Episode 7: Breach

Outside a mall, in the early morning, a man walks into the center of a picnic area. Accompanied by a small, one-eyed, floating Digimon, the man pulls out a black Digivice from his gray, pleated pants and stops dead center. "Right here." The man enters Digital Space with the Digimon. "The gate will open."

"How was your audition?" Lance asks.

"They're going to audition a few more people," Lauren states over video call, "but I think I left a good impression on them."

"I'm sure you'll get it."

Lauren grins. "We'll see you play!" V-mon promises.

"I expect nothing less." Lauren's smile turns flat, suddenly deep in thought.

Lance begins to worry. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Lauren deflects, "It's just…" She pauses.

"Lauren?" Renamon kneels next to her.

"Connor seems to know a lot about Digimon and Digital Waves."

"You think?" Putting his hand to his chin, Lance ponders the statement. "I mean, he and Wormmon have been partners far longer than we have been with our Digimon. So, that would make sense."

"Sure, but I've been looking into Digital Waves. Connor said the waves we can observe are caused by them colliding in our data lines. So far, everything I've read said that there isn't a determined cause of them. Only that they're emitted from our data lines."

"Shelby told me that Jellymon was caught in a Digital Wave in the Digital World and that's how she got here."

"But that was Connor's guess, wasn't it?"

"It was…"

"We know there's something he doesn't want to tell us. That building at the park in Digital Space. He said that was his failure."

"Do you think he's being malicious?"

"Not at all. I think he's trying to do too much on his own. Or he thinks we'll judge him over his past mistakes."

"Mistakes are lessons," Renamon adds. "He should learn from them and move on. Trying to protect us from his mistakes will only ensure repeated mistakes."

"He's safe with us!" V-mon exclaims. "If he knows that, he'll surely tell us what's up!"

"Hopefully…" Lance stares at the keyboard. 'Why does he think he has to do this on his own?' The room falls quiet.

"Hey! Wanna come with me to the mall tomorrow?"

Lance darts his head back to the monitor, confused by the question. "What? Where did that come from?"

"I just want someone to come with me," Lauren giggles. "Someone who's not my brother. I need my space away from him sometimes, you know?"

"Okay, sure," Lance nods in confusion.

A red, beetle-like Digimon flies around the area, seemingly scouting. "Are you the Adult level that will finally break through?" the man wonders.

"Where is she?" Lance sits on a half wall with V-mon.

"Maybe text her?"

"No, I'm sure she'll be here soon." Pulling out his Digivice, Lance looks at the screen displaying: Link Strength: 19%. "Hey, V-mon." Lance looks to the sky as V-mon looks to Lance. "What is the Digital World like?"

"There's a lot of really big flowers! Much different from the ones here. The trees are different, too! Come to think of it…" V-mon also looks to the sky. "The sky is different. You can almost see space in the middle of the day. Here…it's just blue."

"And magenta in Digital Space. It's weird, I would've thought Digital Space would've been closer to the Digital World. I guess the three are truly unique in their own ways."

"But there are some familiar things here, like this city! We have plenty of those in the Digital World, too!"

"What a strange place. I would like to go one day."

"But how would we get there?"

The two pause for a moment. Repeating the question in his mind, Lance contemplates on it. 'How do we get to the Digital World?' Lance hops off of the wall and turns to V-mon. "We'll figure it out one day."

"Yeah!" V-mon nods. "You bet we will!"

"Sorry we're late!" Lance turns to the direction of the voice to find Lauren and Renamon.

"We weren't here for very long," Lance assures her.

"It might be better for us to wait outside," Renamon points out to V-mon.

In a secluded corner, V-mon and Renamon sit across from each other. "Hey, you can evolve to the Adult level too, right? What's one thing you would change about your evolution?"

"It doesn't matter to me," Renamon expresses. "Protecting Lauren is all that matters to me."

"Oh…" V-mon scratches the back of his head.

"But what about you?"

"I wish I could fly! Like Stingmon!"

"We do seem to lack flying mob-" Renamon stops and whips her head away. "There's something that way."

"I wonder how V-mon is doing."

"He's with Renamon, they'll be fine."

"I suppose." Lance gazes at some of the graphic tees.

"Hey Lance, what do you think?"

Lance looks over to Lauren, who has a purple blouse propped against her chest. "That looks nice."

"Just nice?"

"I mean…"

Lauren giggles. "I'm just messing with you! Thanks!" Lauren turns away. As she approaches the counter, he smirks.

Hearing a beeping sound, Lance jolts and pulls out his Digivice with the screen displaying a message: Digital Breach Detected. "Digital Breach?" The screen changes to a compass with a red dot near the edge.

"Lance!" Lauren shows him her Digivice.

"Let's go!" They sprint in the direction of the red dot, running by several people running in the opposite direction.

"What even is a Digital Breach?!" Lauren shouts.

"I don't know! Can't be good, whatever it is!" The two exit the mall to a picnic area. Two giant, red mandibles peak through a hole caused by Digital Waves.

"What the…?"

"Lance!" Lance turns to a running V-mon.

"V-mon!"

Joined by Renamon, V-mon rejoins Lance and Lauren. "A Digimon is trying to cross over!" Renamon explains.

Lance hits the button and they transport to Digital Space. They see a man dressed in a white blazer accompanied by a small, almost squid-like Digimon. The man watches as the beetle-like Digimon attempts to cross over. He turns to them with his one-eyed Digimon. "Don't interfere."

"What?" Lance gazes at the Digimon, pushing through the hole. He pulls up his Digivice and it displays an image of the Digimon.

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Kuwagamon

Level: Adult

Attribute: Virus

Technique: Scissor Arm

"It's going to cross over!" Lauren exclaims. "We need to do something!"

"Let's go, V-mon!"

"Mm!" V-mon nods. "V-mon evolve! …V-Dramon!"

"Renamon evolve! …Kyubimon!"

"Magnum Punch!" V-Dramon punches Kuwagamon out of the hole and the hole closes. Kuwagamon spreads its wings and lifts off high in the air. It opens its mandibles wide, closing in on V-Dramon.

"Onibidama!" Kyubimon launches nine fireballs from her tail. Kuwagamon sways to avoid them.

"V-Breath Arrow!" Kuwagamon pulls up to avoid the oncoming attack. Swooping in, Kuwagamon grabs V-Dramon with its mandibles. "Gah!"

"V-Dramon!" Lance cries out.

Kyubimon leaps and flips forwards. "Koenryu!" Emerging from Kyubimon, the flame dragon hits Kuwagamon. Agitated, Kuwagamon throws V-Dramon at Kyubimon. Landing on Kyubimon, V-Dramon and Kyubimon fall to the ground.

"Kyubimon!"

"I'm okay." Kuwagamon takes off into the sky again.

V-Dramon gets off of Kyubimon, attempting to run after Kuwagamon. "V-Breath Arrow!" V-Dramon launches another projectile, just for Kuwagamon to dodge. Kuwagamon dives in and strikes V-Dramon with its claw. Falling to the ground, V-Dramon devolves back to V-mon.

"V-mon!" Lance runs over to V-mon. Kuwagamon touches down and grabs V-mon off the ground. "No! Bring him back!"

"Onibidama!" Kyubimon hurls several fireballs from her tail at Kuwagamon, but none hit.

"I need…" V-mon struggles.

"V-mon!" Lance chases Kuwagamon.

Ascending higher in the air, Kuwgamon throws V-mon towards the ground.

Lance runs in V-mon's trajectory, arms out to catch him.

V-mon opens his eyes, the ground coming close. "I need to fly!"

"V-MON!" The Digivice glows bright and displays the message: Link Strength: 20%.

"V-mon evolve!" V-mon's body becomes taller, more aerodynamic, growing white wings, a longer snout with a blade-like horn, and a sigil on his chest that resembles both a V and an X. "XV-mon!"

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: XV-mon

Level: Adult

Attribute: Free

Technique: X-Laser

Lance stares in amazement. "A second…evolution?"

XV-mon opens his wings and pulls up into the sky, flying past Kuwagamon. Stopping mid-flight, XV-mon kicks Kuwagamon down to the ground. Crashing on the ground, Kuwagamon stumbles to stand back up. With its mandibles open wide, Kuwagamon darts at XV-mon. XV-mon grabs Kuwagamon by the mandibles and throws Kuwagamon to the ground.

Kyubimon sprints over to them. "Onibidama!" Kyubimon hurls several fireballs from her tails, igniting Kuwagamon on fire.

XV-mon lands in front of Kuwagamon. As the sigil on XV-mon's chest begins to glow, Lance remembers something Connor said to him. "We have to be prepared for the worst. That's our lives now. We don't get a choice in the matter. The only thing we can do is move forward."

"X-Laser!" A X-shaped beam fires from XV-mon's sigil and pierces Kuwagamon. Collapsing to the ground, Kuwagamon's data begins to disperse.

Wide-eyed, Lauren approaches Kyubimon. "He's going back…"

"...To the Digital World." Lance finishes.

"My my my." Almost forgetting about him, they turn their attention to the mysterious man approaching them. "Albeit possibly rare, it seems a Digimon can have more than one line of evolution. Remarkable."

"Who are you?" Lance questions the man.

"Why were you allowing Kuwagamon to pass through?!" XV-mon barks. "People could've gotten hurt!"

"What were you doing?!" Lauren interrogates.

The man stops and smiles. "Please, one question at a time. 'What was I doing?' I was merely observing the Digital Waves and their stability. 'Why was I allowing Kuwagamon to pass through?' As you may have noticed, Digimon are appearing more and more in the real world. This is a result of more Digital Waves coming through." The man sleeks his black hair back. "More Digital Waves mean a higher bandwidth for Digimon to pass through given that the waves are stable enough. Kuwagamon was the first Adult level Digimon to attempt to pass through. This shows the waves are becoming more stable. The more stable the Digital Waves are, the more likely the Digital Gate will open."

"The Digital Gate?" Lance repeats, astonished. "You mean…the gate to the Digital World?!"

"Precisely!" the man confirms.

"Why are you trying to go to the Digital World?!" Kyubimon snaps.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't answer that question."

"You…" XV-mon grits his teeth and starts flying at the man.

"XV-mon!" Lance calls.

The small Digimon accompanied by the man comes forward. Its eye starts to glow while staring at XV-mon. "Gah!" XV-mon collapses to the ground. "My strength…" XV-mon devolves back to V-mon.

"What power…" Lauren pulls out her Digivice as the information of the mysterious Digimon appears on screen.

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Negamon

Level: Baby II

Attribute: Unidentified

Technique: Downer Eye

"I would rather avoid confrontation for right now." The man turns around and begins to walk away. "Oh." He turns back to Lance. "As for who I am, I suggest you ask Connor."

Surprised, Lance shakes his head. "How do you know Connor?!"

"I will be answering no further questions today." The man turns back around and walks away with Negamon.

"V-mon!" Lance rushes to V-mon's side. "Are you okay?"

V-mon sits up. "What's their deal?!"

"He's up to no good," Kyubimon affirms.

"He said to ask Connor." Lauren stands next to Lance. "Connor knows a lot that he's not telling us."

Looking to Lauren, Lance nods. "It seems that way."

The man walks into a chamber with Negamon, approaching his colleague and Keramon. "How did it look?"

"As predicted, the Digital Waves are allowing for Adult level Digimon to pass through." The man climbs a few stairs and sits on a throne. "I met some of Connor's friends today."

"His friends seem to be very involved with Digimon now."

"So they seem." The man smirks. "They seem like a lively bunch. It's almost nostalgic."

The colleague approaches the man. "The one Keramon fought the other day was almost how Connor was back then. She's a very skilled hacker for her age." The man's smirk turned into a smile.

Walking to the usual spot, Lance and Lauren spot Connor. With Connor still out of earshot, Lauren stops Lance. "What should we tell him?"

Thinking about the question, Lance stares at Connor approaching them. "Let's tell him everything we know."