"Ahhh, thank God for ice coffee," Trevor pulled the straw from his mouth, satisfied that the barista at the Starbucks made it perfect for him. Kaden meanwhile was too lost in thought to drink any of his, leaving his sitting on the table between them. Taking the moment to reminisce, Trevor spoke, "you know, when my friends and I found ourselves in tough situations, we would always find ourselves in a diner or bakery or something. Don't know why that'd be the case and yet here we are."

"Is that why we stopped here?"

Trevor yawned before taking another long sip, "well yeah; but I also am running on no sleep, so I needed the pick me up for the day ahead."

Kaden looked up at him, being so nonchalant at the moment. It irked him to say the least. "Where was Homura in all of this?"

"He told me he was working late at his restaurant when he heard the news. Last night's lightshow made headlines, but he didn't know that Sierra got caught up in it."

"That's no excuse…" Kaden responded. "That's his girlfriend, he should've been there to protect her."

Trevor furrowed his brow, "What's he going to do, punch a lightning bolt?"

Kaden caught himself before continuing. He reminded himself he needed to think his words through if his emotions would allow him. "I mean…this isn't the first time someone I'm close to has gotten hurt this badly…"

"Trust me, you're not the only one. We've all've seen some things at some point."

Kaden scoffed, "that's true I guess…"

"Speaking of which, how are you doing aside from emotionally? Did you get caught up in the storm as well?"

"Max, a classmate of mine and I managed to make it home before it happened. Coincidentally our General Manager dropped by to drop off supplies, and when he saw that my cousin was with me, he let me leave early to take care of her while he and Brandon locked up."

"Oh okay, that's good." Trevor leaned back. "The General Manager of TCG Towers…wondering if it's the same guy I met some time back."

"You have connections all over, don't you?"

Trevor chuckled, "perks of being a pro, I guess. That said, are you gonna be in the Digi-Grand Prix?"

Kaden hesitated to answer. Trevor took note and accepted that. "Still second guessing yourself, huh?"

"It's not second guessing, it's…"

"Y'know, my best friend…he used to give me that same look whenever I pushed him to pick up the game again when we were growing up. It actually got so bad I had to come up with a stupid scheme at school to force him to come to my rescue."

Kaden blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

Trevor grinned and proceeded to tell him the story, about how he baited the school bully and his friend Adam into battling one another, the latter rediscovering his love of the game, and Trevor getting an important SAIBA Enterprise item ripped in half by the former in retaliation. Hearing this story motivated Kaden to recount his own dealings with a bully at their school during the start of the school year, and how that experience led him to meeting Milo. The conversation went on for a while, with Kaden slowly growing out of his depressed state and somewhat back to his normal self, especially when Trevor asked about his streaming experiences and comparing their statuses as tamers within their own realms so to speak.

The conversation served as a nice distraction. While Kaden was still heavily concerned about what happened, his mind was relaxing, and it surprisingly has been a long time since he's felt it do so.

"Right so I got a lucky trigger in plasma shot that wiped most of her field," Kaden explained, "and just when I thought it was gonna past turn, she threw out a Hybrid at me at the last second and stole the match back!"

Trevor laughed. "Yeah, that sounds right. Hybrids are deadly, especially when it comes to closing gaps."

"Right? After that I looked into them and began to utilize them myself. They really come in clutch when you need them most."

"Absolutely true, no doubt." Trevor agreed, only for his D-Streamer to chime. Looking down, he tensed slightly and stood. "Looks like we gotta cut this conversation short."

Kaden noticed the sudden sense of urgency from him. "Everything good?"

"Yeah, it's nothing serious. I have a friend who was doing me a favor and they want to meet up with me to go over what happened on their end," he pushed his chair in. "If you're gonna be at your store this afternoon, I'll be sure to drop by. The tournament is getting closer by the day and Terrence and the crew need to make up for lost time."

"Oh right…" Kaden stood. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask about that…"

Trevor stopped and turned, noticing the shift in Kaden's demeanor. "What is it?"

Expression turning into a glare, Kaden asked: "What are your intentions with those three?"

Taking a moment to read his expression, Trevor relaxed. "You don't see it?"

"See what?"

"The flame in the three of them. The flame that burns in every Pro Tamer who takes the tournament stage. I don't know if you can see it, but yours hasn't been completely snuffed out either."

"So then let me ask this, as a Pro Tamer, you're not ignorant to the other side of this game, are you?"

Trevor was taken aback by his choice of words. Side-eyeing the room, taking note of the subtle turn of heads nearby, he motions to the door. "Let's walk and talk."

After throwing away their garbage and heading outside, Trevor then decided to be more open. "When Melanie told me about you and what you did in Omnia, I didn't expect this was how we were going to introduce this topic between us."

Kaden paused. "'Melanie?' As in Melanie Whitaker?"

"The very same," Trevor nodded. "To answer your question, I am aware of the other side of things, and no, I don't regret wanting to mentor those kids, especially with the potential they have to succeed."

Kaden grew hot with anger, "If you know so much, how can you stand there and have the audacity to put them in danger like this?! You know as well as I do that was no random storm, right? Sierra was attacked by Digimon, and you want to drag my cousin and her friends in it any—wait…" he paused as connections began to form in his head. "It was you, wasn't it?!"

Trevor turned to him and the look he gave Kaden shook him. "Let's humor that and say that I was responsible…what do you hope to do?"

Kaden reacted by throwing a punch. Trevor's quick reflex allowed him to step to the side and grab his wrist, "I've helped saved the world and the multiverse several times over and went to school the next day." He shoved Kaden away from him. "You make one tough decision and crumble at the thought—not results—of your friends and family getting hurt from your ineptitude. Now explain to me what you hope to do, assuming I'm responsible for all that's happened and that's going to happen?"

Kaden again, only this time, Trevor effortlessly pinned him to the ground, alerting bystanders around them. "You weren't this lively last night in the park. Matter of fact, you bailed right afterward. Mind me asking what's changed?"

"Get off of me!" Kaden howled. "My dad's a detective! I can have you arrested!"

"Neat; here's my credentials," Trevor flashed his holographic AEGIS badge to Kaden, as well as to everyone around them who were hesitant to step in and rescue the teen. "Be grateful I'm willing to hear you out some more before slapping handcuffs on you myself." He got Kaden back on his feet, holding him in place. He loosened his grip enough for Kaden to break free and turned to him. "Let's start with my question from before."

"What are you talking about?!" Kaden snarled, rubbing his wrists.

"I want to know what happened last night, between the time I found you and Sierra in Central Park, and this morning when you got to the hospital.

"…wait a second you think I attacked her?!" Kaden processed. "You really are insane!"

"The black Imperialdramon in the skies near Central Park say otherwise, not to mention the fact that the targets are the former Representatives."

"Black…Imperialdramon?" The statement triggered a memory, the image fitting the description in his head back when he was trapped in Ordinemon's mindscape. At the time it freaked him out, but he more or less dismissed it, not having any immediate relevance.

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Trevor took advantage of Kaden's sudden shakiness.

"You said…the representatives are being targeted?"

"Indeed. Only a handful know of their real-world identities, so it narrows the suspect pool."

"No wonder you suspect me," he scoffed. "Because I'm close to Sierra and I'm known to be an Imperialdramon user, right?"

"And the fact I saw you face, plain as day last night."

Kaden smirked, "Now I know your lying. I told you before I had Max with me, and we both left early before the storm kicked—!"

"Careful of your word choice." Trevor highlighted. "You beating the storm is the same as you being responsible for it happening."

"T—that doesn't mean anything! Besides, I haven't played the game in months, let alone have the capability to summon real Digimon. All of the survivors from Omnia are with AEGIS, right?"

Valid point. And yet… "What's with the stammering?" Trevor pointed out.

"What's with the gaslighting?!" Kaden snapped.

Trevor crossed his arms and studied Kaden's heated freneticism. Kaden was going better than expected playing dumb. He wasn't going to get the answers he wanted out of him—at least not now. Still when he rescued Sierra the night before, even though the assailant's face was obscured, who else could it be logically?

"Gabumon, second opinion." Trevor spoke into his D-Streamer, summoning a Gabumon onto his shoulder. The miniature projection stared at Kaden for a moment, scanning for abnormalities in his testament.

"He's telling the truth," Gabumon said.

"Definitively?"

Gabumon nodded, surprising Trevor.

He wasn't used to being wrong about stuff like this…

With a sigh, he cleared his throat and spoke, "Right then…Guess I owe you an apology."

Kaden slowly calmed down, though he still felt guarded. "I'm not thanking you for that, after what you did."

"I don't expect you to…" Trevor yawned, the coffee beginning to wear off.

"But I get why. I used Imperialdramon and the Omni Sword to take down Ordinemon, and I know each of the Four Representatives in one way or another. So going by that string of happenstance, I would be the most likely suspect…"

Trevor didn't answer, but he was basically right.

"I promise you though, I didn't do it. You can ask Max and Anastasia if you don't believe me. Besides, Sierra's like my older sister, she means the world to me…"

Trevor could relate. Their relationship is similar to his and his own older sister figure back home.

"That said, I want to know what I can do to help, if possible." Motivated by a small ember of justice, he stood his ground and made the statement.

Trevor perked up, surprised to see his sudden determination. "Are you up for it? You'll be putting yourself in danger again."

"I'm used to being dragged into danger at this point. Besides, if it means protecting everyone, I don't have a choice, do I?"

Trevor chuckled, "You do have a choice. No one's forcing you to fight."

Kaden didn't respond immediately, thinking about it. Max and the others came to mind, and he further committed to his statement. "I have to, for their safety."

Trevor stopped chuckling. He was talking to Homura about this specific point before, and Homura assured Kaden was innocent and that he'd be a strong asset, especially if it meant keeping his cousin safe. "AEGIS will do everything in their power to keep Terrence in the other's safe."

"I don't want them involved in any way whatsoever." Kaden specified. "This is our fight, not theirs."

Trevor walked up to Kaden, lightly tapping his chest with his fist. "Then you better wise up and protect them, before they decide to protect you instead."

Despite Homura's vouching, Trevor wasn't fully convinced. Him taking Kaden onto this case was also a silent test from him to see if the Hero of Omnia was ready for a real fight. There was a moment of silence between them before Trevor stepped back. On that note, Trevor walked off, leaving Kaden pondering his next move…

Chapter 6: Embers

[Forrest Star Middle School…]

"My cousin's friend was really tough with her purple deck, but thanks to a lucky Security Trigger, I managed to make a crazy comeback and win the game!" Maxine recounted her match with Anastasia that morning as the trio moved between their 2nd and 3rd period classes. She also went onto to explain how she and Anastasia bonded over the fact that they're both girls who play the game, giving Max another reason to view the game in a positive light.

"So, question, does your win count since we weren't there to see it?" Terrence asked curiously.

Max crossed her arms offended by his question. "Uh, yeah? Not my fault you landed yourself in detention."

"Right, that did happen, didn't it?" Daniel said, remembering that of the three of them Terrence was the one who got in trouble from Kelly's false accusations. "How did that go? Was she still bitter for getting herself in trouble?"

"Nope, actually she and I talked a lot. She's actually not that bad of a person."

His two friends stopped midway, prompting him to turn back. Their shocked expressions made him tilt his head in curiosity.

"What do you mean she's not that bad of a person?!" Max snapped. "Did you forget how she embarrassed me in front of everyone before?"

"What? Once you get to know her, she's pretty—!"

"She smacked your deck out of your hands and claimed you tried to attack her!" Daniel insisted. "Actually, did you even get your deck back?"

"Wait he lost his deck?" Max turned to him. "You dummy why didn't you pick it you since you were still sitting there?"

Daniel didn't have an answer for her. It was a valid question, despite the chaos that spiraled. "I think it got confiscated by the lunch monitor that took them. It was chaotic." He turned to Terrence. "Did you even get it back after detention?"

To their surprise he shook his head. "Nope, I asked Mrs. Cohen if she had it since she was doing detention yesterday, but she said she never received anything."

Daniel and Maxine looked at one another worriedly. In an attempt to reassure his friends, Terrence continued, "Well, I'm sure it will turn up sooner or later. Not like I can't just replace a starter deck after all."

"That's not the point; it was a gift. Should hold more value than 'just a starter deck,' right?" Max insisted. "You should make Kelly replace it."

"Her apology was enough for me." Terrence replied.

Max grew suspicious of Terrence's calm answers. Lacking subtly, she outright confronted him. "You like her or something?"

Terrence blinked and shrugged. "She's cool people I guess."

Not expecting that response, Daniel came to Maxine's aid. "It's more likely the other way around."

"…I guess I can see that?" Maxine pieced together her head.

"There you are," A voice said, approaching the trio. They turned to find a black-haired girl around their age approach them, holding in her hand a deck of blue-backed cards roped together with a rubber band. Both Maxine and Daniel jumped back at the appearance of the chill girl, recognizing who she was. Meanwhile, Terrence's reaction was a wide grin, indicating familiarity.

"Bee! He exclaimed. "What's up?" He looked at the cards in her hand and his eyes lit up. "My deck!"

Maxine and Daniel were taken aback once again, replying simultaneously: "Bee?"

Bianca handed the cards to him, Daniel noting the device on her wrist. Obsidian black with pink highlights, it was clear to him to be a D-Streamer.

"Do be more careful," Bianca instructed like a stern sisterly figure. "It'd would've been a shame for these to end up in the garbage."

"Ah, you're a lifesaver!" Terrence remained grinning. "See? Nothing to worry about."

The other two turned to Bianca who glanced toward them before taking her leave. Daniel watched as she disappeared into the crowd and turned to Terrence. "So…you're friends with the mayor's daughter…"

Terrence nodded. "Yup."

"How?" Maxine's skepticism came out reactively.

"My dad works with the mayor's staff often on events in the city."

"Of course he does…" Both Daniel and Maxine said simultaneously. Daniel followed it up, "Bet you also knew she plays the game too."

Terrence blinked in confusion, thereby instilling confusion in the pair by his reaction. The late bell rung, causing Terrence to suddenly shove his cards in his bag and race off, prompting the other young teens to pursue him, leaving the three unable to focus on the rest of the school day for their own reasons…

[Central Park, NYC…]

Walking into a spacious grassy area, not too far from where he found Sierra the night before, Trevor took in his surroundings, especially the spot where he remembered a massive skyscraping tree. He remembered his cousin, in another central park, about the mysterious tree that grew in the spot where he stood, and how it was the result of an entirely separate battle for interdimensional dominance. This world, and likely others, have no knowledge of that fight for their future, the sacrifices those had to make, or the horrors that came with, just as those same people don't know the battles he fought, the things he saw, or the sacrifices made to preserve peace.

Countless realities, many of which are similar and different at the same time. If he weren't so intertwined in it all, he would've very well dismissed it as pure fantasy, and yet…

"Hey, thanks for meeting up!" a young man jogged up to Trevor. Trevor turned to acknowledge the presence, making eye contact with the approaching individual. He was an African American young man, roughly the same age as Trevor with light facial hair, wearing a silver T-Shirt and an open green plaid shirt over it, black khakis and shoes. He had a sling backpack slung over his shoulder and on his wrist was a silver D-Streamer with dark green highlights, indicating that he was a fellow tamer.

"Christopher!" Trevor waved with a smile. "Glad you can help me out!"

The one known as Christopher fist bumped him, "I had a feeling I was gonna hear from you the second things got crazy last night. Found myself crammed into a local library branch while everything was going on, had my parents anxious.

"That's funny. I didn't even bother to tell my folks anything yet." Trevor joked. "Unless they took a moment out of their busy lives to look at the news, they still think I'm enjoying my vacation."

"Lucky you," Christopher scoffed, taking his bag off. "In any case, here's the stuff I managed to pull up last night." He took out a tablet and fiddled with it for a moment before showing Trevor the contents. "Curious, what's with Vermillion Pharmaceutical that got you interested?"

"Without spoiling much, AEGIS has a case going on that I'm helping out with. A friend of mine was assaulted during the freak storm last night and I'm grasping at any immediate leads I can think of."

"You're speculating that they're tied to Vermillion Pharma?"

"Potentially." Trevor sent the info to his personal device before handing back the tablet. "Too early to determine an attack pattern, but not so late that I can't theorize on where they may strike next. The officer above me should be at the mayor's office this morning doing the same thing right now."

"That serious huh?" Christopher inquired.

"I mean…" Trevor shrugged, humorously.

"My bad bro, I'm not discounting it. Just saying that last I checked, AEGIS was counter cyberterrorism, not meteorologist."

"You don't think it's possible for one of the leading cities in tech in the modern day can create artificial natural disasters?"

"That's an oxymoron." Christopher countered, skepticism growing slightly.

Pausing for a moment, Trevor scoffed in defeat.

"That aside, I got to run off to work. Text me if you need anything else, I'll try my best to find time if need be." Christopher began to turn and walk.

"Appreciate it," Trevor nodded, before suddenly remembering another reason he wanted to see him. "Oh, hold up!"

"What's up?" Christopher turned before having his D-Streamer chime. He looked down and saw the notification from Trevor that the latter sent.

"An application?" He questioned. "I told you before I got too much going on to battle in the tournament."

"Can't spare a weekend to be a Crest Master?"

"That's even more time consuming," Christopher glared. In the time since the tournament was announced, SAIBA Enterprise put out on their site for small group of color-specified specialists to act as Crest Masters. By the sounds of it, it implied that the role consisted of participants having to battle them for entry into the higher stages of the tournament. If anything, Christopher was a casual player of Digimon, not seeing any point of going beyond that. His plan was to go to the tournament, write his notes and commentary, and post it online for his writing portfolio, just as he did for the Exhibition Match recently.

That said, Trevor McKnight was one who struggled to accept no as an answer and Christopher could foresee that he was going to be dragged into this.

"What better way to come up with tournament coverage than participating yourself?"

He couldn't refute that, despite not wanting to go about that approach. With a roll of his eyes, he conceded. "I'll mull it over. Let's just make sure there's a city left to have a tournament in first." He answered.

"Cool! Thanks for the info, once again. I'll follow up with you later!" Trevor waved and took off, leaving Christopher in the spot. Before leaving himself, he looked at the surrounding area for a long moment, before dismissing his thoughts and heading off to work…

As the final bell for the day rang, Bianca came out of the school building, the blinding sun hitting her sensitive eyes immediately. After reacting to the intense golden sky orb, she turned her focus directly ahead where Justin was awaiting to pick her up, standing along the side to avoid being in the way of the rambunctious preteens pouring out the school.

"I thought father was coming this afternoon?" Bianca noted as she came up to Justin."

"He's been tied up with meetings all day today," Justin explained, taking her bookbag. "He instructed me to ensure that you were picked up and taken home to get started on your homework."

"Understood." Bianca said without protest. "Preferably, I would like to look into something this evening if you're available."

Justin nodded. "When am I not?"

Bianca gave him a small smile. "Ever the reliable Vassal."

"BIANCA!" Terrence's voice ripped through the crowd and startled Justin. Bianca, acting familiar with the boy's antics, turned completely around to acknowledge the boy as he caught up to them. Daniel and Maxine scrambled behind him afterward.

"Friends of yours?" Justin questioned.

"Classmates." Bianca replied.

There was a hint of disappointment in Justin's face but shrugging it away, he acknowledged them. "Nice to meet you guys. My name is Justin."

"Hello, sir." Daniel cleared his throat and replied, Maxine giving a small wave, reeling from embarrassment.

"Bianca! You play Digimon right?!" Terrence didn't bother to beat around the bush.

Bianca took note of her D-Streamer. "One could say so…"

"In that case we got to battle!" Terrence still was straight to the point. "I want to thank you for finding my deck for me and to that, I want to battle!"

Justin, being the responsible adult, cleared his throat. "I'm afraid that Bianca has a tight schedule this afternoon. Her father wants her to come home to do her homework."

"It could wait." Bianca waved her hand.

Justin looked down at her. "I'm afraid it can't."

Bianca turned. "I said it could."

The two had a brief staring match that Terrence watched intently. Once again, completely unable to read the room compared to his two friends who felt locked in the awkward situation.

Bianca turned to Terrence with a smile, "I accept your challenge."

"Bianca…!" Justin was growing annoyed.

"Three turns." Bianca replied. "It'll be over quickly, and then I'll do my homework."

"That's not the point!" Justin protested. "Why can't you—ugh, why do I bother…?"

"Three turns, huh? Then I'll beat you in two!" Terrence challenged.

Her interest peaking, Bianca pointed to the idle limo across the street from the school. "Very well. Shall we get going?"

"Bet!" Terrence quickly turned to his friends.

"Yeah, my mom and I are going dress shopping for graduation, so I can't," Maxine explained. "Danny what are you going to do?"

"Come with come with come with!" Terrence tried to pressure. All eyes on him, Daniel was taken aback by the sudden spotlight. His lips parted, and…

Looking back, he couldn't recall the answer given, but whatever it was, it somehow ended up with him sitting in the lobby of the mayor's office, awaiting Bianca to return. He couldn't understand what went on in Terrence's head, to make him so bouncy and eager. By comparison, being in such a building made him anxious, like he wasn't supposed to be here—willingly at least. All around him were bustling staff and what looked to be reporters from news outlets dressed professionally for a place like this, awaiting their turns to meet with the mayor for their assorted reasons. This in comparison to two kids who were here as "extra special" guests as Bianca put it.

Knowing how his parents can be, he could only hope that when those two said the game would be over in 2-3 turns, that they would mean it so he could get home on time and be out of this weird circumstance.

"Excited?" Terrence asked eagerly. "Bianca said she had a surprise for our game."

"Not the word I'd use," Daniel explained.

Terrence was still smiling as he fantasized what the battle was going to be like. What color did she play? What kind of Digimon was she going to see? The girl that Maxine said she fought used a purple deck. Was Bianca going to do the same? The more he questioned it the more his excitement—and Daniel's anxiety—grew.

Eventually, Justin returned downstairs and approached the boys. "We're all good, just follow me."

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked, justifiably skeptical.

"As the mayor's daughter, Bianca has a special office all to herself, believe it or not," Justin explained.

"That's so cool! I didn't know Bee was so important!"

"Realistically it's probably some random office where she hangs out at to do her schoolwork uninterrupted, right?"

"Exactly right." Justin clarified as they approached an open elevator door. "The mayor works all kinds of hours, so Bianca spends quite a bit of time here. That in mind, it's from there she has access to the mayor's private Net Space server.

"WAIT! Does that mean?!"

Justin chuckled, "you didn't think we'd be playing Digimon on a tabletop, did you?"

That's exactly what Daniel expected. Up to this point they didn't have D-Streamers or any of that kind of tech, since it's only been several days since they started playing. They were sure to get that stuff by the time the tournament rolled around but until then they were very much so analog.

After the elevator rose up two floors, Justin lead them to the end of the hall, where they entered the opened door. Bianca's room was decorated to the best of her ability, definitely girlish with various plushies of cats of all kinds on the couch off to the side. There were pictures of her and her father in various points in her life as well on the shelves on the other side of the room, and on the table in the middle sat the necessary tech to make the magic happen.

Bianca was at her desk, clearly starting on her schoolwork before they walked in. Upon their entrance, she stopped what she was doing and rose. "Are you ready?"

"You better believe it!" Terrence exclaimed. "Can I grab one of these?"

Bianca motioned to one of the idle D-Steamer and D-Com pairs and Terrence quickly grabbed and slapped it onto his wrist. Both of the devices were a solid silver color, the lack of customized coloring making them evident they were new and straight out of the box. Daniel likewise took one, albeit more hesitant than Terrence was. Justin meanwhile pulled up a menu on his D-Streamer and typed, setting up access to the server, after which, the three teens' devices all lit up with a "connection successful" indicator.

STANDING BY FOR CYBER DRIVE…

The automated message announced to the room that everything was ready to begin. With one final push of a button from Justin, the room around them suddenly began to shift around them, catching Terrence and Daniel off guard. Before they knew it, the once vibrant office space was now a cold metallic dark room. Metal tiles beneath their feet, purple flames lit upon candles lined across the walls, connected by dangling chains between them, and a cold, silent ambiance. As Daniel felt the cold shiver up his spine from the eerie gothicness of this space, he only then noticed the oversized gears feeding into the floor near an obsidian throne across the room, clearly oversized for any normal person to sit on.

"WHOA!" Terrence's stary-eyed gaze snapshotted everything it came in contact with. Compared to his weary friend, his excitement was only amplified. "We were just in your office, right? Now we're…we're…where are we?"

"My personal server," Bianca said, taking her position closer to the throne. "Were you expecting something else?"

"Well yeah? Your office was so pink and fluffy compared to this place." Terrence tapped the metal floor with his foot. "It's like we're in an old factory or something."

"Is that right?" Bianca looked around her server room. "I for one feel right at home here."

"Bianca and I specialize in the Black color," Justin explained, shrugging. "So of course our choice of aesthetics lean more towards the mechanical side of things."

Seems over the top for a practice server, Danny said silently to himself. He watched anxiously as Terrence skipped over the other side of the small room. He could be over thinking the situation, yet something felt off about this whole arrangement.

"So, ready to lose?" Terrence taunted. "Two moves and you're done!"

"I didn't forget your words…" Bianca said as her device glowed. "DIGI-GATE: OPEN!"

Terrence smirked and punched the air, "DIGI-GATE: OPEN!"

Daniel watched as black and red rings suddenly sparked from their respective wrists and shot towards the ceiling of the room, overlaying to become the digital gate for their battle. His focus turned back to them, and he watched intently to see how this battle was going to turn out…

Turn 1: Bianca

"I hatch Pagumon, and then I digivolve it into Toy Agumon." Bianca started her turn, a gray ball-like digimon with a sleepy demeanor materializing on her side briefly before digivolving into a Lego-esque variation of an Agumon.

Pagumon (BT6-005)

Color: Black

Level: 2

ToyAgumon (BT2-055)

Color: Black

Level: 3

DP: 2000

"Next, I play the Option Card: Pride Memory Boost."

Daniel watched as a shadow-like aura bled from the throne behind Bianca, shaping up into an ethereal entity with glowing white eyes. It made his suspicions more solid as reactively took a step back.

"COOL!" Terrence exclaimed, causing Daniel's neck to snap.

Looking at it again, it was a cool effect, but still…

"Playing this Option Card allows me to reveal the top 3 cards of my deck," Bianca explained as Shademon, BT5 Monitamon, and DeadlyAxemon's cards were summoned by the entity behind her. "From among them, I play DeadlyAxemon, trashing the remaining two."

A similar shadowy aura emerged from the card illustration and reformed into the mysterious Digimon. It resembled a quadrupedal reptilian creature with gold blades for feet. Its obsidian build looked incomplete, yet it snarled like any other creature would.

DeadlyAxemon (BT7-059)

Color: Black

Level: 4

DP: 3000

MEMORY

0-4

"Pride Memory Boost is placed into my Battle Area," Bianca stated, the card hovering beside her. As for DeadlyAxemon, it's On Play effect activates, revealing the top 5 cards of my deck, and from among them, I can retrieve two cards with 'Knightmon' in their name and add them to my hand."

The shadow aura once more materialized cards for Bianca: BT7 Monitamon, SkullKnightmon, DarkKnightmon, Izzy Izumi and Pride Memory Boost. She took Skull and DarkKnightmon, sending the others to the bottom of her deck, the remaining cards vanishing in the shadows to indicate such.

"That was a lot in one turn…" Daniel noted, causing Justin to smirk.

"Just you wait and see," Justin replied.

"It's your move," Bianca passed the turn. "You have two turns left."

"Two turns is all I need, remember?" Terrence shot back, afterward he realized the top card of his deck materialized. Daniel realized something at that moment.

D-Streamers usually have to record deck data into them before being used…right?

Turn Change

Turn 2: Terrence

"I hatch Gurimon!" Terrence exclaimed as Gurimon bounced to life on his side.

Gurimon (BT8-001)

Color: Red

Level: 2

"Gurimon digivolves into Gammamon, then from my hand, I play Shoutmon and then it digivolves into BetelGammamon!"

In an attempt to show off, Terrence dramatically waved his arms around like an anime protagonist, his Digimon following suit with their respected materializations. Gurimon bounced itself into transforming into Gammamon, while its older, crimson variant took center stage where Shoutmon briefly stood.

Gammamon (BT8-008)

Color: Red

Level: 3

DP: 2000

Shoutmon (BT6-008)

Color: Red

Level: 3

DP: 2000

BetelGammamon (BT8-013)

Color: Red

Level: 4

DP: 6000

MEMORY

4-1

1-1

Wide-eyed, the temptation to run up to BetelGammamon and touch the dragonkin's forearm wasn't missed. To see his own digimon standing before him felt magical in the moment.

"Guess it's my turn then…" Bianca said, motioning her hand to draw.

Quickly, Terrence snapped back into it and wagged his finger and declared: "Nuh-uh-uh! Don't think it's your turn yet! BetelGammamon got that Blitz going for him! Show her we mean business!"

This sent the blazing ceratopsian digimon to launch into a flaming spin kick into her materializing Security. Bianca shielded herself reactively as the impact sent shockwaves, shattering the card before her.

Bianca

Security: 5-4

"Security Check… SkullKnightmon: Caviler Mode with 5000 DP.

A second DeadlyAxemon materialized to challenge BetelGammamon, this time, it had SkullKnightmon mounted on its back, filling out the hollowness of its counterpart.

BetelGammamon: 6000 DP

SkullKnightmon CM: 5000 DP

A brief clash with SkullKnightmon making quick jabs towards BetelGammamon and the latter weaving around them and landing a critical flaming punch in the chest plate of the top half caused the digimon to collapse and disperse in black binary.

"Let's not forget that Shoutmon lets me draw since my Digimon attacked with Blitz." Terrence drew. "One turn down, one to go."

Turn Change

Turn 3: Bianca

Bianca exhaled as the moment passed. Looking at her Security Count, she turned to Terrence. "Not bad; you actually managed to do damage to me."

Terrence scoffed, "Well duh! How else am I supposed to win?"

"Dude, that's her point!" Daniel exclaimed.

Terrence looked over and furrowed his brow. "Wha…?"

Bianca drew. "ToyAgumon moves out."

Obediently the toy dinosaur digimon marched forward into the Battle Area, awaiting further instructions.

"I activate the delay effect of Pride Memory Boost; sending it to the trash enables me to receive 2 Memory."

MEMORY

1-3

"ToyAgumon digivolves into SkullKnightmon, and then SkullKnightmon Slide Digivolves into SkullKnightmon: Cavalier Mode!" Bianca revealed the two cards and swiped them one by one, the shadowy aura dispersing from behind her to overlay on ToyAgumon, to which it became the SkullKnightmon and DeadlyAxemon hybrid once more.

SkullKnightmon (BT7-058)

Color: Black

Level: 4

DP: 3000

SkullKnightmon: Cavalier Mode (BT8-062)

Color: Black

Level: 4

DP: 5000

MEMORY

3-1

1-0

"Upon digivolving, SkullKnightmon: Cavalier Mode gets Jamming and Blocker. In addition, SkullKnightmon's IE effect gives my digimon with Knightmon in their name "Security Attack +1.

"…That's bad right?" Terrence turned to Daniel for clarification.

"You tell us," Bianca replied, casting her hand forward. "SkullKnightmon, Double Security Attack!"

Its lower half leapt upward with its two front legs and galloped towards Terrence. SkullKnightmon generated the dark aura around its crimson lances and jabbed forcefully towards the two security that shielded Terrence, breaking them both together.

Terrence

Security: 5-4

"First Check!" Terrence revealed. "Ha, WarGreymon—huh?!"

"Jamming puts your potential counters to rest." Bianca reminded, Terrence's card greying out. Stumped, Terrence revealed his next card: Growlmon, who didn't fare any better.

Terrence

Security: 4-3

"DeadlyAxemon, Security Attack!"

The mount-less DeadlyAxemon followed up, leaping forward and using its front axe feet to slash at the 3rd Security to appear.

Terrence

Security: 3-2

"Security Check…Security Trigger!" Terrence countered. "Hiro Amanokawa to the Battle Area!"

A brown-haired teen around their age materialized, wearing a blue blazer over a red hoodie and tie, along with black pants and red sneakers. He flashed a device similar to their D-Streamers, showing his readiness to fight alongside Terrence.

Hiro Amanokawa (BT8-086)

Color: Red

"I end my turn by digivolving SkullKnightmon into the Dark Warrior King of the Western District: DarkKnightmon! Heed my call!" Bianca swiped, causing the black aura to explode from SkullKnightmon's being. The digimon rose before them and its body began to contort and reshape, limbs twisting and turning, accompanied by mechanical sounds until what remained was a towering black knight figure. The lances of SkullKnightmon floated around them, joining at the hilt to become a double-edged lance for the large knight to wield. As for the dark aura, it concentrated at the back of the titan, draping it with a cape that flowed about.

DarkKnightmon (BT7-063)

Color: Black

Level: 5

DP: 7000

MEMORY

0-3 (Turn Change)

"One turn left." Bianca stated.

Turn 4: Terrence

"Whoa…" Terrence was rendered speechless in awe, where as Daniel felt the cold shiver return. The digimon itself exerted a creepy aura, leaving him uneasy.

Justin took note and spoke up, "Intimidating, isn't it?"

Daniel turned to him and finally realized he was shaking. "Oh, um…yeah to be honest this whole experience is pretty overwhelming…"

"Everyone's first experience with Digimon on this scale is like that. Gotta say though, your friend there is really enjoying himself."

Daniel looked over to Terrence who eagerly drew, his smile permanently glued to his face it seemed like. It was beginning to bug him how aloof he was being. Why wasn't he skeptical about these two like he was? Why isn't he questioning how easy it was to end up in this situation?

"Yeah…I ain't winning this, am I?" Terrence asked, taking Daniel aback.

"Afraid not." Bianca said with a slight smirk. "FYI, ToyAgumon's IE effect grants Reboot, allowing my Digimon to unsuspend at the start of your turn."

"…yup I'm screwed." Terrence laughed afterward, furthering Daniel's astonishment.

"I can never make sense of him," Daniel admitted out loud.

"I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out what makes that kid tick," Justin crossed his arms, noting the growing smirk on Bianca's face. "Seems like the type to light a fire in someone."

Hearing that triggered something in Daniel, to which he retreated to his internal thoughts.

"Well, whatever. Not like I'm going down without swinging!" He stated, moving Gammamon forward. "BetelGammamon digivolves into MetalGreymon!"

BetelGammamon, sharing Terrence's sentiments, roared as flames swirled around it, transforming it into the cybernetic dinosaur digimon.

MetalGreymon (EX1-008)

Color: Red

Level: 5

DP: 7000

MEMORY

3-0

"Gammamon, attack DeadlyAxemon!" Terrence declared, sending his small Triceratops Digimon charging ahead. Hiro took note and raised his fist in the air in support, the device on his wrist glowing.

"When my Level 5 or higher digimon, or a digimon with Gammamon in its name attacks, Hiro suspends to boost my Digimon's DP by 2000!"

Gammamon: 2000-4000 DP

"Go, Breaclaw!" Terrence exclaimed as a gold aura encircled Gammamon's right arm. However, as it came down to strike, DarkKnightmon's free arm swatted Gammamon across the room like a fly, to the shock of the boys.

"Wha—how?! I attacked DeadlyAxemon!" Terrence was left speechless.

"SkullKnightmon Caviler Mode gained Blocker and Jamming until the end of your turn. That said, the effect carries over when digivolving, as it's the same stack of cards present."

"…this girl is in a league of her own…" Daniel commented. It was then he saw that despite the surprise, Terrence returned to smiling.

"Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that." He responded, making Bianca hesitate for a moment.

"Oh, what does he have up his sleeve?" Justin wondered curiously. Meanwhile Danny took a moment. Battling him several times he more or less knew what Terrence's deck consisted of. That said, for him to have a counter that means he'd use…! "That's it!"

Bianca and Justin turned to Daniel, startled by his epiphany, whereas Terrence pointed at him. "See?! This is why we're best friends!"

"Go for it!" Daniel exclaimed.

Bianca turned to Terrence, realizing herself what they were referring to. Terrence raised his hand into the air as red binary code swarmed MetalGreymon.

"MetalGreymon digivolves into WarGreymon!"

The room shook and grew hot from the holographic flames that lit the air ablaze around them. MetalGreymon roared, absorbing them as they shone golden and golden over its body, transforming it into the golden dragon warrior.

WarGreymon (EX1-009)

Color: Red

Level: 6

DP: 12,000

MEMORY

0-4

"I see…" Bianca said, acknowledging the play. "WarGreymon's effect deletes a blocker upon attacking, doesn't it? Typical of a Red Digimon like itself. Of course, by digivolving, you forfeited your turn."

"Nuh-uh, don't play dumb." Terrence countered. "Remember you had my deck on you for the last day, right? There's no way you didn't peek at it."

Bianca smirked, "To be fair, its nothing more than a Starter Deck. I didn't need to peek at it to learn your secrets. It's as basic as it gets, not to mention it tells me how wide the gap in our skills are between us."

"Yeah well, I'm not gonna beat you this turn, that's for sure…"

"Indeed."

"So instead, I'll just keep you from winning in three! WarGreymon: Blitz!"

WarGreymon hovered into the air above and conjured a Gaia Force sizable enough to take down Bianca's forces. Hurling it forward, Bianca's Security appeared to shield her.

"So long as I have a Tamer in play, your Blocker also bites the dust! So long DarkKnightmon!"

DarkKnightmon thrust its lance forward and shot a dark energy wave to counteract the Gaia Force, however, with Hiro's support, WarGreymon overtook DarkKnightmon's attempt, triggering a small explosion in Bianca's area.

"Yeah, take that!" Hiro exclaimed, taunting his opponent. Daniel watched in awe as Terrence toppled the Dark Knight without hesitation. Was he that focused on showing off, or…

…could it be that he was too focused on having fun to be afraid?

Either way, watching on, Daniel felt the warmness in the room, the cold, chilly fear washing away. A sense of comfort settled in him, making him eager to see how else Terrence was gonna surprise him.

As the smoke cleared though, Daniel's eagerness shrunk, as SkullKnightmon and SkullKnightmon Cavalier Mode stood side-by-side in the spot where DarkKnightmon fell.

"Pagumon's IE effect triggers upon deletion…" Bianca voice drew his attention. "By revealing the top card of my deck, if it's a Black digimon I'm able to add it to my hand, otherwise its sent to the bottom of the deck…"

When it completely cleared, Bianca's revealed card, an Option known as "Ultimate Flare" was sent to the bottom. Afterward she explained the presence of her Digimon. "Also, when DarkKnightmon is deleted, I can move one SkullKnightmon and one DeadlyAxemon in its sources into the Battle Area suspended. As for Caviler Mode, its counted as a DeadlyAxemon in name in addition to SkullKnightmon.

Turn Change

Turn 5: Bianca

"Now then…" She drew, locking eyes with the anxiously excited Terrence.

They flashed briefly with a sinister purple hue.

"…No turns left."