AN: Hey everyone! Slightly faster turnaround this time. Hope it's a good time!

To grabdog: I had a lot of fun writing some of the funny moments last chapter, especially leaning over to watch May's computer. It was probably my favorite part of last chapter. There's a lot going on plot-wise, and each item should make sense when Lucemon's final plan is revealed!

To Guest: Yes. The nature of worlds in Digimon is interesting, and in the next couple chapters after this one I'll explore some of the concepts and why it's important to Lucemon's plan. The nature of time and worlds is also going to be... well, Xros is interesting in this regard. As for the D-Reaper? It ain't as good as it once was, but it might be as good once as it ever was.

To reddevil47: I'm glad you like Goggles Jr!

Episode 35: Digital Singularities: Lucemon, Beelzemon, and WHAT?

As the Data Stream created by the Sovereigns' Tower began to dissipate around us, we saw that our group was in a whole new area of the Digital World. Gone was the empty, dead desert stretching as far as we could see, replaced with an equally empty and disappointing tundra. I shivered and began to rub my arms, happy that we'd entered the Digital World in the middle of winter so I'd at least have my jacket. Though, if Henry's notes were right, I could pretend I wasn't cold and not be cold. It wasn't that easy with snowfall going on.

"Can't believe that worked," Davis said. He wrapped his hand in May's as they shivered, sharing heat.

I groaned and turned to BG, falling on his back and appreciating that he ran like a furnace because of his fire breath. "Really? This again?" he growled, growing annoyed with me after one second of this.

"Sorry I don't have someone to hold my hand, Furnace-mon," I grumbled.

Still, I sighed and pushed off of him and turned to Beelzemon. "So, where is this Datamon guy? If he can tell us where Henry is, we need to find him fast."

"Don't get yer undies in a bunch, Goggles Jr. We're getting' close," Beelzemon said, waving his hand dismissively at me. He crossed his long, gangly arms and glared off in the distance. "But I ain't gonna count on us findin' him tonight. There's a blizzard headin' our way, so's we need to find a place to rest ba-boom."

"Ba-boom?" Dorumon wondered, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Eh? Ya know. Ba-boom," Beelzemon said. He shook it off. "Eh, never mind. Youse kids are too lame to get it. I think there's some places fer us to stay safe nearby." He stomped off, snow crunching under his boots with every step.

We glanced at each other, then shrugged and followed him. We'd rather have found Datamon that day, but tomorrow was better than dying, right? "So," I began as me and BG caught up first, "Henry left us a bunch of notes on the Digital World, but we haven't had any time to read all of them. It's been pretty busy."

Beelzemon sighed. "Oh, great, now I gotta teach kindergartners about the Digital World again?" he asked the air.

"Hey..." Huckmon grumbled. "They're not that bad."

"Hey, come on. We just want to know a few things we might need," May said, jogging up to his other side.

"Like how to reach Mega!" BG exclaimed, sounding almost as hungry as when Cinnabon was around.

"Or what's going on?" Davis supplied. "Henry's notes said the Sovereigns have been gone for years. But where to? And what's the Digital World like now?"

"I ain't the best guy to tell ya how to reach Mega. I got that gift from ol' Zhuqs, after all." He looked at me. "Yer dad figured out how to make a Digimon with Pineapplehead. Far as I knows, that's the only way to go Mega now that the Creampuff ain't got that ability no more."

"This Bio-Merging thing," I began, slightly unsure about what he was talking about. "What is it?"

"Dunno, never done it," Beelzemon remarked. He shrugged. "But as for the Sovereigns, who knows. Nobody's seen 'em since before you were even born. Digital World got kinda screwy way back when and they vanished. The tower even poofed out for a while, too. And a buncha Digimon didn't even remember 'em. We was makin' a bunch of friends all over again. Was hopin' they came back with the tower when I first checked it out, but naw. Things are still screwy."

"So Digimon don't remember that the Sovereigns existed?" I asked. I threw my hands up and tried to grasp the concept. "But that makes no sense!"

"Yer tellin' me? Einstein had a theory 'bout some kinda 'State Load,' like an older version 'a the DigiWorld got copy pasted 'cept anythin' that was in the Real World," Beelzemon explained. He stopped and narrowed his eyes, looking out into the distance as he searched for a cave. I pulled my goggles on to help with glare and looked out to try and see what he saw when he grunted and turned to our right.

"Hm... that actually makes sense," May muttered. Davis, the Digimon, and me looked at her, confused. "Look, data can be recovered on a hard drive, okay? It's possible someone rebooted the Digital World, and anything that was in the Digital World when that happened just rebooted with it. But the 'deleted' information doesn't just vanish. Being another Dimension rather than just a computer, maybe what was supposed to be there just started to... bleed in again?"

"Maybe. You can't destroy or create matter, so maybe they were just out of phase a little," I mumbled in agreement. "The Digital World's got a lot of confusing exceptions to reality already, so what's one more?"

"How has the Digital World been managing without leadership?" Huckmon inquired next.

"What, you three ain't never been here before?" Beelzemon asked. He turned and watched Dorumon, Huckmon, and BG blink slowly. "Wow, it's like Pinapplehead and Pretty Pants all over. Look, the Digital World ain't much different with 'em around or with 'em gone. Might even be better now with Rustbucket and the Fairy runnin' Primary City and makin' sure Digimon don't act like a buncha jerks!"

Beelzemon chuckled after a few more minutes of quiet. "Y'know, it's been a long time since I've been in the human world. If I remember right, you live on like another layer of your world than everyone else, but do y'know how any 'a the ol' Tamers're doin?"

"Another layer?" I asked, more confused than anything else.

Davis had a light bulb moment first. "Oh! You mean another continent!" he pointed out. "Well, we actually did meet one of them. Katou."

"Jeri's doin' good, then?" he asked.

All six of us glanced at one another. How much did we tell Beelzemon here? It was clear he really cared about her, but after everything we weren't exactly on good terms with her. The others turned to me, waiting for me to decide since I'd been the most affected by her. "It's, uh..."

"Digimon incoming," BG growled, ears flying up and eyes narrowing. The other Digimon began to growl a moment later, even Beelzemon raised his guns to the distance. "Taj, it's Reapmon and some others!"

"Then it's a good thing youse guys got me around. Can't stand up to a Mega, I bet," Beelzemon growled as we helped our partners Digivolve to Ultimate.

BG, now dozens of feet taller, sniffed the air again and growled. "Taj, I smell Henry and Momentai!"

"Momentai? You guys know about Terriermon?" Beelzemon asked.

"No, it's his dog," DoruGreymon tossed out, confusing him even more.

"Who kidnaps a dog?" Beelzemon asked, slightly bewildered by the idea.

"Bad guys!" She took to the skies and waited beside BG's head for Reapmon and his allies to show up. "They're getting close, guys!"

"Dibs on Reapmon," May growled as she scanned her deck on the 3D. "We've got a score to settle."

When they got close, our Digimon rushed in. DoruGreymon crashed into Reapmon first, carrying him into the sky as he struggled against her claws. SaviorHuckmon was right behind her, blade crashing against a staff with a blade and a guncarried by a green, turtle like Digimon. The last one began to fire a similar staff at my partner. "Shaujinmon and Sagomon," I muttered. I turned my gaze towards the last Digimon, who Beelzemon was glaring calmly at from where we stood. My blood went cold. "Henry!"

Henry was standing beside a Digimon about eight feet tall, with deep, black, demonic wings on one side and brilliant, white, angelic wings on his other. Dressed in a black suit jacket over a white jumpsuit. "Is that LUCEMON!?" May hissed at me. "Where's Gethen, then?"

"Probably dead if he's involved," Davis muttered, eyes wide. "We can't handle this, guys. That's Lucemon!"

"What's the big deal?" Beelzemon asked. He snarled down the length of his guns. "Smells like he's just an Ultimate."

"He's also a Demon Lord like you," I pointed out. BG grabbed Sagomon and slammed his enemy into the ground, activating the verniers on his back to drag him through the icy ground, right up until Sagomon slammed his blade into the ground and flipped up to kick BG off of him. I pointed at the ongoing fight. "We aren't going to be even with him like we are with that!"

"Well, ya got me here," he said. He holstered his guns. "I'll take him down and be back before ya can say 'Ba-boom!'"

"Ba-boom," I remarked dryly before he could leave.

"Y'know, ya take too much after yer ma," Beelzemon growled before charging towards Lucemon with glowing claws.

I glanced away from him at our partners. BG was currently trying to hit Sagomon, who was keeping his distance to avoid getting grabbed and beaten like before. Shaujinmon was spinning his staff to deflect the incoming blades of SaviorHuckmon, then trading shallow cuts when he failed to block or dodge; Davis was keeping a pained, wincing eye on him. Davis' At, Rene, Pol card used up by the thousand cuts and a new idea coming to him. DoruGreymon had Reapmon, or maybe it was the other way around at this pointHe was slashing violently at her face, while she tried to rip his throat out. He eventually buried the blade in her shoulder and she screamed in rage; May fell to her knees, clutching her left shoulder and stifling a scream until she slashed her Bakemon card. Now, Reapmon was in sudden freefall and DoruGreymon could chase him. BG glanced my way, almost reading my mind, and said, "Go. I can handle this!"

I nodded, dumping my duffel and sprinting after Beelzemon before anyone could stop me. I slid to a stop and clutched at my chest, gasping in pain as BG was blasted back by a powerful attack, hitting the ground and sliding through the ice just in front of me. I stumbled at the wave of snow and ice that flew out, my eyes following the fight. "I've got it!" BG exclaimed again, swinging his massive scythe arms up and catching Sagomon in the gut, sending him flying. "Go!"

I hesitated again for a moment before running through the destroyed path of the crash, BG flying over as I went. I rubbed the pain on my chest and was thrown off my feet when Reapmon hit the ground beside me. "You!" he shouted, turning form his fight with DoruGreymon. "What are you doing, this isn't safe!" He lunged for me with his long arm.

"Bloody Tower!" A tail slammed into his gut, pulsing red as Dorumon impaled his shoulder. "How do you like it!?"

I ignored whatever retort he had and scrambled to my feet to get to Henry. He was running towards me the same, screaming, "Tasuke, run! Get away!" He was desperate as he stumbled through the fight, but I ignored his begging. We'd come here for a reason, and we were going to save him.

Beelzemon reached them first. "Darkness Claw!" He shouted, slashing at Lucemon with a claw.

Lucemon dodged the attack, flexing his own claws as he readied himself for a fight. "I almost didn't believe it. Beelzemon, reduced to being a human's pet?" Lucemon asked, his mocking voice so... familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it right then, but I was busy trying to get to Henry, who'd noticed I was running to him and had started rushing to me, too. "Oh, once upon a time you would have Loaded the new you!"

"Sorry, Loser-mon, but I don't think I ever met ya before. Must be confusin' me with some handsome stranger," Beelzemon said. His hand flashed down to his belt, pulling out one of the shotguns. "Quick Shot!"

Lucemon flew straight up to avoid the blast. "Hm... It seems you lost more than I'd expected when the DigiGnomes took you!" Lucemon shouted. He sighed and clenched his fists. "Ah, well. I always did want a chance to kill you at least once. Paradise Lost Punch!" He shot down in front of Beelzemon, who reared back in surprise at the sudden explosion of speed.

"Darkness -" But it was too late. Lucemon's fist crashed into and through Beelzemon's gut, sending a spray of Data out and creating a shockwave of energy that shattered the ground beneath them, created a vacuum of air, and sent everyone else in the area flying in randmon directions. I hit the ground and rolled, groaning at the feeling in my gut before I came to, closer than anyone else to Lucemon, close as I was and protected by Beelzemon's body from the majority of the blow. Henry was in the opposite direction, and the fights were slowly picking up again as the combatants recovered. I looked over and my eyes widened when Lucemon yanked his claw back out. Beelzemon gasped in pain and fell to his knees, already glitching as his data began to shift and burn. Henry and I both stopped and stared in surprise as the shifting ended and a tiny, purple Impmon tumbled to the ground in the broken area where Beelzemon had stood.

"Unfortunately, it just means so much less with you being a simple pet," Lucemon spat. He reached down to Impmon.

I glanced over at Henry, then back at Impmon. I wanted to get to Henry. He was the entire reason we came to the Digital World. This was our chance. But Impmon... he'd be killed. Loaded, probably. I realized I could live with that. He wasn't Henry, or May, or Davis, or BG, or Huckmon, or even the fuzzball. But I also knew, beyond a doubt, that wasn't what Henry would do.

"Shit." I tossed Henry's Digivice in his general direction, hoping he'd seen it while I put on as much speed as I could. "BG, HELP!"

"Atomic Blaster!"

I cried out in pain as my shoulder suddenly felt like it had been stabbed. I briefly glanced over at BG, who had a blade sticking out of his arm as he tried to slam a fist into Sagomon. I pushed the pain out of my mind as the red blast flew overhead and towards Lucemon. The Demon Lord snarled at the blast and was forced to deflect the attack straight up, giving me just enough time.

I dove in and rolled across Impmon, coming up to my feet with him cradled in my arms. "You are really lucky that I'm trying to be a better guy," I grumbled at him.

"Eh you really do take after yer ma!" Impmon hissed tiredly. "She was nicer 'bout it, though."

"Oh, shut it!" I growled.

"Well, well! Not the selfless move I expected from you, Agent Joryawa!" Lucemon exclaimed, laughing as he did. "It's not often a human surprises me!"

I stumbled and glanced over my shoulder. The blue eyes, the blonde hair, that jawline – he looked so familiar, but it wasn't possible... Lucemon reached out for me, claws outstretched. BG crashed into him a moment later, sending him flying and chasing. Sagomon was on BG's tail, shouting for his master.

"Enough!" A fist collided with BG's face and he hit the ground, stunned. I hit the ground just as hard and Impmon tumbled from my arms, rolling through the snow and taking on more cuts and scrapes from jagged ice. I groaned and tried to push up, only to see Lucemon step with one foot right on BG's snout, pushing until BG's growls quieted to nothingness. "Ah, we've come full circle, Hazard."

"GETHEN!" I shouted as it all hit me at once. Just like with Krampusmon, he... he was a Digimon in disguise! The others turned and looked, stunned.

"In the flesh," Lucemon explained, throwing his arms wide and grinning down at me. He held his hand out to me. "Now... give me Beelzemon..."

With BG held down and Beelzemon permanently down, it didn't take long for the fights to start falling apart around us. Shaujinmon and Sagomon were teaming up against SaviorHuckmon, who was barely hanging on with Davis' help. Reapmon had recovered before DoruGreymon, wrapping his whip around her throat and choking my best friend and her partner. I scrambled towards Impmon, grabbing him tight and trying to come up with a plan.

Lucemon saw my growing panic and lowered his claw to the base of BG's head. "I said give me Beelzemon, Tasuke. Or else."

I snarled, a flame erupting in my gut as he threatened my best friend. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I screamed, sprinting towards Lucemon, Gethen, whatever the hell he was. He was going to kill my partner, my friend. Memories flashed through my head as I ran. The start of our rocky relationship in that garage, when he'd saved me from those Veemon, how worried I was when Krampusmon took him, even when he accepted me back after I abandoned him. We were friends. Family. My Digivice in my pocket began to beep loudly as I approached.

"Merge rate 100 reached. Updating software."

I could hear Henry screaming for me to stop. "Tasuke – wait, you -"

"GET AWAY!" I screamed, reaching out to my partner, even though he was so far away.

"Oh... hell yeah, Goggles Jr!" Impmon muttered as there was a bright flash of red, the energy pouring out of my Digivice and swirling all around me.

"BlackWarGrowlmon Biomerge to -"

For a moment, I felt... different. The world had so many smells and colors, and I felt... different. Heavier, but faster and stronger. Lucemon's eyes were widened with surprise as a metal fist slammed into his face. He was sent flying back, then flared his wings. "Well, at least now I know you take after your father," he growled. He threw his arms out to his sides. "But we can deal with this later! Dead or Alive!" A sphere of Light and Dark swirled in between his hands, burning with energy that he threw towards me. My heavy legs felt... disconnected, like I wasn't quite put together right then. And then it hit me and the world was pain. Every nerve screamed in my body, and I could hear and feel BG was in pain, too. It was so much worse than it had been when he'd been BlackWarGrowlmon, whatever had just happened was... was something else.

And then, I was on the ground, laying beside BlackGuilmon and Impmon, all of the energy in my body gone. "Software update interrupted. Biomerge functions unavailable."

I groaned and tried to push myself up, freezing when a pair of feet slammed into the ground in front of me. "I have to say, I didn't expect your evolution to happen so quickly!" Lucemon said. One of his claws reached down to grab me. He lifted me up in front of his face, letting me weakly, uselessly punch at his face. "You surpass expectations, Tasuke. Yet again. But we'll need to work on the outcome." He raised his hand towards me, energy crackling between his fingertips. "Why don't you show me some of your temper?"

A small flame crashed into his face, dispersing uselessly. He looked down at BG, whose Pyro Grenade was still smoking out of his mouth. He growled, the sound forced and lacking its usual animalistic rage. "So scared, Hazard?"

"Leave them alone, Lucas!" Henry shouted, enraged. Momentai in his arms was yapping loudly, terrified by the events going on around him. DoruGreymon hit the ground across the tundra, glitching and gasping in pain while May was dragged towards her by Reapmon. The blizzard blew in and she was invisible. SaviorHuckmon and Davis were tossed near Henry, Sagomon and Shaujinmon landing nearby. Huckmon DeDigivolved and tried to get to his feet, standing between the Ultimates and the humans. The growing blizzard obscured them a moment later.

Lucemon ignored the growing wind that buffeted his jacket and wings, lowering his claw towards Impmon despite BG's growls. "N-no..!" I hissed, only to feel a burst of electricity run down my spine that short circuited my body. I screamed until another Pyro Grenade crashed into his finger. Lucemon let out a slight snarl and dropped me.

BG rushed over to stand in front of us and growl up at Lucemon. The Demon Lord stopped moving and glared down at us. "This is getting old, Hazard."

"Ya think this is getting' old?" Impmon chuckled. "Just wait till ya see what I can do." He reached into his scarf and pulled out a sphere. "Ba-boom, Ugly." He slammed it on the ground and grabbed my jacket and BG's tail. The sphere shattered, and the wind froze around us.

"No!" Lucemon shouted at the shattered sphere. He reached out for us, but was just too slow. Pink Data Streams shot down all around us, dragging at irregular, erratic paths through the ice. One dug between Lucemon and us, forcing him to move backwards.

"Pinapple – get us into one 'a these!" Impmon growled. He yanked at my arm. "And help me get Goggles Jr. up!"

I hissed and pushed myself up onto BG's back. "Can you do it?"

"Get them! I'm too close to let Beelzemon slip through my fingers!" Lucemon snapped as he tried to dodge and weave between dozens of Data Streams attracted to his power. His lackeys never came out of the clouds of ice, so maybe we got lucky and they were gone, too. But there wasn't time for that.

"Easy as Cinnamon Pie," BG lied. He limped with my weight and Impmon's on top of me, heading towards a Data Stream. It turned hard towards us as we got close and moved at full speed. It hit us before Lucemon could grab any of us, and the world went black.

X X X

I woke up buried under a comforting but heavy blanket. The world was dark and muffled, thought I could hear the faintest remains of a constant whistling sound. I yawned and tried to stretch, only to find that in my dark cover that every inch was filled. My brain immediately turned on the panic reaction and I was floundering against whatever was covering me, pushing up and out of it. I scrambled out of where I'd been laying and hit the ground, breathing heavily on my back as small flakes hit my face. I opened my eyes and saw a blizzard, worse than the one that had – My friends!

"BG!" I screamed against the wind, but the now cold air filled my lungs and I coughed violently. "BG!" I screamed again anyways. I blinked and looked around, coughing. "Impmon! He-Henry!"

I reached into my pocket and tore out my Digivice. It beeped once, a selection screen popping up. "Update in progress. Choose function to prioritize: Partner; Scan; Communications; Recording"

I frowned. The phone would help me call for help, but there was no guarantee the others were in a position to help me. I only had one choice if I wanted to find BG and survive; I pressed the partner option so I could activate the compass function. It swirled for a while before settling, red arrow directing me to my right. I pushed as it suggested, arm up as I struggled against violent winds. "BG!" I screamed again. The deep snow tripped me and I hit my knees, tumbling through the snow.

"Taj!" Heavy footsteps rushed towards me and suddenly I was roasty warm and the wind was gone. Rough scales brushed into my face as BG curled around me, and I felt something drag against the top of my head. I glanced up and chuckled, surprised at what I saw. Impmon was passed out on BG's back, arms dangling on either side. BG's eyes followed mine and he snorted, letting smoke and heat rise. "He landed this way!"

"Yeah. Sure," I agreed, probably quieter than the howling winds. I grabbed his back and pulled myself up. "I can't call anybody, BG, we're on our own! Where are we!? Is this the same blizzard!?"

"I don't know!" BG screamed back. He paused and sniffed the air. "I can smell something, though!"

"Dangerous!?"

He sniffed the air and gave a weird, disgusted look. "Smells weird! Hot!"

I shivered at another blast of wind. "S-Sounds better than this!" I cried out.

BG nodded and pushed into my legs, heat emanating from the fire in his guts and comforting me enough. He nodded in a direction and waited to move until I wrapped an arm around him. We trudged through the snow, hoping there was something good at the end of this path. Something to help us find everyone else out here.

X X X

Davis groaned and placed a hand on his forehead, hoping that the events of the past day had been a nightmare. He'd rather just wake up in his bedroom with the attack on Henry being just a memory and the Digital World still a universe away. But when he opened his eyes and saw the dense tree canopy above with frightened Digimon dangling low, he knew it wasn't a dream. He pushed himself up and saw Huckmon keeping watch over him, eyes glaring up at the Digimon in the trees to keep them away.

Huckmon's gaze flickered down when Davis moved and a wide grin stretched across his face. He bounded over and tackled Davis right back down to the ground. "Davis! I was worried about you!" he exclaimed. He took care for his metal form to not carve through his partner as he hugged him tight. There was movement and he bounced off, growling at the few Digimon that had begun to sink towards them from the trees. The bug like creatures hissed and retreated upward into the shadows of the leaves.

Huckmon glared after them for another few seconds, then sighed in relief and turned towards Davis again. "Are you okay?" Huckmon asked when Davis finally sat up again.

Davis groaned but nodded. "I am," he said. He put his hands on the ground and pushed up to his feet then brushed his palms off on his legs. He tossed a glance towards the trees, seeing various small bug and animal Digimon scurrying about between branches. He reached down to his side and found his Digivice was gone. He fell to the ground and looked around, eyes finally settling, instead, on a plastic device he'd seen before. A Digivice, but certainly not his own, rested where he had been laying a moment before. The 'T' shape and the green ring around the small screen were evidence enough of that. "Bad news, Huckmon."

"What?" he asked, leaning around to see. Huckmon grimaced. "Oh..."

"Yeah," Davis grunted. He pushed up to his feet and opened the card box connected to the Digivice's strap, running through the simple deck with a Digi-Egg of Destiny card placed prominently at the front. "Wow. If we can get this to Henry and find Terriermon, we'll be ready for a lot."

Huckmon shrugged. "That's great, I guess, but it still leaves us with a ton of problems."

"I know," Davis grunted. He looked around. "If I have Henry's Digivice, he might have mine. If I remember right, he was near us when that Data Stream storm hit. If we're lucky, we can find him before anything big finds us." The two looked around the forest. "Is there any high ground nearby?"

Huckmon shrugged. "I'm not sure. I couldn't climb a tree without one Digimon or another trying to jump me or you."

"Then -" Davis stopped and shut his mouth, holding his finger to it to tell Huckmon to be quiet.

"I'm telling you," a man's voice came, "I saw a Data Stream deposit over here!"

"Well, what does Dinoboy's nose say?" A woman asked dryly.

"I smell Digimon. But there are a lot of Digimon," a third voice offered. The voice sounded super familiar to Davis, reminding him of BlackGuilmon's without any of the... attitude, he decided.

"Ah, Momentai, guys! It's not too much of a detour to check either way, right?" Terriermon supplied.

A group of four Digimon and two humans burst into the small clearing a moment later, freezing when they say Huckmon and Davis. A Renamon's eyes widened and she dashed forward, grabbing Davis and slamming him to the ground. Huckmon growled and leaped in, only to be body checked by a red version of BlackGuilmon. Renamon ignored Huckmon's attempts to fight back nearby and grabbed Davis' arm, yanking it to an uncomfortable angle. "Where did you get this?" she growled, holding the Digivice up.

"Henry's digivice!" the woman exclaimed. Her voice took on an icy tone as she marched over and knelt beside Davis, her violet eyes hard and fiery hair trembling with anger. "Okay, who are you, kid?"

Davis grit his teeth and glared over at her, ready to snap something back. And then he saw the man and woman in full. "Wait... you're Tasuke's parents!"

Renamon yanked harder. "How do you know that name?"

Davis cried out in pain. "He's my friend!" he cried out as the bone began to creak.

There was a pause, then the arm hit the ground, aching but free. Renamon and the red-BlackGuil – Davis supposed just Guilmon was probably the right name at this point – backed off, letting Huckmon rush over and throw himself between them all.

"Oooh! He knows Tasuke?" a small Digimon with large ears and a red triangle on its forehead asked, flying close. He looked at Davis with wide, excited eyes. "Does he still have those chubby baby cheeks?"

"Hey, hey!" a Terriermon shouted, jumping in. He climbed up on Guilmon's back. "Aren't we forgetting about Henry's Digivice here?" Terriermon glared at Davis. "I don't feel like just trusting you about knowing Tasuke and Henry like that!"

Davis pushed himself to a sitting position. "Then help me find him and my Digivice. He can prove that I know him," he shot back at Terriermon.

"I – uh..." Terriermon began to shout, finger raised. He groaned and looked over at the woman – Rika. "Well, I guess I don't know what else we should do?"

"If Henry's here, we find him. It's our best bet to find Tasuke," Rika said, her tone hard as steel. Even if anyone had another idea, it was never going to be brought up when she was making it quite clear there was no arguing.

Takato nodded. "Guilmon, can you remember his scent?"

"My nose never forgets a smell!" Guilmon exclaimed happily. He sniffed the air. "Ooh! Food!" He charged into the bushes and pulled out a duffel bag, jamming his face into it and digging in.

"That's all the food I have, so can we – And he's eaten it all. He's as bad as BlackGuilmon," Davis grumbled when Guilmon walked back.

X X X

May let out a big yawn and leaned against a tree on the edge of the path through the meadow she'd found herself in after the Data Streams had converged. Well, at least she wasn't alone. Dorumon, as always, was there. It was a pretty easygoing place, too. The Earth wasn't visible on this layer, but there was a clear, cloudy sky. In the distance, there was a city creeping above the horizon of the Digital World.

"Found it!" Dorumon shouted from a short ways off. She came back a little while later, dragging May's mostly undamaged duffel through a patch of Digital flowers that sparked and shattered into Data as they were disturbed. May groaned and stood up, moving over and shouldering the bag. "So, we're going to the city, right?"

"As long as the others aren't picking up when I call, it seems like the only place we'll get any answers," May supplied. She pulled out her Digivice and tried to call Davis and Taj again. There was some ringing on the three way call before both voicemails triggered.

"They're okay, May," Dorumon supplied. "You really think Huckmon would let your boy toy die? Or Jerkmon would let anyone hurt Dummy? I mean, especially after... whatever that was."

May frowned and crossed her arms. The moment where that large, silver and purple knight had shown up. It had been glitchy and almost... incomplete. But it had been real. Some kind of big, powerful Digimon that could stand up to Lucemon. But when he'd hit it with that attack and it had vanished, Taj and BlackGuilmon were on the ground instead. "... Yeah, I guess," May agreed. She pulled a water bottle out of the duffel and tossed a bar to Dorumon, who gleefully chowed down. She shouldered her bag and the two began to move towards the city.

"So, where do you think everyone else is?" Dorumon wondered as they made their way through the idyllic, peaceful area.

"Don't know, but I hope they were lucky enough to end up somewhere as nice as this place," May said. She took a deep breath in through her nose. "Ah... this is great!"

"Right?!"

X X X

Antylamon panted heavily as she placed Suzie down on the doorstep of the Anderson's home, healing wounds lining the large Digimon's arms. As soon as Suzie's feet hit the ground, Antylamon let out an exhausted sigh and collapsed into Lopmon, falling into her Tamer's arms and groaning. "So many Digimon..." Lopmon mumbled. She shuddered and went more limp.

Suzie hugged Lopmon tight and fussed over her. She pulled out her Digivice and swiped a Energy card, channeling repairing life into Lopmon. "I-Is that b-b-better?" Suzie whispered anxiously.

"Uh-huh," Lopmon groaned. She wrapped her ears around Suzie's body. "I'm just happy we got here..."

Suzie squeezed Lopmon tight and buried her face in the soft fur. She remembered the Digimon attacking while she and Lopmon were in the car on the way here, blowing out a chunk of the highway and wrecking their car. If Lopmon hadn't Digivolved on reaction to Turuiemon and cut their way out, Suzie would have been street meat. And then the following fight against a hive of Chrysalimon had forced her to go up to Antylamon. It had been a draining fight. Still, it was worth it. Nobody had died, a bunch of kids had stared wide eyed up at a Digimon fight, and she'd gotten away with the only casualties being her hat and jacket.

Which, she realized, was why she was shivering and turning blue. Lopmon hugged her tighter, sharing her fur's heat. "We should go inside, Suzie. Tasuke and May asked us to keep an eye on them, and we can't do that if you freeze to death!"

"I kn-know," Suzie agreed. She gave her partner another tight hug and turned to the door, fishing for her key in her pocket before pushing the door open.

"H-Hell-lo?" She asked, announcing her presence. She heard shouting from inside the kitchen and she slammed the door shut, charging forward and grabbing her Digivice to deal with whatever danger was going on. "Wh-what's going -"

She slid to a stop and Lopmon stopped just before jumping off her shoulder, seeing that instead of an attack... it was a bunch of people arguing. Jaarin, Mikael, and... Suzie wasn't sure she remembered completely, but she guessed that was May's boyfriend's mother. "Aunt Suzie!" Dan shouted, peeling off from where his older brothers were watching shows on tablets with their headphones on. He charged up and crashed into her legs, giving her a big hug. "And Loppymon! Taj and May said you'd come!"

"O-of course," Suzie said, ignoring the glares of the adults turning towards her. There were a couple loud shrieks of surprise at Lopmon's appearance, at which point Jaarin had to begin explaining everything. Suzie frowned at the reaction to Lopmon, but wasn't too surprised. In the few months where governments had been scrambling to create a believable cover up to the D-Reaper invasion, the Tamers had been met with considerable mistrust. Suzie couldn't remember it much, but Henry had come home one day bruised and bloodied; their dad had gotten a job in America a month later. "I w-wouldn't miss – You know about Lopmon?"

Dan grabbed Lopmon, who yelped in surprise. "Yeah! Taj and May and Davey all said it's my ob to help keep everyone safe with you and Loppymon," he explained. He lifted Lopmon up. "I hope I get a Digimon soon!"

"Daniel!" Jaarin snapped, cutting off the argument with Davis' mother. She rushed over and pulled Lopmon from his hands, giving her back to Suzie, then picked up Dan. "Don't say that! Never say that!"

Dan's big eyes began to tear up. "B-but I w-wanna!" he whined, the well of tears slowly breaking on his cheeks. "Don't y-y-yell at me, Mama!" He began to struggled and push against her.

"Daniel. Daniel, Honey!" Jaarin said, trying to calm him down. She shook her head and pulled him into a tight hug.

Suzie stood up straight, arms prickling as heat finally began to return to her numb limbs. "Jaarin, I -"

"You knew May and Tasuke were going to leave?" she snapped, turning on her sister.

"You could have stopped our children?" the other woman shouted, coming over and clearly resisting the urge to attack Suzie.

Lopmon glared at the three people advancing on them. "Stop trying to intimidate Suzie!" she ordered. She shoved out of Suzie's arms and landed on top of the counter, ears puffed up as aggressively as she could manage. Davis' mother and Mikael both flinched in fear at the command, having never been exposed to a Digimon in person before. While Mikael at least knew of them for years, Suzie had always kept Lopmon pretty close to the chest; she didn't marry the guy, after all!

Jaarin just glared back at Lopmon. "I've known you for a long time, but do not get between me and my children, Lopmon," she hissed back quietly. She turned back to Suzie. "Why didn't you stop them? What's this about Henry being missing? We saw a video of you on television a few minutes ago fighting a hive of Digimon, but the Digital World is supposed to be cut off, Suzie. Where is my baby!?" Tears were streaming down Jaarin's face now, and she crumpled to her knees, clutching Dan still tighter. "Where is my daughter, Suzie?"

Suzie felt sick to her stomach. Lopmon watched Suzie fidget for a moment, then took a deep breath. "The children asked us to watch after you three. They decided to destroy the Firewall in order to rescue Henry from powerful, evil Digimon."

Davis' mother shook her head, "But how did a powerful Digimon show up? These two said this firewall was keeping Digimon out."

"Not completely. Henry said he set up... bridges in a deal," Suzie explained. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms. "But that doesn't matter anymore. The kids are in the Digital World, and -"

"Then we go get them!" Mikael snapped. He turned towards the stairs. "I'll call a babysitter and -"

"And nothing!" Lopmon exclaimed. She held her finger out to point at them. "You can't get there, and even if you could they trusted us to keep you safe. You'll just have to trust them."

"But they're just children!" Jaarin screamed at them from the ground.

Suzie grit her teeth. "So was I. And Henry. All of us were just kids," Suzie responded simply. She summoned up her strength. "Jaarin... even if I could have stopped them from all the way across the country... I wouldn't've."

"What!?" Davis' mother asked, not believing what she'd heard. "It sounds like they've destroyed the world doing this, and you'd just let them do it again!?"

"I have agree with her," Mikael growled.

Suzie shook her head. "These kids... they're not really kids anymore, are they? They're sacrificing a lot to just try to save Henry. And then they're going to do more. A lot more," Suzie said simply. "I trust them, even with this decision, because I know they tried anything else. The other option was letting each of you get kidnapped before they started, making their job that much harder to solve in the Digital World – and maybe even getting all of your other kids partnered with Digimon in the process. And you know what? If someone didn't have to keep you guys safe from the world falling apart out there, I'd be there with them to save my brother and bring everyone back! Because our friends – you remember Takato and Rika, our friends, right? - deserve that much. But those three can't do their job without us here and safe, and you know it. So we stay here, sit down, and wait."

There was a moment of silence.

And then everyone was screaming at her all over again.

X X X

Datamon's long, wiry arms twisted and turned as he diverted his attention between multiple screens that displayed events going on in the Digital World, specifically the more impressive events that his scans had located. He raised an intrigued eyebrow as he saw what appeared to be Lucemon, of all Digimon, engaging in combat with Beelzemon. He wracked his memory banks for a few moments, casting through all scans of the Digital World he had on file, and nodded. "Ah, yes. That Singularity has reached the point of being Tamed by now. Of course he and Lucemon are fighting," Datamon noted before watching Lucemon slam a fist through Beelzemon's chest.

And then, the most peculiar thing occurred. "A third Singularity?" Datamon asked himself, eyes gleaming with Hunger now. For there, punching Lucemon in the face, was a Knight. It was so like that other Singularity, the Royal Knight Gallantmon, but so very different at once. Gray armor and deep, dark purple accents. It had yet to summon its spear and shield, and seemed incomplete. "Three Singularities together so close to me? This hasn't happened in decades! I have to get more information..."

He watched with rapt attention as the fight ended suddenly, more Digimon – and humans dropped to the ground by Lucemon's minions. The tiny Impmon that was Beelzemon grabbed a Transportation Node and shattered it on the ground, summoning all nearby Data Streams in erratic pattern that carved through the battlefield and taking the groups to various places.

When the streams cleared, Lucemon found all of his minions and began to get angry. It was at that point that Datamon saw his opportunity. He began using one of the Core Programming Languages of the Digital World and one of his nodes observing the area became visible. Lucemon immediately stopped talking and glared at the Node. "Well?" Lucemon asked after a period of tense silence. "I grow tired of waiting for you to speak, Datamon."

Datamon clenched his wiry hands into fists. "Singularity Lucemon. I have an offer to make."

Lucemon shook his head. "No small talk, then?"

"You are the one who grew tired of waiting for me to speak, Singularity Lucemon." Datamon paused. "Would you prefer I attempt such banal speech?"

"No. It's rather refreshing," Lucemon explained. He crossed his arms. "What would this deal entail?"

"I have little interest in ensuring that your plans succeed, Singularity Lucemon. However, the data would suggest that you are more likely to succeed than fail. Therefore, I wish only your guarantee that I will remain unharmed. In return, I will send you the locations of the last remaining Sovereign's Core and a Shard of the D-Reaper."

Lucemon chuckled. "Is that all? Fine, I agree."

There was silence for a moment. "You know that is not enough."

"And here I was hoping it was."

"I do not take kindly to betrayal, Singularity Lucemon." Datamon's wiry arms quivered with the memory of rage before he began to type again. A few moments later, Digital Code was projected out of the node, creating a representation of a contract. "As you can see, I covered my corner cases."

Lucemon leaned in close to the contract and sighed. "It seems you're less stupid than most of the fools I have to deal with..." Lucemon sighed and raised one clawed finger. He brought it up to the contract and inscribed it with a small, circular insignia, signing the Program and binding himself to the contract. He sighed and crossed his arms. "I suppose that should be enough, Datamon?"

"Of course. I will be sending the information over soon enough, Singularity Lucemon," Datamon responded after a moment of looking over the contract. He scanned and accessed the information Lucemon was searching for, eyes glowing. "Ah, it is good that Singularity Beelzemon was not deleted. It appears his ability to Digivolve is due to a gifted Sovereign Core. Deleted and reformatted, it would no longer exist."

Lucemon frowned and grabbed his chin. "It seems I've been too out of the loop for the past few decades," Lucemon muttered. "I assumed his evolution was due to his partners."

"He can only go beyond Mega with his partners," Datamon explained simply. "As for the remains of the D-Reaper, they have all gone inert since the core was rendered powerless by the Tamers. There are core remains in the Sub-Layer of the Digital World, repaired without the core following the Reboot."

"Very well. Goodbye, Singularity Lucemon." He ended the call, but kept watch regardless.

"Then all we need now is to go and get what remains," Lucemon told his henchmen, who had begun to bow to him. Lucemon pulled out a Data Stream Node of his own and held it out, beginning to calculate the locations to send them all. "The children, the Tamers, and now these as well. I will prepare -"

"Master," Reapmon interjected. He looked up at Lucemon, his barely visible face carrying an emotion that Datamon could not quite place. "I would request the right to seek out Tasuke and Impmon."

Lucemon looked over from his Node. "... Why?"

"I - I know him best."

Lucemon stared at his head servant. "Very well, though your fascination confuses me, Reapmon. First the dog and now this?"

"I swear, Master, I will succeed."

"See to it, Reapmon," Lucemon ordered, and he began to scan. "Sagomon, you will seek out Agent Estevez. Shaujinmon, you will reclaim Agent Anderson." Data Streams swept over them, sending them to another layer of the Digital World. "And... hm. I cannot find Impmon or Tasuke..."

Datamon narrowed his eyes and turned away from the screen to another, scanning all around his home. And there, in a blizzard, was a human, and two Digimon Singularities. "He must still be nearby, then. Likely near Datamon – head out and find him. The plan nears completion, and they are all necessary. Do not return without them."

"... Yes, Master."

X X X

Beelzemon got taken down that easily? After watching the trouble Takato and Guilmon had just toe to toe with him, that worries me; even after they reached Gallantmon level, it wasn't an easy fight for them to handle. I don't even think Terriermon could say 'Momentai' about this news. Well, hopefully future me can figure something out to help the new Digidestined on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!