Digimon Tamers Zero Two

by MasterCaedus

Tasuke, or Taj, was raised by his 'Uncle' Henry Wong, ever since his parents left when he was very young. In that time, Taj has come to hate his parents and anything related to them. Especially Digimon, the fictional creatures his parents had loved when they were around. But when he gets a real Digimon, Taj must fight Digi-agents of other countries for a chance to find his parents.

37. A Partnership Ends:A Tamer Says Goodbye?

AN: Okay. Sorry it's been a long time. I've been pretty busy lately. And then I got sick. And then I got busy. And then I got sick. And then I've been trying to figure out how to do the rest of Datamon without it sounding like a boring Exposition Dump. I've been working on it bit by bit since the last chapter, though.

To Guest: Xros Wars is... weird in the timeline? From the real-world designs of the Digimon being so much more merchandise-minded with how blocky they are, its events are supposed to be pretty heavily changed for the sake of entertaining kids and older fans. Like I'm not a huge fan of Xros myself, but seeing all the old season characters on screen is... it's pretty cool. Even if Guilmon doesn't actually talk.

To smartalec121: This was, I kid you not, half the reason that Momentai got created. From the very conception of Momentai as a pet, I knew I'd enjoy Terriermon losing control of his favorite word.

Episode 37: A Partnership Ends: A Tamer Says Goodbye!?

When the bulkhead doors to the elevator entrance of Datamon's bunker opened just enough for the comparatively miniscule me and BlackGuilmon to exit, I was worried we'd get grabbed and taken by Reapmon. Because of this, I already had my goggles on to deal with snow glare and had my Anti-Matrix card up on my Digivice's screen instead. But imagine my surprise when the demon-ninja-priest Digimon instead just stood calmly with his back against the silvery-white metal wall of the bunker that was nearly invisible against the snowy landscape. His red eye was locked right on me the moment we stepped out, door already slamming shut behind us and denying us any kind of escape. We stared back, growing quiet and uncomfortable as we prepared to fight.

When he finally moved, I wasn't totally ready. I expected him to bolt towards us, but he just... walked away, arms still crossed and eye still trained on me. He moved wide in an arc, coming to a stop directly out from the bunker, where he stood completely still.

BG and I stared at him and I felt... uncomfortable. This had to be a trap. I'd look away to grab my cards and he'd be on top of us before I could respond. I flicked my eyes to my cards and back up on reflex, cursing it even when it happened, but nothing... nothing happened. He just kept standing there. I stared for a little while longer until, finally, his fingers began tapping impatiently against his arm.

"Wait..." I pushed past BG, who watched me carefully. Reapmon didn't move, instead tapping his arms faster and letting out an annoyed sigh. "You aren't going to come after me like this. Why?"

Reapmon clenched his fingers into his arms. "Retrieve Impmon and come with me. Master Lucemon expects us."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Then tell me this – why did you kidnap Momentai, too? BG still is half convinced the dog is food, so... why?!"

He growled and just repeated, "Retrieve Impmon and come with me. Master Lucemon expects us." He paused then shut his eyes. "Or you can fight. And lose."

"And if I refuse?" I asked.

"Refuse a fight!?" BG shouted, horrified by the idea.

"It's just a question!" I snapped back.

"I will destroy the defenses, capture Impmon, and Load Datamon. I will then leave you here in the snow to freeze until you beg to follow me just to survive." Reapmon uncrossed his arms and pulled out his whip-blade. "Retrieve Impmon and come with me. Master Lucemon expects us."

"Is that all you can say?" I grumbled.

I can't explain why I felt like he had a small smirk when he said, "Retrieve Impmon and come with me. Master Lucemon expects us."

Getting fed up with this clown, I couldn't help but let out a growl. "Okay. We've both been looking forward to this for a while now, anyways." I stepped back, placing BG between me and Reapmon. "Ready, Boy?"

BG stepped forward, snarling angrily. "I was hatched ready..."

"Then let's do it. Digi-Modify!" I pulled out the real card and held it high. "Anti-Matrix Digivolution, activate!" I pulled it down.

Reapmon took a half step back and pulled out his whip blade, holding it backhand in front of him as BG warp Digivolved to BlackWarGrowlmon. BG burst from the egg, towering over Reapmon and letting out a low, angry growl.

It was that exact moment that the truce ended. "God beating!" Reapmon's whip was suddenly wrapped around BG's throat and he yanked hard, slamming BG's face right into the snow.

"Dammit!" I snapped. I threw my hand into my pocket and pulled out my other cards. Time to get working.

BG snarled and pushed himself up with his massive arms while using his verniers to generate extra force. Heat from the rockets blasted the snow data apart and he charged Reapmon, who simply leaped to the side. "Guiltish!" Reapmon threw talismans out, the paper twisting into knives that exploded against BG's face and eyes, others spiraling off to crash into the jets.

BG yowled in rage as his verniers gave out, and his considerable bulk crashed into the ground. He bulldozed through the snow and ice, struggling to use the huge scythes on his arms to slow. "Digi-Modify! Digmon's Drills, activate!" The scythes began to melt and spin, turning into massive drills that BG instantly started to use to go underground.

Reapmon landed a distance off with his blade-whip held backhand. He looked around cautiously, looking for BG. The snow data made it harder to see the disturbance of the ground, even with BG's massive size. "Titanic Drill!" BG burst forth from the ground, the massive drills on his arms coming down at Reapmon. The bladed whip came up and deflected one away with a massive clang, giving Reapmon just enough time to roll out of the way of the other drill. BG used that impact to begin digging beneath the ground again, vanishing before Reapmon could fight back.

Reapmon looked around, then grinned and sprinted past the point where BG's verniers had melted a huge path in the snow. The disturbed dirt and stone became far more obvious as BG was forced through loose dirt to follow, giving Reapmon ample time to prepare. He reacted at just the right moment, leaping effortlessly over BG's second Titanic Drill attack and flipping to face BG again. The bladed whip wrapped around BG's ankle hen he tried to go underground again, and when Reapmon landed he pulled it tight. "Guiltish!" Hundreds of talismans floated up and formed into chains, each connecting to the ground before shooting out and coiling around BG's legs. They began to tighten and Reapmon was able to pull him back, twisting him up and trapping him above ground. I felt the same pressure build around my arms and legs but bit down the pain even though it felt like my bones were creaking and groaning; if BG had to take it, so would I. Besides, he'd get us out of this the only way that made sense.

He didn't disappoint. "ATOMIC BLASTER!" BG roared, the drills on his arms shattering to reform his bladed arms as crimson energy roared to life in his chest, igniting the chains from the intense heat of his metal frame. Reapmon realized his mistake and pulled his whip back, diving to the side. The explosive heat of BG's attack still hit him, the change in air pressure sending him flying into the bunker wall and sending smoke spiraling up from his flesh.

Reapmon gasped in pain and stumbled up to his feet. He turned around, glaring at BG, and readied himself for a fight again. "I underestimated you. I won't again. God Beating!" The bladed whip shot out, aimed carefully to slash across BG's face.

BG brought one of his arms up to deflect the attack and charged forward. "Double Blades!" The blades of his arms glowed and he brought them down full force, slicing through the ground and sending a geyser of destroyed dirt and snow data into the air, but completely missing Reapmon. "Dammit, stand still!"

The ninja-like Reapmon wrapped his bladed whip around BG's throat, using him as a hinge to swing up and soar through the sky; I hit my knees and clutched at the blades around my throat, nearly dropping my Digivice and cards. He landed softly on top of the bunker and the pressure vanished; I had to be stronger, for BG and for me. We had to kill him.

Without responding to BG, he turned and began to run along its edge. "Guiltish!" Talismans flew up, curling into knives that pelted BG, some sticking in his flesh and others bouncing uselessly off the large chunks of metal making up the rest of his body. BG's arm came up to guard his face and he began to lumber after Reapmon.

"Digi-Modify! Agumon Expert, activate! And... Dammit, we need a plan!" I grumbled, trying to analyze what was happening for an opening. So far, nothing much stood out to me other than the lines of blood that were appearing on my arms every time BG got hit. Annoying, and too many would cause problems, but survivable.

Reapmon leaped from the bunker's roof, twirling between BG's grasping arms and landing in a full sprint down the snow. More paper knives formed in his wake, peppering BG's hide with small scratches. BG growled and charged after, slamming his fists down where Reapmon had just been. Each time, Reapmon avoided him by the barest of margins, occasionally having some of his talisman cape shredded to useless data behind him. He leaped ahead when BG brought both fists down, flipping and throwing out his whip-blade. It wrapped around BG's neck again and he was slammed face first into the ground when Reapmon rushed around him, using BG's massive legs and size against him to topple him.

And that was the answer, because that was the only time he got close.

"I've got it!" I muttered with a grin. We'd finally take him down, once and for all. My grin faded after a moment and I stared at Reapmon. No time to worry about anything, I reminded myself. "Digi-modify! Energy, activate!"

The verniers on BG's back glowed once I swiped my card and he let out a thundering roar. He slowly rose from the ground and the whip uncoiled around his legs, and soon Reapmon was in danger of being lifted himself. He growled over the loud roar of BG's flight, angrily retracting the whip and bounding a short distance away.

BG glanced over at me and nodded. He knew I had a plan, and he trusted it was the right one. I nodded back and he let out another roar before charging at Reapmon at full speed. "Let's get some tracking attacks in there! Digi-Modify! MetalGarurumon, activate!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!" BG snarled as missile ports began to compile in his metallic body, sliding open and launching a huge barrage of missiles that circled around and honed in on Reapmon. He glanced over his shoulder and threw a hand out, calling for what remained of his talismans to protect him. Paper walls shot out into each missile's path, taking the explosion as they were vaporized. More talismans flew out to protect him from the barrage, burning away the remains of his cloak until neither missile nor talisman remained. Step one, done.

Step two as the harder part.

BG pushed his engines to the max, straining them until they whined and blasted heat I could feel from where I was standing. I grabbed my next cards and took a deep breath. This was going to hurt.

BG and I could handle it.

"CRUSH HIM, BG!" I screamed out loud, bringing my fists up and slamming them down. He roared in sync with me and slammed both fists down right on top of Reapmon. Yet again, Reapmon dove out of the way with inches to spare. His bladed whip dug into BG's throat and I hit my knees again, the force bruising my throat. I grasped at the force for a moment, struggling to ignore it. I saw BG struggling, still fighting even as the grip tightened. Reapmon began to run, ready to wrap around him before he could turn his jets and fly again.

I'd struggle too, if BG could. I pulled up the cards I needed and swiped them, one after the next. Hyper-Wing. Hyper-Sonic.

And the big winner – Phantomon.

Massive wings exploded from BG's back. He blurred with speed. And he moved right through the bladed whip. "TAKE HIM DOWN!" I screamed at BG.

Reapmon stumbled back as the mass of BG vanished suddenly. He scrambled as he hit his back in the snow, but it was too late. "DOUBLE BLADES!" The glowing blades on BG's arms shot forward, cleaving Reapmon in half at the waist in a flash. BG shot past him, wings spreading to stop suddenly just beyond Reapmon and sending his wake ahead to create a tornado of snow and ice.

BG and I panted heavily. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down before moving forward. BG flashed, hitting the ground on his feet as BlackGuilmon once again. We moved towards the cloud of rising, dissolving data. Reapmon's legs had shattered and were swirling into the air, a cloud of violet data. I stared down at the top half of Reapmon that remained. His cloak was destroyed, revealing his exhausted face staring up at the sky.

My glare turned angry at how... calm he looked. "You're getting what you deserve."

His red eyes drifted towards us. "Perhaps." He let out a tired sigh.

"You can't even let us enjoy this," BG grumbled angrily.

"I lost. This is my only victory."

I groaned and rubbed my forehead. "Just... Why, then? If I can't enjoy this, tell me that much. Why didn't you hurt Momentai?"

Reapmon shut his eyes and let out a single, dry laugh. "He is such a loyal creature. He growled at me. This powerless creature, less than even the weakest Digi-Egg, threatened me simply because I threatened his master. I am simply a loyal beast as well, so this creature weaker than me but just as loyal... earned my respect."

"That's it?" BG asked, surprised. "It's just so..."

"Human?" I supplied, earning an annoyed look from both of them. But, for some reason, I could tell that neither of them were actually against the term.

"I was conflicted, chasing you. We were partners for but a few days."

"You were a placeholder, at best," BG snarled, smoke rising from his nostrils now.

Reapmon looked at him. "Yes. But it as enough. I don't want to hurt you. I could feel your hate, your anger, your rage at those who abandoned you. Those who know betrayal deserve loyalty. But I couldn't serve two masters." He looked away. "And he will defeat you anyways."

"No. Whatever he has planned, we'll stop him," I said resolutely. I clenched my fists. "We will."

"I doubt it. This plan is very old. And you play into it with every victory." Reapmon shut his eyes and smiled softly. His body shattered and data streamed away.

"Should I load him? He can't come back if we don't let him," BG pointed out. He snapped his jaws at the head on the ground and growled.

I shook my head. "No. He let Momentai live. That's... That's enough."

Reapmon let one last laugh out as his head began to dissolve. After a moment of smiling, he let out his final words. "I'm surprised at myself, Tasuke. The idea of being a human's partner once disgusted me more than anything. But now? If by some miracle you make it out of this, I hope that one day I can have a human partner as well. Ideally, he might even be like you. Rude, aggressive, angry... and loyal. I think I might enjoy that... one day."

And with that, the last shards of his data streamed away. I glanced at BG, who stared at it as it rose to the clear blue sky. I reached over and placed my hand on BG's head, and he turned to me in surprise. He didn't speak when he noticed the scared look on my face, and instead leaned in to my side. We stood like that for a while, letting the cold air bite at us.

What was this I felt? Sad? No, he deserved this. But... we'd changed each other. A lot, it seemed. Digimon and humans could change each other this much? I looked over at BG. I... guess we could. And if he'd changed faster, or if Lucemon hadn't gotten his claws in him... maybe Reapmon could have change more. And if he got his claws into him again, after Reapmon was reborn in Primary City... "We're going to kill Lucemon," I told BG. "We're going to tear him to shreds."

I pet BG one more time, then turned towards the bunker. "Let's go find out how."

X X X

Lucemon crossed his arms as soon as he landed on top of the mountain in the Digital World, its peak floating above endless clouds only broken by other peaks poking out of the clouds in the distance. "Quite the odd place for a snake to hide," he noted, placing a hand on his chin. "If not for the caverns and tunnels underneath."

He shut his eyes and focused his senses, searching for the Deva that was ever so close. As much as he despised the idea, he needed Sandiramon now that he knew where the D-Reaper's remains were. To access the Digital World's sublevel required a great deal of power and security codes, some of which he could still spoof from his days as a hero of the Digital World. Others were less easily faked. Especially one that the Deva held, Codes and Authority granted by the Sovereigns. And, of course, the most impossible to take, Yggdrasil's Authority granted to the Sovereigns themselves – though Reapmon would bring him the Core held by Beelzemon soon enough, now doubly important as both Key and Ingredient. Oh, he could taste victory even then...

But, Lucemon reminded himself, now was not the time; his own goal was closer, and it would not do to overlook it because he was working three steps ahead. Best to appreciate the moment hen it was there and not earlier. And focus on the moment he did, finding Sandiramon traveling through caverns and tunnels, tortuously hunting smaller, weaker Digimon. Zhuqiaomon and his Devas, cruel as they were, would have fit in better with Lucemon's own than Azulongmon.

Lucemon flapped his wings again and shot towards the nearest cave entrance, frowning as he landed just above the cloud line and gazed into the long, dark pathway. It was just a slight bit larger than Sandiramon himself, making Lucemon wonder if it had been one of the snake's own personally burrowed entrances. He stepped in, but his wings hit the edges of the walls. He realized they would be useless in the tunnels, and even more useless in battle. But it wouldn't matter; Sandiramon was nothing. He pulled his wings in tight around him, folding them along the tails of his long coat and giving himt he appearance of wearing a heavy, layered coat. With his most ostentatious advantage gone, he was able to easily pass into the tunnel and begin his descent.

It didn't take him too long to find the tracks of the creature for which he was searching. Sandiramon left many half destroyed and dying Digimon in his wake. Lucemon wandered over to a Gotsumon missing its legs. "Tsk. Playing with your food," he grumbled disapprovingly. The Gotsumon reached up to him, pleading for help. He simply sneered and turned away; this wasn't worth the time.

He turned down the tunnel, ignoring the screams of he various victims to focus on the deep cuts carved into the walls by Sandiramon's attacks. More Digimon begged for his aid, but there was no aid that would be given. They weren't important beyond being simply markers to track the one who had attacked them. Eventually, the screams behind him stopped, and the ones ahead led him to the quiet and dingy lair of the cobra Deva himself.

The huge body of the creature uncoiled, the purple armor on the back of its hood rattling with the movements. When he focused on Lucemon, his orange, pupil-less eyes narrowed. "What," he began, massive, unhinged jaw sliding open, "hassss deccccided to come before me?"

"Really playing up the snake bit, then?" Lucemon asked dryly. He shook his head. "Fine. You are in possession of something that I require. As a Deva, you hold half of a code needed to access the under-layer of the Digital World, given to you – prior to the great Reboot of the Digital World – by your Sovereign lord, Zhuqiaomon."

Sandiramon bared his fangs. "I know what you are talking about, but I have no way to give it to you. Nor any desssssire," Sandiramon growled under his breath. "I will load you myssssself!" His coiled, white body launched forward like a spring. His jaws stretched wide enough to swallow Lucemon in a single gulp.

"That'sssssss fine," Lucemon mocked as the massive jaws loomed around him. He raised his hand straight up. "I planned on Loading you from the start." Energy flared around him, and the two of them were blasted upward by a pillar of light and darkness that tunneled effortlessly through the stony ceiling of the mountain above. The mountain's data was vaporized further than it could spread, reduced to bits too small for even the most tightly knit net of a Digimon's attempts to Load to catch a single piece.

The two were left flying above the mountains, the peaks far below forming the outline of a huge Zero Unit. The Deva shrieked in surprise at the sudden rise and flailed about in the sky, while Lucemon's wings snapped out for use. "Dammit! Venom Axe!" Sandiramon's jaw opened wide and a beam of light shot towards Lucemon, sharp and hot as it approached too quick to be dodged.

But Lucemon had no need to dodge. His fist came down and slammed into the attack, energy glowing on his hand, and it rocketed towards the clouds below. He flapped his wings and was beneath Sandiramon, using the snake's fall and rearing back with one leg glowing. "Terrible Dance!" He brought his leg up into the snake's jaw, shattering fangs and sending Sandiramon flying upward once again.

"Agh!" Sandiramon cried out as his rise finally stopped. He stared down at Lucemon with wide, terrified eyes. He knew he had only one chance – to unleash all of his energy in a single attack. His scales began to glow and burn away from the energy he began to gather. "Treasure -" he began as he became a blindingly bright spot in the sky.

"Grand Cross!" Lucemon countered, raising his arms above him. The world went dark and time seemed to slow down. Ten spheres of energy, formed in the shape of nine celestial bodies and a sun, appeared above his outstretched hands. The spheres twisted into a cross shape as he reared back, then shot forward all at once. Sandiramon's full power shot from his mouth, impacting the first of these spheres. The two attacks struggled against one another, screaming for victory. Eventually, the Venom Axe and this first sphere both exploded in a violent and vibrant display. Sandiramon felt hope for a moment; he could match this monster's power! He could -

His thoughts were cut off when the other nine spheres crashed into him, turning him into a swirling cloud of data.

The violet sparks began to swirl and drift down, turning white and black as they flooded into Lucemon's outstretched claws. "You see, Sandiramon? Playing with your food... is gauche. Much better to wipe them out and be done with it."

X X X

"That was pretty good, guys!" Impmon said when the elevator doors slid open and we were let back in. He still looked a little worse for wear, but he tossed us a thumbs up from beside Datamon. "You really showed that guy a real bada-boom kinda fight!"

"It was underwhelming," Datamon remarked. He turned around from monitors that showed our fight replaying. "A Singularity should not have such trouble with a normal Digimon.'

"Hey, it was no different than Pineapplehead strugglin' with the Devas!"

"Who are themselves Singularities," Datamon pointed out. He pulled up a new screen. "Now... where were we?"

He glared at Impmon and BG before they could answer. "That was clearly rhetorical." He expanded the screen. "The foundation of the Digital World – the event that created the Singularities and was created by them in turn."

"How will this help us kill Lucemon?" I asked gruffly.

Datamon's eyes narrowed as he turned on me. "If you cannot understand the value of knowledge in a battle, it would be better if you left now."

I threw my hands up. "Sorry, jeez..."

"Now, as I was saying, the programs that would become Digimon were created at nearly the same time by nearly the same group of humans across multiple timelines. In most, the project died ignominiously. Buried and forgotten. But in one, the first human Singularity to matter was there. He changed history when he had an idea to bring us to life. The how, the why... I am loathe to admit, but I'm still attempting to understand it. Possibly the idea was sent by his future self to prevent a paradox, or perhaps the Digital World is built on something else that once existed and the connection to humanity and children is inherited. Perhaps – ah, conjecture would do no good." He cleared his throat. "Regardless, the Digital World was born from this man – Shibumi. Unfortunately, this miracle also affected everything on the mainframe designed to house the earliest Digimon. The Yggdrasil operating system gained the same sapience as our earliest ancestors. And worse, so too did the Chaos. The D-Reaper. A program designed to clear out old, oversized Digimon files."

"Okay, okay, skip this. I can even tell 'em about the D-Reaper, ba boom," Impmon interjected, in his boredom tossing a flame from index finger to index finger.

Datamon plainly ignored him. "Threatened by the D-Reaper's voracious appetite and straining against the constraints of the server that held the Digital World, Yggdrasil did... something. Somehow, the first human was brought into the Digital World, and by studying that child Yggdrasil realized that human brains are impossibly powerful computers. Your brains are quantum computers, in more than one sense. Yes, you have the coherent superposition of yes and no, which contributes ever so much to those paradoxical natures of your species. But more than that, your brains are quantum computers. Your thoughts exist, running along the sublayer of realities. It influences the mere shape of our world, our entire Dimension. And by copying that, the Singularities were created and the Digital World's first server was separated from this Digital World. This world was cut off and once the D-Reaper devoured all the Digimon that were here, it was starved and forced to hibernate."

"Lucemon was one of Yggdrasil's servants in that time," Datamon continued. "Unfortunately, that new server was too small, even for the very few Digimon that moved to the Server. I believe the next events are... 'X-Evolution?' Yes, you seem the type to watch obscure, Japanese only CG cartoons."

"I feel like you're trying to insult me..." I grumbled pointedly.

"Regardless, it was when this happened that Lucemon and the other Demon Lords fell. GranDracmon convinced them to try and rule the new Server. They sealed him in the Dark Area to try themselves, and were stuck on the overloaded second Server. Once they were defeated and a prior version of Yggdrasil was reloaded, the destruction was found to be immense. To insure that the Digital World could continue with little risk, this prior Yggdrasil recreated the parameters needed to connect to the original server of the Digimon project in four worlds. Or was it five..? Well, one of those worlds has no Digimon. Regardless, this was done to prevent Lucemon and the others from attempting to devour all the Digital World at once. The Singularities were separated to defend various worlds, some choosing to go where their earliest memories placed them and others living their first life. The Sovereigns were separated to guard each world, and along with a few others – such as the Royal Knights – were given the ability to cross those boundaries and speak to each other. At which point your shows begin, minus... some inconsistencies designed to market to children. He was only defeated by the Legendary Warriors with the aid of ancient, engineered code used by Susanoomon in the form of the Orochi."

"Wait, so what yer sayin' is... I'm one of a kind?" Impmon asked. He grinned. "Always knew no one could match me!"

"I'm saying," Datamon interjected, "that Lucemon has memories stretching back to the origin of the Digital World, and is quite sensitive to the physical and codified language that created it. Whatever the Digignomes did to you removed those memories and sensitivities... and made you significantly less violent. From the one life I observed contemporaneously with your current one, you either chose to forget, or by forgetting have been cleansed of GranDracmon's influence. Lucemon needs a great many things to succeed in his plan."

"You know what he's doing," BG realized, voice quiet. Louder: "Then how do we win?"

"That wasn't part of our deal, you know. There are other creatures out there who may help you, or even your own knowledge of the Digital World as twisted as it is by writing for children. Regardless, I am sure at least part of it is obvious: you keep Impmon out of his hands. You humans have always been the outlier in Singularities' plans and power. Apoclymon died at the hands of those that killed Etemon, many of them and their partners not even Singularities. And then immediately he was killed again by your father and his friends. And of course, there's - " he turned back to the screen, now a map. "Where... where did Akiyama and Millenniummon go?" He turned away from us completely and began scanning the entire Digital World. The heat in the room shot up as the processing power shot up.

"Jeez, is it worse outside or in here, huh?" Impmon asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Look, this is all really interesting, but if you aren't going to tell us anything new, I want to know where my friends are. We need to get to them and figure this out, since apparently story time is all you wanted to give me."

Datamon sighed and shot a glare at us. "And from my observations of you, it seemed you enjoyed knowledge."

"Yeah, when our friends aren't lost all around somewhere none of us have ever been before," BG pointed out dryly.

"Aw, you said our friends," I said jokingly.

"Stop it..." BG growled.

Datamon rolled his eyes. "If it will get you to stop talking and leave," Datamon interjected, getting more and more annoyed. He turned to the screen and pulled up another map. "Let's see... oh... hm..."

"That don't sound like a good, 'Oh... hm...'" Impmon said cautiously. "What the hell's wrong, Pillsbury?"

Datamon stopped moving and glared for a full minute at Impmon. "It appears," he began, "that your friends are being closed in on. Omnimon is heading for Primary City; I was unaware he'd returned to this sector. And Gankoomon for a forest. Though given that they have Gallantmon, Sakuyamon, and MegaGargomon, I doubt he will do much damage to your friend."

I frowned. "But why is that bad? Omnimon and Gankoomon are -"

"Omnimon, when not partnered to humans, is a calculating warrior who thinks of the greater good of the Digital World before anything else. Should it decide that your friend is a threat, it will likely kill her," Datamon explained. "Or, perhaps, test her."

"May and Dorumon!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Why the heck would he test her, Pillsbury?"

Datamon flinched at Impmon's name. "Because of their potential, obviously," Datamon explained. "All of your friends are Singularities, much as you three are. Omnimon and Alphamon have significant history, as do Gankoomon and Jesmon. But neither are the kind to go easy. Should they fail to live up to the standards of such figures, they will not hesitate."

"Then we have to go!" I exclaimed. I pushed up next to Datamon. "I hate not going straight to Henry, but we won't add much value to what he can do himself in that fight. But if you send us to May -"

"And if I sent you to Omnimon, you will certainly die," Datamon interjected, growing annoyed. "You understand what you and your partner are, don't you?"

BG and I stared blankly at Datamon.

"So I wasn't imaginin' that..." Impmon muttered. BG and I turned on him. "Uh, look, whaddya two remember 'bout when we escaped from Blondiemon?"

"I don't know, it happened right before we got knocked out. Not exactly good for memory," I pointed out dryly. "Uh... Lucemon was about to kill BG, then you threw some sphere on the ground. I blacked out about then."

"Ya don't remember nothin' else?" Impmon asked after a moment.

BG and I traded a look. "Well, I mean..." BG began. He chuckled nervously. "I remember punching him in the face."

"So do I. But not you – me," I added on. "But neither of those make sense. I couldn't hit a Demon Lord and make him stumble if even BG couldn't at Ultimate."

"Nonetheless, both of those events did occur," Datamon explained. He changed his screen again, showing Lucemon standing with his foot on BG's head. Datamon hit play and the scene began to play out. I charged in, there was a bright flash of light, and...

BG was gone. Much more difficult to notice was that I was gone, too. Where BG and I had been just a second earlier, there was a completely new figure, standing tall with its fist planted firmly in Lucemon's face. A knight, with gray armor and deep purple accents and cape. "You were watching us?" I asked quietly, but my eyes never leaving the Digimon whose name I knew. Whose name I knew despite the fact that this Digimon, as far as I knew, didn't exist.

"I see most everything at some point in time if it occurs in the Digital World," Datamon explained nonchalantly. "Especially if it is the origin of a Singularity. The first life of..." He trailed off pointedly.

"ChaosGallantmon," BG and I finished.

"Okay, that was a little creepy," Impmon muttered. "Stereo, right?"

"Precisely. ChaosGallantmon, one of the few purified forms of the Digital Hazard. Different than Megidramon, but your destructive potential could match your father's partner's – the complete Loading of the Digital World. It was odd, you seemed... more in control than most legends about you. More complete." He shrugged. "Regardless, those legends and that potential are the same information that Omnimon and Gankoomon would use to determine how to deal with you. If you could Biomerge again, perhaps you could fight them off."

I pulled out my Digivice. "How?"

"Yer dad and mom usually just throw the Digivice up and shout, 'Biomerge, Activate!' It all just lights up from there and kinda works out or somethin'," Impmon supplied simply.

I blinked at him, then raised my Digivice above my head. "Biomerge, Activate!"

BG and I shut our eyes, waiting for... something. "Wow, that was anti-climactic."

"I concur," Datamon agreed with Impmon. "It would appear that there is something you two still miss."

I glared down at my Digivice. If we couldn't reach Mega, then we couldn't go up against monsters like Lucemon or Omnimon. If fighting an Ultra Digimon like Omnimon was even possible after we reached Mega. "Well, yer enough like yer parents I know that ain't gonna stop you from goin'," Impmon said. He grunted and jumped up onto BG's back. "Look Pillsbury, we're leavin'. Simple as that, ba boom?"

I stared in surprise for a moment. Impmon winked at me and tossed a thumbs up. I smiled back and nodded. "Uh – yeah. We have to go."

"Where Taj wants to go, I make sure we go," BG echoed, stepping up beside me with smokey nostrils.

Datamon stared unblinkingly at us. "Fine, I will prepare a Data Stream to take the three of you to Primary City. At the very least I can analyze the data of a Singularity's first death when Omnimon murders the three of you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence..."

X X X

"And finally, following swirling rumors about the sudden collapse of the President of the United States earlier today, Press Secretary Helen Cary had this to say."

"The President's medical staff has assured us multiple times that he is fine. He has contracted a minor case of food poisoning and will be working from his bed for the next few days. This will not affect the timetable on bringing the armed forces home from all over the middle east, the Phillipines, Europe, or Japan. It is unfortunate for our allies, but with these monster's attacks increasing daily – as well as the number dead since the first appearance in Denver in December -, it is our responsibility to protect our citizens first foremost."

"Shit," Jen muttered, watching the newscast continue into questions she could barely hear. She dropped her cup o noodle on Wong's remade counter.

Commandramon grimaced. "I know. With D-CARD destroyed, America won't be able to -"

"I didn't even really mean that," Jen explained quietly. She gestured at the TV. "Commandramon, do you know how many of the US' foreign bases have Digital Warfare materials? All of them. And in a rushed as hell attempt to get back here like this, those materials are going to get left behind. Countries don't make much sense to Digimon, I get that. But because of all these Digimon suddenly appearing, there aren't going to be some countries. It's all going to fall apart because of the destructive equivalent of a biblical flood. Which means a bunch of random assholes are going to find Digivices and Taming machines that can still connect to the Nurseries, the Digimon here now."

"But won't you work together to stop that?" Commandramon asked. He raised his chopsticks at her and shook them. "You guys work together a lot better than Digimon do, after all."

"Well, murder-cannibalism is a very low bar, Commandramon."

He opened his mouth to retort. Instead, "Okay. You win that round." He took another bite. "What is going to happen, then?"

"War. Violent people and Digimon gone rogue..." Jen grew quiet.

"And what do you want to do?" he asked her.

"It's been two days since they left. That's it," Jen said after a moment. "But D-CARD needs to be back up. We'll call our friends. Between people trusting us, and your leadership – this might be the best chance we've got to stop something bad, Commandramon. This doesn't end once they stop Gethen."

X X X

Lucemon looked up from where he had been waiting for his servants. It had been too long. Far too long. "Damn. The children are either stronger than I assumed, or they found allies sooner than I had expected," he grumbled at the empty desert of the Digital World's first layer. "From Sagomon and Shaujinmon this might be expected, but Reapmon? I expected more from you." He watched the artificial wind reshuffle the loose data of the Digital World. Alone, now.

He knew his underlings would die soon enough, the enemies they were up against were Digidestined after all. But already? He sighed and crossed his arms. This just meant he had to accelerate his plans. He had already had his followers leak some information before their deaths, but he needed it to accelerate now. He needed the children stronger for his plan to ultimately succeed, but now he also needed an opening to capture Beelzemon as well.

He placed a hand on his chin and hummed thoughtfully. After a little while, he groaned and shook his head. He supposed there was no way to avoid it at this point, as disgusting as it was. The few remaining Demon Lords were too self absorbed to be reliable enough to bring the children to him, but they could die and be distractions. And if that wasn't enough... his mind traveled back to his previous life in another world. Ah, Royal Knights were always ready to charge ahead like fools. Describe the threat the children posed and the duty bound fools would trip over themselves to battle the Digidestined.

He grimaced as he remembered one last thing. "Now I have to do all of my own grocery shopping," he grumbled under his breath. "Thankfully, I can always lure the fools to the barbecue pit. And thankfully I only need the Ogudomon seals, not Ogudomon itself. I hate being part of that thing."

X X X

Well, I have to say that this is a dream I never expected to find myself having. The Digital World was already so much more than I had ever anticipated, but this? The concepts that Datamon was discussing, the idea that my ideas are sent back in time via the quantum link that exists between the electrons that make up my brain in the future and the past, encoding the same information I already knew into my brain before I even knew that information... For once I'm slightly flummoxed on whether I should be proud that I made my idea timeless, or that this timeless idea chose me. Though I suppose such things aren't exactly diametrically opposed. That idea is the core of the Digimon themselves, after all, and each one is made more by the child that chooses them, and is more when they choose the child. It's only the synthesis of those two supposedly opposed concepts that manages to bring something more into existence.

Ah, listen to me, rambling on. 'Shibumi,' you're saying, 'this isn't the usual "Next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!" we usually get!'

Wait, what do you mean saying it ends the -?