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.

42. A Hazardous Development

AN: Hey everyone. Hope you've had a good Easter season. I've been pretty busy this month, and I'll be really busy this next couple weeks, so don't be surprised if the next chapter is also a little slow. That said, I'm excited for these last few chapters and the fight with Lucemon reaching its climax. The mains sections of this chapter also turned out a lot longer than I'd planned, so some stuff we would have seen is pushed to the next chapter; still, I think it actually makes a more cohesive single chapter like this.

To Luislobo: Thank you so much, I hope I can stay up to your standards! Where did I make that typo? I try to keep that straight when I'm reading and editing, but there are moments where I've changed who is driving and with whom, so I may have had something where May was driving but it changed to Taj being alone. I'll change it once I find it to be correct, thanks!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter of Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Episode 42: A Hazardous Development

"... BLASTER!" Gleaming, golden energy collided with red. The bright energies struggled against one another for a moment, and even behind BG's head I was feeling heat suffusing my skin to the point I was growing increasingly glad that radiation wasn't really a problem in the Digital World. The Royal Knight's attack may not have been his most powerful, but there were factors to consider when going into a head on head confrontation like this. Magnamon was a Vaccine Digimon using the power of miracles... whatever that anime deus ex machina could actually mean in real life. But given how the golden energy was steadily breaking through BG's attack, it was clear it was having some kind of effect.

"Digimodify! ClearAgumon, activate!" I shouted, tapping the screen and swapping my partner's type to Data. It helped, slowing the advance of Magnamon's attack for a moment.

And then BG's attack blasted forward. "What the -?" I asked, knowing something was up. One card wouldn't help us overwhelm him. Where would he go to get a drop on... "He's up!"

BG angled his verniers and blasted to the side, narrowly avoiding Magnamon as he rocketed down. His fist passed just by BG, enough force behind it to send us through the ground with that one hit. "Double Edge!" We screamed together, and BG's blade arms glowed with dangerous energy. Magnamon's eyes widened behind his helm, and he twisted midair. The two blades passed harmlessly above and below him, BG's bear hug attack narrowly missing his nose and tail. The rockets in Mangamon's armor twisted and he shot towards us, foot slamming into BG's chest.

The force shook throughh my teeth, and Momentai began to yelp in terror. I held on tight as we spun through the air, eyes tight and Digivice clamped against my chest out of fear I'd drop it and Momentai if I tried anything. "Hold on!" BG's voice rumbled against my palms. He angled his jets to stabilize us, but Magnamon was already on top of us. BG hurriedly raised his bladed arms as I raised my free arm in front of my face.

"Magna Punch!" A glowing, golden fist collided hard with the blades and I could feel the bones in my own arms scream when the metal blades fractured from the force of the blow. BG screamed in pan and his vernier jets shut off for a moment as we were sent flying backwards. Momentai began to slip from my bruised arms, but I grabbed on tight to his fur just as BG stabilized.

"Th-that..." I managed to get out as the fight calmed for a second. Magnamon was watching us quietly.

"Yeah..." BG agreed, the rumble of his voice weaker.

Magnamon took that moment to start speaking, "Give. Up," he repeated. "I would prefer to not kill a human or his dog today. You cannot win." He cocked his head to the side, listening to something in the distance.

My eyes widened. "We don't have to win," I realized with a grin. "Takato and Rika are handling whoever you came with. We only need to hold out!"

Magnamon sighed. "Unfortunately that is correct," Magnamon agreed. He moved into a new fighting stance and clenched his fists. "I guess I'm gonna have to work harder, then!"

My grin vanished. "Not good," I muttered right before he rocketed towards BG again. "Angle up! Digi-Modify! WarGreymon's Brave Shield, activate!"

BG threw his arms out and grabbed the massive shield, swinging it upwards at Magnamon to connect right as he got close, the rebound of the impact sending Magnamon upward using the force of his own attack for liftoff. The force of the blow shook through BG to the point my Digivice and Momentai nearly went flying. I tipped off his shoulder for a second, but he quickly righted himself and caught me on the shield. "Good j -" I froze and looked down. The face of the shield – it was down to its wireframe, glitching out in certain areas. I looked up at BG, seeing what always terrified me on the battle addict's face: the knowledge we needed to retreat.

"Okay," I agreed, clambering up with Momentai – who had thankfully fainted – onto BG's shoulder once more. "Data Stream."

BG nodded and turned his verniers to send us towards the closest Data Stream in the distance. Takato and Rika could take care of themselves, and I could get May to send me to them again in a little while. It was this or – Well, it was this. "You're just going to turn tail and run!?"

"Yeah, why would we run from certain death?" I shouted back. "How about we have a rematch when we hit Mega instead!"

"Huh – g-get back here!" Magnamon exclaimed. He shot towards us, our head start all that was keeping us ahead of him.

"Dang it, he's catching up!" I exclaimed. "Digi-Modify! Chaff, activate!"

Yellow flares shot out of BG's back, launching towards Magnamon and either blinding him so his aim went wide or his attacks collided with those instead on their way to us. Either way, it was a one time thing since I'd never expected to be in a protracted dogfight on the back of a floating tank. "How far's the stream looking?" I asked as I scrolled with one hand through my digitized deck on my Digivice.

"..."

"That bad." I clenched my jaw. "Then shorten the run. Get to Tak -"

The chaff nearest us exploded in that moment, more streams of energy flying through the gap. BG's head swiveled towards the blast that had rocked him and his eyes widened. The verniers began to scream from the strain and the wind whipped around us a BG raised his claws in an X in front of him. It was the explosion that resulted, sending me and Momentai flying, that made me realize what happened. BG plummeted alongside me as Momentai was torn from my grasp. "BG!" I screamed at his smoking, glitching body. I turned towards Momentai and reached out. I had to get us together. I had to save us like BG had saved us!

"Come on... Come on! BG, please, come on!" I stopped as a claw nudged into my back.

"I'm... here."

Then, there was a bright flash.

X X X

"Suzie, please, just get out of bed," Lopmon begged her partner. Suzie just pulled the comforter over her head and turned away, ignoring her partners' pleas.

Lopmon stared sadly at her partner, wishing she knew how to help her human partner. "Suzie, I know that what your sister said was wrong! Believe me-"

"Stop, Lopmon," came the broken whisper from under the blankets. There was a little movement, but no sign Suzie had any plans to get out from under it. The room was filled with more signs that the words of her sister had hit her hard – room service littered the room, and the do not disturb sign had been there for a few days now. And on top of that, Lopmon herself could feel it – whatever had happened to Suzie's spirit in that argument, it meant Lopmon couldn't Digivolve. She wasn't sure if she could even let a few attacks loose as a Rookie without DeDigivolving...

Lopmon gave her partner one last push to try and get her to sit up, but Suzie didn't even move that time. With a saddened sigh, Lopmon said, "Well if you won't even talk to me, I'm not sitting in silence anymore, Suzie." She moved to the bedside table and flicked on the television, holding it in both hands as she sat against a pillow at the head of the bed. When she scrolled through to the news, Lopmon had quite the manipulative idea – even if it was a good one.

"... and many are still missing after the Digimon attack on the west coast, and scientists are growing increasingly worried that further attacks may have serious consequences on the fault line. When asked for comment, the White House responded with an announcement that an expert in the current events is being appointed to deal with the situation. This appointment will have to deal with many dangerous problems that have been arising in the past months, with communications across the nation have become intermittent due to the sudden appearance of portals, jamming signals all over the world and preventing communication." The anchor paused. "Further, Digimon seem to b attacking ships in the ocean, resulting in deadly shortages of food and fuel that is hitting consumers the hardest – the price of gas in the US alone has risen by a steady 18 percent already and shows no signs of slowing. And of course, children -" The screen cut off in a blast of static, a Digital portal appearing somewhere and disrupting the communications.

Suzie's eyes finally peeked out from beneath the covers, and her hand snaked out to grab her Digivice. "Kids..." she muttered. Lopmon stopped trying to find a different channel and turned one ear to listen. She held the Digivice tight. "Lopmon, I wish we could help."

"We still can, Suzie -"

"No, not like this," Suzie cut in, staring sadly at the dimming screen of her Digivice. "I know you feel it. I can't do anything. I'm holding us back."

"What would Taj and May want you to do?" Lopmon exclaimed. She leaped to her feet, arms up. "You're not supposed to mope! You're a Tamer who fought the D-Reaper! You saved your family from Cyberdramon! You voiced a Digidestined in the Sub and the Dub!"

Suzie let out a laugh. "Wow... You really know how to make me feel better," she said with a sad smile. She sighed and clutched the Digivice close to her chest. "I – I'll try to figure it out, Lopmon. You're right."

Lopmon gave a thumbs up and smiled. "You need to listen more, then," Lopmon supplied.

"Fine, fine," Suzie said, trying to wave her partner off. She looked down at the Digivice again, the screen growing brighter ever so slightly. "How did I get such a good partner?"

"You deserved it," Lopmon pointed out.

And then it happened – the Digivice began to glow a bright, bloody crimson. A high pitched whine screamed through the room as the Digivice vibrated in her hands. The plastic casing looked like it was starting to come apart at the seams. "No..." Suzie whispered as the red glow began to congeal in her hands. Glowing against a black screen was the Digital Hazard, the symbol from one of her nightmares as a child: Megidramon. "That's... T-takat... no..." Her fear turned to a cautious smile. "No, not Takato..."

Lopmon came over and gasped. "Megidramon?!"

"No. No, it's Tasuke," Suzie said. The whine began to cool down and the glow dimmed significantly. "He's done something big – I just – I can feel it." She clutched the Digivice to her chest again, taking the glow in to become braver. If the kids could keep going, she didn't have any excuse to stop. "Well, time for a makeover, Princess Pretty Pants!"

Lopmon flinched. "Y-yay...?" she groaned, torn between joy that her partner was slowly recovering and terror from the over the top spa day she had to look forward to.

X X X

My feet hit the ground hard, sending data scattering all around us. Momentai was unconscious in my arm, the terror of the fall having been too much for the little dog. My cape fluttered from the sudden impulse. It was a strong, defensive material, but I didn't need it as wrapped in Chrome Digizoid as I was. I reached back with my free arm and tore the cape off, wrapping up Momentai to keep him safe. "Stay," I said, my two voices overlapping. My mind suddenly shifted and a twinge of... not pain, but clarity ran through it.

"Tasuke? Where are we?"

The world around me became... different again. I could still see the cloudy world around us, but I was also in this... blackness, surrounded by BG's voice. It felt familiar, but only slightly. "I think... we are... me now." The name that Datamon had used came to my mind, just as it was shouted at us from outside.

"ChaosGallantmon!?"

Our minds drifted into sync again and I looked up into the sky. Magnamon was less enthused by his prospects now, and I found I could not blame him now that I knew what I was. ChaosGallantmon, the Dark Warrior and embodiment of the Digital Hazard. Wielding the demon lance Balmung and demonic shield Gorgon, I could trade blows with him from the ground even if he kept trying to fly away like a coward. The lightning from Demon's Disaster alone would be much stronger when he was in the air, ungrounded from the charge, and the distance would give me more than enough time to use Judecca Prison and turn his golden armor into scrap metal.

I placed Momentai on the ground and clenched my fists. The air around them sparkled with black data, and soon wireframes of my shield and lance appeared around my left and right arms. The bright, silvery-gray metal formed over the wireframes, enveloping my fists entirely in Balmung on my right and Gorgon on my left. Magnamon snarled and the jets on his shoulders roared to life, sending him further upward. "Even with this power, you cannot fly to reach me, and therefore cannot win. Surrender!"

Couldn't fly? A brief moment thinking about it made me realize, no, I couldn't fly. I wonder if Alphamon and Jesmon could, or if all three of us were grounded without whatever benefactor the Royal Knights had. Well, not entirely grounded, I supposed. My mind slid apart from BG's, sending our body reeling for a moment as he had to take total control. "I won't be able to switch much if that's what happens to us," I muttered, watching as BG was forced to recreate Balmung's wireframe again after it vanished in our lapse.

"But you can get us to him," BG said, a monstrous grin obvious from his voice.

I let a grin slide onto my face, too. "Oh, I can do a bit more than that. Why don't we open this with some of his own medicine? Digimodify! Hyper-Sonic, Hyper-wing, Magnamon, activate!" I shouted, reaching out to the cards that appeared in the empty space in front of me. I made a mental note to thank my friends for figuring this out before we got it – it at least gave us – me, I said as our minds slid back together – a fighting chance.

Dark, violet wings spread out from my back, and I could feel the at once familiar and brand ew sensation of my body and mind speeding up beyond their limits. I pulled my lance back, hiding it behind my shield as the golden rocket began to form along its tip. "MAGNA... BLAST!" I shouted, throwing my lance forward and blasting off from the ground as I did. The rocket burst from my weapon, its force added to my already... prodigious speed, rapidly making its way towards Maganmon's center mass.

A mass that it barely missed. His jets whined and he shifted just inches out of the attack's path, and the rocket continued spiraling upwards, exploding in a brilliant and massive blast far above. "H-how did you..?" Magnamon asked as I came to a sudden stop across from him. "You can still use your Digivice in this state. But Gallantmon can't. Why can you?"

I ignored the question and shot towards him, stabbing with Balmung. I had the advantage with surprise and sheer strength now, but it quickly became obvious that he had a significant advantage in skill. Even though there was no way he could see my spear's tip, he could anticipate what I would do. His golden armor battered my spear away and he lashed out with a kick. Even with how fast I could respond, I was barely able to use my wings to flip over the attack at my midsection. I reset, holding my shield up, and felt his fist slam into its face. The force let out an echoing ring that vibrated through my entire armor. I pushed back hard and he was sent backwards, already planning his next move.

"Demon's Disaster!"

"Magna Blast!"

My dark lightning and his golden rockets collided midair, the explosion blasting apart the gear floating in the air around us. We rocketed towards one another through the crumbling debris of data. My lance and his clws crashed against each other. His foot slammed into the side of my head, my shield crashed into his lightly armored midsection. Sparks came off from the contact and we pushed into the next attack. He wrenched my lance arm up and punched at my head. "Magna Punch!"

I gasped and twisted my shield up, but I still took the brunt of the attack as the fist was deflected upward. I felt the armor on my shoulder give way and crack under the intense force, sending the nerves in my arm dead. Dammit, my lance was useless – wait, he was holding it! "Demon's Disaster!"

Black lightning started to spark violently around my lance, and the blast was contained intirely I Magnamon's hand. And if there's one great thing about physics, it's that lightning plus metal plus no ground meant that the electricity had to go somewhere: out of his feet. The black energy exploded from the golden boots of my opponent and towards the only location with the correct electric charge to attract it – not the ground. The metal in the sky, which I guess made more sense than the ground, but this wasn't the physics I – ach, my mind nearly snapped apart there. Focusing too much on the physics overpowered the BG side of me, so it was fighting time instead!

Magnamon's smoking body stumbled backwards through the air. His blue flesh had been burnt and scarred by the lightning, and with his left hand drooping uselessly at his side just like my right was, I could tell I'd done him serious damage. "What's the matter, Shiny?" I growled through the pain. I raised my shield in front of me and cursed that I couldn't separate and use a card. I grit my teeth. "Not the easy prey you expected?"

Magnamon reached up to his arm and shook it, trying to get it to move on its own. Clearly he didn't like how it responded. One of his jets was acting up, and his feet had burnt scars. He wouldn't be able to fly much longer, and on the ground I would definitely have an easier go of things. On the other hand, my main method of attack was out with my lance arm broken. And on top of that, I could feel Hyperwing was being weakened by the flow of data needed to repair the arm. If he got a good hit in, I'd fall like a bowling ball.

I felt my face split into a wide, toothy grin behind my helmet. What was the point in fighting if there wasn't some risk involved? My main attacks were out, what with my damaged arm and the fact Judecca Prison would make my wings a memory, but I had some secondary attacks I could go with.

Magnamon had the same idea, of course. He only had one good arm left, his right arm. That gave me an edge, and I'd make sure to make the most of it: my shield would slam into that blue moron's face and make him Data. Wouldn't Load him, though – junk food should at least be good. Veemons, always trying to kill me. I'd show those blue, thickheaded morons...

Maybe I had a grudge.

"Last chance," I decided to offer on a whim. "Just think about how sad Davis'd be if you ended up getting killed acting like an idiot."

"Shaddap!" Magnamon snapped, an accent bleeding in to his voice. The golden glow on his fist grew brighter.

"They say never meet your heroes, but both you and Omnimon? I'm starting to like Frontier more, and its villain is trying to kidnap me!" I joked. "At least he admits he's a bad guy instead of coasting on a cartoon!"

"I said shaddap!" Magnamon snapped, abandoning his distance and shooting towards me. "Magna Punch!"

"Gallant Charge!" I snapped, launching forward. Gorgon's face glowed with dark, violet energy as I rushed in. Magnamon looked like he understood that he had messed up – this attack wouldn't have done much if he was all healed up, but already electrified into near unconsciousness? Well, having a shield that was both defense and offense could work pretty well. My shield crashed into his fist, his last attempt at making sure he would win, but it wasn't going to go well for him. The energies crashed into one another, setting off a violent explosion at the point of contact. Violet and golden energies swirled and split beyond my shield, Gorgon absorbing the brunt of theforce and keeping me more than safe. Magnamon didn't have that luxury, and when I heard a loud clang, I finally saw him dangling, glitching slightly, from a broken cog in the sky.

"Ha ha! I win!" I shouted, throwing my shield up above my head. I was so excited that I didn't even notice I was already falling, the attack and defense having already drained what little remained of my Hyperwing card. I looked around as the wind grew louder around me. "W-wait! No, waiaaiaiaiai-!"

I hit the ground hard and let out a long, pained groan. "Oooooowwwww," I muttered, right before there was a bright flash.

I rolled over after a moment, reaching out to BG beside me. "That... hurt..."

He looked over at me, clearly in pain, and smiled. "We won."

I stared at him in disbelief. Falling from the sky? Who cares! Beating a Royal Knight trying to kill us? That's the important thing. Not that I entirely disagreed, but it was by the skin of our teeth and I think I was going to be in pain for the next... forever? I could use a nap, which I'm sure BG and Momentai -

Momentai!

I groaned in pain and slowly rolled onto my chest, ignoring the pain in my right arm to push up to my feet. "Momentai!" I called, voice hoarse. I felt a bone in my back creak. "M-Momentai!" I slowly limped over to where I'd left him, and BG groaned as he stood up to follow.

It took way longer than it should have to reach Momentai, who was still catatonic and rolled up in a disintegrating cape. He yelped and ran in his sleep, hopefully having better dreams than what had been happening recently. I let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground again. "So... tired..."

BG clomped over to me and slammed down on the ground beside me with a huff. "Food."

I glared at him but my stomach rumbling loudly made my retort die in my mouth. "Food," I agreed, hoping Takato could make more of his weird Digi-bread.

There was a loud clanging above, and I somehow managed to roll over onto my back. "No..." I grumbled as I watched Magnamon – injured, exhausted, and nearly glitching – pull himself out of the cogs that floated in the sky. One jet was sputtering, and the other was dead; he was barely in the air at all. His armor was scorched, with a thin layer of dust and debris coating him all over.

"Nice try. I haven't had to fight like this in decades," Magnamon admitted, his voice carrying without even shouting. "ChaosGallantmon –No, you deserve to be numbered among the greatest threats to the Royal Knights since the birth of the Digital World. I will never forget this day, when I was nearly defeated by the Hazard itself."

BG scrambled to his feet. "Bio... merge..." he demanded, knowing it was our only chance. I agreed and threw the Digivice up, trying to activate the function. Good news: I could activate the function on demand now. Bad news: we were so drained and hurt that whatever counted for safety function in this backstabbing cell phone wouldn't let me do it!

"MAGNA BLAST!" Magnamon roared, raising his hands above his head and letting loose a massive barrage of rockets that arced out then turned and began to converge on me and BG. I scanned my cards, but knew it was useless. Drained like this... we couldn't do anything.

"Gallantmon, Mode Change to... Crimson Mode!"

"Sakuyamon, Mode Change to... Miku Mode!"

An amethyst wall exploded into view, and the rockets exploded uselessly against the barrier. Sakuyamon was crouching in front of us, dressed in simple Japanese shrine maiden clothes and a wooden stave in her hand. Her outstretched hand casually kept the barrier up, barely flinching at the force colliding with it. At the same time, a gleaming crimson beam slammed into Magnamon. Now, hand on Magnamon's throat and holding him aloft, was Gallantmon. Takato. Gleaming white wings on his back, sapphire crystals on his shoulders and chest, armor glowing red hot with power. In his left hand he held a sword of pure light angled directly at Magnamon's throat.

"Magnamon!"

My head turned, seeing the two newcomers to this fight. "So, that's who you two were fighting," I muttered. Dynasmon, a white bull-like dragon armored knight, and Crusadermon, a pink rose themed knight, had flown over. My eyes widened. "Wait, you two?! You're Lucemon's lackeys!"

They somehow managed to trip over their feet while still midair, nearly crashing into one another and only managing to evade due to Crusadermon's agility. "That's - "

"No," Dynasmon finished as his partner struggled with what she wanted to say. "So, I see the legend that the events of our world are told in yours are true. I hoped such a dark time in our life would have been long forgotten."

Sakuyamon let out a low growl. "So, you did work for him," she snarled. The amethyst wall vanished and energy began to swirl along the wooden staff in her hand, growing larger and larger.

"Enough!"

Everyone turned to Magnamon, still held tight by Gallantmon's fist. "They are not Lucemon's allies," he said simply. "Their aid in my mission is proof enough, Gallantmon and Sakuyamon."

"That still leaves us with 'tried to kill my son,'" Gallantmon snapped. The sword in his hand glowed, light slowly turning red itself.

Sakuyamon suddenly seemed worried. "Gallantmon!" she shouted, voice full of fear.

He flinched and the sword drifted away, its light dimming. "..."

I glanced between Sakuyamon and Gallantmon. This Megidramon thing – was it that bad if Takato got angry? What the hell was wrong with the guy that everyone was this scared of getting him off balance... "Magnamon, we should retreat."

Magnamon's eyes turned to Dynasmon, and even Crusadermon seemed surprised. "Run away?!" Magnamon shouted in disbelief. "We -"

"I do not want to, but our fealty is sworn to the Digital World," Dynasmon explained. He crossed his arms, gaze turning on me and BG. He was... cold. He and Crusadermon looked like they wanted to kill me for bringing up their past at all. "Were Lucemon not active, I would demand we stay until we have destroyed and sealed away the data of the threat, even at the cost of our lives. He is too dangerous to permit to live."

Sakuyamon's wall reappeared, strengthened by multiple layers to accommodate the strength of the draconic shaped glow around Dynasmon's shoulders. Gallantmon had let go of Magnamon, tossing him to the side and formatting a dual ended spear in his right hand. "Try it," Gallantmon warned coolly.

Dynasmon glanced up and the aura slowly vanished. "Do not worry, Gallantmon," Dynasmon said, though the hateful edge to his voice remained. "As I said, we don't have time for this."

Crusadermon gave her partner a sidelong look, then nodded. "Of course, you are unfortunately right. After our last mistake, perhaps allowing the beauty of a reunited family to grow further is the correct decision."

"Hm. I have learned to listen to your doubts, Crusadermon. Perhaps retreat would be the correct decision even should we have the upper hand," Dynasmon responded. He placed a hand on his chin. "Regardless, Magnamon, you remain in command of this mission. What are your orders?"

Magnamon, golden armor chipped and burnt, stared directly at me and BG. Through the careful application of electrodynamics, a sheer lack for any sort of safety, stupid luck, and making fun of an apparently real cartoon hero, we'd not just bloodied his nose – we'd straight up won. A dumb kid and a bloodthirsty dragon had defeated a knight inscribed with the power of miracles. I don't know about Henry or my friends, but that would piss me off if I was in Magnamon's shoes. And I was pretty sure Magnamon felt the same way, if the tingling worry I felt in the hair on he back of my neck was any sign.

But that vanished when he looked at Dynasmon and Crusadermon. I did, too, and noticed they weren't looking too good either. Dynasmon was missing a horn and his wings had some pretty big holes in them. Crusadermon's shield was cracked right down the middle, and her right arm was limp at her side, twisted backwards. He moved to say something, but froze and pulled his good hand up to his head. "... Omnimon is calling us back. The Demon Lords are on the move," he announced. Dynasmon and Crusadermon flinched and flew like rockets towards him, ignoring Gallantmon and Sakuyamon now. "Is there a Data Farm nearby?"

"All of them?!" I shouted, drawing their attention. Sakuyamon shot a glare at me, but I didn't care. "All of the Demon Lords?!"

The three Royal Knights regarded me silently for a moment. Then: "Yes, even those that lack intelligence," Crusadermon offered. "Do you understand what this means?" I didn't respond. "You and your friends will have to fight those that escape us."

"Not all of them," Gallantmon interjected. "Beelzemon's our friend."

"You always did keep the strangest bedfellows, Gallantmon. An enviable trait, perhaps, that beautiful naivete," Crusadermon said. "But if you believe in him, then we shall request that he be excluded from our hunt."

"And my son!?" Sakuyamon demanded. I glanced away, staring at the ground.

Magnamon glared at me again, and that feeling returned. "If he is a threat, we will stop him."

It felt like Sakuyamon would blast the three out of the sky for that threat. I wasn't sure if we imagined it, but me and BG would later say we thought we saw figures of foxes ready to pounce from her shadow, teeth bared and ready to tear something to shreds. But maybe that was our minds still just... synced.

And then it ended. "Get the hell out of here before I change my mind. Unlike Gallantmon, I don't have a connection to the old shows," she commanded. Then, she added on in a low, threatening voice, "I wouldn't even feel bad about it."

The three damaged Knights didn't seem to doubt it, because – even if they didn't look like they were running away – they left with their tails between their legs. I guess Takato and Rika really were legends in the Digital World...

X X X

"Director?"

Yamaki looked up from his work, looking very energetic for an old man in the middle of a world wide crisis. Jeri supposed that being imprisoned for a decade had that effect – any freedom, even the most stressful freedom, must have seemed like a breath of fresh air. "Jeri – ah, Dr. Katou. Please, sit," Yamaki offered. He turned back to his papers once she did. "Apologies if my attention is split. The problems seem to have multiplied over the past week."

Jeri nodded and fidgeted in her chair. "Director, it's been some time since I was brought here. I want to know if my patients are safe," she said. She took a deep breath. "I'm done waiting."

Yamaki nodded and placed one of the reports down, picking up another and pushing it towards her. "They are all fine and under observation. Their connection to you apparently raises the possibility they become Tamers, though there hasn't been sufficient studies on the effects of trauma on becoming a Tamer or 'Digidestined.' Regardless, none of them have a partner yet."

"And if they did?" Jeri asked after studying the report.

Yamaki caught on without much effort. "I did not like using all of you for defense as children, I would prefer they remain children as well. But much as with all of you, I would not deny them the chance if they forced their way in."

"This is different, and you know it," Jeri growled.

Yamaki dropped his papers. "Dr. Katou, with all due respect, no. This is a war, same as it was then. The difference is you are the adult now, nothing else," he pointed out. He picked up his report again. "You should head to your quarters. The agents should have your personal effects here by the end of the day."

Jeri shook her head. "I'm going home. Without my Digimon, you have no reason to hold me here."

"Hold..?" Yamaki chuckled at his report. "You're not a prisoner, but you are too important to National Defense to die in a random Digimon attack at your home. No, you and the other Tamers can sleep here and help."

"How can I help without Leomon!?" Jeri snapped, surging to her feet and scattering his reports.

Yamaki dispassionately watched the papers swirl around him. "There goes thirty minutes of my life," he grumbled under his breath. He let out a defeated sigh and tossed the remaining report he'd been holding onto the table. "Why are you currently on HYPNOs' payroll, Dr. Katou? It's simple. You have a unique persepctive on the Digital World, even among the Tamers. And now, a unique perspective into not only children's minds, but the minds of these children. Your patients, yes, but the children in the Digital World now, and the children who will be dealing with the fallout of all this for the next few decades. The Digital World took more from you than anyone else in your group, so you don't romanticize it. You love it, yes, but you're honest about it. You're here to help me make decisions, a... context expert."

He looked out the window at a damaged building, ruined in a fight between an agent and a Parrotmon. "What happened in America?"

Jeri's face fell. "You don't have to tell me everything," Yamaki offered as he noticed. "It was that bad?"

"Yes... I met Takato and Rika's son. I manipulated him on HYPNOs' orders and nearly caused a significant amount of destruction. I hurt him. I hurt Henry. And then Henry was kidnapped and the boy went to the Digital World anyways."

Yamaki frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well then... I suppose we can only hope he and his friends can pull out a miracle as well as his parents."

X X X

Well Ba Boom, that's what I'm talkin' about! I gotta say, I definitely prefer da angry knight to Pineapplehead's dragon form. That breath, hoo boy, and I thought it smelled bad when he was runnin' round as a rookie! Nice ta see Suzie get outta bed, too... though dealin' with that Pretty Pants thing sounds, eh... well, Flopsymon has da shivers when Einstein threatens him with it today.

Hopefully I get to show everybody some Bada Boom on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!