Digimon: Symbiosis (Remastered)

by Dragon Champion Zero

Everything changed the night the sky lit up. Now, with everything in two worlds laying on the line, they'll have to join together to survive and overcome - in the most literal sense possible.

6. Chapter 6: Five For Fighting

I'm hunkered down inside because the the air outside is an active health hazard. Perfect time to upload another chapter, I guess!

---

Chapter 6: Five For Fighting

—

Nighttime was not the usual time for Reyn to be out and about. As far as he was concerned, night was when you were supposed to wind down and relax. A certain friend of his didn't see it the same way, of course, but that was more just a shifted schedule than anything else as far as Reyn was concerned. Still, given the circumstances, there was a benefit to going out after dark - namely, a lot less trouble keeping Salmandmon from being spotted.

Salmandmon seemed to be all for it, too, though still curious about a few things. "Why'd we have to sneak out if your parents are both at work?"

"Wally."

"Ah. No offense, but I don't like him very much."

"I think the feeling's mutual."

Salmandmon shook his head. "I don't get it. He's heard, like, most of what I've told your parents, definitely the most important stuff. Why's he being such a whiner about it when your parents are handling everything crazy well?"

Reyn shook his head. "If I had the answer, I'd tell you. But it wouldn't surprise me if it was just because you were so close to me. Wally…doesn't exactly like me much, either."

"You know, I feel like I got that impression from some of those dreams. But why? He doesn't seem like he has a problem with your other siblings."

"…It's complicated. I think he blames me for our family moving around so much. Not that he's…entirely wrong on that, I guess, but honestly, it's not like I wanted it, either. I just wanted a place where I could be accepted, have some friends, not get turned into an instant pariah over something that wasn't really my choice. But…well, it was hard to find."

Salmandmon cocked his head. "Huh? You don't seem that weird to me."

Reyn gave a bit of a wry laugh. "Being fireproof isn't exactly a normal thing over here, bud."

"Oh, that. But they can't even see that, how would they know?"

"You'd think it'd be an easy thing to hide, wouldn't you? I don't know, sometimes it feels like the universe just…wanted it to be thrust out into the open. First it was the house fire when I was a baby…it bothered a lot of people that I was in one of the most burned-out rooms there was and yet somehow I wasn't remotely harmed. Then when I was five, I was playing with a ball with someone and it got thrown into a bonfire…I wasn't even thinking about it when I went to get it, I just didn't want the ball destroyed, but suddenly everyone was saying I was some kind of freak. Then when I was eight, one of Wally's friends thought it would be enormously hilarious to have me grab hot stuff and laugh when I didn't react to it…it wasn't so funny when some of the local religious nutjobs started calling me a spawn of Satan when they heard about it. And then when I was eleven…this one hurts the most, I think. I had gotten to thinking that if I did something with my weirdness, maybe people would see it as a good thing. Blame superhero comics for that, it gave me some ideas about that sort of thing. And I got a chance…I was walking home from school one day when I saw a huge plume of smoke. A house was on fire, the woman had just gotten back and was screaming about her dog…she'd gone out but she'd accidentally turned on the oven without realizing it, and her dog was in a kennel inside. So I ran in, found the dog, got it out, and managed to escape with the dog despite stuff starting to cave in as I was trying to get out. You'd think that would have done it…"

"They seriously got on your case even after that?!" exclaimed Salmandmon.

"Yep. Well, the woman didn't, she was all gratitude and heartfelt thanks, she couldn't have been happier. But other people…there's always people out there who feel like anything that isn't 'normal' needs to be attacked into submission. That I could come out with no burns, no damage whatsoever, they couldn't stand it. So they turned me into a public menace…even had some of them suggesting that I started the fire just so I could play hero, even after it was confirmed that it was an accident."

"What a load! I can't believe they'd be that nasty! What, were they jealous or something?"

Reyn shook his head. "I doubt it. I was just…different. And that was a problem for them. And that was the last move, when we came here…but Wally was furious. He'd put up with the others because they had been accidental exposures, but this was the one time that I had deliberately put myself in the line of fire, so to speak, and he blamed me for having to move again. I don't know WHY, really, because it wasn't like he had all that much going for him there, he'd dropped out of community college and didn't have a job or a girlfriend…I guess maybe it was just the principle of the thing."

"And you think that's what's got him so annoyed with you? I mean, are you sure it isn't the many, many flammable things in your room?"

"Hey, I've always been VERY careful with fire. Even if I do like starting them, I like starting them responsibly."

"Hey, I'm not judging at all!" Salmandmon protested with a laugh. "I like starting fires, too. Particularly with my mouth or my mind. But I know that that makes people nervous when they're in an area where things are flammable. Or where THEY are flammable."

"If that was the case, he could just SAY something. Which makes me think that's not the case, because he won't talk about what his beef is with me. And I think it's gotten worse since I started actually sticking up for myself, he doesn't like that I'm willing to back-talk him. So, yeah, it's entirely possible that he's just projecting his dislike of me onto you, but without knowing what's really up with him, I don't know for sure."

"Well, hopefully literally saving his ass from a messy death at the hands of omnicidal maniacs will get you some credit with him." Salmandmon didn't exactly sound convinced of his own words, though.

The two quieted down as they approached where they were hoping to find Derek and Blackcanismon. Their fortune was good, as they eventually saw the two walking about a block in front of them, seemingly unaware of their presence. Reyn motioned for Salmandmon to keep it down as they approached, trying to sneak up on them; they made it to within about ten feet of them when Derek spoke up. "Reyn, I've told you a dozen times, I know when I'm being followed."

"Dang, thought I mighta had you this time. Should've figured you'd catch my scent."

Derek turned around, looking at Reyn with mild exasperation. "Was that a werewolf crack? I know Isaac's been making that joke forever, but I thought you were above that."

"You might wanna get used to it," Reyn replied with a grin. "Consider: when we've fused together, we become like the digimon we partner with. What's your partner?"

"…God dammit. I'm gonna be a wolf dude, aren't I?" Derek let out a groan. "Fine. I guess there's no getting away from the cracks now…"

"Perchance might you have endeavored to encounter us for purposes beyond casual harassment of my compatriot?" Blackcanismon asked in mild annoyance.

"Nah, that's just a bonus," Salmandmon snickered. "Listen, Isaac called us a little bit ago. He and Data were trying some stuff out to help him find possible digimon signals in town, and he thinks he might've picked up on one not too far from here…uh, Reyn'll know the details, I don't know anywhere we're supposed to be going."

"You don't think we can handle it on our own?" asked Derek.

"It's just…you two haven't gone through it yet, so we wanted to be careful. If something did happen, better to have someone there to help out, right?"

"I suppose you're right…so where are we supposed to go?"

"The 800 block of Kassper Street was where the signal was supposedly coming in," reported Reyn. "But if it's moved, you might be the ones who can sniff him out."

"My olfactory organs shall be hypervigilant," asserted Blackcanismon. "Let us not tarry."

—

It took about 20 minutes for the quartet to reach Kassper Street. It was a quiet street in the middle of the neighborhood, not well-lit and certainly not bustling even in the height of the day, much less that time of night. Perfect conditions for them to walk safely…but also perfect conditions for an enemy digimon to hide out and ambush someone, or lay low until it was busier and then create maximum mayhem.

"Tch…I always hated night missions," Salmandmon muttered as they made their way down the street towards the indicated block. "Always made me more anxious than any others…feels like no matter where you are, something can sneak through the shadows and ambush you."

"Tranquilize yourself, Salmandmon," Blackcanismon said evenly. "Our elemental affinity will illuminate any miscreants attempting to assail you."

"Nothing about you is 'illuminating', bud. Least of all your vocabulary."

"My apologies. I shall endeavor to deobfuscate my statements via intellectual degradation to facilitate your understanding."

"…Okay, I KNOW that was a diss."

"You can't keep up with us in the night, Sal," Derek stated, with a subtle note of amusement. "This is our time, and we're at our peak here."

"Yeah, let's just hope our enemy isn't feeling the same way," Reyn countered. "Not too far away now, I think that's 1103."

"Right, we're close…hold up." Derek stopped, Reyn almost running into him. Before Reyn could ask what was up, the taller boy hushed him. Everything remained quiet for a moment; Reyn and Salmandmon were just standing there with bewildered looks, watching the other two as they did whatever they were doing. "…There. The house after the next, in the back yard."

"That's not even the 800 block!" exclaimed Reyn.

"Presumably our rapscallions are naturally equally capable of ambulation as ourselves," Blackcanismon remarked.

"It's there. I'm sure of it." Derek had no hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Well, I'm gonna go with the guy who's in his element," said Salmandmon. "Any details you can add to that?"

"It's…a a fairly big presence. Not Aquilamon big, but definitely bigger than a human."

"I detect a faint odiferousness wafting through the nocturnal air," Blackcanismon reporting, nose up and sniffing. "An unpleasant tenor at that…doubtless our interloper is an Ogremon."

"Sounds like our cue to act." Salmandmon patted Reyn's leg. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's do this." The two joined hands, and soon their forms warped together, melding into the ever-more-familiar shape of Burnreptimon.

"Phew…feels like that gets quicker to finish every time." Burnreptimon looked down at Derek and Blackcanismon, who had covered their eyes. "Eh? What's the matter?"

"That was WAY bright, dude," hissed Derek. "You'd better hope no one saw that!"

"It is? Sorry, I haven't seen it from that end before. I'm just gonna zip in, blast that brute, and then zip out. Hopefully as quick as that."

"Discretion is highly advised, Burnreptimon," warned Blackcanismon. "The proximity to the citizenry is as maximal as it's liable to be."

"Yeah, I know. I'll make it quick, you guys try to watch out for anything." Burnreptimon took off, rushing towards the indicated house, Derek and Blackcanismon slowly making their way that direction.

"…You provided no indication of desiring to assist in this engagement," noted the canine quietly.

"Yeah, I know…I just…need to calm my nerves a bit." Derek felt especially tense now…they were going to have to get involved at some point, sooner was better than later, but there was still a pang within him, wondering if he was really ready to face what he needed to face. If he had the luxury of a bit more time, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to take it.

—

Burnreptimon landed after a leap over a gate leading to the backyard. It wasn't strictly necessary, he probably could have opened it easily, but he didn't want to take the chance of it squealing - his soft landing on the grass behind was much more discreet. It wasn't difficult to spot the Ogremon hiding in the trees back behind the house, which didn't seem to be fenced in from behind; he could see into the yards of a couple other houses back there as well. The big green brute could have his pick of targets if he wanted. But the way his jaw dropped when Burnreptimon rushed forward, he clearly only had one at the moment. "What the devil are you?!"

"You won't live long enough to care," growled Burnreptimon, trying to be as quiet as possible. He doubted Ogremon was interested in returning the courtesy, so he wanted to make this nice and fast, leaping in and landing a forceful punch to Ogremon's jaw. The creature staggered, and received another gut punch follow-up, knocking him to the ground. Burnreptimon jumped back, readying a Pyre Rush…then realized that was a bad idea, that would light things up far too much and created too much risk of starting an actual fire where there was ample fuel and a lot of lives at risk. Dammit, I'll have to get up close and try to Flare Fang him…wait, I can use this.

Rather than unleashing the energy from his Pyre Rush, he channeled it inward, letting the heat and energy permeate through his body. His heartbeat accelerated, and he felt his muscles loosen up…this was definitely a significant boost, and he rather liked how it felt. Unfortunately, it gave Ogremon a chance to recover, the brutish creature snarling at him. "Right, you're gonna pay for that!"

"Sure." Burnreptimon leapt in again, delivering another punch that Ogremon took to the arm, then a kick to the back that knocked Ogremon a bit off-kilter. As he attempted to follow up, though, Ogremon struck back, swinging his club and catching Burnreptimon in the chest, tossing him back. The blow was hard, and the landing wasn't much softer, forcing the reptile to try to regain his bearings. Oof…okay…first real hit I've taken…had to happen sometime. I'm fine, shake it off, I can do this.

He launched himself to his feet again, just in time to see Ogremon charging at him. The overhead swing he was preparing was an incredibly risky move, but would be loud even if it missed…Burnreptimon took the opportunity that presented itself and launched into a fierce gut punch that drove the wind out of Ogremon and sent him flying backward. He was up again, looking weary but still murderous as Burnreptimon charged in, swinging his club once more. The reptile dodged underneath and swung around behind him, jumping on Ogremon's back and holding on tight. "Time to die, Ogremon. Flare Fang!" Before Ogremon could dislodge him, Burnreptimon sank blazing-hot fangs into the creature's neck, and let loose a blazing blast that incinerated him from the inside out. The Ogremon let out a howl that was a little too loud for the lizard's liking as he fell forward onto his knees, then pitched forward again as Burnreptimon let go of him, dissipating before he hit the ground fully.

Burnreptimon wiped his mouth of the blood, feeling a bit unsteady. Damn…that was…messier than I would've liked…but it had to end quickly, didn't have a lot of options… He shook his head, trying to cast away the unpleasant thoughts. No one had ever said this would be nice and neat, what mattered was that it was over.

Or, at least, that was what he thought as he started to head towards the yard to get back out, when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Three points of pain piercing him rather ruthlessly, and might have gone deeper if he hadn't suddenly pitched forward, barely avoid the worst of it as he rolled to turn and face the attacker. "Boogeymon!"

—

"Dammit!" Derek had noticed the other presence only after Ogremon had been taken care of, and there hadn't been time to warn Burnreptimon of it. He'd heard the loud hiss of pain, and knew that it had to be Burnreptimon…the wound would put him at a decided disadvantage, and the other enemy was a flier, he could easily stay out of range.

"Derek, intervention is of the utmost importance," Blackcanismon urged him. "It is necessary that you abandon your reservations immediately."

"I know…it's…it's time, we've got to do it…" Easier said than done, though, Derek's heart was racing, he felt almost like he might pass out. Hearing the pain in that sound brought home just how serious this all was…

"Derek, please…recall that determination you had upon discovery of these capacities," pleaded the canine. "Ample courage is a necessity in these endeavors…you have demonstrated the capacity already, the remainder is summoning what exists within your spiritual essence…" It wasn't doing enough, he could still see Derek struggling…he laid a paw against the human's leg. "Derek…we can do this."

The sudden change jolted Derek a bit as he looked down at Blackcanismon…it was the first time he'd dropped his normal way of speaking. No eloquence, no ambiguity, as straightforward as he could be…just to tell him that he believed in him. And whether it was just being snapped out of his thoughts or the show of support, it righted his head. "Yeah…this is our time, we can't be outdone here. Let's go." His hand went to cover that paw, and already he could feel the resonance between them. Burnreptimon…hang in there, we're on the way.

The forms of Derek and Blackcanismon dissolved into a darkness that was almost radiant, darkening the area around it with its sheer potency. As with the others, their bodies were drawn into a sphere, blacker than anything most would ever see in their lives, black enough that it wasn't even clear it WAS seen. As the shape coalesced, it formed a figure that was almost equally dark, the form as inky and nebulous as could be, vaguely twisted into the shape of a wolf. As it took to the ground, its legs seemed to almost melt into the shadows, and then so quickly did the rest of it, disappearing into the ground almost as if it had never been there at all.

But it was far from gone…no, it was as there as could be, as in its element as it could be. And it was ready.

It came back to the yard, unseen, watching as Burnreptimen struggled against Boogeymon, trying to leap and swipe the taunting imp, only to get knocked back if he ever got close. "Damn you! Get down here and fight!"

"Now why would I bother doing that? It's so much more fun torturing you." Boogeymon certainly looked like he was enjoying himself, with a grin that almost split his face. "I don't know what you are or why you're pretending to be one of us, but anyone who stands in the way of the Purification deserves a painful death."

"To hell with you and your purification!" hissed the reptile, desperately trying to remain quiet as he could. The blood streaming down his back was not making that easy, though…it wasn't a fatal wound but it was slowing him down. "You think you're gonna avoid Ogremon's fate? I'll finish you off too!"

"Oh, come on, you can't tell I'm the one with the advantage here? Deluded fool. I'm going to enjoy torturing you until you finally succumb." Boogeymon pointed his trident down at Burnreptimon, as the points glowed with a sinister red energy; Burnreptimon barely managed to dodge out of the way as beams shot out of it, puncturing the ground. "You can't keep this up forever, fool. I'll get you eventually, and then watch the hope and life drain out of your eyes as I slowly skewer you."

"I have a better idea." Boogeymon started and whipped around, looking around for the almost disembodied voice. "We should level the playing field somewhat."

"Wha-where are you? Show yourself!"

"Oh, come on, you wanted to play dirty, why should I play any fairer? Nightmare Tangle!" Suddenly, the very shadows themselves seemed to reach out, snatching Boogeymon and dragging him down as he tried to struggle to escape. The demon swiped at a couple of them with his trident, but others took their place rapidly, leaving him to struggle and curse.

Burnreptimon was so engrossed in the scene in front of him that he didn't notice someone had appeared next to him, and jumped a bit when he heard the voice to his right. "It's all right to retreat and ask for help, you know."

"Gah! Don't spook me like that!" Burnreptimon stood upright, looking down at the smaller figure next to him; it wasn't exactly the most imposing-looking frame, rather lean and nearly a foot shorter than he was, but the formless appearance of his body was rather intimidating in its own right - the only actual visible features on him were two glowing orbs where the eyes would be. "So…I'm guessing you two decided you were ready to get involved then."

"Indeed. Call me Darkvargmon. And mind the crazy demon trying to attack you."

"Wha? Yow!" Burnreptimon had to dive and roll as Boogeymon fired another round from his trident, causing the two to separate. The demon finally pulled free from most of the tangles, but one caught around his ankle as he tried to take flight again, and Burnreptimon leapt in and landed a left hook, right hook, and uppercut, sending the demon sprawling. Boogeymon got up slowly, glaring evilly at Burnreptimon.

"You…you think I'm scared of either of you? Both of you are nothing compared to the power of Emperius!"

"We'll see about that." From behind Boogeymon, Darkvargmon appeared again, arm outstretched as pulsing darkness gathered in it. "Perish, Boogeymon! Shadow Wave!" A powerful burst of dark energy fired out, enveloping Boogeymon just as he flapped into the air. The powerful blast enveloped and ravaged him, and Burnreptimon took a chance and added his Pyre Wave into the mix, less worried about firing it upwards away from the trees at least. That was enough to take down Boogeymon, who dissolved with an agonized wail.

Of course, the ruckus had been a lot more than either had hoped for, especially with the light from the flames. "Book it!" Darkvargmon rasped harshly, and Burnreptimon didn't need telling twice, taking off and launching himself back over the gate, leaving the yard a bit messed up but thankfully unscorched.

—

The pain in Burnreptimon's back was finally starting to fade as he reached Linden Park, the closest place away from houses that he could find nearby. It wasn't exactly the most sheltered area, but in the darkness it didn't matter quite as much. He was panting pretty hard, feeling more worn out than last time…taking hits like that was definitely not optimal, and he'd probably expended a lot more energy than was wise against Boogeymon. Strategy was definitely something to work on.

"Took you long enough." And nearly leaping out of his skin wasn't helping him either, as he whipped around to see the glowing eyes of Darkvargmon in the shadows, barely able to make out anything else.

"Would you NOT scare me like that, please?"

"That takes all the fun out of being able to phase through the shadows, though."

"Yeah, you're having fun out there while I'm getting flesh wounds. How does my back look?"

Darkvargmon shifted forward (it hardly looked like walking, his body seemed to slide along the ground) and took a look at Burnreptimon's back; the wounds had closed up rather nicely, blood no longer flowing freely. "It looks like it's recovered pretty cleanly. After just minutes at that…perhaps these hybrid forms have rather potent regenerative capabilities, even more than the average digimon. Still, I would advise not trying to test their limitations."

"Gee, thanks, I couldn't have figured THAT out. We should probably split apart before someone notices me."

"I'm on board with that." The two became four again, separating rapidly and retaking their original shapes, a process that was getting less disorienting for Reyn and Salmandmon every time they did it…a little bit more so for Derek and Blackcanismon's first-time experience. "Whoof…that makes your head spin BAD," Derek remarked, trying to shake it off.

"It'll get better, I'm almost not noticing it now," observed Reyn.

"Well, I suppose I've got that to look forward to. Probably won't be long before I'm doing this again."

"Probably not…uh, thanks for the save back there. I had no idea there was another one there."

"Regrettably, nary a one among us registered the alternate presence prior to its interference," Blackcanismon said apologetically. "Boogeymon obfuscates itself in shadow, much as Darkvargmon is typically capable of, and delivers cowardly ambushes to undermine its antagonists to offset its distinct lack of confrontational strength."

"I guess there are things that can even hide from you guys, huh?" sighed Salmandmon.

"Those of the darkness are undoubtedly possessed of potential invisibility even to us of parallel alignment, regrettably."

"It's fine," Reyn said. "We got them both in the end, that's what matters. And what matters now is that I get back home and get to bed before someone finds out I was out here. Or before I keel over from exhaustion…how do you manage to do this every night?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Easy. I sleep in the afternoon."

Reyn paused, then laughed a bit. "Oh, right. Yeah, that would make sense. Well, you guys probably won't need us to be playing escort, I guess…but if you ever want help, let us know."

"Same to you," replied Derek with a nod.

—

When Reyn woke up the next morning, the first surprise was that Salmandmon was still snoozing in bed next to him. The second was that it was after 11 AM and he hadn't been interrupted. At first he wondered if he should head back to bed, but his movements roused Salmandmon, putting the kibosh on that.

"Oh wow…jeez, I, like, never sleep in like this…" Salmandmon was shaking off the tiredness in a hurry, though, faster than Reyn was…the human was almost a little envious. "No one cares that we're sleeping in like this?"

"Mom and Dad are probably asleep themselves, since they both worked late." Reyn stretched and yawned. "I don't mind it, though…wouldn't mind sleeping in this late every day. Darn school won't let me, though."

"I thought your school was canceled?"

"I mean, like, normally. But yeah, if not them, no one else is gonna care. Cayden and Alisin sure don't have any skin in how late I sleep."

Salmandmon grinned cheekily. "What about the big dunce?"

Reyn snorted. "There might be another reason he doesn't like you."

"Hey, I'ma give as good as I get. And it doesn't seem like he picked up the top-of-the-line core data set, if you catch my drift."

"Hey, watch it, those are my parents you're commenting on with that."

"Not necessarily, maybe there was a bug in his system."

"He's not THAT bad. Just lazy. And inept. And has no real drive to do anything. And kind of has a temper. And doesn't listen to people. And…you know what, let's just say you're right and move on."

Salmandmon snickered. "You know it's true. Hey, how're you feeling? I had some trouble getting to sleep because my back still hurt a bit, but I'm not feeling it at all anymore."

"About the same as you." Reyn rubbed his eyes a bit. "Could've been a lot worse, though, if Darkvargmon hadn't joined when he did."

"Yeah…" Salmandmon fell quiet. That was pretty rough…maybe we should try to make sure we're not fighting one-on-one as much as possible. We aren't always going to have the luxury, but when we do…

"Yeah, you're right, it's probably a good idea. Especially when we could be fighting someone who doesn't really mesh well with our battle style…we aren't exactly apex air fighters, right?"

Salmandmon did a double-take. "What?"

Reyn looked back at him. "What?"

"Why are you talking like I said something?"

"Didn't you?"

"No!"

"Huh? I swore I heard you…"

"No, I didn't say a…well, I said 'yeah' but then you started talking about something different…"

"Oh…huh…maybe I'm just tired still…" Reyn rubbed his eyes again. Sheeze, am I imagining things? I swore Salmandmon was just talking about making sure we don't fight one-on-one…

"Okay, Reyn, seriously, cut it out, I didn't say anything."

Now it was Reyn's turn to look at the lizard in confusion. "Wh…I didn't say you did."

"But you just…I know you did, I heard it clear as day."

"I swear, my mouth didn't open after I said I was tired. You're a lizard, don't get batty on me."

"…Wait a sec…" Salmandmon put his hands on his head. "This doesn't make sense. We're not just both hearing things. Something else is going on. And it can't be someone pranking us, they wouldn't know…what's going on…"

"Salmandmon?"

"In our heads…Reyn. You thought I said something about not fighting one-on-one, right?"

"…Yes?"

"Well, I didn't say anything…but…I was THINKING it."

"…What? Wait, hold on. You're not seriously saying I heard your THOUGHTS, are you?"

Maybe I am. Reyn jumped a bit. The words were in his head, as clear as they could possibly be, but Salmandmon's mouth hadn't moved one bit. "Okay, you totally picked up on that."

"Shut up! You can't be serious."

"I'm not gonna goof of on something like that! Come on, think something at me."

Reyn had no idea what to think, so he thought the only thing he could. This is absolutely crazy and there's no way that this is actually happening.

Salmandmon grinned. "Everything here is absolutely crazy, this isn't even that far off the current normal."

Reyn shook his head. "Lucky guess."

"But this IS crazy, Reyn! I mean, I know I've got some skills at my back, but telepathy was never one of them! And I don't count those strange dreams, that's not something I can CONTROL, you know?"

"So where did they come from?" asked Reyn, before he realized what a silly question that was. "Wait, no, duh, I'm an idiot. Of COURSE they had to come from us combining together like that. Our minds are connected when we're like that…maybe the connection just never went away last time?"

"Why not that time, when it did the other times, though?"

"…Are you asking me like I have the answers?"

"Oh, right. Well, we need to learn more about this! I mean, if this is something we're getting, the others are gonna be getting it too, we need to tell them everything we know about it, and we don't know enough! Like, how much control do we have, can we block out thoughts, what kind of range does it have-"

"Okay, okay, settle down, you're starting to sound like Skylar." At least Reyn was fully awake now, the sudden new discovery effectively shaking off his sleep. "We'll get to figuring out some stuff, but not until I've had some breakfast. I'm not experimenting on an empty stomach."

"Oh, yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm not much good on an empty stomach either."

"I'm not sure you have anything other than an empty stomach, considering how much food you can inhale. I don't think I've ever seen you get full, you just get to the point where you stop eating because you have to or someone makes you."

The lizard chortled a bit. "Gotta keep the furnace running, baby. C'mon, let's get to it already!"

—

"They didn't even respond!"

"Didn't you just tell me you got something back?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't a real response! It was just 'thank you for contacting us, we're glad you're taking an interest in keeping our country safe and secure,' blah blah blah! It was a damn form letter, Reyn! They're ignoring us completely!"

"Isaac, settle down."

That was definitely not what Isaac wanted to hear. "Settle down?! We're freaking dealing with giant monsters out here, just like five of us against five million of them, and the people who could help are just blowing us off! How the hell can I settle down?! I knew this was the wrong thing, we should be blowing out a bunch of e-mails to someone who'll give a damn-"

"ISAAC." Reyn's voice cut through, silencing Isaac. "RELAX. This isn't really going that much different from how I thought it would."

"…it's not?"

"Of course not. You're telling a bunch of very serious, very busy people that monsters from another world are invading. Would you believe it if you hadn't been on this side of it? Besides, I'm pretty sure they just send form replies any time they get something. That at least tells us that they got it - and after the Aquilamon business, they'll have to be taking some notice of it now, don't you think?"

"Y…yeah, I guess…"

"Just keep it up, Isaac. Keep working with Skylar to send more information. Even if they aren't coming to talk to you, they're going to be interested in what you have to say. I'm sure they're taking all that into account when trying to figure out their response, because you know someone up there has their eyes on this, there's no way they can't."

Isaac took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah, you're probably right…I guess we'll just keep it up, then. I wish they'd actually say something back, though. I don't like the idea of just talking at them and hoping."

"There's a ton not to like about all of this. All we can do is do what we can."

"Yeah, I guess…anyway, I got a message from Skylar that he and Iris are heading out to Glikke Field again. Didn't tell me what it was about, but they were going back to that spot where, uh, you first showed your thing. You coming?"

"Ah, I don't think so. I was out last night with Derek, and I want to make sure we're actually recovered after that battle. Taking shots is definitely no fun, let me tell you…I'm lucky Derek and Blackcanismon were able to jump in in time."

"Man…can't believe I'm the one bringing up the rear," groused Isaac. "I'm just gonna have to be the best of all of us to make up for being slower."

Reyn chuckled a bit. "Hey, just so long as you're able to keep pace with the rest of us in the end, I'm not going to be complaining. But by all means, go ahead and be the best, I'll gladly let you be the one mowing down enemies left and right."

"Hah, you just know that'll be what I do, too. Uh, but I guess I should ask if you're all right, if you're that concerned."

"I think so, I'm just trying to be cautious. It SEEMS like we sort of heal up when we separate, but there's a lot we don't know, and I don't want to find out I'm ruining my body from the inside out without knowing it. Besides, I'm probably gonna be running around helping Sal test our telepathy thing, and knowing him I'm gonna be running ALL over the place, as much as he wants me to be exercising."

Isaac blinked a bit, going silent for a few seconds. "Uh…what…telepathy thing?"

"Oh, did I not tell you that already?"

That got a facepalm from Isaac. "Right…let's start at the beginning with that, because that sounds like something I MIGHT want to know about…"

—

"Tell me again why we're going out trekking this far away rather than meeting somewhere closer by?" There was no question that trying to talk to what looked like nothing was a bit awkward…Isaac wasn't about to tell Datacarnomon to drop the cloaking, though. It was enough of a risk for him just to speak, even if he'd tuned the volume down.

"Wasn't my idea. They said they wanted to go out there and we were welcome to come by. But you make a good point, it's not a very good meeting spot. Not central to where we live, way too far away…I mean, it's out of the way, at least, but that's about all it's got going for it."

"You know, I could run some triangulation tests on a map, give you some ideas for places where you might be able to meet up that are much more efficient. You'd have to vet the locations yourself, since I know jack-all about this place, but I have to imagine it'd be better than this."

"Ooh, that's a good idea. Let's do that when we get back. We all should be meeting up soon anyway."

"Hm? You have something in mind?"

"Definitely, had it in mind for a while now." Isaac paused as he carefully looked down the road - less for cars and more for people. The attack the day before had driven most people inside, but there were still a few people who were either bold or foolish enough to venture out, and Datacarnomon's cloaking wasn't perfect. In this case, though, they were alone, and continued without incident. "I think we need to meet each other."

"…Uh…am I missing something? Because you all seem to know each other pretty well, and our group's been fighting together for four years."

"Not like that. I mean, the US we."

"Our merged forms? Aren't you jumping the gun just a touch there?"

"What, you think we won't be able to do it? C'mon, I'm already steamed that we're the last ones getting together, don't make it worse by thinking I'm not up for the task!"

Datacarnomon let out a little snort of laughter. "I guess I won't have to do much to psyche you up, then. I'm glad you're feeling ready to go, since Emperius clearly isn't holding much back. But if there's anything that's giving you pause, tell me, because at the last moment is the worst time for cold feet."

"Nothing's giving me pause that wouldn't make me want a sturdier body to deal with it anyway," Isaac insisted resolutely. "Yeah, okay, it's not exactly the nicest thought going up against big to huge monsters with powers I thought I'd only see in video games. But since I'm not actually getting the choice of whether they come over here or not, I might as well face them down in something less squishy than, you know, ME. At least I'm hoping we're less squishy, but c'mon, a robot plus a big guy, there's no way we won't be, right?"

"Probably, yeah. I mean, it IS uncharted territory, but there've been enough consistencies that I think it's safe to venture that'd be the case. Okay, well, that aside, why do you think we need an 'us' get-together?"

"Because of what you just said. Uncharted territory. You didn't know what Burnreptimon even was until he told you. Aside from what we saw and what he told us, you don't know what he can do, not like you do for regular digimon. If we're gonna be fighting together, we should have some idea what we're each like, and who would know better than the guy that exists when we're us?"

"I mean…we COULD just write up profiles or something."

"Eh, mayyyyybe…but I don't think that's a good substitute. And, anyway, didn't Burnreptimon say he wasn't really just Reyn and Sal? If there's a new personality there, shouldn't we get familiar with that, too?"

"Heh…well, I dunno, but something tells me there's not gonna be any talking you out of it," chuckled Datacarnomon.

"Of course not! You know I'm right. People don't generally talk me out of anything! That's what happens when you're one of the best and the brightest!"

"Generally not, yeah…unless they're Reyn. Was quite the odd experience watching you push back like your life depended on it against Skylar, but Reyn pushed you and you retreated."

"Oh…uh…" Isaac rubbed the side of his head. "That was…well, look, I…I just…Reyn's…different."

"He is?"

"Yeah. It's kinda hard to explain, but there's just this…way about him that makes it different when he, uh, pushes, I guess…I wouldn't even call it pushing, really. Maybe it'll be easier to explain by example…"

~~~3 1/2 years ago~~~

Envy. Jealousy. Contempt. Bitterness. I always had to put up with a LOT of crap in school.

It went back to my earliest years. I was always ahead of the rest of the class. I was an earlier reader, and well ahead of my peers in reading level. I breezed through all the math they tried to throw at me, and might've been even further ahead if they had known how to actually teach it to me. I was better at writing, and quickly figured out how computer programming worked. And I was a builder - I made things more complicated than anyone else in class, just using materials like Legos, and I LOVED to show off what I built. As school got more advanced, I got better chances to show what I was really capable of, shooting easily to the top of my class.

But genius is always derided by jealous fools. And there were plenty of people who derided me. They didn't like how smart I was, and they didn't like that I wasn't afraid to show it off. See, I was definitely not the only 'smart kid' in class - I'm pretty sure I was the best of them, but there were certainly others who were closer to me than to the rest. But the difference is that they learned pretty quick to act like they weren't, because they got pushed around and treated rudely just for showing that they were smart. They kept their heads down and it kept them from getting the negative attention they didn't want. But I wasn't going to do that, because I thought it was stupid. Why be smart if you're not gonna use it, right? So I didn't hide it, and that got me a good bit of crap. But nothing I couldn't handle.

Okay, I'll admit, there was a reason I could deal with it better than the others: I was BIG. I was routinely the biggest kid in class as well as the smartest. That's not how it normally goes, usually brains and brawn are entirely different worlds, but not for me - and I've made sure to keep it that way, I hit the gym now and then to keep enough in shape that no one's gonna think they can push me around for being smarter than them. So they couldn't deal with me the way they would've done with others, and that meant they had to try to get to me in other ways. Most of the time, that meant trying to 'humiliate' me by catching me in a mistake. Waiting for me to make a rare error and then jump in with the right answer and then try to act smug that they got something I didn't. Like they thought they were going to absolutely DESTROY me if they ever outdid me. Honestly I used that against them more than they did against me, I loved making them think I was getting the wrong answer and then seeing the looks on their faces when I showed them that I had it right all along. Yeah, it didn't make me terribly popular or liked, but I didn't really care, I didn't need their approval, and I was fine as long as I could avoid them.

And avoid them I did. I didn't associate with any of them beyond the bare minimum necessary. And that suited everyone fine. But then middle school threw a wrench in things, with the dreaded Team Projects. Forcing you to work with others, because 'teamwork is so important' and all that nonsense. Yeah, it IS, but not when the team hates each other's guts! Suffice it to say, I didn't like team projects much…except with one person.

It was early in my first year in middle school. Science class. Honestly, it would have been my favorite class by a parsec if not for the fact that every lab needed to be done with at least one partner. The teacher was one of THOSE types. I had managed to get away with not being paired with anyone for the first one only, but attempt number 2 ended in failure, and the teacher decided if I wasn't going to choose a partner I was going to be assigned one. And so he assigned one to me - some red-haired kid I barely knew, he hadn't been in my school until that year, named Reynard Kessilik.

Now, looking at Reyn today, you'd never know it was the same kid. I don't think I've ever seen anyone as shy and evasive as he was. He barely even wanted to look at me…I'm pretty sure he was intimidated. And I really didn't care. All I said at the start was "Listen, kid, I know what I'm doing, so just follow along and don't be annoying, and this'll all go fine." And he just nodded, and as it started, it sure seemed like that was what was going on. I took the lead, he mostly just did what I told him to, which wasn't much, and I was more or less getting to do my thing. I don't think the teacher appreciated that it wasn't exactly a total team effort, but hey, I was doing the work, Reyn was still a 'partner', he couldn't really complain.

It was partway through when it happened. Part of the lab was doing the equations to figure out how much of a certain product we were supposed to get. I was talking to Reyn about it, showing him what I was doing and telling him exactly what we were going to get as we worked our way towards it. And then he's giving me this look like he doesn't understand.

"You look lost. Want me to explain it again?"

"N-no, I think…I think I get it…but…is that…the right number?"

"Of course it is. It's pretty simple subtraction, I don't screw that up."

"Oh…well…I got a different number…do you think you can, uh, show me what I did wrong?"

I remember rolling my eyes, thinking, what was I, the teacher? But what the heck, it wasn't a complicated problem. So I took a look at his worksheet…and then I had a moment, because, as far as I could tell, he'd done it all correctly. But it definitely was NOT the number I got. So I went back through mine, and his, and what was on the board. And you wouldn't believe the spike that went through me when I realized that I was the one who made the mistake. It wasn't that I did my equation wrong - it was that I had the wrong number to start with. I'd transposed two of the digits from the whiteboard. A simple thing to do, easy to miss, but leading me completely down the wrong path.

Now, I don't lose my cool that easy. Heck, it's not like I think I'm immune to making mistakes, I CAN in fact be wrong at times, even if those times are pretty few and far between. But…well, I was new to middle school. It was a different way of doing things, and it was the first time in a while that I was actually not the big fish, which meant I was…maybe a little more insecure than I normally was. And it was just, at that moment, unacceptable that I could let someone slip through my defenses and crow about an error that I really should have been able to catch quickly. So, I did the only thing I could think of.

"Hah! Not bad! I was testing you, making sure you were paying attention. I mean, I can't do ALL the work here, right?"

Yeah, I know. Not my finest moment. You'd think with my experience feigning mistakes I would have had a better excuse for when I actually made one. And I thought I was going to be called out on it…but Reyn just looked relieved. He didn't poke at me at all, just nodded and smiled a bit and said, "Oh, okay. I wasn't sure, math really isn't something I've always been good at." And just like that, I was able to retake the reins and get past that little bump, and we finished the lab without any further incident.

After class let out, we walked out together. I really hadn't been expecting to feel as good as I did. "Well, that was probably as painless a team assignment as I've ever had. Kind glad you got paired up with me now."

"Yeah…I was glad, too. You really seemed like you knew everything…I wish I could feel like that."

I hadn't been expecting to hear that, and I looked at him in surprise. "Huh?"

"You know…confident, and…sure of yourself. It feels like every time I thought I knew what to do…I just did the wrong thing." Reyn was looking down with this really sad expression. "It's caused me a lot of trouble…I don't really know if I know anything, honestly."

It was just the weirdest moment for me…one of those very rare moments where someone actually DID catch me in something and I WOULD have minded being called out on it, and he just…didn't. Not even an act, he really had thought he'd been the one who was wrong and was just glad that he hadn't been. And…well, I kind felt bad for him right then and there, because, you know, people should feel good about being right. Not that I was great at being encouraging, because that was something I DIDN'T have practice with, but I tried. "Well, I'm sure you'll get there, not everyone gets it right away. But hey, that was a good catch on that equation."

I remember him smiling a bit, weakly. "Y-yeah, I guess…but that was just testing me, right?"

"Uh, yeah, it was, but I mean, that's still a good catch, you were right. And keep that kinda thing up and you'll be right a lot more, right?"

That seemed to make him a bit happier, and I felt oddly happy about that. And from then on, I made sure whenever I could that Reyn was my partner, because I finally found one person that I knew wasn't out to get at me…that was something I didn't want to let go of.

~~~Present Day~~~

"Even though Reyn's definitely gotten a lot more sure of himself since then, he's still always been that kind of person who isn't just…out to challenge you for dominance, I guess." Isaac sighed a bit, a faraway look in his eyes. "It makes it easier to hear him out because I know he's not taking pride in being right at my expense, he's just happy to find out that he's thinking right. And I think it helped me become better about checking myself, and making sure I didn't overlook simple things because I was TOO sure I knew everything. Even if I'm generally still sure I'm right."

"Heh, you and I go together pretty well, then," chuckled Datacarnomon. "Though I suppose I've got access to a LOT more tools to validate things before I speak. Meat CPUs are so lacking, I don't know how you all do it."

"…I could go without hearing the term 'Meat CPU' again for the rest of my life, just so you know."

"I'll file that away to use against you later. Did Reyn ever figure out that you'd been bluffing?"

"Oh, heck, yeah, I'm sure it didn't even take him that long. But he didn't actually call me out on it until well after it mattered, and he didn't have a problem with it, either - in fact he said he was kind of glad I did it, because it made him feel like he'd passed a test or something. So it really all worked out for the best. Now if only I could get the rest of these jokers to be the same way."

"Been endearing yourself to all of them, have you?" remarked Datacarnomon cheekily.

"Shut up, you. I know, they mostly put up with me because I'm Reyn's friend. But can I help it if I don't want to be fake around them? I gotta be me, or it's just a fake friendship. I kinda knew Iris and Derek some back before Reyn came into the picture, I didn't really do much with them but we went to the same school. Skylar didn't come in until later…and that…" Isaac shook his head. "Look, the less said about that, the better, especially since we're going to meet him and I really don't want to have that sorta thing on my mind."

Datacarnomon cautiously dropped his cloaking, seeing as they were crossing Glikke Field and he didn't see anyone around, before looking up pointedly at Isaac. "One of these days you're gonna have to tell me about what it is between the two of you, you know."

"I'm aware. But today will not be that day."

"Tch…fine, but I'll remind you at some point."

"I'll be ready for that."

"Ready to come clean, or ready to make another excuse?"

Isaac smirked. "Take a wild guess."

Datacarnomon let out a snort, but didn't bother pushing further as they headed into the trees. The path they'd taken before wasn't at all distinct anymore, but it wasn't long before they got in enough to see where Iris and Skylar, as well as Shockavimon and Breezedramon, were hanging around. The two headed up towards them, with Datacarnomon's louder footfalls drawing their attention. Skylar let out a huff. "About time you showed up, isn't it?"

"Excuse me, you didn't even set a time," Isaac replied indignantly. "I can't be late if there isn't a set time."

"If someone was going to figure out a way to do that, it'd be you," remarked Iris.

"Kh. You know, I don't HAVE to tell you what Reyn and Salmandmon found out about today if you're gonna be like that."

"Sal found something out?" asked Breezedramon. "Does it have something to do with this whole transferamortization business?"

"Uh, something like that," Datacarnomon confirmed. "But first…what the heck are we doing back here?"

"Mostly, just making sure we didn't leave too much of a presence," Shockavimon replied. "I've been made aware that my feathers are just a BIT on the unusual side as far as this world goes, and also extremely noticeable. We spent a lot of time out here not that long ago, and if they found my traces, they might be inclined to look more deeply into what might not be as easily seen."

"Yeah, my scales are pretty underdetractitectilable compared to her, but if they see them, they could find mine!" Breezedramon chimed in. "And then…who knows what might happen?"

"I'm gonna guess that you have no idea what might happen, goofball," riposted Shockavimon.

"Uh…well…I…uh…something, probably!"

"Moving on…" Skylar saved Breezedramon from having to be pushed further on that. "I was also curious about whether this could work as a serviceable meeting point for us. How out-of-the-way it is is a benefit, since we're trying to be as hard to detect as possible, and having it as a landing point for Boltfalkemon and Skydramon in particular is better than landing in the middle of the city."

Isaac shook his head. "Not a chance. It's TOO out of the way. You might not like it, but we have to find a base in the city, closer to where we all are. It's less secret, but we can't all spend an hour getting here."

"I disagree. Secrecy is paramount, investing a bit of time into it doesn't seem like that bad an idea to me."

"If you think you're going to use this place as a landing pad and NOT get found out, I've got some bad news for you," Datacarnomon jumped in. "They're going to notice you flying over here all the time and that's gonna draw WAY more attention. You want to keep from being traced, you need to drop in inconsistent locations. That's a lot easier to do if you've got a meeting place that's closer to where you might come down."

"He's got a point, Sky," Breezedramon admitted.

Whether Skylar was more annoyed that Isaac was right or by the prospects of what they were suggesting was unclear. "Tch. I guess I have to defer to the experienced ones…but we're taking a huge risk of discovery then. Where in the world are we going to hide in the middle of a crowded city?"

"We'll figure something out," Iris assured him. "And if we get found out…well, let's face it, the two of us are already on a zillion cameras, there's only so much we can do."

"Can we table that discussion until after we find out this important information our hothead friends figured out?" asked Shockavimon. "I'm kinda wanting to know what's going on and if it's gonna affect anything."

"It'll affect something, all right," Isaac declared with a grin. "You're not gonna believe this: they found out they have telepathy between the two of them."

"What?!" All four yelped in shock.

"Yep. Apparently just discovered it this morning, from what he told me. By accident, of course, because Reyn."

"Maybe you need to start including Salmandmon on the calls, he's always good about reporting things," Datacarnomon cracked.

"I'll let you make that suggestion. Anyway, yeah, apparently they've been testing it a bunch this morning. I think they found out that they can pick and choose what to 'path' over, and that it works even with physical barriers between them, though they didn't settle on a distance component-"

"I'm sorry, you 'THINK' you know all this?" Skylar interjected sharply. "This is an incredibly important potential ability and you didn't verify things or write them down? Or, more importantly, ask how it happened?!"

Isaac scowled. "Excuse me, mister 'what took you so long to get here,' how much time did you want me to spend gabbing to Reyn about this? And what makes you think HE knows that much about it, they just figured this out!"

"For something this important, a little more time would have been well spent!"

"Flash point," Datacarnomon mumbled to Breezedramon.

"We really need to get them working together better," groaned Breezedramon. "What I wouldn't give for a quick end to this argument."

As if on cue, a loud, low hum from the direction of the field rumbled through the air, shaking the trees and making them all jump. "What the hell?!" both Isaac and Skylar exclaimed as the whipped towards the direction of the noise, their argument forgotten.

"Right, first person to make a 'be careful what you wish for' crack gets a Wind Sphere to the face or balls, whichever is more painful," Breezedramon growled.

"…Crap." Datacarnomon's voice rang heavy. "A spatial distortion…this has to be a digimon coming through. We're gonna need to act fast." Indeed, they could see a glowing form starting to materialize through the trees - and judging by the size, it was a big one.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Isaac declared. "Let's get to it!"

"You might want to hold that thought, mister 'I haven't been through this yet,'" Skylar snipped.

If there was anything that was going to get Isaac going faster than that, Datacarnomon didn't know what it was. Before his partner could be distracted, he tapped the human on the leg. "Hey, Ike, you talked a big game earlier. Why don't you and I show them you can back it up?"

Isaac shut his mouth, smirking at Skylar. "You know what, Data? You're right. Talk is cheap, let's show them something of value!" He grasped the robot's clawed hand, easing himself into the mindset he'd had before. It wasn't fearless…there was definitely fear there, they were facing something big…but if the others could do it, he easily could, and he'd make sure they knew it.

The others saw soon enough - the two bodies of Isaac and Datacarnomon taking on a silvery glow and meshing together, their fusion quickly dancing before their eyes. And GROWING…the resulting form was undoubtedly the biggest one yet, expanding in size as it formed the new creature. As it took its shape, it yielded a carnosaurian creature which stood a good eight feet tall, with a bulkier body than any of the others, flesh stacked with muscle…at least where it could be seen, when not overshadowed with cybernetic parts. His right arm was metal from the hand up to just under the shoulder, with hoses attached into the shoulder; there was a metal plate on the right side of his head, to which a visor was attached that covered his eyes. A few other small other patches of metal dotted his body and legs. He grinned at the others as he flexed the claws of his metal arm. "Satisfied yet?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," grumbled Skylar. "Of course you'd be half a walking tin can."

"Oy! The name's Andrexmon, don't you forget it! And maybe stop yapping and start merging already!" The newly minted Andrexmon didn't wait up for them, turning and starting to rumble through the trees towards Glikke Field.

"I'm gonna have to agree with that!" Breezedramon declared. "Let's go, Sky!"

"Right, right…" Skylar shook his head and focused on the fusion, he and Breezedramon quickly taking the form of Skydramon once more. Iris and Shockavimon joined them as Boltfalkemon seconds later, just as the shape of the creature started to be visible through the trees. They hurried forward, easily catching up with the much bigger but slower Andrexmon just as they emerged through to see the nastiness. And there was a lot of it, in one particularly oversized package - a green dinosaur creature with two enormous horns on its shoulders.

"Tuskmon…" Boltfalkemon clenched her fist. "Great. As if we didn't already get enough attention. We need to take it out before it can charge any buildings, it won't stop until it's crushed them."

The Tuskmon hadn't noticed them, but it was rearing back a bit, opening its mouth. "Don't you dare roar-" Andrexmon growled, just before it let out a very loud, very imperious roar. "Dammit, what did I JUST say?"

"It's got no ranged attacks!" Skydramon said urgently. "Keep away from it and hit it with everything you've got!"

"Right!"

The three burst out of the trees and immediately charged towards Tuskmon, who swung around at the commotion. It roared again, but Andrexmon took that moment to punish it, shifting his metal arm from a clawed hand to a cannon form in short order and taking aim. "Dino Buster!" He fired off an energy shot into the open maw, hitting the roof of Tuskmon's mouth and making it recoil and screech out.

"While it's distracted!" shouted Skydramon. "Twister Orb!"

"Spark Wave!" Boltfalkemon fired off her electric attack while Skydramon hurled his orb. Both attacks struck on Tuskmon's hide, but Tuskmon didn't even seem to notice, focused on stomping towards Andrexmon as the cyborg fired at its face. "Well…that was unimpressive."

"Its hide is too thick…I need to get in with an Aero Nail and make a weakness!" grumbled Skydramon. "Or aim for the eyes like he is." Another shot impacted right near one of Tuskmon's eyes, making the creature stop its charge and giving Andrexmon time to regroup. "Now seems like a good time for the first one-"

"Wait!" Boltfalkemon stopped Skydramon before he could act. "Do you hear something?"

"Huh?" Skydramon paused, trying to listen…and then he heard it, the drone of insectoid wings, coming their way from behind where they were focused. They turned to see two bogies flying their way, and certainly not ones they would have wanted to see in any context…

"Yeaugh!" blanched Boltfalkemon. "Giant roaches!"

"Well, that IS what Roachmon are," remarked Skydramon. "This should be right up your alley, though! Birds eat bugs, after all!" THWACK "Yow!" Skydramon nearly took a dive as Boltfalkemon gave him a shocking swat on the back of the head. "What was that all about?"

"That was a warning shot," sniped Boltfalkemon. "Next time you say I eat giant revolting bugs, it'll be a WHOLE lot worse!"

"All right, all right, sor-ree! Can we focus our attacks on the actual vermin now?"

"We can't just abandon Andrexmon! He's dealing with a huge dinosaur thing!"

"OY!" Andrexmon make them both jerk around, in time to see Tuskmon take a dive at him. "Deal with the newcomers, I can handle big and ugly! At least I can if I don't have insects buzzing around me at the same time!"

"You heard him!" cackled Skydramon. "Time to fly!"

"Ugh…" Whether Boltfalkemon was really worried about the potential disparity between Andrexmon and Tuskmon or she just didn't want to fight Roachmon was hard to say, but she sucked it up and flew up with Skydramon, meeting the two giant insects in the air. Roachmon were about as nasty as it got, anything that kept company with the sewer and refuse digimon were not pleasant to be around in the slightest…and given that she already didn't have any fondness for insects (or at least one part of her didn't), it was about as bad as it got.

And the Roachmon could tell she wasn't happy, and they weren't at all bothered by that. "Ha ha! Look at the birdy, already looks sick!" guffawed one of them. "This'll be a piece of cake!"

"Lookit them, you can tell they're green as hell, they ain't got nothin' on us!" chortled the other cockily.

"Please, like we're gonna get iced by a couple of insecticide commercial rejects!" taunted Skydramon. "Eat my Twister Orb!" He flung the orb at the pair, which broke off separate from each other. One of them swerved to engage Boltfalkemon while the other tried to flank Skydramon, who quickly rose up in the air, trying to outmaneuver the insect.

The Roachmon facing Boltfalkemon was taking advantage of her aversion by trying to get closer to her while she was moving away. "Whatsa matter, girly? Can't handle the stink of my victory?"

"Whatever the stench is, I need less of it in my life." She flapped her wings and showered the Roachmon with electricity, forcing him back as he got a solid jolt. They aren't that strong, their bodies are pretty vulnerable. You can handle this…the bigger they are, the grosser they fall…

On the ground, Andrexmon was doing his best to keep Tuskmon occupied - it was very focused on him, fortunately, and not on the more vulnerable fliers. But his Dino Buster wasn't able to do that much unless it hit a weak spot, and that was hard to do with a moving target that was making HIM move around all the time. The Tuskmon was not particularly agile, but could charge relatively fast in a straight line…only Andrexmon's side to side movement and efforts to avoid being directly in the line of attack were keeping him safe, but that wasn't going to last forever.

What I need is a better weakness to exploit…one that's easier to hit, and where I could take advantage of if I stunned it. Hm…I think I've got an idea…pulling it off could be dicey, but it's not particularly bright, I think I could goad it into doing what I want.

His strategy seemed paradoxical at first; he stopped and let Tuskmon get a bead on him. His body glowed brightly as he charged up, but Tuskmon either didn't notice or didn't care, rushing at him with heavy stomping footfalls that would have put the fear of god in just about anyone else. But not Andrexmon, who waited until Tuskmon was too close to change course. "Take this! Dino Buster!"

The charged shot that loosed from the cannon was several times more powerful than his regular shot, and hitting Tuskmon square in the jaw flung the dinosaur's head up and back, stopping its charge dead and nearly causing it to crash backwards. While it was swaying in limbo, Andrexmon made his move, rushing forward as fast as he could while switching back to his claw arm. "Energy Claw!" he roared out as he leapt, slashing several deep furrows into Tuskmon's torso, eliciting another pained screech. Andrexmon took a swipe from that huge mitt, thudding to the ground with a grunt, but that was hardly going to take him out, and he could see plenty of freely-running blood down the front of Tuskmon - a nice, open target for his cannon, which he switched back to with a grin.

The sky battle was much more a battle of movement than the raw display of power down below. Skydramon was whizzing around along with his Roachmon bogey, which was trying to outflank him and kick him or punch him. Boltfalkemon was playing keep-away more with her electricity, trying to avoid being pelted with garbage by the disgusting bug. It was clear to both of them what their adversaries were trying to do - Roachmon were known for having high stamina, they were trying to wear the two fusions down and make them vulnerable targets. Neither could wait around for that to happen…they had to make their moves fast, and make them count.

Skydramon, naturally, was the speedier to figure out his strategy. "Take this, bug boy! Twister Orb!" He launched yet another wind orb at the insect, who evaded it as he had the others, and then swung around to cut him off. Skydramon evaded, taking a different direction, suddenly very focused as he tried to outfly the Roachmon…but suddenly, he made a wrong move, putting him smack in the Roachmon's crosshairs, and getting collided with and knocked back.

"Hah! I knew you'd slip up soon enough!" The Roachmon readied a Mega Blaster charge at the dragon, who'd stopped moving around and was hanging in midair. "Emperius will never doubt our power again, once we show them that we've taken out you thorns…why are you grinning?"

Skydramon was indeed grinning, but Roachmon didn't have a chance to find out why before it hit him - quite literally, the Twister Orb smacking into the back of the bug's head. It had taken a lot of concentration to keep that thing held together and active long enough to hunt down its target, but once it hit and dazed the Roachmon, he didn't waste time, zipping forward with his energized claws. "Aero Nail!" One swipe across the Roachmon's neck, and he yowled as he was eliminated.

Boltfalkemon was getting tired of the distance game, which wasn't getting her anywhere…though at the some time, she was loathe to get close to the Roachmon attacking her. I need to do it, though, I need a more powerful blow than I can get with my Spark Wave up here…ugh, someone's going to answer for this.

"Getting tired, birdy? I'll show you why bugs rule! Dream Dust!" Roachmon started to fling more garbage her way, making her fly back and avoid…and then she realized she had a better way of dealing with this. Why didn't I notice sooner? I really need to get familiar with all this form has to offer…

She raised her hand up, and a wall of electric energy formed a couple yards in front of her. "Thunder Guard!" The trash projectile impacted against the barrier and dissipated, leaving the wall itself undamaged. Boltfalkemon only wished she'd realized that was an option sooner…this one was probably going to come in handy in the future.

"No fair! You can't just block my shots like that!" Roachmon complained.

"Haven't you heard the phrase 'all's fair in love and war'?" replied Boltfalkemon tersely. "And you'd better believe I've got plenty of war reserved for someone like you!"

"Well, fine! If you're gonna play like that, I'm just gonna get up close to you!" The Roachmon rushed towards her, directing himself over the barrier…it was the moment Boltfalkemon was waiting for, though she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But with a deep breath, she charged, cloaking herself with her Static Cracker, and as the Roachmon diverted himself she rushed to intercept him. He wasn't ready for it, and took the full brunt of the attack and the potent discharge that she laid into him on impact. A howl, and he burst into data, leaving behind nothing but an unpleasant scent lingering in the air.

Down below, Andrexmon had Tuskmon right where he wanted it…well, almost. The wound it had taken wasn't stopping it, but it was being more protective of it, and he was having trouble goading it back into a charge. It was like it was waiting for him to start charging again…which was something he couldn't afford, charging reduced his own mobility, and if he canceled it it would possibly be too late to evade. He'd gotten a few pot shots in on the wound, making it bleed more freely, but he needed more than that.

If I could easily hit its eyes…or its mouth, it didn't like that either. Wait…maybe…could it be that simple? Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Andrexmon met the Tuskmon's eyes as it turned towards him again, and then he took a deep breath and opened wide, letting out a roar as loud as he could make it - the breath, as it turned out, was entirely unnecessary as he didn't need air for his vocal synthesizer to make the sounds he wanted, but force of habit wasn't going to die that quickly.

And, in an extremely silly but extremely opportune turn, the Tuskmon fell for the bait entirely. It opened wide and roared itself, its much louder volume definitely outdoing Andrexmon's roar - but also leaving its mouth open for a charged Dino Buster shot from the cyborg. It reared back as the roar turned to a pained cry, leaving its chest open.

"Bye-bye, big guy." Andrexmon pointed at the wound, charged, and fired once more. "Dino Buster!" The amplified shot exploded into the damaged area, shredding Tuskmon from the inside out. Its cry cut off, and its eyes went blank as it pitched forward and crashed to the ground, before bursting into data. Andrexmon pumped his cannon arm in triumph, grinning from ear to metaphorical ear. "Hell yeah! That's what you get for tangling with the rex!"

"Did you seriously just beat it by getting into a roaring match with it?" Boltfalkemon asked as she swooped down. "How in the world could that have worked?"

"It wasn't exactly a brainiac," replied Andrexmon with a chuckle. "It didn't even talk…I'm pretty sure it was in some kind of feral trance. You know, more power at the expense of brain power."

"I've never understood any digimon who would do that," Skydramon said with a shake of his head. "Using your brain's pretty important when it comes to battles!"

"How would you know about that, exactly?"

"Ay! Watch it!"

"PLEASE try to be less like your human halves," groaned Boltfalkemon, before she suddenly stiffened up and whirled around. A bunch of cars were coming down the road. "Crap! Into the woods! Don't let them get a bead on you!"

Skydramon and Andrexmon needed no further instruction, as they all tore off into the woods. It was going to be just one of many close calls they expected to have, but as long as they could get out of it without doing any damage or taking any damage, they could call it a success…

—

"Cease pursuit!" Elliot Katran's voice barked over the officers who were trying to bail out of their cruisers. "Don't you dare follow them! They have the advantage in there, they'll see us coming and pick us off!"

"B-but, sir! They could…they could be intruding on the city as we speak!" protested one of the officers.

"I'm well aware of that, which is why I have units patrolling the city near here. But we are NOT doing foot pursuit! You've heard what these creatures can do, if they have the chance to get the drop on us you are NOT going to survive, and we can't afford to be throwing lives away on this!"

Albeit grudgingly, that line of logic got the officers to back down. A good thing as far as Elliot was concerned…having the authority of command on this was at least one bit of fortune he could hold, he held a rare position where he could be at the head of ANY level, though that authority wasn't a guarantee depending on the circumstances. For the moment, circumstances were in his favor…part of their arrangement was that local matters had local jurisdiction, and this was certainly a local matter - not that everyone was in agreement with that, as certain visitors had expressed with more than sufficient volume. But as far as Elliot was concerned, it was a Braun matter until it spread beyond the city's borders. And if he had the chance to stop that, then he needed to do everything he could.

Another car pulled up, and out rushed Emil Conover in a hurry. "Elliot! Tell me there's good news!"

"The good news is that the behemoth that was spotted appears to not be around anymore, and no one is dead."

"Ugh…so we didn't actually catch any creatures."

"Nothing except vague images. Hopefully some of the cameras caught something useful." Elliot shook his head. "Apart from that big monster earlier, and who knows what happened to that. You wouldn't think something that big could just…disappear. This isn't going to work, though, we need to call in helicopters, they're faster and better for tracking."

"We'll have to get the mayor and police chief to sign off on that. But something tells me they probably aren't going to argue." Emil shook his head. "What in the world is going on in our city, Elliot? The sky opens up in a flash that looks like the apocalypse, two gigantic monsters appearing in the middle of two different days…and these smaller creatures that seem to be popping up here and there along with them…"

"I wish I knew," said Elliot darkly. "What I saw…it wasn't much, but two of the smaller creatures matched the ones around that big bird. The third looked like some kind of armored scaly thing…I don't know what the hell these things are, but we need to figure it out fast before something reduces Braun to ruin."

"Should we scan for evidence, then?"

"Carefully. We need to keep watch in case they decide to come back. But anything we can glean from the scene gives us one more thing than we had before."

—

"Derek! About time you picked up!"

"…Dude. You KNOW I sleep during this time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but this is kind of important."

Derek rolled his eyes, though since it was over phone it wouldn't have much effect. "Everything these days is kind of important. I'm pulling double-duty, you know, I'm trying to do what I can to help take care of Mom."

"You are? I guess you WILL help your parents if it's the end of the world."

"Funny guy. That's only Dad I said that about. Mom…I might not have the best relationship with her, but we're on better times. And she's in a bad state right now…"

"Oh, yeah, the stress migraines." Reyn paused a moment. "Did you ever talk to her about those treatments my mom suggested?"

"Yeah, and she's considering it. But things are a bit too acutely bad to dig into that right now."

"Sorry to hear that. Should I call back later?"

"She's down right now, she should be fine for the moment. I'm hoping that means we can get out tonight." Derek took a glance over at Blackcanismon, who was laying on the bed. He could tell that the canine was annoyed about having to juggle these two tasks…he wasn't saying anything, but Derek could tell there was a bit of tightness in his voice. And he didn't blame Blackcanismon, this was a life-or-death matter, but things weren't exactly a picture of simplicity.

"I hope you can, too. I kind of think we need to have someone paying attention all the time, but we all have to sleep sometime. That wasn't why I was calling though…something happened to me and Salmandmon earlier that I have to tell you about."

"Oh, wait, let me guess. You heard his thoughts, he heard yours, and you were terribly confused."

"…Did Isaac already call you?"

"Charmed that I'm the last one you'd think of," Derek said only half-seriously.

"Technically he called me, and it wasn't about that."

"Oh, wait, let me guess, you sprung the idea on him thinking you'd already told him and he got annoyed at you."

"Okay, you can cut that out any time now," Reyn remarked with a bit of asperity.

"I certainly can. No, we, uh, figured that out by ourselves. Was a nice little bit of awkwardness after the two of you took off last night…I could tell he was preoccupied with something, but he didn't want to tell me about it…and then, clear as night, I 'heard' it. He wasn't exactly thrilled about that."

"Sorry, I'm having trouble getting past 'clear as night.' You ever try coming up with similes that aren't you-exclusive?"

"No, because someone has to. Anyway, we managed to figure out the telepathy thing pretty quick after that…I think I'd just assumed it was one of those things you 'forgot' to tell us about, but I guess you didn't notice it until recently."

"C'mon, I'm not ALWAYS doing that."

Derek scoffed. "You do realize this is why you can't get anyone to partner with you on group projects except for us, right?"

"Look, I'm in 'I'm not thinking about school' mode right now, don't try to bring me out of that. But at least now everyone knows…hopefully they're all able to do it just as well. I mean, they should be able to, right? There's no reason why it would be limited to us two, right?"

"You're asking me?"

"Er, no, just…wondering out loud, I guess. Oh, I guess one thing I can ask then, is he just as hard to understand through telepathy?"

Derek chuckled. "At least. Loquacious little guy, he is. I think thought-speech is pretty much just like regular speech, it's a conscious act, just using something other than your actual voice."

"Yeah, Sal was thinking the same thing. But he still wants to know if Breezedramon's just as much a 'chaos tongue' without an actual tongue."

"Well, you'll have to ask Skylar, since no one else will be able to pick up on it."

"I'll do that eventually. Oh, shoot, Mom's calling. I'll catch you later. And, uh, Derek? Stay safe out there. If something happens…well, you can wake me up, too, if you have to."

"That's assuming I CAN wake you up. But thanks…see you later." That last moment lingered with Derek as he hung up the phone. Just another little reminder what they were really doing out there…staying safe wasn't going to be the easiest thing for any of them to do, was it? Hopefully he wouldn't need to call in backup…but he had to know it would be there for him if he did.

—

"This is so cool!" gushed Breezedramon. "We really did become telempamphletamtactic! It sounds totally like you're speaking clearly but I don't hear any voices, but I still know it's you! Instead of, you know, Data or something."

"And I know it's you," agreed Skylar. "Though that's more because you garble your words JUST as much through brain-speak as you normally do. And here I'd hoped that wouldn't be the case."

"I almost feel sorry for you, Skylar," Shockavimon said with a shake of her head and a cheeky grin. "Usually silence is the only time we can get away from him, you don't even have that luxury anymore."

"Hey!"

"This IS pretty impressive," agreed Datacarnomon. "Things like telepathy are supposed to be borderline impossible for robots towards organics…of course, it's pretty easy between robots who link up networks, but I don't know if that quite qualifies as telepathy. Oddly, telepaths don't seem to want to answer that question."

"Glad we could get that settled," agreed Isaac. "Now I want to focus on living long enough to actually make use of it. You think it's safe to get back into the neighborhood yet?"

"I don't know…they've got to be watching the area pretty closely," replied Iris uncertainly. "But if they don't see the digimon, we might be able to get past them. I think it would be best if we aren't together, that might make them more suspicious than just one person wandering around in their line of sight at a time…I know my dad would be more suspicious if there were three figures that escaped and three figures that appeared somewhere else, even if they seemed to be unrelated in other ways."

"I'm all for this plan on account of it gets me away from Isaac faster," Skylar declared.

"Maybe you can try taking on the next Tuskmon yourself, see how you fare," grumped the larger boy.

"Okay, seriously, you two need to REALLY improve your camaraderie," Datacarnomon stated, with as much seriousness as he could muster. "I don't know what it is between you, and it really doesn't matter, we all have to be in this together and that means we have to be able to get along. You don't have to feel any better about each other, but you have to stop acting like being around each other is the worst thing in the world, because there are very worse things capable of happening right now."

"Okay, okay…"

"Yeah, fine…"

"That's about as much as you'll get out of them, and more than we have in years," remarked Iris. "Come on, let's get out of here and to somewhere safer, before they decide hunting for us is a good idea after all."

—

"I don't know what happened over here, but I know I don't like it." Elliot shook his head as he rose from his kneeling position, having examined yet another notable spot on the ground that he wasn't sure what to make of. "Too much that doesn't make enough sense…"

"I'd think it'd make a little more sense to you than me," remarked Emil. "You're the one who's taken all the biology classes."

Elliot snorted in amusement. "If you think they teach animal tracking in biology classes, you definitely didn't take enough of them. That's more of a forestry thing, MAYBE a branch of zoology but I don't think that's likely."

"Okay, mister Bio degree. Can you tell ANYTHING about them?"

"Only general reference. There's a set that looks bird-like. The yellow creature over Lennar, the video images made that one look like a bird…not as easy to see as the bigger one, but that was the impression I got."

Emil nodded thoughtfully. "Same here. And you said you thought you saw the yellow creature, so I guess that probably is as close to confirmation as we can get at the moment. What about the others?"

"It seems like the others are all…very hard to understand. But something I've noticed…the enormous ones look pretty similar to one of the smaller sets. Given that the bigger one apparently looked like some kind of deformed dinosaur, maybe the smaller creature is something like that, too."

"Godzilla and Godzilla Junior, then?"

"I'd say the movie monster reference is silly, but at this point fantasy feels too close to reality for me to believe that." Elliot rubbed his head. "The others…I don't have any idea. I think maybe they're similar to the dinosaur ones, but different in some way…like they're shaped more like the heel's up or something. They might belong to the blue creature, we haven't been able to figure out exactly what that is yet…I'm almost starting to think they might be right…"

"That it's some kind of dragon?" Emil shuddered a bit. "Lord, I hope not. I really do NOT need dragons to be real right now."

"Right now, I think we've got too many things that are real that I don't want to be real to think that anything can't be real." Elliot stepped towards one of the dark spots on the grass, kneeling next to it and scrutinizing it. "I'm not sure what to make of this, either…it almost looks like blood, but it can't be, can it?"

"It seems like it's too much for any of the smaller ones," agreed Emil. "Could the larger creature have been bleeding at all?"

"I suppose anything is possible, but why? It was there for a handful of minutes, what could it have injured itself on?" Elliot grunted in frustration. "None of this makes any sense. Why it appeared, why it disappeared, what happened to it while it was here…I wish we had more than a few snapshots from when it just appeared to go off of."

"We definitely need to be more on top of things," agreed Emil gravely. "Bad enough we don't understand the larger situation, if we can't get a handle on each event we're going to fall farther and farther behind. Those monsters that have appeared more than once…maybe we should start making a point of trying to hunt for them. They might be the main issue…if these other creatures are appearing and disappearing around them…"

"…Maybe they're involved with that. Good idea, Emil. Let's get back and make an action plan." Elliot straightened up, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "We'll have to work quickly, though…I'm not sure how many more times we can get lucky."

---

Like with Boltfalkemon, Darkvargmon is a late change from Darkwolfmon. With this, only Burnreptimon will have a notable shift in nomenclature with a more advanced form, mainly because I like the sound of them better (there's also only one change so it was less cumbersome than these two, which had pretty drastic changes every time).

One thing that didn't change was the presence of perspective pieces. One first-person sequence per character, reflecting on an impactful moment in their past - with the humans, involving a connection with one of the others of the group, and with the digimon, recounting an incident that sticks with them to this day. The spread of these is a bit uneven, partly a consequence of there being more chapters later than there used to be, but so it goes. Conceptually most of them are the same as before, written with a bit more elaborateness to convey more information and impact, but there will be one that changes completely in idea and placement.