His breath was steady as the thin layer of sweat formed into a thick bead that ran down his forehead. He stared at the boy across from him. They were close in age, height, and even build. But as silence overtook their stare down, his opponent's more ragged breath betrayed their similarities.

The next movement, the next time they clashed would decide the winner.

He shifted his foot to the side, sliding it against the smooth wooden floor. His back foot raised itself onto its toes. His opponent mirrored him, though unlike him, he raised a tensed, readied hand, tucking his other against his waist.

Bound by the struggle, both united as they shifted their bodies forward to decide this game-winner.

His opponent, gathering all energy left to him, rushed forward with a power strike aimed at his chest. The move was so swift and strong that it sent the sweat flying off of his forehead.

He moved, but only narrowly. His front leg hooked itself around the front leg of his opponent. Laying an open palm against his chest, he pulled the leg back. His opponent, overextended and having spent his all in the struggle, became limp. He pulled him off his feet, and sent him to the ground, catching him by the white of his gi before he could connect to the wooden floor.

Stunned, his opponent could only look up at him as he held a clenched fist and finally released the held breath in a thin stream.

"The match is over the winner - Henry Wong!" gently allowing the boy onto the ground, Henry raised a hand to help him to his feet with a kind smile.

"That was close if I hadn't moved when I did I might have been the one on the ground." Henry did his best to be honest, and that had been closer than an outside watcher might have thought. The boy smiled, scratched the back of his head, and joined the others muttering something to his friends.

A towel came flying at him, nailing him right in the face.

Pulling it down Henry was met with the indignant look of his Digimon partner, Terrierimon.

"What the matter Terrierimon? You didn't like the sparring match?" Terrierimon humphed as he looked over to the other boys giggling.

"What's there to like about a fight that boring? All you did was circle each other like this," said Terrierimon as he jumped back and forth on his feet with his arms held out to each other.

"Sparring matches are usually best when neither tries to hurt the other." chuckled Henry as he patted away the sweat on his face before resting it against his hot neck.

"Besides you act like you've never sat through one of my matches before. Why the attitude today?" Terrierimon folded his arms and looked away from Henry. Kneeling Henry tried poking and prodding Terrierimons soft cheeks, only for the diminutive Digimon to puff his cheeks even bigger.

Finally, Henry scooped up Terriermon's long floppy ears, raising them up and down until, with a sharp jerk, Terrierimon released himself from Henry's grasp.

"Oooh I hate it when you do that! And in front of all the guys, are ya tryin' to make me look like whimp!" Terrierimons clenched fist was silenced by the soft, but firm knock against his lone horn.

"Talk." said Henry firmly.

"I guess I'm just a little anxious is all." grumbled Terriermon "Takato is in the hospital after having to fight a MetalGreymon all by himself. Then there's the giant tear in the sky that everyone is acting like it isn't there. Not to mention the fact there was another Growlmon. All this sitting around and pretending like nothing has happened is getting worked up."

Henry's gaze softened.

He had been thinking about much the same things Terrierimon had after yesterday's visit to this hospital. Looking around, he saw his classmates laughing joking, and mocking one another like any other day should have filled him with ease. Instead, it only served to remind him that things had happened.

Perhaps this was a kind of burden, after all. The burden of knowledge.

"And what would you want to do, Terriermon?" asked Henry honestly. Terriermon blinked for a moment, obviously taken aback by how Henry had been asking him for advice.

Clearing his throat, Terriermon's response was simple but resolute.

"I say we go to that city, find out what the heck is going on and WHAM BAM mess it up something good for picking on our buddies!"

Henry looked at Terriermon, neither wanting to condone nor condemn his desire for action.

It was true that seeing Takato at the hospital brought out worried and upset feelings.

A wild Digimon encounter was one thing, but an ultimate one at that, and without Guilmon there to assist him? If it hadn't been for the other tamer present…

Henry stopped himself from thinking further.

Maybe he had been lying to himself by trying to go about a day without trying to do something, anything to prevent something like what happened to Takato from happening to anyone else, least of all his family and friends.

Without at least understanding whatever it was that was happening, how could he protect them?

Putting the consequences to the side, Henry patted Terriermons head.

"Hey, what do you say about taking a trip before we head home today?"

Terriermon looked at him for a moment confused before a large smile formed on his face.

The train ride to Mitakihara had been nice. Save for of course the large amount of kids and adults that all wanted to take their photo with Terriermon.

Setting out they walked into the city junction.

"Mitakihara City. Hope you brought your wallet with you, Henry because we're entering tourist trap central."

"Terriermon we're not here to buy anything. We're here to find out what happened to Takato and if it's what caused that giant tear in the sky."

"I'm sure whatever it was it's still here and waiting for us to find it. So, we might as well take in the sights before we must throw down."

Henry shook his head at Terriermon's willingness to fight. As a Digimon, fighting just came naturally to him but so did an appreciation of peace.

At least that's what Henry hoped. He wasn't always so sure that was true, especially when
it came to Terriermon.

But even if Henry disagreed with his eagerness, he couldn't deny the possibility was there.
Takato had talked about having entered some sort of space filled with creatures that were not

Digimon. Equally as distressing, if not more, was the presence of an ultimate-level Digimon. MetalGreymon had been stopped by the presence of the girl, Madoka's, Growlmon.

Another Growlmon, another Guilmon, posed its series of questions but most pressing was the space Takato had mentioned and how the MetalGreymon had made it into their world.

According to Madoka, it had arrived as BlackAgumon before progressing towards its ultimate stage. However, according to Yamaki, there had not been any recorded Bio-Emergences except for the Demi-Devimon that Takato and Guilmon fought days ago.

He alongside Rika had been asked by Yamaki not to investigate things further, and that when something more concrete came up they would be called upon. This was something that his father had brought up to him too after family dinner last night. Henry remembered promising him that he wouldn't do anything.

Terriermon ended up being so proud of how rebellious he was.

Henry had visited Takato in the hospital, and even if both the Doctors, Takato's parents, and even Takato himself had said he would be fine, the idea of his friend having gotten so close to danger left him restless and itching to do something.

Stepping off from the train, Henry was met with looks and stares as Terriermon waved towards everyone.

"We're not supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have gone out with one of the three most famous Digimon in the world."

"Next time I'll make sure to leave you with Suzie. Lopmon needs a break anyway."

"Guuh-! Henry don't be so mean."

Maybe it was a moot point. Yamaki had told them not to go to Mitakihara city, but he must have been prepared if they did. Odds were good they had already been spotted.

Ignoring the stares, waves, and cheers, Henry made his way to the street level taking out his D-Ark.

"Everyone's surprisingly calm despite the big glaring tear in the sky." Terriermon noted.

"The news and media outlets got ahead of it. Even social media is benign on it. It's turned into just another tourist attraction for the time being." Of course, that was the case because Yamaki had been quick to use the connections and manipulations at HYPNOS' disposal to control the narrative. Hypnos could even edit social networks in real-time to suppress information, if they wanted.

The ethics of it bothered Henry, but the opposite could have been widespread panic and chaos.

Despite the giant tear, his D-Ark was at least working well enough. Takato had told him that upon entering the space, the functions and tracking of his D-Ark began to go in and out.

Henry's plan then, was simple.

Walking around the city, he'd hoped to run into a similar enough space to what Takato had entered. Unlike Takato who didn't have Guilmon with him, Terriermon would let him record information both visually and statistically through him. If there was something more to them than simply being a bio-emergence field.

Takato had entered the subway system but had come out near one of the in-development buildings. The space must not have been linear then and could be anywhere.
How did Takato know how to enter it? The question came to mind that Takato hadn't told him how he had done it, just that he had. Takato had been sparse on details leading up to the conflict with MetalGreymon.

He put the thought to the side for now. Whatever Takato had or hadn't told him was not a concern right now.

"Hey Henry look, it's more me's." Behind a passing toy store was a line of plush toys shaped after Terriermon. They looked accurate enough, though Henry couldn't help but turn away as kids from inside spotted the very real Terriermon on his shoulder.

"So, what do you think Takato's reaction was to seeing another Growmon?"

"On account of having made him? Probably confused more than anything"

"Well, I'm sure that two Guilmons will be more fun than just one."

"I don't know about that. According to Takato the other Growimon vanished alongside MetalGreymon."

"Oh yeah, there was that..."

Kaname Madoka though a new Tamer, had lost her Digimon partner Guilmon. Whether lost or truly gone, Henry didn't know.

She seemed nice enough, holding herself together despite the puffy eyes showing she had cried. It seemed unfair to him that she would have to suffer this.

"All right then we gotta get payback for Takato, Madoka, and her Guilmon. Look out whatever your things are, here we come!" Terriermon raised a fueled fist into the air, though his cute form took the energy out of it as people cooed at his declaration.

Henry struggled to disagree. They were indeed looking for trouble after all.

"Excuse me." A voice, called from behind them.

Turning Henry saw that it was a girl. She was around his age, though a bit shorter. Her uniform was a school one, holding the emblem to a school that he didn't recognize. Blonde hair was tied in twin, curly blonde tails. Under her green eyes, a soft ever-present smile.

"You're Wong Henry, yes?"

"I am, yeah." With Terriermon on his shoulder, there was no point in feigning ignorance.

"I'm Tomoe Mami, it's nice to meet you. I'm sure you're not just here visiting, but all the same, would you like to join me at this nice café?" Her question was nice, polite, and to the point. He certainly had to recognize how forward she was.

"Oh boy shes a bold one, eh? I guess it beats out leaving you a letter in your locker or having a friend of a friend pass you a note in class." Henry let Terriermons joke go without an answer, choosing to focus on the girl in front of him.

All the same, the seed of suspicion sprouted in Henry.

"I'm sorry but you were right, I'm not just here to visit."

"I wouldn't want to waste your time, but I also want to address what happened with your friend." The incident itself had made news headlines and was talked about across various sites. If she was just interested in gossiping about it, then he didn't have the time to waste with her. Even if she was asking about it more eloquently.

"Look, I don't want to be rude but I have to get going."

"I'm sure, but wandering around aimlessly won't help you find a witch's labyrinth. For that, you'd need a magical girl. Like me, for instance."

Henry looked at her, watching for any sign that she might have been joking or playing with him. Her face never changed from its soft small visage. She sounded serious, and she knew he was looking for something.

But witches and magical girls? What could that possibly mean?

Henry looked at Terriermon, who had been silent the entire conversation. The small dog Digimon shrugged his shoulders, offering no word or advice.

"Tomoe Mami." Henry repeated her name, causing her to smile just a bit more "Was that cafe near here?"

"Oh this is so good!" cooed Terriermon as he pulled in another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. '

The cafe specialized in frozen treats, something Mami was nice enough to treat the both of them too. Mami meanwhile enjoyed a small cup of ear grey tea, dropping two small sugar cubes before gently mixing them in.

"Thank you again. You didn't have to." His small ice cream cone melted before him, untouched by his lack of appetite, though he imagined he would have to force himself so that Mami hadn't wasted her money on him.

"It was my invitation, after all. It wouldn't be fair to ask you for anything just yet. Besides, consider it compensation for taking the time to meet with a stranger like this." As before, Mami's response was refined and ladylike in such a way that betrayed her. It reminded him of Rika, though in the opposite sense.

But Henry could only give her so much attention, what she had to say was far more present in his mind.

"Witches born from the grief and evil of mankind… Magical girls that are charged with fighting them."

"If it seems a bit much, I understand."

"No no, trust me its not that." Being a Digimon tamer, and all the experiences that had come with it, had left Henry with plenty of room to accept the impossible. It sounded bizarre, but wishes was something Herny could believe in, Terriermon being by his side was proof enough.

"Takato had mentioned strange things inside a strange space he called witches and familiars. He was sure that they weren't Digimon."

"He was right of course, but do you believe him now?"

"I trust Takato. When it comes to stuff like this he doesn't joke around, but seeing is believing." And even then, one couldn't always trust what they were seeing for any number of reasons.

"On that, I do apologize. Mitakihara is under my watch, and I do my best to head off any witches before they can cause harm to people." Besides Takato and Madoka, dozens of people had been found unconscious in the tunnels that ran directly under where he and Madoka had been found. None of them had any memory of what happened.

As Mami had described, they fed on the negative emotions of humans and pushed to the limit they left absolutely nothing left.

"But not this time?" Henry did his best to avoid casting any blame or doubt on them. Mami seemed to take no offense, shaking her head softly.

"Not for a lack of effort. I had been tracking this particular which down for a few days, heading off its familiars before they could harm anyone. Until two days ago when it simply vanished. Tracking it became impossible and when I did, it was all over."

"So you never actually saw MetalGreymon or Growlmon then?"

"No, I had been told by another magical girl who had arrived on the scene about the fight itself."

"And this other magical girl, you didn't know her?"

"Unfortunately not. Magicals tend to pass through Mitakihara on occasion. She could be one of them. Though I'm certain I haven't come across as many magical girls like her that are as experienced."

"I thought you said you didn't know her."

"And I don't, but in what we do you have to develop an instinct for these sorts of things. Even if all magical girls are fighting witches, you sadly can't assume that all magical girls are kind."

Maybe that came to Henry as a shock. He wouldn't consider himself an avid consumer of magical girl shows, but what he did remember was that they were supposed to be. They usually were nice girls who helped others and worked together. Suzie had made him watch enough shows that he wouldn't forget that.

Knowing this wasn't the case was concerning, but in a way he could understand it. They didn't start getting along with others Tamers like Ruki.

"You think you'd beat her in a fight?" asked Terriermon before shoving another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

Henry immediately frowned. Instigating and provoking a reaction was something he had accepted about his partner. Still, why had Terriermon been this way.

But before Henry could scold him, Mami had reached over to Terriermon, pressing a soft napkin against his cheek. She wiped away some ice cream that had stuck to the fur of his cheeks with a soft smile.

"So cute~" Mami cooed and Terriermon merely looked at Henry smugly with cheeks full of ice cream.

"I don't like to think about fighting my fellow magical girls. Making friends with them would be much better in my opinion." Mami placed the napkin down holding a finger up towards her chin as she considered her words.

"That said even if I did fight this particular magical girl, I know I wouldn't lose." Mami finished with a wink towards Terriermon, who replied with a simple thumbs up.

Henry's shoulders sagged, followed by Mami's chuckle and innocent follow-up.

"Oh, did I do something I shouldn't have?"

Henry smiled, licking at the honey-flavored ice cream Mami had gotten for him. Somehow it tasted sweeter and had an odd warmness he didn't expect.

"Nothing you did, but I definitely should have left Terriermon home with my sister."

"You have a little sister?"

"Yeah, and an older one, plus my oldest brother. With my mom and my dad, its just a full house you could say." Henry ran a hand through the back of his head, forming a laugh before he caught himself.

It was just a twitch, a flicker of a moment. It came so quickly and so fast that it almost could have been said to have never happened at all. Henry doubted it as he played the moment in his head again and again.

If he could trust his eyes, Mami's seemingly ever-present smile had faltered. For a moment, the warmth she had displayed until now left her face, and was replaced by something hollow and lonely.

Henry's heart twisted for a moment, but then he blinked and the sign was gone.

Blinking, he could only see Mami's smile as she lowered her cup fo tea from her lips.

"So, ?" She asked, looking at him with genuine curiosity. Henry shook his head, deciding that it had been a trick of the light.

The prudent thing might have been to go back to Yamaki with this new information. Takato had already had firsthand experience, but did he know about what witches were? What about magical girls? Rika had said she was going to go about it by with just herself and Renamon for the time being, but like Takato, she could be walking into a more dangerous encounter than previously thought.

The satisfied breath from Terriermon cut past his thoughts.

"Alright! I'm full and ready to get going!"

"You already finished your ice cream?" Said Henry as the green dog Digimon gave a sharp thumbs up.

"Pistachio-flavored ice cream is the best. Now that I have a belly full of ice cream it's the best time to go take on whatever nightmare team-ups those witches have going on with any Digimon. Right, Mami?"

Terriermon's pumped fist was returned by Mami own fist, gently of course.

"Right!"

"You shouldn't encourage him."

"Ah, sorry. But he's so cute, so I can't be too sorry." Mami teased, Terriermon letting out a barely held chuckle as Henry's shoulders sagged.

"So where do we get started?"

"Using this." Mami said holding out her hand to show a ring containing a brilliant yellow gem.

"Pretty." Uttered Terriermon, and Henry nodded in silent agreement.

"This gem is how magical girls get and use our powers and abilities. In addition, it also leads us towards the labyrinth of witches through the magical residue they leave behind."

"Hold on, did you say you couldn't find the last witch?" asked Terriermon

"But that was only because of the Digimon. Finding a regular witch shouldn't be an issue otherwise, right Mami?"

"Yes, that's right. To get a better understanding of how the possible pairings between the Digimon and the Witch would function, it would be ideal to come across them. However, until we know how exactly common or uncommon it is it would be better to first help you understand how the witches themselves work."

"Seeing is believing."

"Yup."

"Hold on, learning about these witches is fine and all but you're not exactly learning too much about Digimon. That doesn't seem fair." Added Terriermon though Mami seemed unfazed.

"Well then I'll have to make sure to pay extra attention to you, Terriermon." Mami leaned forward resting her head in her hands as Terriermon beat a tiny fist against his chest.

"You can count on me!"

Before he could add anything, Henry jolted. The melted streams of ice cream flowed from the edges of the cone and onto his hand. Acting quickly, he worked to both eat his cone and clean his hand. All the while both Mami and Terriermon shared a laugh.

Later, after they had finished, Henry and Terriermon joined Mami in walking within Mikikhara city. The walk had taken them from the growing lights of the city to dark and seemingly empty buildings as the setting sun gave way to the starry night.

Holding out her gem, it glowed more and more brilliantly with each step they took.

"Ugh." Shivered Terriermon as he rubbed his arms together, taking glances into the dark windows of the buildings around them "This place is giving me the creeps. Where the heck is everyone?"

Henry agreed with him. Nothing seemed wrong at the moment and the buildings themselves seemed well-kept. Yet not a single light was turned on within any of the buildings. People seemed to be absent from both the streets and the buildings.

If he turned, he would have seen the stark contrast between the heavily populated streets and where they stood now. Not just the people, but the light as well.

A line had been drawn in the world, separating darkness from light.

"They prefer it this way, shielding themselves from the light of the world in a prison where they pull those lost to the light to themselves." Mami stated grimly.

"And no one notices?"

"Until recently, would you?"

Henry thought of passing alleys shrouded in darkness, homes without a flicker of light, or people who themselves seemed lost. Had he unknowingly passed such places before without thinking about them? He hadn't asked about the history of the magical girls and the witches if Mami even knew about such a thing. How much of mankind's fear, and dismissal, of the dark be tied to the existence of the witches?

Terriermon rushed ahead, splitting from Henry until he stood step-by-step with Mami.

"That sounds spooky and all but don't expect me or Henry to back down. Witch or not, we're not about to leave you, right Henry?" Henry nodded, giving Terriermon a thumbs up sharing in his resolution.

Mami was silent for a moment, staring at the path illuminated by her gem.
Concerned by the moment's silence, Henry went to speak when Mami finally replied.

Turning she looked down at Terriermon with a different kind of smile that Henry was hard-pressed to describe. Neither happy, nor sad, nor even forced.

He settled on a smile of respite.

"Thank you Terriermon! Thank you, Henry!" as she spoke the ground around them shifted and turned. The ground became covered with a ridged, pore-shaped ground full of creases.

The buildings twisted and turned into white cakes topped with strawberries nestled into frosted flowers.

Despite its familiarity, it was mishappened and looked unreal. Like pictures grafted onto reality.

But as the landscape twisted and turned, Mami's ring turned into a large gem and glowed even more brilliantly than ever before.

"I promise you both, I won't let you down!" Mami's form became colored in the same light as her gem like she had shed her physical form and become composed of pure light.

She turned, spinning around as though she was dancing as petals flowed from her form. Her form spun faster and faster, casting away petal after petal yet not once losing the near miraculous grace she possessed.

Finally, as if she emerged from a cocoon, Mami burst forth.

Gone was her school uniform, replaced instead by a white blouse with a yellow placket line. Puffy sleeves and white arm warmers, a deep oak brown corset with white trims, brown fasteners with a white ribbon on her waist, and a dull yellow ruffled skirt with a deep oak brown trim. On her head was a brown beret-like hat with white fur coming out of it, as well as puce leggings with thin, vertical stripes, deep oak brown fingerless gloves, and deep oak brown calf-high socks with white brims and dull yellow shoes.

She landed in front of them, giving them both a wink.

"Henry, you should close your both. It doesn't look cool y'know?" flushing, Henry covered his mouth quickly before looking down at Terriermon, who merely had his arms crossed and his head turned sideways in judgment. Beside him, Mami giggled.

"Alright, that was pretty cool but get a load of this!" Terriermon pointed towards Henry who pulled out his D-Ark in confusion.

"Hold on, you want to jump right to champion?"

"You bet! We can't let Mami show us how cool she looks and not show her we can hang with her!" Henry shook his head at Terriermon's reasoning.

Beside him, Mami watched with anticipation. Somehow, that was enough for Henry to cave.

Holding his D-Ark outward, a brilliant green light flashed out as Terriermon was enveloped.

"TERRIERMON DIGIVOLVE TOOO...!"

Terriermon's skin was flayed, showing a green-grid texture underneath. Growing in size, it was wrapped again by new skin to fit his larger form. Gone were his soft, small feet, replaced with large clawed paws. Denim Jeans hung loosely over his waist. His arms also, but it was his hands that saw the most radical change of all. Large machinery clasped itself around his forearm, covering it completely. Twin barrels, one of each arm, slotted themselves into place, leaving behind little imagination of what these new limbs might be for. At the end of them, three prongs extended themselves.

Finally, a large, oversized magazine belt was slung across his body, clasping into place as he burst forth.

"... GARGOMON!"

Standing in front of Mami, Gargomon winded up his gun arms before halting them with a loud click.

Mami clapped joyously as Gargomon turned to Henry with a proud grin.
"So all this was to show off, eh?"

"Henry, Momentai."