Episode 10: Dichotomy

A small dragon Digimon lays on the bottom of a glass tube, eyes listlessly staring outside of it. Noticing a man walking by with Keramon, it picks itself up and presses its hands against the glass. "What are you planning on doing with me?! Why are you keeping me here?!"

Pulling his hands out of his black jeans, the man turns to the Digimon. "You should be thankful, Monodramon. You're going to skip the natural process of evolution." The man smirks and walks over to a computer, immediately typing on the keyboard. The tube starts to glow a bright green.

Bzzt! A phone vibrates on a desk. Picking the phone off the desk, Connor reads through a message from Lance: 'Hey, V-mon and I are heading to the amusement park today! Thought maybe you'd like to join us? Hope everything is okay!' Connor sets his phone back down and clacks at a keyboard.

"Our friends are worried about us," Wormmon points out.

"I know." Focused on blueprints, Connor drags his mouse to rotate it.

"Shouldn't we ask for their help?"

"It's not their responsibility. It's mine."

Wormmon rolls his eyes to the floor. "And I guess my responsibility too."

"How so?"

"I wasn't strong enough back then to take them on. If only I was stronger, things wouldn't have ended up this way."

"They were my friends. I should've caught on sooner." Connor stops and spins his chair to Wormmon. "Either way, we'll get them this time!"

"Right!" Wormmon nods.

"And, this time, we'll have a plan!" Connor turns back to the blueprints on the computer. "We'll find a way in and stop this. We have to. The Digital World depends on it."

Lance and V-mon walk together, V-mon dressed in a hoodie with his face covered. "Hey, V-mon." V-mons turns his head to Lance. "I'm noticing the Link Strength on the Digivice has gone up quite a lot since we met. What do you think will happen when it reaches one hundred percent?"

"Beats me." V-mon puts his hands behind his head, looking forward.

"Connor said the Link is the connection between humans and Digimon. I feel like we've become closer now."

"I was just about to say that! It's like we know what's on each other's mind!"

Lance chuckles. "Maybe we'll be the same person when it reaches a hundred."

V-mon jerks his head at Lance. "Is that even possible?!"

"Just kidding!" Lance laughs.

Turning his head forward, V-mon adjusts the hood slightly. "Where are we going, anyways?"

"Ever heard of an amusement park?"

"I've heard of them, but I've never been to one."

"Well, I decided it might be fun to take a break from everything and go to one!"

"Is anyone else coming with us?"

"Lauren has band practice today, Shelby is busy with research, and Aster is out of town for the day. Ezra didn't seem interested."

"What about Connor?"

Remembering how Connor departed, Lance looks to the ground. "I tried asking. He hasn't been responding to any of the texts I or anyone have been sending him."

"Hope he's doing okay," V-mon frowns.

"Me too…" Lance looks back up. "But just us is completely fine! We'll have a fun day!"

"Yeah!"

"STOP!" Monodramon shouts. Pounding the floor, he screams in agony.

The man types on his keyboard, inputting bizarre code. "A Digimon's core is truly remarkable. If left alone, you would evolve into Strikedramon. I wonder if we can force an evolution of a different factor." Continuing to type, the man ignores Monodramon's pleas.

As he begins to glow, Monodramon cries out from the tormenting pain.

Stunned by the size of the park, V-mon looks all around him. "It's so big!"

"Which ride do you want to go on first?"

V-mon scans the rides for a couple seconds before pointing at a ride that looks like small rockets. "That one!" V-mon starts running towards it.

"Wait for me!"

After waiting in line, V-mon and Lance take a seat inside the ride. The ride lifts them into the air and spins them around in a circle, gaining speed with each rotation. "This is cool!"

When they get off the ride, V-mon points to a rollercoaster and the two dash their way over. As the ride slowly pulls them uphill, Lance raises his arms up. "V-mon, try letting go!" V-mon lets go of the harness around him and mimics Lance as the ride reaches the top.

When the ride goes over the top, V-mon feels the wind against his face with the sudden speed of it. "So fast!"

Exiting the ride, they look at the monitors and find their photo. "That's a good photo of us," Lance laughs.

"Let's get it!" V-mon suggests. Lance nods and approaches the sales desk. He comes back to V-mon with the photo in hand.

"I'm getting hungry." Lance scans the area, stopping his head at a funnel cake sign. "Let's get some food here."

"You can get food here, too?!"

"You bet!" The two make their way to the building. After retrieving their funnel cakes, they take a seat inside.

V-mon takes a bite of his, eyes widening at the taste. "This is amazing!" He cuts off a much bigger bite.

"Take it easy on that!" Lance warns as he smiles at V-mon. "Are you having fun?"

"Loads!" V-mon muffles through a mouth full of cake. Lance looks at his Digivice, reading the Link Strength. 22%

As the pain subsides, Monodramon realizes that he has grown and his body has become red. Barely being able to move, he turns to the man behind the computer. "What did you-?!"

"Marvelous!" The man comes from behind the computer. "You evolved into Tyranomon! This was a success! Not only did you skip the natural process of evolution, but you took on a different factor! This data will be most useful!"

Scratching at his grey vest, the man leaves Tyranomon's tube. "It hurts…" The man ignores. "I'm scared…" Keramon joins the man. "Let me…" The door opens for the man. "Let me…" Stepping through, the door begins to close behind him. "LET ME OUT! FIRE BREATH! "

"I'm pooped!" V-mon stretches as the two leave the amusement park, the sun setting to the left of them.

"You said it," The two make their way back to the sidewalk. "I'm taking it you had fun?"

"Loads! Thank you!"

"Mm!" Lance nods. "We'll do something like this again sometime!"

"I'll look forward to it!"

Alarms blaring, Tyranomon breaks free from his prison. The man runs back into the room. "That was designed to withstand the force of a Perfect level! Impressive!"

Tyranomon turns to a wall. " Fire Breath! " Spewing flames from his mouth, Tyranomon fires at the wall and creates a hole. "Freedom!" Tyranomon thumps his way to the hole.

"I can't have you getting away now. Keramon." Keramon quickly obstructs Tyranomon, evolving into Chrysalimon.

"Get out of my way! Fire Breath! " Chrysalimon evades the attack and latches itself to Tyranomon, wrapping its tentacles around him. Tyranomon squirms, attempting to break free. " Fire Breath! " Desperately trying to pry Chrysalimon off, Tyranomon flails his body. As he does, a hole opens up next to them. "That hole…" Tyranomon drags himself and Chrysalimon closer to the hole.

"You're hoping that will lead you back to the Digital World. Let me show you just how stuck you are here." Chrysalimon lets go of Tyranomon, letting him go through the hole.

Horrified, Tyranomon looks around the empty lot. "Where…am I?" Jaw dropped, Tyranomon looks around slower. "This isn't…"

"Correct, this isn't the Digital World," the man, joined by Chrysalimon, informs him. "This is the human world."

"No! There must be a way!" Tyranomon stomps off, away from the man.

The man sighs. "This again."

Lance and V-mon pass by the park. "Wanna do something when we get back home?"

"I just want to sit for a bit," V-mon expresses.

Lance's Digivice beeps. Pulling it out, he reads the message on the screen. "V-mon! Let's go!"

"What is it?!"

"Another Digital Breach!" The two turn and run into the park. They find a massive dinosaur-like Digimon being chased by a cocoon-like Digimon and a man. An image of the dinosaur Digimon appears on Lance's Digivice.

=Digital Analyzer=

Name: Tyranomon

Level: Adult

Attribute: Data

Technique: Fire Breath

"Need help?!" Lance calls out to the man as he transports everyone to Digital Space.

The man turns to Lance, no reply.

"Another human with a Digimon?!" Tyranomon gasps.

"Let us help!" V-mon throws off his hoodie. "V-mon evolve! … V-Dramon!"

Shocked by the sudden evolution, the man turns to V-Dramon. "I see."

" Fire Breath! " Tyranomon spews fire at V-Dramon.

" V-Breath Arrow! " V-Dramon fires at Tyranomon, their attacks colliding and causing an explosion.

"I don't want to go back there!" Tyranomon roars.

Lance gets closer to Tyranomon. "We can help you! We can take you to a sanctuary!"

"No! Fire Breath! " Tyranomon aims at Lance.

" Magnum Punch! " V-Dramon punches Tyranomon in the jaw, causing him to fall over. The cocoon Digimon strikes at Tyranomon with its six sharp tentacles. Tyranomon rolls out of the way and stands back up.

"You won't take me! Fire-! " Before unleashing his attack, Tyranomon starts to disintegrate. "What…?"

"How unfortunate." The man approaches Tyranomon. "It would seem your Digicore has been damaged by the experiment."

Shocked by what he just heard, Lance turns his attention to the man. "Experiment?!"

"We were hoping to induce an evolution with a different factor, much like your V-mon evolving to both V-Dramon and XV-mon."

"He's not…" Lance clenches his fists.

"Why me…?" Tyranomon's data evaporates.

"Don't feel too bad about him. He's just data. His data will be recycled and reborn into the Digital World."

Barely being able to keep his anger in, Lance grits his teeth. "Don't…"

"Let us leave, Chrysalimon. We have other work to attend to."

"DON'T TALK LIKE THEY'RE JUST SOME PLAY THING!"

" V-BREATH ARROW! " V-Dramon fires in the direction of the man. Chrysalimon blocks the attack.

The man turns back to Lance. "So you want to play," he chuckles. "Let's play." Chrysalimon jets over to V-Dramon.

" Magnum Punch! " Nearly hitting, Chrysalimon evades the attack and strikes V-Dramon with two of its tentacles.

"It's quite silly to get upset about data, you know."

"Digimon are alive," Lance protests, "just like us!"

"What right do you have to do experiments on us?!"

"What right? The fact that humans shaped the Digital World." Chrysalimon trips V-Dramon with its tentacles, causing him to fall to the ground.

"You're wrong!" V-Dramon's mouth starts to fire a shot, but Chrysalimon wraps its tentacles around his mouth to keep it shut.

"Oh, but look around you! The whole Digital Space is comprised of data humans created in one way or another. And since the Digital World communicates with Digital Space, there's no reason to assume the Digital World is any different. It's all just data."

"V-Dramon and I share a bond! That's not just data!"

"Don't conflate your emotions with facts, kid."

"You don't look that much older than me!"

"Is this really the type of people Connor hangs out with?" Chrysalimon tightens its grip on V-Dramon, causing him to devolve back to V-mon. Chrysalimon devolves to Keramon and rejoins the man. "Tell Connor we're waiting for him. Whether he's with us or against us."

"Why would Connor ever join you?!"

The man pulls out his Digivice and pulls them out of Digital Space. "We'll meet again, friend of Connor."

"Cyrus?"

"You're lucky he didn't delete V-mon," Mr. Crest scolds Lance. "He's usually merciless against his enemies."

"Does he work with Edward?"

"The two have been close friends since high school. Why do you ask?"

"He brought up Connor, like Edward did. How do they know him?"

"That's not for me to say…"

Espimon floats over to Lance. "Connor still isn't answering, is he?"

"Still nothing."

V-mon crosses his arms. "I wish we knew what was going on with him."

"Just give him time," Mr. Crest suggests. "He's likely trying to find a way to deal with both Edward and Cyrus."

Lance stares at the table in front of him. "I just want to help."

"In time you'll be able to!" Espimon lands on the couch next to them.

"Much like how you and V-mon have a bond," Mr. Crest begins, "you have a bond with your friends too. Believe in that bond."

"Believe in our bond." Lance slowly blinks.

"The experiment went mostly well today," Cyrus reports to Edward, the two sitting inside a large room.

"Mostly?"

"He escaped and the Digicore ended up being damaged in the evolution process. I'll pull the data from today and look into how the core was damaged."

"Take your time. The gate has yet to open for us." Edward scratches the top of Negamon's head. "The time will come one of these days."

The doors to the room open and another man comes walking in. "I heard what happened to the Monodramon I sold you. It's a shame that happened."

"It's nothing to worry about," Cyrus points out. "How's business going?"

"It's going great! I just sold a couple to a couple high school kids."

Edward looks at the man's hand, carrying a small device. "What do you have for us this time?"

"Quite a few! The Digital Waves are carrying so many Digimon over to this side. I have five Child Level and two Adult Level Digimon ready for you! The capacity needed to hold these Digimon to transport over here wasn't cheap, either. I'm going to have to ask for three thousand."

"Done," Edward replied with zero hesitation. "You're quite generous to us."

"Nothing but the best for my number one client."