet, but…I guess a little bit of that goes a long ways."

"I guess there's not much more to say, is there?" Minerva gave Reyn a tight hug. "Please, don't hesitate to talk to us as much as you need to before you leave…anything we can do to help, we'll want to do. No matter how little, if it helps you on your way through this, we'll do it."

"If I think of anything, I'll of course let you know." Reyn moved from hugging his mother to hugging his father, then stepped back. "And I'll come back once more just before we go, too. Thank you…I know this isn't going to be easy for you, but knowing that you'll be waiting for me, it'll make me just work extra hard to make sure I'm able to make it back, and as soon as I can."

"…Reyn?" Salmandmon looked up at his partner. "If it's all right…would you…give us a moment?"

"Huh? Uh…sure, I guess?" Reyn wasn't sure what this was about, Salmandmon requesting a private moment with his parents seemed unusual, but he wasn't about to question it, and stepped out of the room. Treylor and Minerva seemed equally perplexed as Salmandmon got up onto the table, looking a bit nervous.

"Um…gosh…this is harder than I thought it would be…" The lizard took a deep breath. "Sorry, it's not…I'm not trying to tell you any really huge secrets or anything, I just…well…it's…a bit more personal, I guess, and I, uh…maybe this is silly, but I didn't want to look…weird to him or anything." Salmandmon swallowed hard. "It's…I…I wanted to…thank you, both. This…this whole thing has been…not easy, on any of us. I've not always been at my best, and I don't know that I was…that far away from cracking under the pressure, if it had been any other way. But…you took me in, you accepted me, and you treated me…almost like I was one of your own. And I don't know if I could ever thank you enough for that…I don't know if I could have lasted in a situation like one of the others was in. It means a lot to me, more than you know…"

"Salmandmon…" Minerva blinked away a few tears. "You know, it was…a shock, seeing you for the first time…I didn't have any idea what we were getting into. But when I saw the way Reyn was with you, the way he trusted you…I was sure he had a good reason to, he's…he's never been the fastest person to trust others and get close to them. If he wanted you to be that welcome, I wanted to make sure you felt that way, too."

"The way you said you knew us…the more you were around, the more I almost felt like I knew you, too," added Treylor. "I'm not sure how…maybe it's just because of how close you are to Reyn, but the way you fit in, it felt…very much like you were familiar, somehow. And I'm glad we could help you feel comfortable, even if only a little...you've helped keep Reyn safe all through this whole ordeal, even if some of that required you to put him in danger too…we couldn't ask for better hands to keep our son in over there."

Salmandmon sniffled a bit. "I owe you that much and more. Mr. And Mrs. Kessilik…you've done a lot for all of us over here, but for me especially…there's only one thing I can think of right now that would help to repay that. Especially seeing you with Reyn…to see parents who can accept something like this happening, but still so…clearly and fervently care about his well-being…I'm going to make sure your son comes back to you, alive and unharmed. Whatever it takes to make that happen, I'll do it, I swear it on my life."

"Oh…Salmandmon…" Minerva stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around the lizard, who returned the gesture as tears leaked from his eyes. "I know you'll keep your word on that. But…we want to too you back here the same way. You deserve that much yourself…you're a wonderful person, and what you've done for Reyn…you feel almost like long-lost family to us, and I hope you can still be part of that family."

That did it…now there was no holding back the tears as Salmandmon clung tight to Minerva. Those words had an impact on him he wasn't prepared for, she had no idea how much it could have meant to him. Almost no one who knew him would know, with one lone exception. But just hearing that…now he was more determined than ever to give them the happy ending they deserved. And if he ever needed any more reason to tear Emperius to shreds, that was one that would never leave him.

—

Torn between curiosity and courtesy…why did two words that were so similar have to be in such conflict with each other? Reyn tried to muse on that to distract him from wondering what Salmandmon wanted to talk to his parents about, and to keep from being tempted to listen in. That surely would have been rude, and Salmandmon probably wouldn't have appreciated it, but at the same time, what would they have to talk about?

He was distracted enough that he didn't notice someone coming near him until they were almost on him. When he looked over, Wally was sauntering towards him, much more subdued than Reyn had seen him in a while. He didn't say anything at first, just stopped and leaned against the wall next to Reyn, looking off into space for a bit before making a reluctant glance over. "…Hey."

"…Hey." Well, Reyn had something else to be curious about, at least, and this one he could actually try to satisfy maybe. "What's up?"

"Well…" Wally went quiet again, frowning a bit. "I guess…I mean…I couldn't let the possible last words I said to my little bro be 'I wish you'd just go away,' could I?"

It didn't exactly SOUND like an apology, but somehow it still felt like one to Reyn. "I'm not angry at you, Wally. This whole thing's been hard on everyone. I've said some things I regret saying, too. Not that I don't feel like you've been taking it out on the wrong target, but…"

"…Yeah, well…I guess that's kind of been my problem for a while, hasn't it?"

"…What do you mean?"

Wally took in a deep breath, and let it out in a slow sigh. "I…haven't been fair to you, Reyn. For a long time. I know you know it, too. This whole…business with you, being the way you are…I never shoulda been giving you hell about it in the first place. Not like it was something you asked for, you didn't just decide to be that way."

That was new. And Reyn sort of wished it wasn't, he could have used this a good while ago…but better late than never, he supposed. "I…get it, somewhat. A lot of stuff happened that you didn't ask for, either. You didn't want to be shuttled around from home to home. You didn't want Mom and Dad to have to be focused on how I was doing…I can't imagine it was that easy for you."

"It…wasn't, no. But you weren't trying to make that happen, either…you were just being you, and other idiots couldn't handle it. But, well, there's more to it, too. I guess…you'd call it guilt."

"…Guilt?"

Once again Wally was staring off into space. "That day…the first time…I was playing with a superball I got from one of those little coin-waster things at the grocery store. I bounced it and it went behind the stove, and the babysitter was busy, so I just…I knew it pulled out, so I just kinda did that, and then banged around with the fireplace poker to get it out. I dunno what it was, but…you know that it started because of a break in the gas line near the stove…"

Oh…well, there's the guilt. "You didn't know. You were, what, 9, 10? It was an accident, you had no idea something like that could happen."

"True…I had no clue what I was doing. Just a dumb kid trying to get his toy and trying to think he was responsible enough to handle it on his own. And because of that, I almost killed my baby brother. Even if I had no idea, that didn't change that it felt like my fault. And…I guess I felt like I had to just…be better at keeping you safe, or something like that. Because I owed it to you to make up for what I did. Except, I was…kinda terrible at it, right? I was never there when it really mattered, and when I was there, I wasn't really doing much to make things easier for you. And I guess I was just kinda…angry at myself, but I couldn't really take it out on myself, so…I kinda took it out on you."

It was remarkably insightful for Wally, in Reyn's experience…enough so that he was starting to get a sneaking suspicion where the insight might actually have come from. But he kept his mouth shut on that - as far as this moment went, it didn't matter where it came from. "I wish I could say that wasn't true, but…I still remember when one of your friends found out and then tried to get me to show him all the 'cool things I could do'. That was something that you could have controlled, at least a little bit."

"Mmnh…yeah, I remember that. That was a real 'stupid teens' moment, I was afraid of looking uncool. Didn't look so cool when we had to move again after that preacher turned half the town against us." Wally shook his head. "Yeah, I was garbage at doing anything really useful. And then…this whole mess starts, and that lizard, Salmandmon, comes here, and he hits it off with you immediately, and…well, I felt like it just…he's an entire damn fire creature, it's like a constant reminder of what you're like and I couldn't help but feel like it was just…reminding me all the time of what I did and what it caused. Because…as weird as this is gonna sound, even though I know you're fireproof, you being around fire just…scares the hell outta me."

Reyn had to stifle a grossly inappropriate laugh at that. "You…what? Really?"

"Yeah, I know. But it's like, I'm just…I get freaked out about it, you know? I used to have nightmares that you weren't fireproof, and that what'd happened hadn't ended nearly as well…I guess it's just stuck in my head that way, that I always worry that one day you won't be or something. That wasn't all, though, because once those other monsters started appearing, well, that was a whole new kind of scary. I saw those things and I was…well, you heard me, I wanted to go out and get a gun right away, for all the good it probably woulda done. I couldn't handle the idea of seeing those things face to face…and there you were, going out and actually fighting the damn things all by yourself. Or I guess with others, too, but it was by yourself enough in my head. I felt like such a useless coward…and so I did what I always did when I felt like I was a useless coward, I blamed you for it."

"…I'm not gonna say I was ever happy about that, Wally, but…let's be real, there's a good number of people around here who were definitely trying to do WAY worse to me than just some misguided anger. I couldn't really dwell on it that much, and like I said, it's been rough all around."

"Yeah, I guess, but still…Mom and Dad did stuff to help. Even Cayden and Alisin just…managed to get a couple of them more on our side, just by being them. And the best I was was 'not really an obstacle.' And you didn't need that. And I just…I need to stop. I've spent like the last 13 or so years feeling like I was in your shadow, but I was putting myself there, making too much of my life about you, and that's not because of you, it's because of me. I think I just need to focus on being me, not just being 'Reyn's older brother.' And…I really want you to be able to come back and see that."

"Hey…" Reyn pushed himself upright and held out his arms, and after a moment, Wally did the same, the two embracing. "I know we've had our back-and-forths and all, but I've always cared about you. And I want to see you be happy and succeed. And I'll make sure I'm back so that I can see it as it happens…and I'm not gonna let those assholes throw that all off the rails."

"I know you won't, little bro. Give 'em all the hell you can…you've got a lot of it to offer, from what I hear."

"You don't even know. I'll show you what I can do when I get back, too."

The two pulled away, both looking a bit verklempt but not totally willing to show more of what was inside. The moment didn't remain awkward for long, as the door opened behind them and Salmandmon stepped out, looking like he was going through some effort to stay composed as well. He looked up at the two of them, eyes getting curious. "Sorry…was I interrupting something?"

"It's fine," Wally said quickly. "Uh…you look after him good out there, will you? My bro's fireproof but there's a lot of things he isn't proof to...I wanna see him back in one piece."

Salmandmon blinked a bit, not entirely sure how to process Wally being nice towards him. "Uh…y-yeah. Of course. I'll make sure he comes back in one piece. Two at the most."

"…Well, if it's two, put the less snarky one first."

Salmandmon snorted in laughter, and even Reyn couldn't resist a grin. "He'll still be able to roast you either way, bub. Don't worry, I'll keep a good eye on him out there. They'll regret ever coming after him in the first place…well, I think they already do, actually."

"Thanks…Salmandmon." Wally gave them a nod. "Well…I gotta couple things to do, but…I'll be around, when you guys head off. Good luck with everything."

"You too, Wally." Reyn gave his brother a pat on the shoulder, and got a smile in return before Wally headed back down the hallway. Reyn turned and walked with Salmandmon the other direction, making a very quick note to the lizard. Anything you want to say, keep it to this.

Are you sure that's him? Like a totally different person, maybe a digimon replaced him.

If they did, they sure as hell aren't one of the bad guys. Trust me, last thing I expected, but…I think maybe he's found a good influence on him.

Huh?

Not important right now. I'm just glad things are wrapping up on a higher note. It gives me all the more determination to get back here to where I know people are waiting for me.

Salmandmon nodded. I've got plenty of reasons to make that happen, too. So let's make Emperius rue the day they ever pushed us into this.

—

A harsh light flared to life, making everyone shield their eyes momentarily as they were brought out of the darkness. The room it revealed was a whole lot of nothing - bare walls, bare floor, completely empty and devoid of anything of interest. Except, in this case, the emptiness WAS the interest to the trio down there, as they stepped inside and inspected the space.

"Do you think this will be enough room?" Emil asked uncertainly. "It feels kind of small for something that's supposed to…do something so monumental."

"It kind of is, I agree, but beggars can't be choosers," declared Datacarnomon. "We'll have to make do. Maybe if there's same adjacent space we can set up some of the infrastructure there, but…I mean, I think it should be possible to do this in here, just a bit crowded. And in most other ways it's ideal - underground so more stability and less activity to disrupt things, under an unoccupied building so the risk is lower if something should go haywire…"

"I don't like the thought of something going haywire when we're counting on you this much," Rudy said a bit anxiously.

"Well, neither do I, but I'm going to be working off of vaguely-explained schematics stored in my system, without an expert in the technology to tell me what things actually do. So the odds of something going haywire are uncomfortably high, with no way to actually bring them down."

"…Do you think this will even work?"

The robot nodded unflinchingly. "Yes. I don't know HOW it works, but properly constructed, I know that it does. The main issue is providing a direction for the transfer, which is an extremely complicated hyperdimensional data sequence that I couldn't hope to come up with randomly…but that's what Commandramon is for. The sequence he has will direct us to the digital world. Beyond that, who knows…we couldn't be more specific when we came through the first time, we had no idea where we would come out."

"So you just…happened to come out in the one place where you could make a lot more happen than anywhere else in our world?" Emil's voice was laden to the breaking point with skepticism.

"Yeah, I know how it sounds. But…I think our connection to our partners was the reason for that. There was nothing else directing us anywhere, so we were pulled to our counterpart matches in this world. With all of us going together this time, there won't be any of that, so it's hard to predict what will happen…I imagine we'll probably end up in Tetraquaz because it's the path of least resistance, but who knows how wide a field that'll be at this point?"

"Too many unknowns for my liking, but I don't think I'm going to get much satisfaction on that. What do we have to do to make things easier for you?"

"We need people. At least a good handful who can help put things in place. Andrexmon's matter-creation module will do the job of making things, but they're going to have to be installed, wired, and positioned, and he's a bit too big to fit down here comfortably. Some of it's going to have to be put in place down here directly, but we'll likely be making a mostly modular system, which isn't the most ideal way but we simply don't have the energy to do better than that, and even with this it's going to be an exhausting couple of days. You really need longer days, by the way, I'm feeling almost claustrophobic with how fast time seems to go over here."

"Your days are different?" Rudy asked, suddenly very interested.

His fascination was waylaid by Emil quickly jumping back in, however. "I don't think we have the time to delve deep into our worlds' differences at the moment. We have a job to do and an urgent need to do it before things get messier over here again. That means you need to be focused, Rudy, you're probably the only one of us who'll actually be able to operate this thing, and that means I need you to help vet every step of the process with Isaac and Datacarnomon." The agent turned to Datacarnomon, nodding down at him. "We'll get movers and electricians ready for you. I'm sure we'll find enough manpower to make things happen by tomorrow morning."

"Excellent," Datacarnomon replied. "We'll start getting some of the modules created so that they aren't sitting idle. Working efficiently, we might be able to get this done in two or three days total…not that haste is exactly what you want for something like this, but we don't have the luxury of time, so we'll have to make do. It might fall apart after the first use, but if it works once, that's all that counts at the moment."

"Right. Let's get back and make the preparations right away then, so we don't lose any of that time."

—

Isaac was, as usual, the last to reach the conference room where everyone was congregating - but in a rare change of pace, was still there before things actually got started. He took a seat next to Reyn, who he knew wouldn't needle him at least. "What's the situation?"

"Seems like everyone's gotten the message across," Reyn replied. "Some easier than others."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Bet no one had a bombshell dropped on them like I did…"

"You might not be as alone in that as you think. But regardless, it's as sorted as it's going to get, and anything that comes out of those bombshells is going to have to get in line." Reyn paused for a moment, then continued, "Also, I think your sister's been talking to my brother."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "I KNOW my sister's been talking to your brother. And just so you know, if they start hooking up, I'm blaming you."

"Me? What'd I do?"

"I'll find a reason, trust me."

Reyn was spared from having to try to argue against that by the arrivals of their other important guests - Elliot, Emil, Rudy, and President Herrera, along with Datacarnomon, who hustled up next to Isaac. All chatter come to a halt, it was time for business.

"We've settled on a location for this PTM machine you guys need," reported Emil. "It's not too far from the BICI, and in an inactive building, so the risk of trouble if something should go wrong is lower. I know an abandoned building sounds a little sketchy, but to hear you all tell it, you're used to that by now."

"At least we won't be spending that much time in it, if all goes according to plan," replied Shockavimon.

"And how well has THAT been working so far?" remarked Datacarnomon.

"Guys, no invoking Murphy," Reyn said before Shockavimon could respond. "He screws up enough as it is."

"What the heck is a murr-fee?" Breezedramon asked blankly. "It sounds like a kinda cute animal or something."

"It's not, trust me. How long are we looking at to get this thing up and running?"

"The estimation was two to three days, but I think we can get to the faster end of that if we have personnel ready to roll as soon as possible," reported Rudy. "The bottleneck might be the actual creation, since even with Mecharexmon doing the work, down time is going to be needed. But I'm looking over the schematics Datacarnomon uploaded to the computer and I think it'll be feasible, especially with a modular design like we're looking at."

Salmandmon looked over at Datacarnomon. "Didn't they nix the idea of a modular design at the KOL because it wasn't stable enough for sustained use?"

"Yes, and we aren't looking at sustained use," replied Datacarnomon. "It needs to work once, that's it. No one's following behind us, and if we manage to pull this off, they'll have time to build something a lot more reliable down the road."

"Okay, point. Fine, I guess that's the way to go then. We'll plan on being ready to roll third sunrise from now. Hopefully things will stay quiet until then, but we'll need to have scanners active to make sure." The lizard looked over at Herrera. "Where are you at with the soldiers, ma'am?"

"The message has been conveyed," replied Herrera. "And received about as well as could be expected. There's an understandable mountain of skepticism over playing subordinate to creatures from another world, but I've made it clear that this is not a matter of debate, and I think enough of them understand what's at stake that we can at least get started. I've been calling for more support as well, and Congress should be authorizing all options as we speak. Yesterday's events lit a fire under them like I've never seen…if only we could get that sort of urgency for all the other business that needs to be taken care of, but that's most likely wishful thinking."

"What about the Data Fracture Bombs?" Skylar asked slightly tensely.

"Actively being modified and repurposed. Mr. Takahashi has been most helpful, getting me in contact with his superiors…they were more than willing to assist, especially to avoid being caught up in the impression of impropriety. They swore up and down that they had no idea that what they were doing hadn't been properly authorized…of course they wouldn't admit it if they did, but given how Jonah likes to work, it wouldn't surprise me if they were telling the truth. They aren't a total fix, though, there's only so high they can be turned up before the system fails. With enough time, they might be able to come up with a more powerful delivery mechanism, but I doubt that time will be available to us."

"Still, they can at least create vulnerabilities," agreed Datacarnomon. "And you guys are going to need those."

"Without question. Anything we can get is important at this point. And that goes for all of you, as well."

Salmandmon nodded. "Right. We have a better idea of what we're up against, too. Everything about Emperius that hasn't been making sense to us lately, now we know why that is - their new boss has a very different style than the old, single-minded nutcase. That means our approach needs to change, too. We can't count on everything being straightforward, there are schemes and manipulations at work and we need to foul them up. The more we can break those threads, the less things will hold together for them."

"Perchance, we can peruse Moonlighton for further information about our adversary," suggested Blackcanismon. "As our presence there will necessarily be required for our primary motivation anyway, additional insights may be critical to finding vulnerabilities and elucidating his ultimate machinations."

"We'll have to figure out where else he's sticking his fingers, too," agreed Shockavimon. "Guess all that intel experience is going to come in handy again."

"If I see any fingers of his hanging around, I'm gonna bite 'em off!" insisted Breezedramon. "Or any other appermandungertanges, for that matter! And them make him undo these stupid seals!"

"I have a feeling we're going to wish it was that straightforward," Derek said tiredly. "Traveling around to get ourselves properly suited to fighting off the worst Emperius has to offer sounds like it's going to be challenging enough. They're not going to make anything easy for us, and the moment they see that we're over there, they're going to know why that is. I doubt they'll want us to get strong enough to handle their worst…"

"We're going to have to figure out a plan of action when we're over there," agreed Reyn. "It's not going to be easy, but none of this has been, and we've made it this far, despite everything they've thrown at us. But you're right, we're definitely going to have to prepare for new challenges and new tactics…"

"Havocravenmon's too smart to underestimate us for too long," Iris pointed out. "He's going to try to think of ways to stop us that won't necessarily involve beating us straight up. We need to be ready for that, too. He could try to turn others against us, or herd us into traps…and if he's making plans all over the place, there are any number of troublemakers who could pop up at the worst times. We can't be anything but ready, no matter how strong we are."

"Guess we're going to have to find allies, too…" mused Isaac. "Doubt we're gonna last very long if it's just the few of us. We need people on our side, and that means convincing them that humans aren't going to be trouble for them. Jeez, fighting I can conceive of, diplomacy isn't my strong suit."

"Wonder of wonders that you'll even admit you don't have a strong suit," Skylar muttered. "But I'll have to agree, it's not mine, either. We're going to have to do our best not to be causing trouble for the people who don't deserve it at the same time…"

Reyn nodded. "Yeah, for better or worse, we're going to be the first impression of actual humans on most digimon. Which means they're going to get some very wrong ideas about us, most likely, but the one I care about most is that we aren't their enemy. We need to be careful who we engage, and how we engage, on EVERY level…we can't be making enemies out of people we can't afford to make enemies out of."

"We can help with that a lot," asserted Shockavimon. "They'll see us with you, they'll have to at least think twice about what's going on."

"…It seems, if we're going to have to leave things in the hands of youths, we've got the right ones," Herrera said contemplatively. "I'm impressed…it's starting to make sense to me how you managed to persevere through such oppressive odds. And it seems you've gotten the right guidance, too…experience and sensibility will take you great distances. I hope you find what you need to get the rest of the way."

"You and me both," agreed Salmandmon. Because if we don't, it might very well be the end of all of us. Just like Reyn and I are tied together, so are our worlds, now and forever…there won't be any going back from this, as much as I'd rather have had it be a lot cleaner of a connection, it's here now, we need to do everything we can to preserve it, and make it a benefit to both of us...rather than the thing that takes us down together.

---

Yes, this chapter was all of the talking, but not everything needs to be constant fights. In fact I rather prefer it doesn't, the battery of chapters from 17 to 22 were the hardest to write so far. Conversely, this came out well enough that it was finished before any of those ones.

Havocravenmon never really had an actual background in the original story, and when I was reviewing the old stuff, I felt like he was made TOO sympathetic. I'm much more satisfied with the way I've retooled him, including giving him a backstory that I hope strikes that balance of explaining without excusing. This is the sort of thing you can't do when you try to keep him hidden from the cast for so long. It also really helps with a significant plot thread.

Some of the 'moment of truth' scenes here are a bit more elaborate than others, but there are reasons for that - for some, a lot more has been out in the open than for others. And ironically enough, the ones who kept it most secret also find out that big secrets have been kept from them. That was more accidental, but I like how it worked out.