AN: First off, just want to start by saying I know a probably semi-minimal amount about the frayed relationship between Germany and Greece. Other than that it's frayed due to a large scale economic downturn known as the 'European Sovereign Debt Crisis' that started in 09. There's more to go in depth about, but let's just leave it at 'both countries blame the other a little bit.' I have an opinion, but I don't want to share it right now. I'll be writing the Greek agent as favoring his nation, and the later German/EU agent as favoring his/her own. You know, like how it actually is. I'm aware that the economy has shifted up and down since then, but the relationship is still a bit frosty from what I can find.

Also, this mural is real. Google creepy DIA mural. I love Denver, but I still have no clue what's up with that. I think they're removing it now, but still.

So, Digimon: ReArise. It's a fun diversion. I like that in the story at least there's a focus on one Digimon partner in Herissmon as opposed to it being 'one Tamer, a dozen Digimon' even if the gameplay itself is the opposite. It's fun for what it is: a Digimon themed gacha game.

Anyways, responses!

To G3r1k: Yeah, I love how little BG understands the real world. Mainly because of his own stubborn refusal to listen.

To smartalec121: Yeah, of the four Digimon seasons I watched and know, Frontier is the one I remember the least. Even as a little kid I remembered thinking it was a step down from how cool Tamers was. So thanks for helping me. I went back and slightly changed what May said so it makes sense without altering the scene or damaging the most important thematic link there: Tasuke's fixation on his parents. I'm happy you liked the last chapter. There are going to be a few of those sprinkled throughout the chapter. For one, it can't be 'Go go go!' all the time. And for another, it wouldn't be believable that they could become friends unless they were actually, you know, shown becoming friends. And as for the Tamers, you'll be getting a quick glimpse at one you asked about earlier. I mean, everyone needs a fun aunt, right?

Well, enjoy everybody!

Episode 12: Calling Princess Pretty Pants

Adrian Chiros wasn't 'supposed' to be in the United States. The European Union's joint Digimon agency, Machina, wasn't approving of any mission as of yet that revolved around the capture or elimination of America's Digidestined. Not that it was going to stop his home nation of Greece; their relationship with the EU was... frayed, after all. His homeland wanted some form of leverage to hold in their dealings with the other nations in the Union. This Digidestined kid would be a gold mine of leverage, but just one extra Digidestined Digivice would be more than enough. He didn't want to kill whoever this kid was, but he'd do it if he had to.

He turned towards a mural on the wall and cringed. "Amerikanoi treloi," he muttered as he gazed at the unnerving mural of sobbing women and refugees in the shadow of a gas masked soldier with a scimitar and a rifle held with the stock on his left shoulder. He grimaced at the large, horrific soldier. "If this is how they greet travelers, I am not excited to see how this agent will greet me."

He shuddered and turned, heading over to baggage claim and grabbing his back, ignoring the rustling in his backpack until he was finally in his rental car. He placed his backpack into the passenger seat and opened its zipper further, letting the pink sphere with no legs or arms poke out. "Finally! I was getting hungry!" Koromon shouted in relief as he poked out of the pack, his Greek flawless from a couple years of practice. He turned to his partner. "At least we're finally here." He sniffed the air. "Air's a bit thin. We'll have to take that into consideration when we fight. They'll be used to it."

"That will be an issue," Chiros agreed. He hit the highway and chuckled. "Not for you, but I will need to get used to it."

"Wow... it's so wide and open!" Koromon muttered as he glanced out of the window. "It's like the Digital World but with color and trees! Oh, I could get lost running here..."

"You'll need your four legs for that," Chiros pointed out, earning a dry look from his tiny partner. "Oh, calm down. I'll try to find a place for you to run. I wouldn't keep a Centarumon from a field, after all."

Koromon rolled his eyes and looked out the window again. "I wonder who this Digidestined is. I know you think a kid, but I really hope not," he said with a frown. "We Digimon were made for kids, after all."

Chiros shrugged. "Digidestined tend to be younger," the agent pointed out. "But I agree. Beating children in a fight isn't that much of a challenge."

Koromon wisely pointed out, "Even children can be dangerous when underestimated."

Chiros shook his head. "Maybe, but they're still new at this," he countered. "I doubt they have even managed to Digivolve yet. We'll find out who this Digidestined is, get them alone, and take them down. We'll drop them off at the embassy and find you a nice place to gallop around to your heart's content."

Koromon scowled at his partner's blasé attitude towards their mission. "Adrian, what if they're not a child?"

"We'll find that out after we scout. If it looks to be too much trouble, we'll just call in for backup. Does that sound better?"

Koromon leaned to the side, considering the deal. "Well... Promise?"

"Promise," Chiros said with a chuckle. "After all, I'd rather not die, either!"

X X X

It was weird, going back to school after almost being killed. It really made going to class and being half an hour late – again – a lot less important sounding. Everyone around us... didn't know. Not about Digimon, or D-CARD, or that apparently we were all inches away from Digital warfare every day. For the first time, I felt a little unsure about the direction we were heading. If we managed to open the Firewall separating our world from the Digital World, then I wouldn't put it past any government alive to start a war. If any one country had access to more numerous or more powerful Digimon, it might not end well. Was rescuing my parents worth that kind of risk? When I thought back to all the years without them... I decided I didn't care. Of course, I wasn't exactly going to voice these thoughts. Davis might not have cared, but May would have. Of course, she's smarter than me. Maybe she'd already thought about it.

Speaking of my two friends and school, the chill of october was finally getting to everyone. Davis had started to wear a sweatshirt material brown blazer over his button up, and May had a white beanie covering her ears. When it started snowing at the end of this month we'd probably end up changing further, but early October was chilly enough. I liked it. Better fit my style than the heat. What it did not fit, however, was May's grumpy glare. "Who crapped in your pumpkin spice this morning?" I asked as she glared at me and Davis from the other side of our lunch table, chin on the table and her arms splayed across its face. Her eyes narrowed when I asked the question. "Oh, come on? What's wrong?"

"We've been so busy that I hadn't noticed," she began sullenly, "but we missed the fall trip to Six Flags and Homecoming!"

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a girl."

"Proudly!" she shouted angrily. "Besides, wouldn't you have preferred funnel cake to Ogremon?" She crossed her arms and turned to glare out at the graying sky.

Davis chuckled. "That doesn't sound like a difficult choice," he agreed. "One stinks a lot less."

"I thought that the stink would never wash out of Dory's fur," May muttered with a disgusted shiver. "Thankfully, she's got her own stink to worry about."

"And for some reason, BlackGuilmon smelled like rain and smoke when I dropped by this morning," I said, confused. "I don't know why, though."

"He lit the couch on fire last night." Davis glanced over at me and laughed. "He thought he could load it, and instead he got bath-by-sprinkler. I had to hide him and "

I stared in disbelief at him, then sighed and shook my head. "That explains why he didn't want to talk," I said before letting out a groan. "I probably need to explain a few things to him."

"Like what's food, what's furniture?" Davis supplied.

May piped up next with, "Or what a sprinkler system is?"

"Yeah, I should probably do that before he ends up soaking us all down," I agreed. "That would ruin my cards."

"Do it before it starts snowing," May growled. She threw her hands up at the sky. "If I get pneumonia because of the little Troll, me and Dory will show him the other side of what loading looks like."

"I feel like that's vaguely hypocritical," I pointed out, only to quiet down when she growled again. "Fine, fine. I'll talk to him. Don't get all offended."

"You do know she's significantly better than you in hand to hand, right?" Davis supplied under his breath.

I blinked. "Oh... I'll definitely talk to him, May!" I said, turning to her and becoming way more enthusiastic about it.

"Smooth," Davis said, shaking his head. He ran a hand through his hair. "In other news, I got briefed this morning on an... issue."

May and I traded a glance before looking at him. "What kind of issue?" I asked. He sounded worried, which meant we were worried.

"It seems Verrater managed to leak the info that a Digidestined is here to whatever country he was planning on selling you to," Davis explained. "And when one country knows, it doesn't take long for the rest to know."

"Wha – no!" I groaned, leaning forward and letting my head slam into the table. "I thought we'd at least have a little while before we were hunted again."

"We'll need to work on setting up traps tomorrow night," Davis explained. May and I groaned again, and she let her own head hit the table. "I know it sucks, but wouldn't you rather have one cold, bad night where you live than a ton of cold, bad nights as a corpse?"

"Fine," May grumbled. "We'll do your stupid preparations so we don't die, Mom."

"That doesn't sound like gratitude for me taking my time to stay out all night in the cold with you..." Davis pointed out, shaking his index finger at May. "I could always leave you to do it yourselves and spend time at home by myself."

"Please don't," I begged. "We'll be done way faster with you there!"

Davis sighed. "Of course I'll help," he responded. "I was joking."

"You... can do that?" May wondered dryly.

"Wha – I – Yes!" he cried out, causing the both of us to laugh. "Dios mio, Huckmon's right. Look, it's my job to help you and teach you. Besides, we'll get further before we have to quit if I'm there. You guys would have no idea what you're doing without me after all."

"I'd die on my own trap," May agreed.

"I'd be the one accidentally tripping it," I added on simply. "And I'd get there late. I mean, I will get there late, but I mean even more."

Davis rolled his eyes. "So you'd basically get fifteen minutes in."

"We'd be lucky to get that much time," May countered. She glanced at me. "Given your... affliction, I'd say maybe ten."

"Eight at best," I replied solemnly.

"Ah, of course," May replied. She turned to Davis. "KayKay. We'll be there on time. Wait, no... I'll be there on time."

"I won't be late!" I protested.

I, uh... I would be late.

X X X

BlackGuilmon was not what those few who knew him would call 'patient.' His fighting tactics – or rather, their usual lack thereof – alone spoke volumes about that fact. BlackGuilmon's lack of patience extended to his sense of humor, which was most important in the current moment when both Huckmon and Dorimon were standing inches from his face, taunting him with various names. BG popped up a lot, and the pun 'Hee-gee Bee-gees' along with it. So, it really should not have come as a surprise to those two when he eventually jumped out of his bed – a half burnt couch cushion he'd been left the day before when the couch had been replaced – and snapped at them. He growled and charged after the surprised and screaming Digimon, smoke rising from his nostrils and trailing behind him. "I told you not to call me that!" BlackGuilmon snarled at Huckmon and Dorimon while they sprinted through the warehouse, screaming and laughing at him.

They thought it was a game. A game! They had picked at him all day and now they were treating his terrible and swift vengeance like it was a game? How dare they!? He would load the both of them for this! He angled after Dorimon first. That one had been asking for this for weeks, and now she'd get what was coming to her! He lashed out with his tail and slammed it into Huckmon, catching the white Digimon in the back of the head. The armored dinosaur yelped and was thrown forward, tumbling across the ground until he slammed into the wall with a yelp.

BlackGuilmon snorted with laughter before he returned his attention to Dorimon, sprinting around the new couch. She rushed beneath a table, and he slammed through it, sending the plastic soaring until it clattered against the ground behind him. "You big idiot! You can't make a turn without knocking something over?" Dorimon taunted as she scrambled and slid around the next corner.

BlackGuilmon simply shoved the couch out of the way, gaining ground. "Keep laughing," he growled, the smoke flying from his jaw as he spoke.

"If you don't stop with the smoke, the sprinklers'll go off again. I don't think they'll like that!" Dorimon shouted, turning around the couch again and charging towards the recovering Huckmon.

BlackGuilmon was right on her heels as she sprinted past Huckmon, and lowered his head. Huckmon blinked in surprise and was thrown into the air again, hitting the ground with a massive, metallic 'clang.' "I really thought that would slow you down more," Dorimon muttered under her breath as she made a break for an open door. Maybe he'd have to slow down running through that?

When he barreled through the wall, she realized that the plaster separating the break room from the main space wasn't really as thick and strong as she had assumed. "Oh, no! No!" she shouted as the massive jaws grew closer and closer. In this wide open space, his longer legs could really gain on her. She darted to the right, trying to zig zag away so his speed wouldn't matter as much, but without objects there to slow him he was able to use his massive tail to maintain his balance and turn almost as fast as she could. "Nonono!" She yelped and jumped as his jaws snapped shut just behind her, teeth scraping along her fur. "NONONO!"

"I'm going to get you!" BlackGuilmon sang behind her before slamming his jaws shut again. Dorimon shouted out in surprise and her tiny, stubby legs crossed and she tumbled head over heels, screaming in surprise and terror as she spun around and around until slamming into the wall. Tiny licorice sticks danced in her mind until a large, black foot suddenly was on top of her. BlackGuilmon grinned and leaned down to her terrified face, smoke rising from his maw. "Got you..."

Dorimon began to hyperventilate. Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of him that much, she thought as his mouth opened wide. "D-don't!"

BlackGuilmon's mouth slammed shut and he stood up tall, though his foot remained on top of her. "I promised Tasuke I wouldn't," he growled, even if he was still giving it a good thought. Would he really miss her? Maybe if I just loaded her now..? He finally groaned and removed his foot. "Grr... Like this you wouldn't even be a snack. It isn't worth the trouble..." Huckmon charged in, flames rising in his own jaws until he saw that BlackGuilmon was walking away from the still wide eyed and prone Dorimon. BlackGuilmon stopped next to Huckmon and narrowed his eyes. "I never promised Tasuke I wouldn't load you." Letting the threat hang in the air, BlackGuilmon glared into Huckmon's eyes waiting for him to break. He didn't. Finally, he turned away to return to his burnt, smoke scented cushion.

Huckmon watched him go for a moment, then bolted to Dorimon's side. "Did he hurt you?"

Dorimon blinked and rolled over to her feet. "He didn't hurt me?" she wondered more than responded. She watched him go through the hole he'd made in the wall and frowned in confusion.

"Not for lack of trying, it seems," Huckmon muttered as he circled her, checking for injuries. "Lucky he promised Taj he wouldn't hurt you."

Dorimon frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not it... I think... I think he was having fun," she muttered. "He did a singsong voice while chasing me! I think he liked doing it!"

"He liked hunting you and you find this good?" Huckmon asked dryly. "I think you might be crazy."

Dorimon glared up at the armored Digimon. "No, I think he liked playing, G-Mon." She turned back to the snoring Digimon. "Somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep..."

Huckmon raised one armored eyebrow as she continued to chant the word 'deep' more and more, the term eventually bleeding together. "Uh, you going to finish soon?"

"... deep, deep – Great, you interrupted me!" Dorimon shouted, annoyed. She glanced up. "Let's see. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep..."

Huckmon sighed, but decided to stay silent this time. Better she not start over again and waste more of his time.

"... deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deeeeeeep, very deep, deep down under all of that Jerkmon, is a nice Digimon!" Dorimon finally finished, stamping her right foot down excitedly on the last 'deep' for emphasis. She looked back up at Huckmon. "What do you think?"

"That probably wasn't enough 'deeps,'" he replied dryly.

Hearing his tone, Dorimon grinned evilly. "So you think it'd be better if it was, 'Deep, deep, deep...'"

Huckmon groaned as he realized his mistake. He was in deep, deep, deep, deep... deep, very deeeeeep trouble.

X X X

I bit my lip and rubbed the file against the connecting ends of the semi-automatic crossbow's pieces, making sure they'd fit together without easily sliding apart. Maybe latches were in order for the second draft? Yeah, that was probably a good idea I should've thought of $50 of metal ago. I wonder if I could expense this... I brought it up and blew some of the dust of the filing off before making sure it fit. Workable, but I'd have to make sure I didn't screw up the sizes and over-do the compression of the pieces when making the second model. Another note that would have been nice $50 ago. I picked up another piece and began filing.

It was nice work. Soothing, after a hard day of training with Davis and May. And some kind of weird tension between the Digimon. Dorimon wasn't even annoying BlackGuilmon for once! Something had to have been wrong, but not even Huckmon would talk about it. And between him and Dorimon it was hard to get a word in edgewise, sometimes. I connected the parts again and brought the sling around to its latch. "Moment of truth," I muttered before I put in a trio of steel spheres into the clip. I turned on the wall of bricks and pulled the trigger, letting the metal sphere fly. It hit the brick with enough force to break a bone and bounced off, the force of the sphere's forward momentum after the shot pulled a lever forward at the back, arming it again. I fired twice more to make sure, grinning as the ammo hit the wall. "And who said you can't improve on old designs? Wikipedia and Zhuge, you're the best!"

Then the door began to open, and I tossed it under the workbench. Ignoring what sounded like metal denting and falling apart, I rushed towards the brick and unstacked it before kicking the ammo away just moments before Henry came in. "I was wondering where you'd gone off to," Henry said. He walked in and Momentai sprinted between his legs, barking at me until I picked him up to pet him. Henry shook his head at the dog. "I swear, every terrier is just as much of an attention hog."

"I'm sure the one you had as a kid wasn't nearly as bad," I replied. He just half grimaced, unsure. "Or... maybe he was." I shrugged. "Anyways, what's up?"

"Just came to check on you. You've been acting weird lately."

Digimon will do that to you. Of course, he'd know that wouldn't he? Speaking of, maybe this would be the perfect time to try and milk him for some information about everything he knew that I didn't. In a way that didn't immediately give away that I had a Digimon. "What were my parents like?" I asked finally. I put Momentai down and fiddled with the goggles on my forehead. "You know, like... what did they do for money? Or how did you guys all meet? Why, uh, why'd they like Digimon?"

Henry stared at me for a moment, eyes sad. "I guess it has been a long time." He turned away from me and stared at the garage door. He fixed his glasses and turned back to me, frowning. "Your parents and I all met when we were younger than you. One fall in Shinjuku, we just kind of... fell into each other. Your dad and I were in different classes at the same school, and your mom was... Back then, the Digimon card game was surprisingly big. She was the best. It took a while, but Digimon brought us all together."

Digimon brought us all together? I bet he thought that was funny.

"Your mom used to love to make fun of your dad, though. He loved the show, I loved the games, and she loved the cards. That meant he was the... hah... the 'Gogglehead.' She was cool and collected and he was busy drawing his own Digimon, their Champion and Ultimate forms, and everything. She thought he was a dork until we all met up on college break." He laughed to himself again, eyes glazing over in memories. "If it weren't for Rena – they'd never have gotten together. Rena, she was your mom's room mate."

That didn't sound weird, huh? He turned to me and his face got weird. "Your dad's Digimon drawings, I think I still have them." He crossed his arms. "Guilmon was always his favorite. Big red dinosaur."

I couldn't help myself when he said that. I flinched and coughed as I swallowed my spit.. Guilmon? Oh, this was a test. He wanted to see if I knew anything about Digimon. Which meant that he knew about Digimon! I was right! Which meant... I think I knew my Dad's Digimon partner! "Sounds like an Agumon ripoff," I muttered instead of the thousand questions running through my head. Was it me or was it getting way too easy to lie to Henry?

Henry seemed to take my statement at face value. He was a little... spacey sometimes, usually with whatever he was doing in the basement. "Well, your father was a Gogglehead. Everything was based on Agumon or Veemon," he explained, chuckling. "But all that drawing was useful. You got your talent from him, and he was starting to make money selling designs. Your mother on the other hand never lost her skill with cards. She won a few poker tournaments if I remember."

"But what did they go to college for?" I asked, deciding to throw something in to get away from the Digimon thing.

Henry frowned and looked up. "Hm... Your father definitely went for art. That was a hard sell with his parents," he recounted slowly. "And your mother... economics."

I raised an eyebrow. That seemed out of left field. "Uh... what?"

"It was the closest class she could get into when her mother visited and tried to get her to follow in her footsteps," Henry explained. He laughed nostalgically. "She never liked that idea. Of course, she'd always had a knack for understanding what people wanted, so she took to it. Game theory, specifically."

This could be my chance! I mean, Henry never talked about my parents. "What happened to my grandparents, then?" I wondered. I leaned back against the workbench. "Why didn't they take me in?"

Then he shut down. "They were too old," he said, obviously lying. He glanced down at his watch. "Hmph... I have some things I need to work on. Why don't you head over to Jaarin's for dinner. I'll call ahead."

Great. Just great.

He looked up from his watch and his frown deepened. "And I'll reschedule your haircut. May's dog's running away meant you missed the last one," he said. He walked up and examined my hair. "Your roots are showing." Remembering where he was, he laughed and tried to joke, saying, "Orange and blue works for the Broncos, not for your head!"

"Right," I muttered. Ever since learning my parents really were out there, I hadn't put any thought to it. I mean, I'd colored my hair to get away from my mom. "I don't know, maybe I was thinking of not coloring it? You know, a change up?"

Henry stared for a moment, something going on behind his eyes. "Okay," he agreed, smile a moment too slow. He ruffled my hair. "You still need a haircut, at least."

X X X

Henry stared at the workbench in the garage after Tasuke had left, the last moments of the conversation playing over in his mind. The whole thing was odd. He'd hesitated too much, been too careful. And how much he cared about his parents after so long hating them was... sudden. Every time he thought he was sure that Tasuke didn't have any connection to Digimon, something happened to make him think the other way. And now he wanted to let his hair return to his mother's color? If it weren't for the danger and the Digimon he suspected, he might have been overjoyed. But he'd been making sure Tasuke was coloring his hair for almost a decade and a half, now, because it was believable that Tasuke was his adopted son. But with red eyes and bright, ginger hair? HYPNOS would know it was him in a heartbeat. The son of the legendary Tamers Takato and Rika Matsuki.

He'd been able to get D-CARD to keep them safe so far. Not even HYPNOS, with all their power, was reckless enough to attack the US at the moment. Though depending on how many Ultimate or – he shivered – Megas they had by now, knowing a Matsuki was there could change that fast. Henry had been forced to run from Japan and use D-CARD's resources to create a completely fake background for the kid just to keep him safe. If any spies existed for HYPNOS – for almost any country, for that matter – then the danger might never end. And if Tasuke did turn out to be a Tamer, it would only mean becoming a target he wasn't ready for.

No, there was no if. Not if Henry was being honest with himself. Tasuke had recognized the name Guilmon, and as far as Henry knew the cartoon, cards, games, or whatever else there was had never had a 'Guilmon' show up in Digimon media. And a BlackGuilmon obviously was meaningless in a world without a Guilmon. Tasuke barely remembered his parents, so there was no way he really remembered their Digimon. Tasuke was almost definitely one of the two new Tamers, and Gethen had been hiding it from him. "Son of a bitch," Henry hissed to himself. He slammed his fists onto the workbench. "Son of a bitch!"

He turned around and sat against the workbench. "Now I know how Dad felt all those years ago," Henry groaned, annoyed. He took his glasses off and placed them on the table before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Well, I obviously can't confront him about it. If he's working for Gethen, they could make him disappear anywhere. I need..."

Henry let his chin hit his chest. "Oh, I'm going to have to call her, aren't I?"

Momentai ran up to his feet and barked at his face, panting excitedly as if he knew exactly what was coming. "And the biggest difference between you and Terriermon rears its head," Henry said accusingly. He looked up at the ceiling trying to force the idea from his mind. He didn't want to bother her, after all. She was doing well for herself. And given Yamaki's final gift to their father had been to delete her information as a Tamer and that she had been in the United States during the whole... event, she was the lucky one. Lopmon could pass as a... very large rabbit, especially when she was hidden away in Suzie's... house.

And now that she was famous, calling her was always an event. Digimon's resurgence in popularity had meant a lot of things. One of them was more shows and games, a lot of places for a tri-lingual voice actor to make her mark. She still did the anime in English, and was working her way into Disney movies. She was finally fulfilling her dream of being a princess.

Henry glared at the garage door for a moment, trying to come up with a way to get out of doing this. But he couldn't think of one. The kids loved Suzie, and Lopmon would be able to lead him to any Digimon that were around here. He groaned and pulled his phone out, calling his younger sister. "Suzie! Yeah, it's... been a while. Yeah, Tasuke is... well, he's actually why I was calling you. Yeah. Yup. Suze – Suzie! I think Tasuke has a Digimon." The other side of the line finally went quiet for a moment. "Yeah, I could use your help. Think you can take a break for a little while and come out here? Good. Yeah, Lopmon would be great. Thanks. Wait, tomorrow? H-How? Suze. Suze! What? Hello?"

Henry sighed and lowered his phone to glare at the screen. "She hung up on me," he said in disbelief. He turned towards his excited dog. "Oh, crap. She's coming tomorrow." He surged straight up, forgetting his glasses and rushing into the house. "I need to fix up the house! The counters, the bathrooms, the... Everything!"

He froze and turned to glare at his dog. "Momentai," he told himself with a small smile. "Yeah. Momentai."

X X X

Jen and Cadetmon had finally made it to Denver. Weeks of travel, killing an agent in self-defense, and they had finally made it just as the first snow began to fall. "Have you picked up the scent of any Digimon?" Jen asked her partner as she stared out the motel window, scanning for a D-CARD assault squad. So far, so good. She turned back to her partner devouring a six pack of pudding cups on the table. He glanced up and blinked. "You haven't been focusing on that, have you?"

"I already checked, Jennifer," he said, dropping the cup in his tiny hands. "There's just too much to smell in a new place like this. It will take me a little time to sort through it all."

Jennifer nodded. "Right, how could I think you weren't being all business?" she asked. She laughed as she continued looking out the window. "Looks like we're safe for now. I can't see anyone out there that's looking for us."

"Doesn't mean they aren't there," Cadetmon noted in reply.

Jen turned to shoot him a dry look. "Which is why I've double and triple checked." Her features changed from annoyed to worried. "Of course, without a good alarm system we are kind of sitting ducks. Even though you can go Champion now, we're screwed if more than one Champion level agent attacks us at once."

"We'll just have to figure that out later," Cadetmon muttered after a few moments of thought. "I think an alarm system is our first order of business. We can't find this 'hazard' if we're dead."

"I'll also need to find a job while we're here," Jennifer said sullenly. "We need to pay the bills for this... castle."

"Yes, Ma'am, that's a good idea," the tiny Digimon agreed, placing a stubby arm on his chin. "But where? It would be best if we could find a way for you to spy on large groups of likely candidates."

"So kids," the former agent noted.

"No. I mean likely candidates," Cadetmon corrected.

She raised an eyebrow. "... So kids."

Cadetmon sighed in defeat. "Yes. Children are the likely candidates," he agreed. The Digimon frowned and put his tiny, stubby arms on his hips. "And probably with some sort of connection to the First Biomerger."

"Yeah, you said that before. What is that?"

He looked over at her. "You've never heard of them?" he asked, surprised at her lack of information. "Of Biomerging?" Jennifer shook her head. Cadetmon sighed. He supposed it made sense that D-CARD kept them all in the dark. "Well, I only really know rumors. If Gethen hadn't responded to me calling him the First Biomerger, I'd think it was legend."

"Get on with it," Jennifer said, walking over to their discarded things and grabbing a beer. "Well?"

"They could become Digimon."

"Like the show? Pioneers, or whatever?" the woman asked as she cracked the drink open.

Cadetmon shook his head. "No, not like that. This was... different." He tapped his helmet for a moment. "They could fuse with their Digimon in order to reach Mega. It was called Bio-merging, to become one digital-biological being. And the first one to do it was the Crimson Knight, who was born from the data of a dragon that devoured the Digital World, all so he could defeat a Demon."

"A Demon and a Dragon?" Jennifer asked in awe.

Cadetmon shrugged. "Probably exaggeration. It was before my time... before the Sovereigns vanished."

Jennifer nodded and took a drink, then froze and slowly swallowed it. "W-wait... the Digimon and the human became one Digimon?" She turned to look at the tiny creature on the table. "Uh..."

"Believe me, I have no desire to do it unless there is no other choice," he said dryly. "We're friends and partners, but that seems..."

"Intimate," Jennifer agreed hoarsely. "Yeah, I agree. Let's try to not do that."

"Given that no one has reached Mega since then, I think we're safe." Cadetmon returned his attention to the pudding. "If something belonging to the First Biomerger was found in the Digital World and brought here, it must be his child we're looking for."

"Then we're looking for a Japanese kid. Narrows it down a lot." Jennifer nodded, confident in their reasoning. "Either he's been raised by his mom or someone else took him in." She laughed dryly. "We're forgetting the biggest thing, Cadetmon."

"And what's that, hm?" he asked, reaching into the pudding cup for more.

"Gethen has the Hazard and the kid. We just need to be on the lookout for one of the best agents in D-CARD," Jennifer said with a wide grin. "We'll find him easily!"

Cadetmon scoffed. "You really think that's a good thing?"

"No, but we have to see the bright side, right, Grumpymon?" Jen asked, waving her beer at her partner. "No se worrying about it when we can't do anything about it, right?"

"A bit devil may care for my tastes, but... I suppose you're right. Until we know more we won't be able to do anything." He glanced over at the TV set. "You... want to watch something?"

"God, I was hoping you'd ask."

X X X

So, that Gethen guy has let Tasuke's secret get out. What is it with people in governments being so stupid when it comes to Digimon and Tamers? Like seriously, between this guy and Yamaki they're setting the bar pretty low at 'putting people in deadly danger.' At least Yamaki had the sense to keep Henry's little sister out of everything.

Speaking of, I'm pretty ticked that she got to keep her Digimon and live in the real world! Seriously, me and the Gogglehead get stuck in the Digital World for fifteen years, but Princess Pretty Pants gets to have it all? Ugh, whatever. Gogglehead would probably say to 'be happy for her, at least.'

At least she's going to get Henry in on all this. I hate to admit it, but he could keep a cooler head than me or Takato. If Suzie manages to figure everything out and tells him, then maybe we can get this show on the road and I can come home!

Well, guess we'll see more on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!