The City of the alliance

First train car

After ensuring everyone was healed, and making sure that no other prisoners had escaped, everyone had boarded the train car, allowing Locomon to continue on his route. It did not take long for them to exit the fog, allowing them to see the night sky.

Where they earlier had felt excitement and anticipation, now those feelings were replaced by uncertainty and dread, knowing that not only had Raynare escaped, but has likely aligned herself with a powerful entity.

Most of the group had chosen to rest while they waited to arrive at their destination. Rias, Sona, Issei, kanji, Stephen, and Kyoko were wide awake as they sat together, as they looked at a torn up box, all that remains of the package Stephen had intended to deliver.

"So, would anyone mind explaining to me and Sona more about the Great Demon Lords, and why one of them may have been responsible?" Rias said as she crossed her arms.

"I'm curious as well. I wonder if they're anything like us devils." Sona further inquired.

Stephen took out his phone and scrolled through his photos until he found the one he was looking for, and then activated the holographic function to display a mural depicting seven demonic-looking digimon. "Well, if you two are anything to go by, they're nothing devils. The Great Demon Lords are 7 powerful and ancient digimon who've long existed as living embodiments of the sins of the Digital World. They've put it in danger countless times, and even now plot new schemes from the Dark Area."

"Interesting. So what is their aim? Do they have a common goal?" Sona pondered.

"That's the thing. While they're considered a group, they don't act like one. They neither impede nor help one another. Not unless they can also benefit from it. Just one of them being involved is an extremely bad thing however."

"Well, what was it that they stole? What was in the package that they'd go through the effort of trying to kill us for?" Rias said as she looked at the remains of the package.

Stephen rubbed the back of his head as he considered his words carefully. "Well remember how the murals said that Milleniummon was divided into various pieces? Well the truth is, one of those pieces had been hidden in the ruins. I had wanted to deliver it to File city for safe keeping, but now I'm afraid that I just delivered it to the wrong hands."

"WHAT?!" Issei yelled, almost waking some of the others. "You had brought on a fragment of a world ending monstrosity and didn't even bother telling us?!

Kyoko chuckled. "Well, how do you expect him to tell us? It was likely for the best that we didn't know so we wouldn't worry."

Issei sighed, realizing that Kyoko is correct. "Yeah, I guess so. Still, this sounds bad. Who could be behind this?"

"It's hard to say, but I guess we can at least rule out who it couldn't have been." Stephen said as he focused the image.

"Of the seven demon lords, two of them aren't in any capacity to make any moves. Lucemon is confined to his prison in the Dark Area, and Belphemon is still deep in sleep. We can also check off Leviamon as he rarely emerges from the Dark Ocean." The mention of these names worried Sona and Rias.

"That just leaves four, Lilithmon, Barbamon, Daemon, and Beelzemon."

Kyoko spoke up. "I'd count Beelzemon out of this as well, considering his nature."

Issei was confused by her statement. "Why is that? Is he trapped like Lucemon and Belphemon?"

"No, it's due to the fact that he commands no one. Despite having the power to lead an army of dark area digimon, he fiercely protects his solitary existence and has a distaste for plots and trickery. So there's no way he'd have someone else fight his own battles or steal the relic."

Sona held her chin in contemplation. "So that means we have three suspects."

That would be correct. The remaining demon lords are Lilithmon, Daemon, and Barbamon. Still, there's no way of really knowing for sure." Stephen turned off the hologram and put his phone away, and noticed the face that Sona and Rias were making. "I'm guessing that some of those names were a bit familiar, since you're devils."

Rias sighed. "You'd be correct. These demon lords bear names significant to our history. Then there's the fact that the administrator of this world is named after the world tree. It's quite disconcerting to be honest. When Kanji told us about the Digital World, he said that it was, in a way, a reflection of the real world. Is this what he meant?"

Kyoko reached over to grab a sugar pack, pouring it into her coffee. "It's hard to take in for someone to learn all at once. Even before the advent of the digital age of technology, humanity has long influenced the Digital World. Their dreams, hopes, fears, all that and more would flow into the Digital world and become data. Those reflections are not always the same however. While these demon lords may bear the names of devils in your world, they are still their own individuals."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, although this will be a headache to explain when I get back home."

Sona giggled at Rias's predicament. "Well, no one ever said it'd be easy being liaisons between the Devils and the CPA."

Just then, the train whistle bellowed as Locomon spoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now arriving at our Destination, File city." Hearing this, those who were resting woke up, and along with the others, looked out the windows on the right side of the train.

There, not far the distance around the next turn of the train tracks, they saw File city. Surrounded by fortified walls, there were many buildings of various shapes, sizes and colors, their lights gleaming in the night. At the center of it all stood a mighty fort, standing tall as if it stood guard for any threats to the city. It was almost like something out of a fairy tale.

"Wow, it's amazing!" Asia marveled at the sight, excited to see what it was like.

"Yes, it really is." Kyoko looked at the city, a nostalgic look on her face. "I still remember when it was just some huts and a few digimon. Mameo really did a hell of a job building it up."

"Wasn't that like 15 years ago? How old are you anyway Kyoko?" Kanji inquired, curious due to Kyoko's youthful appearance.

"Well, are you forward, asking a lady for her age. As for my age, I'd rather keep that to myself."

As they approached the city, they saw that the train tracks lead to an entryway on one of the walls. Now inside the city, they got a better look at the buildings, illuminated by the street lights. While some were clearly meant to be homes, there were others that seemed to be business, from restaurants to gym. Meanwhile, despite it already being night time, quite a few digimon were walking around, as well as a few humans.

Soon, they arrived at the City's train station. As the platform came into view, they saw waiting for them a man in his 30s with black hair, wearing a yellow and red jacket over a black shirt, and at his side was a small yellow dinosaur digimon. What really caught everyone's attention, however, was the imposing presence that stood alongside them. An angelic being, his body predominantly covered in white, bearing six wings, towering over the human beside him. Blue ribbons with digimoji wrapped around his left arm and left leg, and a metal visor with a cross emblazoned on it covered most of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed and blond hair spilling out the back. In his hand he held a long golden staff, ready to be used at a moment's notice.

The devils weren't sure what to think, until Kanji spoke out. "Looks like Mameo told the angel army about our visit, if an Angemon being here is any indication."

Rias looked at Angemon, somewhat worried about his presence. "You don't think the angel army is angry about us devils being invited, right?"

Kanji chuckled a bit. "Nah, they probably just sent him over to help out with the fallen angels, just in case something happens."

As Locomon finally came to a stop, everyone got up and grabbed their bags to get off the train car. As they stood before the man that Kanji had identified as Mameo, they were soon joined by the fallen enjoys as they were escorted out by Black PawnChessmon. The fallen angels were visibly scared by Angemon as he turned his head to their direction, although he said nothing to them.

Mameo stepped forward and extended his hand out to Rias and Sona. "Welcome to File city. I'm Mameo Tanaka, one of the council members. I'd ask if your trip was fine, but I can see that there were complications."

Rias shook his hand. "You'd be right about that. At least we managed to make it here."

"Regardless, we are proud to be here representing our respective houses. Although I am curious as to the presence of this angelic digimon." Sona looked at Angemon.

I apologize if I offended you in any way. When I told our allies in the angel army about your arrival, they requested that they have one of their own be here to observe. They don't mean any harm." Mameo said as he rubbed his neck.

His Partner Digimon then spoke up. "You guys have nothing to worry about. As long as you're here, we'll make sure nothing bad happens to you guys."

"Agumon's right. As one of the leaders responsible for safety around here, I want to make sure that your visit here is safe and pleasant. Now, can anyone inform me what happened to you guys on the way here?"

"Hmm, always the responsible one I see." Kyoko walked towards Mameo, who looked surprised to see her. "As for what happened, it seems that one of the prisoners escaped, along with the relic Stephen was supposed to deliver."

"Well, that's certainly bad. That's something we'll have to deal with then. At least most of you are unharmed. Still, this is something we can discuss tomorrow, as you all look somewhat tired."

Issei yawned. "Yeah, I could really hit the hay. Do you have anywhere we can stay?"

"Oh certainly. We already have some rooms prepared for you at Babamon's inn, free of charge too! I'll walk you guys there." He and Agumon began walking out of the station, as the others followed. Meanwhile, the fallen angels were led away in a different direction by Black Pawnchessmon and Angemon, towards the fort.

Mameo led the group down a street until they arrived at a modestly large building with a sign outside saying "Babamon's Inn and hot springs". Seeing that there were hot springs, Issei was already getting ideas, making a mischievous grin that did not escape the notice of the others.

The door opened, and out walked a diminutive digimon. She appeared to look like an elderly woman, although her mouth was stitched up, while her eyes were covered by her mop-like hair, and wore a mostly green robe. As she held her broom, she took a moment to look at everyone. "Ah, you must be the special guests that dear little Mameo said would arrive! Come in, come in!"

As they entered, Rias noticed that Kyoko, Stephen, Mameo, and their partners had stayed outside. "Aren't you guys coming?"

"Oh, I wish I could, but I need to discuss some things with Mameo at HQ, and then I gotta head back to the real world." Kyoko admitted as she gestured toward the fort.

"Meanwhile me and Terriermon gotta head to the research center to file the information and data we gathered. It was nice meeting you guys though. Bye!" Stephen and Terriermon waved goodnight to Rias and left for the research center.

"Don't worry Rias. I usually stay at the HQ anyway. Just try to relax and get some rest, we can begin discussions tomorrow." With that said, he left with Kyoko as Rias followed the others inside.

As they followed Babamon to their rooms, they saw it was a very modest establishment modeled closely after a Japanese inn. "Now, while you young ones are staying here, there's some rules you have to follow. Firstly, you boys and girls must stay in your respective rooms. No sneaking off into other rooms for funny business unless you're a couple, and I can tell right away none of you are in a relationship."

"Hey, you can't be so sure, maybe some of us just aren't so public about those things." Issei protested, but Impmon snorted out a laugh.

"Yeah right, you're just annoyed that she could easily figure you out as being single as hell!" Issei grinded his teeth at Impmon's mockery.

"Secondly, no fighting in my inn! It's a pain in the neck having to repair the damages, so if you need to settle anything, take it somewhere else. I'm looking at you two, Kanji and Pulsemon, I still remember the entire room you demolished!"

Kanji smiled sheepishly as the others looked at him. "Hey, things can get pretty heated during arguments. At least I paid off the damages."

She then stopped in the hallway, as she stood between two doors on opposite sides of the hallway. "The third and final rule, those who run afoul of the CPA will find no refuge here. Follow these rules, and everything will be just dandy."

She gestured to the left door. "Now, you girls and any digimon partners you have will be staying in this room." She then gestured to the right door. "As for you young lads, you will be staying in the opposite room with your partners."

As the group entered their respective rooms, they found that futons had been prepared for each one of them, as well as a pamphlet showing the times the hot springs were available.

As Babamon left them to their own devices, she couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, This will certainly be an interesting bunch. Wonder how long it will take them to break the first two rules?"

CPA Headquarters

Mameo and Kyoko were sitting at the meeting table, as Mameo looked over the files Kyoko had brought her regarding Rias and her group.

"Hmm, they really did a good job with their documentation, considering that unless one really looked into it, they wouldn't realize the holes in their background."

"Of course, it's a simple task for a detective like me. Just need to bypass the right systems and you'll find whatever you need." Kyoko chuckled before taking a sip of coffee.

"Well, even if I intended to trust them because of Kanji's word, it never hurts to be sure. So, did you also manage to investigate that situation I asked about?"

"Yes, and honestly your hunch is right. The spread of AR and hologram technology appears to be connected with the rise of digimon incidents in the real world, and it clearly seems to be the intended effect."

"What makes you say so?"

She pulled out a document from the pile and laid it on the table, showing the specs of an AR Projector. "Because of the field these devices emit to allow for the seamless use of holograms. When activated, it creates what I can best describe as a background reality."

'That's worrying, considering this information clearly wasn't publicly known. So how did this result in a rise of Incidents?"

"It's because this background reality functions as an intermediary through which digimon can cross over. As more of this technology is integrated, the more likely a digimon may enter the real world."

"So who do you think is the one behind this, or at least, who has the most to gain?" Mameo looked towards the map of the real world, unable to not imagine the chaos that could come from this.

"Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure that out. Both the Crack Team and the D-Brigade would have the resources and reach for this, but we can't really say for certain. All I can say for now is to prepare for anything."

Mameo sighed as he rubbed his temple. "Things can never be easy. Well, thanks anyway for updating me on this."

"Don't sweat it, I was planning on looking into the matter anyway." She leaned back into the chair and drank from her coffee cup.

Mameo stood up from his chair and walked over to the nearby window, looking over the rest of the city. "So Kyoko, how's the investigation into your friend's disappearance?"

Kyoko sighed as she looked down at her coffee cup. "Sadly, still no leads. Not even scouring his last known location has produced anything."

"I'm sorry about that. Hopefully you'll find him soon."

Kyoko smiled. "Don't worry. Knowing him, he'll pop up good as new like nothing happened." She stood up from her seat and made her way to the door. "Well, I'm going to head back home. Good luck with the devils."

After Kyoko left, Mameo chuckled to himself. "Heh. Knowing my luck, things will definitely get hectic with those kids."

"_… Were we friends?"

"Of course we are!"

"Then promise me something… promise to remember me…"

"NUMMY!"

"Waaah!"

Scrambling awake, a young digimon looked up to the night sky, breathing heavily and tears streaming down her face as she thought of those words that she had been hearing in her dreams. "That dream again… Why do I keep having that dream?"

Ever since they could remember, Calimon had been having the same occurring dream, since the day she hatched. At first the words were muffled and difficult to make out and she didn't recognize the face she saw, but as she evolved, the words became more clear and instilled in her a strange desire to become strong.

As she went to the village pond to get some water to calm herself down, she couldn't help but look at her reflection in the water and wonder. She had reached to rookie level faster then most digimon, evolving into a rare species that Digitamamon had said was closely related to Plotmon, and was looked up to by the other baby digimon she had grown alongside with. Yet most digimon who reached the rookie level in Primary village would either leave to find their place in the world or stayed to help protect and take care of the village, yet she had done neither. She had stayed, feeling like she had to wait for someone. She was beginning to doubt if that person would ever come, however.

"No! I know that person will come, and I'll protect them no matter what!" Her doubts dispelled, She returned to the small home that she shared with the baby digimon, and soon settled back in bed. As she drifted off into sleep, Calimon unconsciously mumbled out a name.

"Asia…"

Babamon's inn and hotsprings

After everyone had gotten up and eaten breakfast, they were informed by Babamon that Mameo would send an escort. While they waited in the lobby of the inn. As they waited, Kiba noticed Kanji's sword as it was leaning on the wall near Kanji, and recalling how it withstood a blow from the Gorimon they fought, was curious about it.

"Hey Kanji, I've been wondering, what makes your sword special? It's clearly not an ordinary Katana considering how it handles."

"Oh, I guess I haven't explained that. Why don't you have a look?" He picks up his sword and hands it to Kiba, who unsheathed the sword and examined the blade.

At first glance, the blade didn't appear any different from others that Kiba had seen before, but then he placed his finger on the blade. It didn't feel like any metal he's seen before, despite looking like ordinary steel. "Now this is interesting. You mentioned at the church that it was treated with Chrome digizoid. What exactly is that?"

"Well, here in the digital world, you can find any metal and ore you'd find on earth. There's some, however, that only exist in the digital world, specifically one known as Huaglong ore. That stuff is apparently leagues harder than anything on earth, but it's not really practical for use. So instead a different metal called chronodigizoit metal is derived from it."

Kanji points to a small symbol on the blade close to the hilt that resembled the one on Pulsemon. "The stuff is then combined with the organic data of digimon, becoming chrome digizoid. Normally this means you can't make anything independent of a digimon, but the eggheads in the CPA figured out a way. With a bit of data from our partners and a bit of chronodigizoit, they can temper weapons so they have similar qualities, as well as new ones."

Huh, that's pretty interesting. So you mean there's digimon out there who have this stuff in their body?" He handed the sword back to Kanji who set it down.

"Quite a few apparently, and they're tough customers, since chrome digizoid can't only be broken with extreme force or something else made of the stuff. Apparently there's even some among the royal knights who have it in their armor."

Issei, who overheard the conversation, came over. "Man, you're really into this stuff, and honestly you're making me want one of my own. You think you could convince your buddies to make me one?"

Kanji scratched the back of his head as he chuckled. "Sorry man, can't really make any promises. They don't just give these out to just anyone. You'd have to show that you can be trusted with one of these. Besides, you'd be expected to provide the base weapon as well as the raw ore."

Issei sighed in disappointment. "Man, that's a bummer. Guess I'll have to prove myself then."

"Don't worry man. With what I've seen, you'll impress them in no time." Kanji mused as Kiba handed back his sword, which he sheathed. It was then that Rias and Sona walked over to them.

"You know, You've mentioned the council before, but haven't told us much about them."

"Hmm, I guess I really haven't. Well, besides being the ones in charge of organizing the CPA, they're pretty much the strongest tamers in it as well, with their partners even reaching the mega level."

Rias recalled Mameo's partner Agumon, and wondered what kind of power he held. "So besides Mameo, who founded the CPA, who else is there?"

"Well, besides him there's Gabe Warner and his partner Gaossmon. Pretty swell guy, although he tends to slack off, but he's dependable either way. He helped set up the council with Mameo. Too bad we won't see him today. He's apparently been out of the city for a while for a mission."

"Huh, and I was hoping we'd meet him."

"Then there's Elena Jakob and Pomumon. She was actually a later addition who originally joined up as a recruit, but apparently proved herself during some crisis. A real nice gal, but she can be a bit… weird."

Issei, hearing this, couldn't resist asking. "Is she hot though? Like how big are her tits?" Kanji momentarily frowned, and decided to ignore Issei's question, not hearing the inn door swing open.

"Finally there's Anastasia Lebedev and Blucomon. She's actually been helping Mameo even before he formed the CPA, but only recently officially joined as a member. She's a bit of an ice queen if you asked me. Seriously, why does she have to have such a stick up her ass?"

Kanji did not notice as a woman with blue hair, glasses, a white blouse and pants with a sheathed rapier at her side walking up behind him. "Oh, do go on, Mr. Inazuma."

"Oh hey Anastasia. Yeah, don't get me started on… shit." Turning around to face her, he quickly saw her glaring icy cold daggers. "Hey there… didn't expect to see you and Blucomon so soon."

Soon enough, a blue reptilian digimon that was presumably Blucomon walked from behind Anastasia and past Kanji, looking at the devils and their digimon. "Well, we simply took the initiative to come and pick up our guests. Personally, I don't think these runts are worth my lady's time."

"Now Blucomon, they're guests here, and most importantly, they offer a potential opportunity to tip the scales against our enemies." Anastasia held her hand out to Rias. "Kanji may have told you who I am already, but one cannot skip out on introductions. I'm Anastasia Lebedev, fourth member of the council, but you may simply call me Ana."

Rias shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rias Gremory. I had assumed that Mamero would come by. Is he preoccupied with something?"

Ana signed as she rubbed her temple. "You could say that. That idiot simply left me to handle this, most likely wanting me to "make friends". Leave it to him to treat this as a game."
Kanji piped up, peeking out from behind Rias. "So, I'm guessing we'll be running the gang through the basics, right?'

Ana glared at him for a moment, but relented. "Yes, even for those with special circumstances, we still need to follow procedure and register them."

Issei looked at her, confused. "What? Kanji didn't say anything about that."

"Humph, of course he didn't. Tamers who intend to enter the city, whether or not they join the CPA, have to be registered in our database alongside their partner digimon."

"But, Asia doesn't even have her partner! We came all the way here because you guys said we could find Nummy!"

"Yes, and I promise we will do that, but that can wait." She turned around and walked back towards the door. "Come, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can find her partner."

Rias and Issei look at Kanji, not feeling reassured by their encounter. "Yeah… this is what I was trying to tell you about. Don't let her get to you. We need to focus on finding Nummy after all."

Knowing he was right, the group soon followed Ana out of the inn, all while Babamon watched from behind the counter.

"Hmm, why are they in such a hurry? After all, today's a great day for a reunion."

CPA Headquarters front gate

Passing through a front gate guarded by two golden robotic digimon, which Kanji explained were Gold Guadromon, the group followed Ana into the front courtyard, they were greeted by the sight of a group of black and white pawn chessmon standing in formation, as a formidable digimon stood in front of them. It appeared to be a humanoid dragon, its body covered in gleaming orange armor, while it wore a white metallic helm, red hair sticking out of it near its neck. On its back was a split shield, bearing a sun like crest, and on its arms were a pair of formidable clawed gauntlets, the sight of which sent shivers down the spines of Issei and Saji, a feeling not so different from looking at church.

The digimon noticed the group, and after a few words with the Pawn chessmon, approached the group, quickly showing that he stood nearly twice as tall. "I see you've returned Anastasia, along with the special guests I've heard so much about. I hope there was no issue."

"Nothing to worry about. As long as I'm in charge of this, things will go smoothly." She then turns around towards the group. "I suppose it's best to introduce the head of security in the city. This is Wargreymon, a mega level digimon, and a close associate of the council."

Wargreymon laughed. "Ah ha ha ha, still trying to look professional. I keep telling you, call me a friend of yours, not an associate." He looked towards the rest of the group. "It's nice to meet you all."

Issei was surprised by his friendly demeanor, expecting a much harsher tone. "It's nice to meet you too. You're pretty badass looking yourself." he said as he tried not to show his unease.

"Heh, no need to be so stiff, kid! You may not realize it, but you and your friends have potential. Honestly you remind me quite a bit of Anastasia and Mameo when they barely reached up to my knees. Always bickering, but when the going got tough, they and their partners would always rise on top!"

Anastasia quickly cleared her throat to call their attention. "As much as I'd love to go down memory lane, we need to get going. Still, it was nice seeing you." She then continued towards the entrance.

Wargreymon sighed as he looked towards the group. "Even all these years later, she insists on being like this. I apologize if she's giving you a hard time, she means well."

Rias smiled. "It's okay. I know quite a few people who can be like that. I don't expect her to just open up to us. Either way, it was nice meeting you, Wargreymon. Hopefully we can meet again at a better time."

With that said, Rias and the others followed Ana into the HQ of the CPA, entering into a main lobby, where a small white digimon wearing a pink haramaki, who greeted them and quickly wrote something onto a notepad, as Ana lead them into a hallway, and after a few turns, led them into what appeared to be a room filled with computers and medical equipment, with an especially large computer on the opposite side of the room with two full body scanners.

Ana walked over to a swivel chair and spun it around, showing that a peculiar digimon was sleeping on it. It appeared to have a mechanical, cylindrical body, with a glass dome on top that contained what appeared to be a mechanical brain. It had two metal arms extending from its sides, and four legs ending in a red claw each. It appeared to have a toothy mouth drawn on what was presumed to be its face, and strangely, while one eye was simply an illuminated hole, the other was an organic eye peeking out from a crack in the metal. The group quickly realized, however, that this digimon had fallen asleep, as it was snoring and not reacting.

Ana, having no intention to waste any time, took out her rapier, and slammed the digimon's domed head, waking him up with a startle. "Nanomon, why are you asleep? You were notified in advance to expect a group of registrants."

Nanomon clutched at their head in pain as he looked up to Ana and spoke in a monotone voice. "Oh, apologies, I had finished up filing a bunch of intel Mamero brought in, and decided to take my monthly nap. I did not anticipate your arrival so soon." It then looked towards Issei, Rias, and Asia. "I presume these are the three. Well, first I'll need to hand me your digivices and I'll scan them into our network. Thus in the event that you lose them or get lost yourselves in the digital world, we can find the approximate location."

He held his hand out, and the three handed them their digivices, although Asia did so with reluctance. Nanomon then projected a light from one of his eyes and scanned over the digivices, before extending his other arm towards the computer and connected one of his fingers into a socket. After a few seconds, he produced a beeping sound as he disconnected from the computer, and handed back the digivices. "Good, no issues here. Now I need you three to stand on the left scanner one at a time and stand still. The machine will scan your biodata and make a record of it in our registry of tamers."

They did as asked, with Issei going first. As he stepped onto the scanner, the glass door closed as a ring descended from the top of the scanner, projecting a blue light. As the light passed over issei, a wireframe model of him appeared on the computer screen, along with countless pieces of information popping up only to quickly dissappear. While most in the room couldn't read any of it fast enough, Nanomon's eyes were darting all over, taking in all the information before it was filed away. "Hmm, Fascinating, truly fascinating…"

After Rias and Asia went through the scanner, Nanomon typed into the computer keyboard and put the wireframe models of the tree onto the screen. "When I was told that you three were a nonhuman species, my predictions would be that you were an analogous species or convergent species, but it seems that it's not so simple."

Kanji looked up at the computer screen, curious at what the scans would reveal about his friends. "So, what did you learn about them?"

"Quite a bit actually. It will take time to compile the data, but it does confirm that they are truly not human. It truly is an unexpected thing to learn, that the real world is home to nonhuman species like devils, yet only recently did we become aware of them."

Issei looked at the models and admired how accurately they reflected the body shapes of Rias and Asia. "Man, I bet you even got their three sizes down correctly."

Nanomon looked towards issei. "Ah, yes. Although I consider it to be irrelevant and useless data, that information is also recorded. If you desire, I may share them with you."

Issei couldn't believe his luck, and took out his phone to write down the sizes as he was about to ask for them, only for Koneko to slam her fist on his head, causing him to fall down on the floor, the sight of which made Impmon laugh, while Nanomon received another blow to their dome from Ana. "Ignore him and continue to the final step."

"Of course Anastasia. Now we require that your partners step onto the opposite scanner so we can record them into our digimon registry. Asia, since your partner is… indisposed at the moment, we can scan them at a later date."

After considering it, Rias and Issei decided that Guilmon would be scanned. With a bit of coaxing, having to explain to him that he had to stay still, the scanning process began. When the light passed over the symbol on his torso, the color of the light changed from blue to red as the word "warning" flashed on the computer screen. As the scan finished and Guilmon returned to Rias's side, she looked worryingly at Nanomon. "What… What was that just now? Is there something wrong with Guilmon?"

Nanomon brought up the scanned data into the screen, and quickly analyzed it. "Hmm, hmm, this is quite worrying indeed. Without a doubt, Guilmon bears a digital hazard."

Rias placed her hand on Guilmon, concerned for his safety. "What does that mean? Is Guilmon sick or something?"

Ana stepped forward, a stern look on her face. "It means that he bears a great power, one with the potential to bring about a disaster and destruction across the entire digital world by simply existing. I had suspected it when I saw the marking, but this confirms it."

Nanomon walked closer to Guilmon, though he stayed outside of arm's reach. "Digimon who carry the potential to unleash a digital hazard are thus branded with a warning symbol, to denote them to other digimon as something to avoid, or destroy. I highly suggest we perform the latter, before Guilmon becomes a serious threat."

Nanomon was surprised when it suddenly felt a fearsome aura fall on it as Rias glared at it, her clenched in anger. Before either of them could do anything, Ana held her arm in front of Nanomon. "No, we will not do any such thing."

Nanomon looked up at Ana, not understanding why she would make such an illogical decision. "But Anastasia, this digimon presents a serious potential threat to all of us. For what reason would you choose not to destroy him?"

She turned her head back to look at Nanomon, shooting it an icy glare. "I've made my decision. I expect you not to question it."

Rias quickly relaxed, fully expecting to have to fight Anastasia to protect Guilmon. "Thank you. I honestly thought you would have gone along with Nanomon's decision. Although I need to ask, why defend Guilmon?"

Ana looked to the side, and contemplated the question. "Let's just say that I have my reasons. That, and I'd rather now ruin a chance to gain allies."

"Still, thanks for looking out for him." Relaxing a bit, Rias noticed that Impmon had walked towards Nanomon, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Are we gonna get to my scan, or are you gonna keep whining about being scared? I want to get out of here as soon as possible!" Datamon looked at Impmon, and sighed. "Go in."

As the machine scanned Impmon, it once again made a sound as the light changed color, this time purple. Confused, everyone looked toward the computer screen, much of the information produced an error message saying "unreadable".

As the scan finished, Nanomon began typing on the keyboard, trying to make sense of the data. "Damn, what is it now?!"

Issei peeked over Nanomon, unsure of what just happened. "What's the issue? Does Impmon also have a digital hazard thing in him?"
Nanomon stopped their work and looked back at Issei, frustration clear in their voice. "Of course not! The issue is that most of the scanned data can't be properly formatted! Sometimes something like this happens from time to time with digimon who have been to unstable areas in the digital world, but I've never seen a case as severe as this! This could take me weeks to untangle it into a readable form! Where did your partner even come from!?"

Everyone turned their heads to Impmon, who was now impatiently waiting at the door, "Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm not in a mood to tell you anything that I feel you don't need to learn!"

Rias sighed. "Do you really have to make everything difficult? What's so hard about telling us about where you've lived?"

"Yeah, cause you guys are definitely not the judgemental types. It's not like you guys are going there. For crying out loud, I already told you guys about Withcelny!"

Asia walked forward, worried at her friend's reluctance. "I respect your desire to keep your past to yourself, but I ask that you tell us. We're your friends, Impmon, don't you trust us? We only ask out of concern."

Impmon grumbled as he tried to look the other way, but he could not ignore her pleading gaze. "Alright then, I'll tell you guys. But don't you dare pity me for it!"

Asia squealed in delight as she crouched down and hugged Impmon, much to his annoyance and discomfort. "Yay! I knew you could trust us!"

He wiggled out of her grasp, partially regretting his choice. "Alright, don't make a big fuss out of it. Believe it or not, before I came to the real world and met you guys, I used to live in the Ravenous Badlands."

To everyone's surprise, Nanomon cackled, its voice still maintaining its monotone, as they slapped one of their knees. "Ha Ha Ha Ha, even I can't help but find that humo- wait, you're serious?"

Kanji's and Ana's deadpan expressions and Impmon's glare spoke volumes.

Issei was puzzled at the reactions to Impmon's admission. "What's the big deal? Sure it sounds like a nasty place, but it can't be that bad, right?"

Ana sighed, knowing that these devils were very naive about the digital world, and had to be caught up very quickly. "The reason is that it's one of the regions in the Dark Area."

Sona recalled that name being mentioned the previous night and spoke up. "I recall that place being referred to as "the home of the great demon lords". What kind of realm is it?"

"The dark area is comparable to what humans consider Hell or the underworld; where the data of digimon pass through before reincarnation, and is home to many dark and malicious digimon, where any light is snuffed out and weakness is preyed upon."

Issei scratched the back of his head, amazed that Impmon would survive in such a place. "So I'm guessing that's why Nanomon had a hard time believing Impmon about living there."

"It's more than that. The Ravenous Badlands is a region found in the absolute lowest layer of the Dark Area, the cocytus, the domain of the demon lords. In particular, it's the domain and territory of Beelzemon. He's very keen on a solitary existence, so I doubt anyone else could live there."

Impmon chuckled at her. "Well, goes to show you don't know Beelzemon all too well. Either way, I told you what you wanted, so what now?"

"Now, we will endeavor to find the young girl's lost friend."

The group turned around to see the source of the voice, and saw a strange digimon standing at the entrance. He looked like a hairy old man in tattered rags, his features completely obscured by a mass of grey hair. He walked into the room, using a cane with a cat glove for a head to support his weight. Stopping in front of the devils, he scanned them with his obscured eyes and chuckled. "My, you truly are a curious bunch."

Ana walked up to his side, causing him to look back to her. "Jijimon, I did not expect you to come here. I thought you'd be waiting for us in the Strategy room."

"Hm, yes, that is true, but then I heard quite a commotion from here and decided to check to make sure nothing bad had happened."

Kanji laughed a bit. "Yeah, nothing to worry about, old man. I should have known you'd be the one who'd be helping us."

Asia walked towards them, curious to what they meant by that. "Does that mean you can help us find Nummy?"

Jijimon chuckled as he stroked his beard. "Of course I can! But I should introduce myself properly. I am Jijimon, elder of File city, and mayor when it was simply File town."

Kanji patted Jijimon on the back confidently as he smiled. "Yeah, Jijimon here is older than anyone here! He always has some solution when someone asks him! So if anyone knows how to find Nummy, it's him!"

"You would be correct there. Mameo had informed me of the young girl's predicament, and I took the time to prepare what we would need."

"I presume that under the circumstances, we'll have to make use of the Ancient Index, correct?" Ana surmised.

"Yes, although that alone will not be enough. Fortunately, we can make use of the object your colleagues recovered a few months ago."

She stiffened as he said that, doubt in her eyes. "Are you sure that's a wise idea? You may say you've figured it out, but I'm not comfortable with using that even with precautions."

Rias walked up to Ana, curious about what they were discussing. "Excuse me, but what exactly is this Ancient Index, as well as this other object?"

"Ah, my bad, I forgot that you wouldn't know. While we could explain it to you, I feel it would be easier to show you. Come, the strategy room isn't far." She then exited the room with the group, Although she quickly noticed that Jijimon wasn't following, and turned back to check on him.

She found Jijimon sitting in one of the chairs while Nanomon kept an eye on him, rubbing his back before he noticed Ana. "Apologies Anastasia, I may have strained myself by rushing here, because my back is aching. I just need a moment to rest here and I'll catch up." Ana nodded and gave him a thumbs up and left.

"Nanomon, mind doing this old man a favor and bring some water?" As one of many longtime residents who highly respected the elder, Nanomon was quick to leave the room to do as requested, leaving Jijimon alone. As the sound of Nanomon running faded, Jijimon got up from the chair and walked towards the computer keyboard. He brought up the scanned data from Impmon, and quickly executed several commands only he knew, creating a copy of it, and then isolating a specific section of the data and untangling it, revealing a symbol that he suspected would be found. "So it's just as I speculated. You truly are a stubborn one."

"Elder Jijimon, I have returned with the water." Hearing Nanomon returning, Jijimon quickly inputted a command to delete the copied data and returned to his seat. Not one moment later, Nanomon entered the room and handed a glass of water to him.

Drinking the entire cup, Jijimon put it down on a nearby table. "Thank you Nanomon, I really needed that. Well, I better catch up with them."

"I wish you success in your endeavors. Meanwhile, I need to start untangling this mess of data." Nanomon began typing away at the keyboard, never suspecting what Jijimon had done as he left the room.

Strategy Room

As Issei followed Ana and the others into the room, he saw what could easily be compared to a war room. The walls had several monitors showing different maps and lists of information, as well as shelves full of binders and file boxes. At the center of the room was a circular table with an electronic display, displaying a digital map that appeared to depict File City and the surrounding area. Most noticeably, on top of the table was a strange stone compass and a tattered red book, radiating an aura that was familiar to the occult research club members.

"Wait, that book looks awfully familiar. Don't tell me-" The book suddenly sprang into the air as it opened and began flipping through its pages, stopping when it arrived at a section that was missing several pages, as a spectral red arm reached out and darted towards Impmon. While the others reacted in fear of him being harmed, Impmon only briefly flinched as the arm phased into his body, before it quickly with the red page from red page they had recovered in hand. As the spectral arm faded away, the page flew to the book, placing itself onto one of the torn pages and restoring it.

Impmon looked upon the book, his gaze one of familiarity and annoyance. "No doubt about it. That's the one and only Book of Appin, or at least most of it. Didn't expect these guys to have it."

"We were honestly just as surprised as we were when we found its remnants, all the more reason to recover as many pieces as we could." The group looked towards the entrance to see Jijimon had caught up with them.

"As far as anyone knew, the book was lost alongside its master, Baalmon, who disappeared millenia ago without a trace. Although considering where we found pieces, I think that mystery may now have an answer."

"What do you mean?" Issei asked curiously.

Ana looked upon the book, ever cautious of its presence. "A few months ago, an incident occurred at the Ravenous Badlands, centered around the tower of greed, the center of Beelzemon's domain, that resulted in the destruction of the surrounding area. The pieces we found there likely indicate that Beelzemon had likely killed Baalmon for the book."

"A pity if that is true, I had once met Baalmon in my younger years. His knowledge would likely have been a great benefit to us as an ally." Jijimon lamented.

"Regardless, even if he is gone, it's possible we can use what he left behind to find Asia's partner."

Asia stepped closer to the table, eager to find Nummy. "Can it really do that? Even if it's just a clue, I want to find them!"

"Under normal circumstances, no. However, if we use it in conjunction with the Ancient Index, It might be possible." she pointed towards the stone compass.

Issei looked over it, finding nothing remarkable on its exterior. "This hunk of stone? What is it even supposed to be?" As he was about to touch it, his hand was harshly slapped away by Ana.

"This "hunk of stone" is actually one of the last remaining indexes used to chart the ancient digital world in its infancy, which allows it to map the digital world no matter how it changes. In theory, if used in conjunction with the Book of Appin, which contains such a vast amount of data and knowledge that it can function as a predictive computer, we could find the location where Asia's partner reincarnated."

Rias sighed, certain in what was coming next. "I'm guessing thing's aren't so simple. There's a catch to it, right?"

Jijimon looked away, embarassed. "Yes. It appears that either due to its damaged state, or a directive Baalmon left behind, the book refuses to cooperate unless we agree to perform a task, and the tasks it's offered have been quite unreasonable."

"How unreasonable are we talking about?"

"Very unreasonable. So far its tasks involved either bringing harm on others to research their bodies, or tasks which if not completed in a time period… I'd rather not go into the penalty it would impose."

Ana massaged her forehead, getting a headache from the conundrum. "This is precisely why I'd rather we not use it. The price it asks of us is too much. We can surely find another method. Why would you even consider this?"

"Because, after reading Kanji's report, I believe we found someone who can solve both dilemmas." Jijimon looked towards Impmon.

"You claimed to have once been in possession of the Book of Appin, and apparently made use of the page you found during your assault on the fallen angels' base. Is that true?"

"Yeah. I think I know where this is going. You need me to make it work, right?"

Jijimon chuckled. "Yes, very astute of you. Do you have any issue with this? After all, It's to find a friend."

Impmon crossed his arms as he scowled. "All I'll say is that me and that book went our separate ways for a reason. You're right though, so I guess I'll just have to bear with it."

He walked over to the table and stood in front of the book, glancing at Issei. "You mind?" Catching on to what he meant, Issei brought out his digivice, and digivolved Impmon to Wizarmon.

As Wizarmon grabbed onto the book, the Book of Appin grew ever brighter. "Book of Appin, font of knowledge, heed my command!"

As he spoke, a tendril of crimson extended from the book towards the Ancient Index, causing it to float above the table as the symbols on it glowed blue.

"Show us the location of the one we seek!" The Ancient Index created a projection of the earth, before zooming into the Japanese landmass, before zooming once again, now showing the church where they fought the fallen angels. It finally zoomed in one more time, entering the interior, showing Asia cradling Nummy, the sight frightening Asia. She averted her gaze, not wanting to witness Nummy's death once more.

As Nummy dissipated in Asia's arms, her data's path was followed by the projection, as it transitioned through an unknown location, before it arrived at a projection of what was the presumably the digital world, before quickly zooming in as it did before, before settling onto what appeared to be a farmstead, as the data coalesced into an egg.

As the book closed shut once more and fell back to the table, Jijimon motioned to the Ancient Index, causing the projection to zoom back out, allowing them a good look of the surrounding area for Jijimon to examine. "Hmm, we're in luck from the looks of it."

As Wizarmon reverted back to Impmon and returned to the group, Ana also looked upon the projected landscape while she scribbled something down onto a piece of paper. "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, this is one of the primary villages not too far from File city. They could probably get there quickly enough on one of the Komondomon and be back before sundown."

She then hurried her way out of the room, much to the group's confusion. Issei looked at the door as Ana left. "Where did she go off to?"

"Most likely to help set up the trip to the primary village. That way you won't have to wait long to go." Jijimon explained as he picked up the book of Appin from the table. "Knowing her, the girl most likely will have some of you go while the others remain."

Rias smirked, quickly realizing what Ana was trying to do. "Hm, she did give off the impression that she was looking at us with suspicion. Why separate us though?"

"Good question. Most likely, she wants to evaluate those without partners. She's never been one to easily trust non-tamers. I don't quite agree with her ideas, but you'll need to earn her trust sooner or later."

"Well, trust my peerage will clear any doubts. What about you Sona, you think you can handle her while I'm away?"

Sona chuckled. "Of course I can. You wouldn't consider me a rival if I couldn't keep up with you."

Jijimon walked over to Issei and Impmon, looking them over. "Good to see you're prepared for what's to come. There's just one more thing to discuss however."

"What would that be?"

He held out the Book of Appon to Issei "This, of course."

"Wait, you want me to take this?! Isn't this too important to give to someone you just met?!"

"Normally, you'd be right. However, I'd see this as a special case. In our position, it's more dangerous than useful, but with you and your partner, it may actually be of use. Who knows, you may even discover the full truth of what became of Baalmon."

Jijimon couldn't help but chuckle as Issei hesitantly took the book, which glowed once again at his touch as it turned into data and entered his digivice. "Hm, looks like my hunch is already paying off."

"Woah, what just happened?" Issei held up his Digivice, unsure of what he saw.

Impmon looked up to Issei, resisting the urge to call him an idiot. "Clearly the damn thing stored itself in your digivice, probably because it's connected to me."

"So, can I just take it out whenever or something?"

Impmon facepalmed. "You know what, we can figure this out later. That ice bitch probably has our ride ready by now anyway."

The group then began exiting the room, although Rias took a moment to glance back at Jijimon. "It was nice meeting you. Hopefully we can discuss more when we get back."

As she left, Jijimon took a moment to contemplate over the group. "Hmm, it truly was an interesting meeting."