AN:

Hey everybody! How are you doing? I'm pretty good – seen a lot of my family recently, done some fun things. And, obviously, I played Survive. I've only gone through one playthrough, but I think I have a pretty good feel for the game.

So, off the bat, most battles are pretty easy for the most part, but in good ways if that makes sense. So Digivolution is story locked for Agumon and to an extent the companions as well. But it's like the show – when you get that first Digivolution, your partner becomes an absolute UNIT. The fight where a Digivolution is introduced is handled pretty much exactly like how it is handled in the shows. Things are going very poorly, your party cannot survive, then boom – power of friendship time. It's less OP as more fights come, but eventually Digivolution becomes the first move for each party 'mon, which makes sense from a gameplay stance but makes me a little annoyed. For instance, why can I digivolve something like a MetalGreymon inside of a human sized factory? It's fun to have MetalGreymon, sure, but I think size limits if done correctly could make choosing a given Digimon in your party better or force you to us other Digimon you wouldn't usually use. Still, I'm very happy to see the "Fated Partner" mechanic be central to the story and the gameplay rather than the 'guys let's just collect 'em all' of most other games – I mean, there is still collection but it isn't like CS or Next Order where constantly changing your Digimon team is the focus. Using and talking with the party and your partner is heavily incentivized.

The story... mostly good. Visual Novel sensibilities meant a few of the options I chose sounded way different from how I interpreted the response. I really wish games would go back to the KotOR 1 and 2 solution of writing our your response entirely. Only problem with that in a VN is you don't control every line of dialogue, so it wouldn't make sense. There's also a few things I thought were silly. The origins of Digimon in this series are weird, and while the new origin seems integral to the story I think it could have been swapped with something more traditional to the series without much significant change to the story.

You know, my problem with Survive is the opposite of my problem with Cyber Sleuth. The latter felt like a Digitalstory, but the game itself felt like a better Pokemon game than anything Game Freak has put out recently. Survive, meanwhile, is very much a Digimon game with very little of the Digi half in the story without a couple throwaway lines. Like maybe the creator wanted to make a game about monsters and kids, but used the Digimon umbrella because that's who he was working for and hewed closest to his child-monster dynamic.

Still, solid recommend on my part. The gameplay and story concept are very sturdy bones to build upon if the game ever got a "Sequel," whether to the story itself or just in the same vein. I've been waiting for a 'your partner is your single partner' Digimon game forever, and I really didn't think Next Order scratched that itch – despite technically keeping the same partners the entire time, they're not really the same partner. Surviveis a solid 7.5. Maybe an 8 once translation issues and the famous 'Takuma's picture and lines are not displayed here' type bugs get addressed.

Anyways, this chapter is mostly setup for what is actually, legitimately, the final fight with Lucemon that starts next chapter. So, this one might be a bit slow, but it's all necessary. After this, there should be... three chapters left. Then, one of two things that I'll decide on later.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you again soon!

Episode 44: Digi-know? End of the World Incoming!

Henry frowned as they passed through the scorched remains of what appeared to be a Nursery for Digimon, complete with hollow and half-loaded cradles that once held Digi-eggs and in training Digimon. Terriermon was even quiet and contemplative, which did more to unnerve the kids and their Digimon than anything else. "What's wrong?" Dorumon finally asked as the silence dragged on longer than she could take. "Beyond the fact someone attacked a Nursery?"

Henry stopped in his tracks and looked around, finally locating something and walking over to one of the few spots that had not been destroyed in whatever battle had taken place. "This shouldn't be here," he explained,bending down and picking something up. He studied it and frowned before coming back to the kids and handing it over.

Davis was not happy with what Henry had found. "This was a human Nursery," he realized, gut clenching. The German flag in his hands was more than enough proof, though he could see more circumstantial evidence everywhere now that he knew to look. Guns, a military hat, the remains of a lanyard for a government ID. They may have been government agents, but now... all dead. And then the innocent Digimon.

Then May piped up, "How did it end up here? I thought it was on the Earth side of the Firewall."

"Yes, but they were parts of our worlds that had mixed together. I used those to make the first Nursery, so it stands to reason other nations copied my design. I'd assumed they would remain separate, but this..." Henry grew quiet, a concerned frown etched into his features.

"Some of them probably ended up on Earth, huh?" Terriermon offered, sounding worried.

"Yes..." Henry said, still frowning.

Davis let out a sigh. "Doesn't matter," he said. "Unfortunately, we have a bigger problem to worry about right now. We can deal with Digi-eggs in the Real World when we aren't trying to kill the Devil."

"And let's be real here, cross-dimensional physics isn't exactly any of our strength," Huckmon offered. He shook "So it's probably someone else's problem, even if we did want to help."

Henry's frowned deepened, but he again – and much more begrudgingly – said, "Yes..."

"Ah Momentai, Henry. Remember everyone we had just to figure out the D-Reaper problem?" Terriermon said, finally breaking his partner out of his funk. "Can't do everything alone, even if you have a brain just a couple sizes smaller than Guilmon's stomach."

"Well it's not that big," Henry chuckled. He set his jaw. "But you're right, Davis. We have to find the Knights."

"The destroyed Nursery seems like a bad sign, though," Dorumon offered, making everyone else grimace. She wasn't wrong.

Still, they kept going towards the last place that May's scanner had placed Omnimon. They moved along, trudging between land vaporized by beams of energy or carved by swords and Digital magic. The further they went, the deeper the worry wormed into their guts. And when they saw four spires with glowing circles floating above them... they immediately knew why. Terriermon was GoldRapidmon in a moment, Alphamon and Jesmon at his back. They didn't need to worry, though, the fight was already long since ended and with only one last survivor remaining.

"About t-t-time you showed up, Kid," Gankoomon chuckled from where he leaned against one of the Seals, glitching out a he dissolved slowly from the legs upward. Jesmon flinched at the look on his face, defusing along with Alphamon but feeling no less worried now that they were out of sync. "I guess I look worse than I thought."

"You don't really have a leg to stand on," GoldRapidmon offered,though he immediately covered his own mouth in embarrassment. "I mean-"

Gankoomon let out a laughing cough. "No, no – I-I-I-I-I've heard worse," he offered as he glitched out again. He grimaced and leaned back. "I take it you came to tell us it's a trap, huh? Where were you yesterday, Kid?"

Davis frowned, while Huckmon said, "Trying to save Impmon from your buddy, Leopardmon."

"He always could hold a grudge. Take it he's d-d-d-dead?"

"Barbamon killed him. But Barbamon didn't last long before..." Davis trailed off, looking up at the sword Gankoomon was leaning against.

Gankoomon was silent as he took that in. "Kid, I hate to make a request, but I will anyways. For all of you." Gankoomon grimaced as the dissolving of his body began to accelerate. "The Sistermon – you may not remember them, Kid, but we're your family. They died saving most of the eggs from that P-P-P-Prima-aa-ry Vill- age place. Keep an eye out for 'em, will you?"

Davis and Huckmon traded a look. "You said they died, though," May said.

"They're not like that one," he said, gesturing his head at GoldRapidmon. "If his data isn't Loaded by someone like us, it's gone forev-vv-ver."

"Well, don't I feel special," GoldRapidmon grumbled. "Unlike you guys, I actually get to die."

"Oh, we get to die. It just take...-s long-g-ger," Gankoomon remarked. He looked down at his hand. "In fact, I think th-thi-s mi-ght be it for me. Th-the big goodbye. Not too bad, after seeing how you'll turn out."

Gankoomon turned to Davis and Huckmon. He steeled himself for a moment, forcing the glitching to stop. The silvery, chipped mask on his face disappeared, revealing a pair of blazing red eyes "I always said we'd be leaving the Royal Knights' duties to you, Kid. So I'm going to be real serious for once. If you fail, that's it. The Digital World – and your human world - is on your shoulders. Everything that happens is all on you and your friends, even if it's the end of the universe." He let out a grin as the dissolution of his data accelerated, approaching his head. With his last breath, Gankoomon added, "So no pressure, Kid..."

"Well, unless the Goggleheads and Rika can pull off a miracle and find Ryo...there goes our last bit of backup." The others looked at GoldRapidmon, growing more worried that he'd said that without a hint of sarcasm. For once, the biggest proponent of 'momentai...' wasn't going to momentai.

X X X

Takato stared down at the fire as he prepared some food that Bluemeramon and Clockmon had given them. Cooking in the Digital World was a difficult process, given that most of the data reformatted into food tended to get destroyed if it was cooked too long. But Takato had been at this for a very long time by then, to the point that Guilmon said he was an expert. Of course, Guilmon would eat almost anything... The fact Rika and Renamon didn't complain made him sure it was at least okay. At least he didn't need to build an oven around the fire to make bread.

The time he cooked was spent quietly, giving him space and silence to think and process events. The event that consumed his thoughts now were all of his son, and their interactions so far. He seemed to have a low opinion of Takato, regardless of how much the man tried to connect. Rika had suggested he give it time, but Takato felt like he'd given it more than enough by now. Right? He didn't want to keep waiting to have a relationship with his own son, not after over a decade of waiting just to see him.

"Oh, was that bread mean to you, Takato?"

Takato flinched at Calumon's voice and let out a groan. His bread had been destroyed by the fire. "Ah, dang it..." he grumbled. He poked at the flame and the destroyed bread data flowing upwards.

"Guilmon won't be happy."

"I know, Renamon," Takato said. He glanced over at the fox, keeping watch as Rika came close.

Rika sighed, a little sad. "I almost miss how easy it was to freak you out with Renamon before."

"Well, Calumon scared me out of my thoughts a second ago, so it can't be too hard, huh?" Takato supplied. He reached over to Calumon and ruffled his ears before letting the cream puff wake up Guilmon to play and eat.

"Still worrying over Tasuke," Rika said, the tone of her statement echoing his own concerns. She crouched beside Takato and wrapped her arm in his, clasping their hands."He's definitely not what we remembered."

"... I've been trying so hard, Rika. I want our relationship to be what it was – I want to be his dad again. But it's like nothing Ido matters... He just thinks I'm a terrible parent."

Guilmon yawned, finally woken up by Calumon. "But you're a great parent, Takatomom!"

Rika let out a snort. "Pineapplehead's timing is getting better," she said, tightening her grip on Takato's hand and using the dinosaur's goofy grin to ease the tension. "He's right, you are."

Takato glanced over. "But?" he said, hearing what she wasn't saying.

"Gogglehead..." Rika began, thinking her words over for a moment. "There's no right thing for either of us to do. You're a dreamer, and despite my best efforts I do like it. Despite being a realist." She rubbed her thumb on the back of his hand. "We aren't going to find a right thing to do because there just... isn't one. No matter what we do, it's going to hurt him somehow."

Henry, the other kids. That's what she meant. "Then what do we do?"

Rika didn't have an answer, but it appeared Renamon did. "There is only forward."

X X X

"Okay, please just answer the question instead of telling me about Megadramon," I requested, rubbing my forehead. I was getting real tired of this pair of goons. BlueMeramon and Clockmon were... a lot.

"Oh, come on! This is important stuff! Well, I guess it's not all that relevant," Clockmon said, waffling as he had on every statement he'd made since BG and I had started talking to them.

"Just tell us where this Akiyama is," BG growled, about as annoyed by their... quirks as me.

BlueMeramon spoke up now: "Well that's the interestimissible thing, he should be here."

"This is a punishment for something," I hissed under my breath.

"Huh? What was that?" Clockmon asked.

"Nothing. So, what do you mean by he should be here?" I asked, cutting off what would probably be taken as an insult. I mean it was.

"Ryo promised to be here a while ago. He usually likes to hang around here, since it's pretty great," Clockmon explained. He shrugged. "Eh, it's just okay I guess."

"Does he often say he'll show up then not?" I asked. This Ryo guy was one of our last chances at backup, and we needed to find him. "Rika doesn't seem to like him, so I can't tell if what she says is true or just..."

"He's always exactimudinly on time," BlueMeramon said, shaking his head. The flaming man tapped his chin. "Hm... No, never been late."

"Well, I definitely don't smell anyone but us," BG said after sniffing the air. He clawed at the cloudy ground. "If he was here, it was a while ago. None of his scent is still here."

I looked up at Earth, surrounded by blue portals that appeared and disappeared at random. A thought suddenly occurred to me, something I hadn't really paid any attention to when it happened. "BG, when we were worried about Omnimon killing May and Dorumon... did Datamon say he lost Akiyama?"

BG shrugged. "I wasn't listening."

I rolled my eyes and returned to my thoughts, glaring at one of the portals. "I wonder..."

My phone beeped a little while later, bringing worse than even the usual bad news when I checked the message. With that, I pushed the Ryo guy from my mind and looked at BlueMeramon and Clockmon again, offering them a wave while I picked up and started to leave. "I have to get going. Don't, uh, don't worry about Ryo. I'm sure he's fine."

"Wow, that was an unbelievable lie," BG joked as we got away. "What do you really think happened?"

"What's blue and sends Digimon to the Real World?" I asked as we got away. "Even if he ended up somewhere safe, it's likely he's stuck there. And if Earth is as screwed up as HYPNOS said it would be, then a safe place is a pipe dream."

We made it to Takato and Rika in just a little while. The two were locked in conversation, sounding serious before Renamon cut in. Guilmon was staring at us before we even got there, his nose just as good as BG's. "Takatomon, they're back."

"Oh, uh, hey Tasuke!" Takato said, surging to his feet and waving.

I stopped in my tracks for a second,then shook my head. We could worry about him being even weirder later. "I have nothing but bad news." I walked up and handed over my Digivice. "First, your Ryo friend is probably in the Real World. He's not going to be able to help us." Neither of them looked happy at that – even if Rika hated the guy, she seemed to think he'd be useful as backup. I took a breath and continued, "Second..." I gestured at the Digivice I'd handed Rika.

"What is it?" Takato asked, looking over her shoulder. The frowns of both deepened. "All the Demon Lords and Royal Knights?"

"Sounds like it," I said quietly, taking my Digivice back. "We'll know more when we meet up with the others." I fell quiet and stared at the ground.

Reading my mind, BG said, "So... this is it, then."

"This is it," Renamon agreed. She glanced over at Rika and Takato. "We should find him and Impmon immediately. If we do not protect him, then it will be much more difficult."

I bit my cheek. "No. We don't need to work on finding Impmon."

"What!?" Takato and Rika snapped, the idea of abandoning their friend disgusting them.

I glanced up. "Look, he's not going to kill Impmon. Think about it – in May's text, she said the Ogudomon Seals are there. All of them are still there. They're in Ogudomon, okay? If he wanted, he'd already have killed Impmon and Digivolved, then chased us down while we're split up. But he hasn't. Impmon is still useful to him, for some reason."

Renamon glared at me before letting out a sigh. "Rika, I hate to admit that it makes sense."

BG spoke up, "Besides, he's a showy jerk."

"Huh?" Guilmon grunted, not really getting it.

I laughed when I realized what BG meant, the noise dry and humorless. "What my partner is saying," I began, "is that Lucemon would not miss a chance to dig the knife in deeper."

"He wants to see our faces when he Loads Impmon," BG said. He grinned. "And that is when he'll be wide open to kill."

Everyone but us seemed... conflicted by the idea of using Impmon as a distraction like that. And they could be for all I cared – we were going to win, which meant we needed a better plan than run around looking for Lucemon like idiots then die because we weren't prepared. No, we were going to choose our turf, and he'd pay the price for letting us.

X X X

Suzie glanced sadly at the world around her. She'd hoped her walk would help clear her mind and raise her spirits now that she had a renewed sense of purpose. Instead, she found that she had already had much higher spirits than the world outside. Nearly every store was closed down, the few people on the streets terrified and jittery at every noise. She supposed she couldn't quite blame them; Denver had been the first place to be attacked by a Digimon in a long time, and now the original government cover up was torn to shreds by everything happening all over the world.

"Stay down, Kokomon," Suzie whispered at her purse. She pulled her hood lower on her head, hoping no one would recognize her; she'd been in the news too much lately for her connection with Lopmon, and didn't particularly want to get attacked by a mob for it. She had to hold herself back a few times already, causing just enough of a commotion to help a few Rookie Digimon escape from mobs attacking them. Rookie Digimon were strong, but they were alone, and against enough angry people they would still die eventually.

Again though, Suzie couldn't entirely blame them. Yes, the Digimon they had attacked were innocent, but... Well, she had dealt with a couple Champion Digimon that thought attacking the city was a good idea. The death toll wasn't getting any lower, and she was sure that the American version of HYPNOS had faced off with more than one while she'd been... unwilling to do anything. Too many people were dead because of Digimon, and the government wasn't telling anyone anything. With ingredients like that, Suzie knew the pressure cooker was going to explode.

Suzie felt her purse pull at her. Kokomon must have sensed a Digimon, so she let her partner subtly lead her path. She wound down a street, keeping tack of the subtle yanks her partner gave her. It didn't take long for her to find what she was looking for, and for as cute as it was... it scared her. It was a kid, playing around in the private park of some apartment building. His mom must trust the place a lot, because he was playing by himself inside the fenced off area. Or, rather, without any human present. The Dracomon with him was someone, and someone that most people would very much not like to see with the kid. But flying around and helping the laughing kid hover above the air while flying around the park was definitely cute – cute enough Suzie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Well, Kokomon, looks like we aren't needed here right now," she said.

"I forgot what it was like seeing kids play with Digimon," Kokomon whispered as she poked her head out. The Dracomon turned and sniffed the air, looking right at them. Suzie just winked and the Dracomon slowly returned to their fun. "With all the doom and gloom, it's nice that there's a silver lining, Suzie."

"Yeah, it is," Suzie agreed. She pulled back and leaned against the wall of an alley, watching it go on. "Maybe it isn't so bad our little royals opened the Digital World back up. Maybe there's a reason for all of this, you know?"

"Well, there was a reason we met," Kokomon offered brightly in agreement.

"Drogo!" The kid turned his head.

"Naming your kid after a GoT character? And that one, too?" Suzie muttered dryly. The kid didn't even look the part with that bright smile and how gentle he was being with the Digimon.

Suzie caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye and glanced up. She frowned and followed it and immediately knew she was in trouble. The mom calling out of her window for the kid had drawn more attention than just the boy's own – people were already screaming, "DIGIMON!"

The Dracomon fluttered about, growing scared from the shouting as people began to charge out of the building. The screams of "DIGIMON!" were carrying, too. Kokomon glanced up, eyes saying exactly what Suzie was thinking. "Let's get in -"

"Leave him alone!" The child screamed at the people pulling at Dracomon, some of whom had already been scorched – some unmoving on the ground. They pushed him away, saying it was for his own safety, his own good. Maybe for some that was the idea, but it looked more like revenge.

The Dracomon's eyes widened as the child hit the ground from being pushed. "Leave... Him... ALONE!" There was a bright flash, and as it retreated the glow was localized to the boy's hands, congealing into a familiar shape. The flash pulsed once and black lightning shot out from the Dracomon. The boy's terror as the adults turned on him, calling him a tamer, a traitor, any number of things that the terrified people shouldn't aim at a child... it was feeding the energy striking the boy's new partner. "Dracomon, Dark Digivolve to... Devidramon!"

A huge black dragon with long, unnatural arm and legs appeared. Its tail lashed out at the humans, sending them flying. It screeched at the others, the roar full of rage and hate. "Won't... touch..." it snarled, four red eyes glowing. "RED EYES!" Energy flashed, washing over the terrified humans. They hit the ground, paralyzed and the monster loomed over them.

"D-Dracomon..." the boy whispered, eyes wide and full of terror. The monster's gaze turned on the boy, and Suzie began having flashbacks. She couldn't let this happen again.

"Let's hurry," May said, pulling out a card. "Matrix Warp Digivolve!"

"Kokomon, Matrix-Warp Digivolve to... Antylamon!"

"Take him down, Antylamon – fast and alive! Digi-Modify, DDoS activate!" Suzie swiped the action card through her Digivice.

"Of course, Suzie!" The massive rabbit easily flipped over the fence, hands already reshaping into axes, now tinged with a powerful stunning effect that would overload the Devidramon's Core once she hit.

"Enemy... die!" The Devidramon roared and flapped its wings, shooting up from his terrified partner. The blast and the adrenaline hit him all at once, and the boy mercifully fell unconscious. One less thing for the old partners to worry about – with the kid unconscious, there would be a lot less energy flowing towards his partner. "Crimson nail!" Its claws shot forward at Antylamon, aiming to pierce her Core and devour the Ultimate's data.

But Antylamon was experienced and calm. She easily kicked one claw out of her path as she descended in her jump, then battered the other away with one of her axes as she landed. The blade left a shallow cut along Devidramon's arm, but it was enough to slowly start the process of overloading his Core. "Bunny blades!" She began to spin at full speed, axes a glowing blur along the edge of a tornado. The Devidramon hissed and tried to fly away, only for the tornado to follow him into the sky away from the paralyzed humans. The axes carved into Devidramon's chest, pouring more of the attack into his Core. At that point, Antylamon stopped her attack and descended to the ground. "Is that enough, Suzie?"

"It'll have to be! Grab the kid and we'll lead him on a chase!" Suzie replied, pocketing her cards and Digivice so she wouldn't lose them. Antylamon nodded and morphed her hands to grab the child.

"No... touch!" The Devidramon snarled, charging after Antylamon the moment she grabbed the boy. He flapped his wings, moving sluggishly after her as she flipped over the fence and grabbed Suzie in her other arm. "Dro-go!"

Antylamon bent her legs. "Hold on, Suzie." Suzie knew the drill, and already had both hands tight in the Deva's fur. Then, the bunny jumped straight up. The force cracked the cement of the sidewalk below, and the air was suddenly whipping through Suzie's hair. The sleeping boy shook in his sleep. Antylamon landed on top of the building, more than forty feet straight up, and began running to get a start to jump up to the next.

"Slow down a bit, he needs to stay close if we're going to catch him," Suzie said before Antylamon made it to the edge of the building and leaped up to the next rooftop.

"He's slow, but he won't lose us," Antylamon said. "Look, Suzie."

Suzie did as told, and found Antylamon's senses weren't wrong. Despite the DDoS attack affecting his Core, Devidramon was flying after them as fast as he could. "I will not lose him, Suzie."

"It's been so long since we did something like this, I forgot how much you notice!"

Their pursuit continued for a short distance, taking them across rooftops. True to her word, Lopmon was careful not to lose the Devidramon. She slowed as he slowed, stopped when necessary, and charged ahead when there was no other choice. And then, as they reached a rooftop, Devidramon could no longer take the attack. With the boy asleep and his terror no longer available as a power source, the DDoS attack was able to knock him out of his Dark Digivolution. Instead of an evil dragon, it was Dracomon that began to plummet towards the streets below. "I will only be a moment," Antylamon said as she placed Suzie on the rooftop. She tensed her legs and jumped towards the falling Digimon. With her added speed at the start of her descent, she was able to easily reach Dracomon and land on a nearby roof with him in hand. She made her way back to her partner with a single jump, landing gracefully on the rooftop with barely a sound.

"I'm glad we were there. That could have been... bad," Antylamon said simply.

Suzie nodded, but looked a little somber. "But... that can't have been the only one, right?" she asked. "Digimon and kids... How many more ended way, way, way worse, Antylamon? And how many more are going to? And -and -and where are we even taking this kid!?"

Antylamon opend her mouth to say something, then crouched and activated her bunny blades again. "We have company, Suzie."

Antylamon raised her axes and prepared for a fight, glaring in the distance. Suzie brought her Digivice up, using it to look through her partner's eyes and get a look at what they had to deal with. "Birdramon. Vaccine-Data type. It'll chicken fry its enemies from a far with Meteor Wing then cut them up with Mach Grinder on its claws. Champion level." Suzie bit her cheek, wishing her Digivice could tell her if it was a Wild One or Partner like the kids' could. She examined their possible new foe, then found someone hanging from its leg. "Well, it's a Partner, but is that any better?"

"It will be far more dangerous if it is not," Antylamon said. She narrowed her eyes and waited for her partner's orders.

"Don't shoot!" the man on the Birdramon shouted as they got close. "Birdramon, slow down and give them a second!"

Suzie slid in front of the unconscious child and Dracomon. "What do you want?"

"I'm an agent of D-CARD. I'm here for the kid -"

"To use as a weapon," Antylamon growled, her blade glowing as she grew enraged at the idea.

The Birdramon noticed and flapped backwards, wings begin to crackle with flames. "No," the agent ordered his partner. The Birdramon glared at him, but lowered its wings. The agent sighed in relief and returned his gaze to Suzie. "You're the aunt of those two Digidestined, right? The new boss wants to talk with you." Suzie didn't reply, still standing in front of the kid. "Look... what are you going to do with the kid? Where are you taking him or the Digimon? Back to the building to get killed by a mob who were just attacked by his Digimon? Yeah, that'll work out. I promise we aren't interested in forcing him to be a soldier. The new boss isn't interested in that."

Still no reply.

Birdramon sighed. "Look, you could probably kill us both in five seconds, take the kid, and run for the rest of your lives." The agent looked up at his partner, who continued with, "If it would make you comfortable, we are prepared to allow you to come with us. You can see that we will retrieve the boy's parents and help keep them safe."

Suzie glared at them for a moment, then patted Antylamon's leg. "Fine. But if this I a double cross, your club won't survive," she threatened, any hint of her usual childishness gone. Standing in the place of Suzie Wong, voice actress for Princesses, was Suze – Tamer of over two decades. "And we promise not even all of you could stop us." She put on a big grin, and Suzie said, "But lead on, Soldier Boy! We've got a meeting on the books!"

X X X

"Henry!" I charged ahead, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as our Data Stream cleared, depositing Takato, Rika, and our Digimon at the Sovereign Tower. I clutched him tight. "I really missed you."

"And we're diced data?"

let go of Henry and grinned at May and Davis. "I can Load you or leave you," I said before charging them and pulling them in for a hug.

"It's... good to see you," Takato said to Henry behind me. My friends and I let go and turned to them, watching this much less comfortable reunion play out. I put down Momentai and scratched his ears anxiously.

May picked it up first and grabbed my arm. "Hey, Taj, uh... wait till you see all the progress I've made on the Zero Arms me and Henry have been building! I don't know if I can get it set up here before Lucemon shows up, but there's also all sorts of stuff in the tower you have to see."

It wasn't much more than an attempt to get all of us and our partners out of what was clearly going to be a... difficult conversation... but I wasn't about to turn it down. "I'll uh... I'll talk to you later, H – uh, guys!" I said, waving over my shoulder as May pulled me and Davis out of the room. Our Digimon – along with a dog and a floating creampuff – followed behind, with various levels of amusement.

Takato, Henry, and Rika – who had been standing and glaring at one another in uncomfortable silence the entire time – seemed to be happy we were leaving. As we were running out of earshot, May constantly talking about the three part Zero Arms she'd been building as she got way too into the Power Rangers joke I'd made – anyways, as we were leaving, I just barely heard Takato say, "Henry. It's time we had a talk about the future."

"Momentai, it'll -"

"Yeah. Let's," Henry cut off Terriermon. He sounded resigned but steely. "It's a long time coming."

X X X

Henry waited until he was sure the kids were completely gone and wouldn't hear them. But right when he was going to speak, someone else broke the silence. "Henry, what's this about?" Terriermon asked, voice low.

"Tasuke," Renamon answered for him. She appeared from nowhere, leaning against a wall. "And how he views himself."

"Oh?" Henry asked evenly. He hadn't been with them over the past few days, but he could guess. Tasuke was not the easiest to get along with on a normal day, and his strained relationship with the pair would only make things more difficult. He shook his head. "Look, I raised Tasuke. I know him, and how he views himself. If you're angry that he thinks of me as his parent, that isn't something I'll apologize for. I'm proud of it."

"Yeah, play the victim in the conversation -" Takato growled. He stopped himself when he realized what he'd said in his anger, and shook his head, forcing it down with deep breaths. "That wasn't fair. I'm sorry. But, Henry – look, thank you for taking care of him for all these years. You did a good job, but he's our son. We'll take it from here."

"I've been preparing for you to live with us," Henry told them.

Rikabit her cheek. "Henry... it's not the two of you. It's us. The three of us."

Henry felt the anger spike this time. They wanted to take Tasuke and leave. Leave him behind, pretending a lifetime hadn't even happened since they left? What came next slipped out before he could stop it: "We have a decade of evidence showing that it is the two of us. I thought you cared enough about him to understand that."

Rika surged forward. "Henry, you don't get to say we don't care about him," she growled, finger in his face. "We sacrificed everything for him!"

"No, I sacrificed everything for him. You might be heroes, but I'm his family."

"Whoa! Momentai, everybody!" Terriermon exclaimed, jumping between the humans. "Guys, we're all friends here-"

Henry ignored his partner. "He won't go with you. He has friends, family, and a life."

"We're his family," Takato stated simply, jaw set.

"Takato..." Guilmon whined, trying to stop the argument but being ignored.

"I'm his father," Henry retorted hotly, tension in the room rising. The three Digimon flinched backwards, the surge of emotions running through their bonds burning them from the inside out.

Rika shook her head. "You're our friend, but you were just babysitting," she aid, voice low and angry.

"For a decade? No, you're just strangers who abandoned their son!" Henry said back simply.

"Shut up!" Takato snapped, rushing forward and grabbing Henry's collar. "Don't talk to Rika like that."

Henry glowered back at Takato, matching his intensity. Fists clenching at his sides, Henry growled, "I was talking to you, too."

Renamon stepped forward and grabbed her arm, yanking all three back to reality with a simple sentence: "The children are still nearby."

Takato looked at Henry, then at his own hands. Realization slowly flooded into his eyes and he let go of his oldest friend. His hands were shaking, the rage still bubbling beneath the cool worry at how the three of them had been acting. A decade without seeing one another, and they had nearly fallen into a physical fight. "Henry..."

Henry stared at the ground, just as uncomfortable with the fight nearly getting physical as Takato and Rika. After a second, Henry cleared his throat and straightened his collar, smoothing out his sleeves next. "We can worry about this later," he said, his voice telling the pair that even if they were old friends... he would not back down. And he knew they would not either. Henry looked at the others, shame rumbling in his gut at how far they had gone. "I'm... I didn't..."

"Neither did we," Rika said hollowly.

Renamon shut her eyes. That was a lie. Each word was meant – never to be heard, but certainly not untrue. She could only hope that these feelings had not been revealed too soon. The battle against Lucemon would require their teamwork be at its peak, or there was a very real possibility that some may not return alive. "Let us make our final preparations. I believe we have little time before Lucemon begins his assault."

X X X

"Well, Beelzemon, I will try to make this surgery as painful as possible," Lucemon said as he finished strapping Impmon to a table in a large room shaped like a human lecture hall.

"Eh, ya mean painless?"

"I said what I said," Lucemon stated simply, gaze passing clinically over Impmon. He reached out and began accessing the Digi-Code of the room around them. "I am sure the annoying gnomes that once lived here would despise it being used for this... though I find that part of the fun. Much less fun is that I wish to make this work as well as possible. And for that, I will lower myself to forcing him to help me."

"Him? Yer gonna have to give me somethin' here, or I might just die of boredom 'fore you can kill me!" Impmon mocked, grinning at the slight tick of rage that passed through Lucemon's forehead. "Like come on, Blondie, I thought ya pretended to be original, but here ya are, soundin' like a Saturday mornin' cartoon villain, ba boom!"

"It's called building dramatic tension, you impatient buffoon," Lucemon hissed, pausing in his typing for a moment to glare daggers at Impmon. He too a deep breath. "Now, may I introduce you to... not a god, but a man who created this miracle. Who created you. And the reason we came here, of all places."

Lucemon finished his coding and dismissed the window, compiling and running the effect to summon... a slightly overweight, middle aged human with receding light brown hair, dark eyes, and a thick, scruffy beard. Oh, and he was translucent like a ghost.

"Eh? That's the Shibumi guy! Da Monster Maker!" Impmon exclaimed at the sight of the man he'd met long ago. "How?! That guy must be a bajillion years old by now!"

"You've met? Good, that makes this a little easier. You'll notice that I did a little extra to shut him up, or we'd have annoying groaning and philosophizing the entire time. It would be more correct to say that this is a... copy of Shibumi. Data left over from his time in this place. A magnetic afterimage that I have carefully and painstakingly reconstructed for the purpose of -"

"So... a ghost?"

Lucemon shut his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, ignoring the mirthful smile on the copy's face. "Yes. To summarize it in a way an idiot could understand, he is a ghost. Stop enjoying this. Both of you."

"Like I said, Blondie – I can at least ruin all this for ya!"

Lucemon blinked once. "I'm going to tear the Sovereign core from you now. And like I said: as painfully as possible." And then he jammed his hand right into Impmon's chest, eliciting a manic scream.

"You'll need to go slower if you want him to survive. The core I a delicate location for surgery," Shibumi said through gritted teeth, glaring with horror and hate at what Lucemon was doing. But just as his summoner had said, his ability to back talk was gone... and Impmon was starting to understand who they were dealing with.

D-Reaper was an unknowable evil – he'd heard Henry call it Eldritch once, years later. Alien and without a normal brain behind it, so a real monster. Parasimon just wanted to make it to Earth. Made sense after the D-Reaper trashed the entire Digital World, and that place already wasn't sunshine and rainbows before it showed up. HYPNOs wanted to protect their home, even if it meant using and abusing the Digimon to do it. Digimon, humans – all the same. It wasn't about the cruelty, it was about something else. A byproduct they just didn't care about.

For Lucemon, the cruelty was part of the fun. Basically just like the Devas, but with even more power going to his head. Or worse, like Impmon himself after he'd Digivolved for the first time.

Impmon... was getting worried the kids might not be able to handle this guy.

And then the pain grew hotter, hotter than anything he had known in a long time. Fire burning down to his Digicore, deeper and deeper as it tore something away from him. Impmon vaguely thought he heard the screaming of a wild animal, something in terrible pain. It wasn't until he blacked out that he realized it was probably him.

X X X

"We've met before, haven't we?" Suzie asked coolly. She ignored the half-emptied office draped in the abandoned toys of a madman; there was only the woman and the Digimon sitting across from her at the important office desk. The agent had brought her and Kokomon to a non-descript office building in downtown, though it had become far more openly important in the recent weeks. No one knew it was the local office for D-CARD, nor that it was the temporary headquarters, but its position as a government building kept safe from the Digimon assaults meant that protection was abundant nearby. Tents had migrated from across the city, RVs clogged the streets, and refugees covered the ground. "A woman with a Commandramon – you tried to kill them, didn't you."

Jennifer and Commandramon glanced at one another. "Yeah. We also helped keep their families safe," the woman said in response. "Your family. How are they?"

Suzie knew it wasn't meant to cut deep, but it did. "At this building, protected by your devices I am sure, even though I doubt they understand such," Kokomon replied for her partner. "You brought us here for a reason, yes?"

"Yes," Commandramon replied simply. He kept his arms crossed, holding either arm with the other. His gun rested at the other end of the table, out of reach... but meaningless for a Digimon. Not that it would matter – Kokomon would be Antylamon before anything could happen. Suzie wouldn't let it. "We came to ask you both if you would like a job."

Suzie felt her brain go through a record scratch. "Excuse me?"

"It was his idea, so I know it's a good one," Jennifer said, jerking her thumb at her partner. "Makes sense, too. D-CARD, well we aren't exactly doing well in the PR arena. And Digimon themselves? You'd have an easier time marketing for a drug dealer or a murderer than something that isn't human. Especially with everything going on."

"I don't know if you heard, but I'm being fired from projects left and right for having a Digimon," Suzie replied quietly. "I'm not some PR homerun."

"We have heard that Digimon is keeping you. They cannot afford losing anyone, least of all an actual Tamer," Commandramon pointed out. "But that controversy is actually why we want you for this job. Before this month, you were a niche celebrity doing voice work. Your fanbase and your detractors are both growing fast. And saving that child is only going to make both grow even faster. Soon you will be one of the most controversial individuals on the planet."

"And that's... you have a weird definition of 'good idea,'" Suzie dryly remarked to Jen.

Commandramon and Jennifer both let out a chuckle. "What, you haven't heard 'no press is bad press?'" Jennifer retorted. She grinned. "Trust me, we've got people on this who make politicians look good. Someone who isn't a corrupt hack? You'll be an easy job for 'em."

"Oversimplified, but overall that is our estimation," Commandramon said with a roll of his eyes. "If you be yourself – both of you – and tell your story, then there is a chance that we can stall or even reduce the negative sentiment towards both Digimon and the humans partnered to Digimon. It will not eradicate it, but it may help."

"You are naturally likeable, Suzie!" Kokomon offered brightly. "But I will do whatever you think is best."

"..." Suzie was quiet, mulling the offer over. "Can you keep my family safe?"

"As you said, we already -"

"I don't mean from Digimon," Suzie cut in, deadly serious. "People will try to kill them if I do this. I bet people down there, when I finally blow up like you're talking about, are already going to try. So I guess I don't really have a choice but to accept the job, do I? But I still need to know you can keep them safe. I need to know that my sister and her family won't be in danger."

Commandramon nodded. "Then we will bring them in. Protect them here and bus them -"

"That will be difficult," Kokomon let out under her breath. She cleared her throat. "Suzie's sister would prefer not to have any interaction with Digimon, government agency or not."

Suzie nodded, looking a little down. "We aren't on speaking terms."

"Keeping it secret would be harder," Jennifer said quietly. "There's no way to get them on board?"

"They've already got one kid in the Digital World. They're terrified that any contact will mean one of the others will end up the same... which did happen to me when I was a kid, to be fair," Suzie explained, letting out a grimace at the end of that sentence. "But if you made it clear people are going to go after them, that would force her to make a decision. One I'd be lucky if I was forgiven for forcing by the time I'm ninety, but... hey."

"They would be safe," Kokomon finished simply.

Commandramon looked between the two. "And you are comfortable with that? Even if she hates you?" Suzie nodded, so he continued, "Then we will bring them in today. We will send someone to your hotel to retrieve your things. Your flight will leave tonight so you can start filming tomorrow – we have already wasted too much time as it is."

X X X

BG's ears shot straight up at the same time as Guilmon's. Both the lizards stood up, eyes thin and feral. "He's here." The rest of us surged to our feet, Digivices in hand.

"Calumon, go... go play security guard in the control room with Momentai, huh?" Takato told the creampuff. He waited for the little guy to fly away with my dog, shouting excitedly the whole way, then turned to all the rest of us. "It's go time."

"Then let's go, already! Sooner we beat this guy down, the sooner we can have a real meal back in the Real World. Guilmon, I bet you want some bread after a decade, yeah?" Terriermon exclaimed impatiently. "I'm thinkin' stir fry, party of thirteen! You and your big shot job can afford that, right Henry?"

"With you, Guilmon, and BG eating? I'll stretch my wallet and sell some stock, but I'll figure it out," Henry told the rabbit-dog on his head. He gave Takato and Rika a weird look, then shook it off and raised his Digivice. "Ready?"

Terriermon's eyes went wide. "Really? It's about time!"

"About time?" I wondered.

Henry moved towards the huge doorway that looked like it could fit a monster the size of a skyscraper. "Biomerge, activate!"

The rest of us followed suit, throwing our Digivices up and vanishing in a burst of multiple different colored lights. When it cleared, I understood exactly why Henry had been holding back on this.

"MEGAGARGOMON!" he shouted, standing so high above us that – even as ten foot tall Megas – he looked like a huge, Godzilla sized robot. With how tall he was, it looked like he outclassed even my size as WarGrowlmon. He had to be at least 80 feet tall, with a dog like face looking down towards us. He wore a green helmet that matched his armor, a spike protruding straight up from his forehead. A pair of huge missiles with yellow dog-like faces rested in twin green silos that made up his shoulders. Massive airplane wings made up its ears. Connecting his massive feet and hands to his body was thinner cords of metallic flesh that channeled energy to its hands, wrists, head... everywhere. And based on the huge gun barrels at the tip of every finger and lining his spiked wrists, that energy was going to be used. A lot, and often.

"Now, we're ready," Megagargomon said, the faces on his missiles turning into confident grins. He looked right at me. "I'm with you to the end." Everyone was looking towards me, waiting.

"We're as prepared as we can get," Jesmon said when he caught my eyes.

"Wish I'd had a bit more time to compile the Zero Arms, but that'd just be extra. Momentai, yeah?" Alphamon suggested.

"It's no different than any fight. We just have to win like always," Sakuyamon told us. She flashed again, transforming into her burst mode in shrine maiden clothes. "Fight hard, and don't give him any quarter."

Gallantmon did the same, floating above the ground in burning red armor with white wings. "We're stronger together... and now there's nothing we can't do."

I clenched my fists. "Then let's go," I agreed, and we ran outside.

And froze when Lucemon began torturing Impmon far above us. Screams echoed far and wide for a long while, before suddenly stopping. Impmon dangled, unmoving but not disintegrating into data, in Lucemon's left hand. "Finally. I was wondering when your simpering conversation about friendship and teamwork would end," he remarked, sneering down at us all.

"NOW!" Henry screamed, raising his arms and firing blasts of energy at Lucemon. Lucemon laughed at the assault and readied an insult... that died in his throat when the tower's defenses came on line, launching a wall of violet light from its apex towards him.

"At least this will be a fight worthy of my ascension," he remarked dryly, and he shot forward, skirting the edge of the beam as he took glancing blows from MegaGargomon's low powered blasts.

X X X

Alright, D-CARD PR ad take two.

Lights...

Camera...

ACTION!

Hello, many of you probably don't know me from my face, but I know many of you have heard my voice before. My name is Wong Shaochung, but everyone just calls me Suzie. I've voiced many characters, including one of the main cast of the last Digimon series. Which makes sense, because of my friend here. This is Lopmon, and she is my Digimon partner. She has been for almost thirty years now. She's my best friend. We've been through thick and thin. We've helped so many people together, and even if you don't know it yet we've helped all of you before. And we're going to keep helping all of you.

Lopmon and the other Digimon, they might not be what you expect. Lopmon is one of the best, a hero and a friend. She'd do anything to help out a lost kid – which is how we met. But there are bad Digimon, too. They're... reflections of who we are. Just like there are good people and bad people, the same is true of Digimon. In fact, right now in the Digital World... some people I care about very much are fighting side by side with Digimon against a terrible person and his Digimon. They're fighting for their families, and for all of you. It will be a difficult battle. But it's worthwhile.

I hope that, one day, Digimon won't be feared just because what they can do, or even revered for what they can do. They're people, like you or me. They just happen to be Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Was that good?

Another take!?

I guess I'll see you all on the next Digitake?

Oh, come on Lopmon, Terriermon would have laughed!

Fair... that's not something to be proud of...